Race #2 - Run Your Heart Out

Did another 5K this weekend in my quest to run 12 races in 2014.  I haven't branched out past 5K's yet, but I'm going to.  I have my eye on a 5K trail run, a 4 mile run and my first 10K race in the next couple of months.  Also considering signing up for the Air Force Half Marathon in Sept.  I just found out Ian is going to run it as his 1st Half and Cari is going to run the 5K that goes along with it.  I think it would be awesome to fly out and run it with Ian.  It would surely give me incentive to really do it!  We'll see…

This weekend I ran the Run Your Heart Out 5K in Reston.  My goal was to beat my best time, 29:10.  It was a decent course… tons of people, but I like the company that puts on these races.  They always do a really nice job.  Unfortunately I forgot my GPS watch and only had my phone so it was difficult for me to monitor my time.  I felt pretty strong - I was going along great, I hadn't stopped at all and then… there was this freaking HELLACIOUS hill right at the very end.  You had to get up this hill, before you turned into the stadium and finished on the nice flat track! :o(   The hill did me in,  I ran all the way up it - but at the top I had to stop and walk for about 10-20sec.  I was bummed.  Then I turned into the stadium and I did my best to sprint at the very end.  I never use to be able to do that, but recently it seems I've found a little extra right at the end and been able to sprint the last bit.  Anyway, my time when I came in said 29:13!  I was so freaking pissed… 3 secs off my PR!  If I hadn't walked that last little bit, I would have beaten my previous time… :o(
BUT THEN…. I checked my official time today…. 29:08!!!  Hells YES!!  I forgot that the time at the race is the time the gun goes off, not necessarily the time I cross the start and finish!  So, my PR streak is intact.  I think that will be the add on… to my 2014 resolution… 12 races in 12 months and each one try and PR.

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year 2014

We celebrated in the typical Mt. Burnside Tradition.  We all got together and ate too much, played games, laughed, drank and ate some more! Seriously, I was incubating a 13lb New Years food baby all night long!  I always start off the night with the best of intentions, but the dip just calls my name and then there were ribs, and cheesecake and the list of yummies goes on and on!  We played a rousing game of Scattagories in which even the teenage boys joined and, oh my goodness, they answers those boys came up with.   I think Zack was just trying to come up with the most outrageous answers he possibly could.  Oh how he made us laugh.  I'm not sure we could have laughed any more or been any louder, but it was great fun. 

The party ended about 1030pm, which is pretty darn late for the cul-de-sac, so as usual I got to actually watch the ball drop in bed in my jammies.  That's really the best way! 

 Brenna decided to drive down to Richmond to spent New Year's with a new "sorta, maybe, potential" boyfriend and some other neighbors from Radford. John and I were a little hesitant/nervous about letting her drive down there by herself, but she came home safe and sound.   It's one of those situations where we really want to keep her home with us, but realize that we have to let her make her own decisions and use her own judgement.  I am relieved to say, she did great.  

Today - I decided to start the New Year off on the right foot… a Running foot! 

I ran my first 5K of the year today.  I was a little worried that my residual food baby would drag me down, but it turned out that maybe I should take a food baby with me more often!  I actually PR'ed my first 5K of the year!! 29.12 - I was pretty pumped about it.  I did run a 28.59 at the Robinson 5K in Nov, but according to my GPS watch that race was really only 3.05.  Today's race was 3.17.  My next best time was 29.32.  So, Hip, Hip Hooray for me!  It was a decent race, with tons of people, so it was hard in the beginning to get going - it was a narrow course so we were really packed in at the start, but I found my way and ended up doing just fine.

One race down…

I DID IT! 12 down and I'm finished!

I did it! I did it! I did it!  12 5K's in 12 months.  This is probably one of the first resolutions I've actually kept in the last…forever….!!
Brenna, Zack and I ran the Frigid 5K in Occoquan Regional Forest.  I was a HELLacious run!  The first 1.5 miles was all up hill!!  I mean ALL up hill!  But that meant it was all down hill on the way home.  I had to stop and walk, but only for 20 secs.  I was actually really happy with my time - 29.41.  I wanted to keep it under 30mins and I did.  Zack was waiting at the end and help motivate me to sprint for the finish.
We all did really well!  Zack came in 3rd overall in the race, I came in 2nd for the women and Brenna came in 3rd for the women!  Now, granted it was not a huge race, but there were probably at least 30-40 people.  Hyzy's sweep the medal stands!!!

#12 in the bag

Hyzy bling!

Now I'm working on my plan for 2014.  I think I'll continue to run a 5K every month, why stop a good thing.  But I've got to come up with a new challenge.  A few things on my mind, but I'm still mulling it over.

Running full circle!

We ran the Run for You Lives 5K this past weekend.  It's the 5K that started it all.  Way back over a year ago, I said... "If I'm ever going to run a 5K it would be running from zombies!"  We signed up and I decided if I was really going to do it, I better be able to run!  And a year later here I am, 20lbs lighter,  running everyday, 10 5K's this  year and pretty much addicted to it!  Who Knew!!

We arrived about 2 hours early and when we first walked in, we saw zombies on the course just wandering around and people, walking and we thought, "This is looks kinda lame, why is everyone walking?  This is going to be easy?" Aaahhh... little did we know!  It was on a Motor Cross Track, so there were hills, and woods, mud pits, houses and all sorts of stuff, not to mention the zombies, zombies, zombies!  When we first started there was about .3-.4 mile that was solid zombies, so we were running full tilt, bobbing and weaving and trying to avoid them.  I lost 2 of my flags (out of 4) right away.  It was crazy.  I thought I was going to pass out.  John and Zack definitely had an advantage having played flag football.  They had the dodging and spinning and avoiding down pat.  Brenna did a little better, and I just totally sucked!

The running part wasn't hard, it was the avoiding the zombies while navigating the treacherous footing and obstacles!  It was certainly fun, but I think I prefer my 5K's without the chasing.  Give me a straight up run or obstacle course and I'm happier.

Bottom line,  Brenna and I died, but John and Zack ended up surviving!  John actually made it through with 2 flags, Zack had one.  They were pretty proud of themselves.

The zombies were pretty creepy, but they didn't freak me out as much as I thought they would.  I think I would have been just as freaked if they'd been regular people, it was the chasing that freaked me out - not so much the makeup.

Survivor

Look good for 2 dead girls

Carrying off their dead

One hot dead girl

Practicing their moves

Number 10 is in the bag!

Run Julie Run

I ran today!  Hallelujah!!!  Finally... It felt good, if running ever really feels good.  I did a lot better than I expected.  I did 3 miles, average 10:09, which is pretty darn good even when I was running every day.  My goal, before the last 2 weeks was to try to be below 10 min as often as I can.  So, 10:09 after 2 weeks off makes me pretty happy.

My foot is still not healed.  It definitely feels better, but that's not surprising since I haven't run in two weeks.  I'm sure as soon as I start back up, we'll be back where we started.  John went online with Dr Google and found some treatment plans, so I bought a boot to wear at night to help with the pain when I get up.  I also found a compression sleeve made for Plantar Facisitis and I'm supposed to take Alleve morning and night.  So I'm going to try those things and see if that helps.  I'm also still toying with the idea of getting a bike.  I'm going to borrow one again, a better one, and if it works out I'm going to buy my own, because I think I'll like biking.

I'm very happy to be running again.  Which is so totally weird...  Gotta get running this week, because it's Zombie weekend!  Saturday is the big Zombie 5K!  Very nervous....

The Happiest 5k in America, pretty much lived up to its hype!

We had the most awesome time at The Color Run. 22 of us, mostly from Crew drove down, stayed in a hotel and then met up in the morning to do The Color Run.  There were tons of people and it was pretty exciting.  The race went well, it wasn't exactly 3.1 miles, more like 2.9 but it wasn't time and it was just supposed to be fun anyway.  I did it in something like 29.25, which was average 10:09 mile.  That's fine for me, considering most of the time you had to weave in and out of people and then slow down to a walk at the dye toss stations.  The most fun was at the end.  I'm so glad we took the kids because if it had just been me or adults, we probably would have run the race and then gone home and skipped the whole "after party" thing.  But not with kids, they raced over and planted themselves in the front row of the stage and danced and yelled and threw dye packs and caught free stuff and just in general had a wild time.  Since we had some younger kids with us, Laura and I went up front as well to keep and eye out.  It was a hoot!!

Before and After

#9

I think we are still scrubbing the dye out of crevices and cracks.  It was definitely the funnest 5K so far!  9 down, only 3 more to go.  Next up the Zombie 5K in October.  Trying not to freak out about that one!

It's almost 5K #9

Zack and I and 22 of our friends are hanging out in Richmond today and doing my 9th 5K!  The Color Run.  It's supposed to be the Happiest 5K in America...

 I guess we'll see!

8 down only 4 more to go!

Finished 5K #8!  Brenna and I drove up to Leesburg to run in their town 5K.  It was actually the only 5K I could find even remotely close by.
We had a GREAT run!  I actually PR'ed my 5K!  It was my best time ever!! But even more importantly... I DID NOT STOP AND WALK AT ALL!!  I didn't stop even one time!  I felt good, I felt strong and it was a great race!  I'm so excited!  My time was 29:15!  I think I was like #9 in my age group!
Brenna did really great as well.  She didn't stop and walk either and was number #14 in her age group.  We were both pretty pumped up at the end.  Then we stayed a little while and watched the 20K runners finish.  My gosh, those people are amazing!  The winner ran the 20K in 1:07 or something crazy like that.  Wow!
Pretty happy that my resolution is still intact.  Next month, 20 of us are doing The Color Run in Richmond and then October is the big one... the Run for Your Lives Zombie 5K!  Neither of those are timed runs, so I'm glad I squeaked this one in.

Finishing strong!

#8

We did it and we rocked it!

Let's do another!

Summer Week Two and Three - I lose track

Summer is just plugging along... VERY quiet and LOW KEY!  Really just the way I like it.  Let's recap the last week or two:

1.  I'm continuing to run almost every day.  We're on day 16 of July and I think I've run 13 days!  Yeah for me... It's weird, if I don't run, I feel yucky.  I've got a good routine going.  I get up at 600am everyday, I'm out running by 7am - that way I miss the worst of the heat.  If it's not too bad, I come home walk the dogs, then shower and I'm done with it all by 1000am!  Plenty of time to get anything else I need to done.  I've discovered that I don't mind getting up at 600am in the summer if I know that I can take a nap in the afternoon.  I love me some naps - probably in my top 5 favorite things!  I'll get up as early as I need, if there is always a promise of an afternoon nap!

2.  Another running note, I don't seem to be getting much faster.  I'm not sure if that should bother me or not, I'd like to get faster, but I'd also like to get faster without having to work real hard at it.  I tried doing some speed drills the other day, but I didn't like them very much.  I'd like to be fast enough that when the boys run down to the boathouses at Stotesbury to get tours I could go with them.  But.... I don't think there's any way I can keep up with 15 year old boys!  So, the $50,000 question is... Do I really want to be faster?  I mean I'm 46 years old, shouldn't I just be happy with any pace I can keep up that makes me sweat and keeps the weight off.  Hmmm.... a question to ponder....

3.  We had our annual cul-de-sac 4th of July BBQ.  Once again, the cul-de-sac comes through.  We have the best neighborhood.  I didn't take even one picture!  I know, right?  What is happening to me?  The other thing... somehow the fireworks celebration was taken over by the teenage boys.  A little disturbing that the parents just sat around and watched the boys set off all the fireworks, run around, laughing and plotting nefarious plans.  We only had to step in one time when a "plan" turned out not to be the best! :o)  Burning fireworks in a rolling glass bottle or some such plan.

4.  Finished my 7th 5K.  Still on track.  Zack and I ran The Biggest Loser 5K in DC.  It was blazingly hot.  I had to stop and walk quite a few times, but my time was 31:58.  Pretty good considering how much I walked.  If I could just stop myself from walking, my times would be awesome.  Even so, when I checked the official results - Zack actually came in 3rd out of 14 in his age category and I came in 5th out of 61 in my category!  I'm actually really, really, excited about that!!  Very happy and proud of myself.  If I can just balance my pace out so that I don't stop and walk, I'll be doing pretty good!

5.  5 days until John and the kids leave for Alaska and I start my 8 day Staycation!!  I think I'm as excited about staying home as they are about going to Alaska.  I know they are going to have a great time, but so am I.  I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing and not feel guilty about it.  I'm sure I'll run, run, run.  I'm also going to try and catch up on my scrapbooking, have a zombie-a-thon.  I have 8 episodes of the last season of The Walking Dead to catch up on.  I only hope I don't get totally freaked out!  I'm also going to eat what I want, when I want, nap, stay up late... whatever I can think of!  Yeah for family vacations that leave mom at home!  I'm sure I'll miss my family, but they'll be having fun and I'll be enjoying myself so it's a WIN all the way around!

Another one bites the dust - #6 goes down in an enormous mud pit!

Before - so innocent

5K - #6 is in the bag.  The kids and I did Quantico's Run Amuck.  It was an untimed Obstacle Course Mud Run!!  I was quite nervous at first, especially about the obstacles like rappeling and monkey bars!  But it turned out most of the obstacles were pretty tame.  I guess you have to remember for these "easier" ones they have to make the obstacles at least semi-accessible for most people.  The hardest obstacle was the very first one - it was an inflatable playground thingy and you had to get over a sort of plastic wall.  It was hard because it was so darn slippery from all the rain we'd gotten the day before.  As we stood and watch probably 50% or more of the people couldn't get over it!  I am very proud to say that all 3 of us made it over.  I guess the next worst were the hills, mainly because they were so darn slippery.  There was no way to run, you were lucky if you could walk up the hills and the last one I literally did on my hands and knees.  I was a ton of fun!  It was also a nice break, because the only uninterrupted run portion was half a mile at the beginning, the rest was run a little, stop and do an obstacle, run a little, stop.

B's knees

At one point in the race I found myself ahead of both the kids and shouted out my success to those running around me... well, I guess Brenna did not take kindly to my announcement so she sprinted and caught me in the mud pit and tackled me from behind!  We both went down face first into the mud!  It was crazy, both got scrapped up knees, but her's were much worse than mine....can you say kharma??

Zack led most of the way,  I just can't keep up with that kid when we run.  I keep reminding myself that he's 15 and I'm 46, if I could keep up with him that would be really bad for him!  Brenna and I run at a much more similar pace, which means I can usually at least see her ahead of me when we run! :o)
Anyway, it was a ton of fun.  I am thinking of doing another one in November... Brrr... Still keeping up with the 5K resolution and all is good in the running world.

We've lost our innocence!

Dirty girls on the way home!

May Month Recap

Geez, I am so far behind that I'm not sure I can even catch up with all that's gone on in the last month.  Note to self... don't try and get anything done during the month of May.  May is for Crew, Crew, Crew and nothing else.. not eating, not sleeping, not time with the family... do I even still have a husband?  Don't get me wrong, I love Crew and I love being busy and keeping everything in order, but without a doubt there's hardly time to think of anything but rowing.   So, just a few bullets to update the last few weeks...

1.  I ran my 4th 5K up at George Mason University.  It was hilly and hellish, but I did it.  My time 33.19.  Not the best, but I'm still keeping with my New Years Resolution.

2.  We completed the Al Urquia Regatta.  It was very successful, Zack's boat moved out of their heat and qualified for finals.  They then placed 4th in their final.  It was a great day, made even better because Grandpa Bud and Miss Louise were here to enjoy it.  We had a great time showing them the way we row at Woodbridge.  They were good sports and I think had a great time.  Brenna also came home for the weekend.

smores

3.  Then we had the Ted Phoenix Lower Boat State Championships.  These turned out not to be as successful as we'd hoped.  The boys got an AWESOME start, but then Zack and Nathan both caught small crabs at the beginning, they were able to recover and keep going, but in the last 500 meters, Tyler caught a crab so big he couldn't get his oar out of the water!  Sadly, they came in last in their heat.  On the positive side they still beat the B boats time.   I know that's mean, but you gotta take your pluses where you can.

4.  I hit my 5th 5K.  Lake Ridge Runners May Day Run.  It was fun because it was right here in the neighborhood and I knew probably half the people who were running in it.   Again, it was a hugely hellacious hilly course, but it seems like that's my excuse for all my runs now. :o)  But this one really was hilly!  Anyway, I completed it and didn't humiliate myself.  Time 33.07.  I just can't seem to do much better than that.  But a mile is a mile.  

5.  Then most exciting of all,  Zack got to experience his first Stotesbury Regatta!  It was awesome as always.  I'm not even going to try and recap.  Brenna went with me and we had a great time.  She was the best assistant ever.  I don't think I could have survived the weekend without her.  My new position with the Board, really does include a lot of extra duties.  I love it, I love being involved in everything, but it does take a toll and she was worth her weight in gold!  The boys did great.  They didn't make it out of their time trials, but we don't really expect our freshman to get past time trials.  Their time was 5:11, which was good for them.  They were 36th out of 47 and we were plenty proud of them.  The lightweight boys and girls made it to semi's and the girls quad made it all the way to finals, coming in 6th.  It was all very exciting.  The weather was beautiful and as always, it doesn't get much better than Stotes!  We have such a great group of kids and parents that I don't ever want it to end.

Finishing time trial

View from the bridge

Time trials

Our freshman Big Head Boat was the hit of Stotesbury!  We kept everyone laughing and probably perplexed.  The boys were all good sports and I think they actually enjoyed having big heads of their own!

So, as May draws to an end along with Crew,  hopefully I'll be able to keep up with life a little better.  Catch my breath, run a little more, eat a little less and relax.  Although I'm already grieving a little for the end of Crew.  I'm sure I'll find something to occupy my time.