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Showing posts with label Races. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Races. Show all posts

Friday, August 22, 2014

Celebrate the Small Things- August 22nd

Thanks to our host Viklit and co-hosts Diana Wilder, L.G. Keltner, Cyborg Mom and CaffeMaggieato!

This week I'm celebrating...

I rocked it!  I had my first ever 10K this past Sunday and, I must say, I totally rocked it!  I finished in less then an hour!  (I don't know the exact time because they haven't posted the results yet but I estimate it was right around 59 minutes.)  I didn't walk once, not even on the hills, and I was so psyched by the end of the race that I was smiling like a crazy clown as I ran across the finish line.   Plus they used an electronic race bib system that has a computer chip in it so as I got to the finish line the announcer said my name over the loud speakers and I burst out into an overzealous "Whoo!!!!"  (I don't know if that's poor race etiquette but I honestly don't care- it was a big deal for me and I couldn't contain myself.)
Yeah, I selfie documented the moment.
I have four (count 'em, 4!) 5Ks scheduled for next month and two more 10Ks scheduled for October and I'm totally exited about all of them.  This new hobby of mine is really taking off!

Of course, more running  I only logged in 4 miles on Tuesday and another 4 Thursday this week which I was slightly disappointed in since I'd been hoping to continue the 10K streak.  But it was hotter and more humid and the sun was especially unforgiving so I have to give myself credit for toughing out the 4 which did NOT come easy.  Sweating through it, even when it's not the impressive mileage you were aiming for, is still an accomplishment.  And I've got some time yet to ramp up.

Finally, a vacation!  Today I'm up in New York visiting friends from college that I get to see- at max- once a year.  There will be pizza and video games and a viewing of the Lego Movie in addition to the best kind of hang out time one can get with friends you've known for a decade.  I'm pretty stoked.  

And on Monday I took the day off to celebrate my birthday at home with the sweetie.  I'm not 100% sure what I want to do with the day yet but rest assured there will be presents, cake and the bliss that comes from birthday snuggles and simply not being at work.  Low key, but wonderful.

What are you celebrating?
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Friday, August 8, 2014

Celebrate the Small Things for August 8th

Thanks to our host Viklit and co-hosts Diana Wilder, L.G. Keltner, Cyborg Mom and CaffeMaggieato!

This week I'm celebrating...

First Friday  Wine tasting with friends, a kick-ass new pizza place, the ambiance of main street when crowded with vendors and musicians and a wonderful conversation with a friend (which is ever-so-neccesary when it comes to maintaining sanity)- what could be better?
 
My Best 5K Yet!  This past Saturday was my 3rd 5K and it was the first time I hit my goal of running the entire time.  That's right- I didn't stop to walk once!  And based on my time we can assume that I kept around my usual pace of ten minutes per mile:
That's my place out of a total of 312 runners, my total time (I guess slightly less than a full ten minutes per mile), my bib number and my name.  It was a great event and I was super proud of myself.  Now, of course, I gotta train  for the next BIG milestone- 10K!

Cookie Puss  During random discussion amongst co-workers we discovered that four of us share a common birthday month and my dear friend Jen had the wonderful idea of celebrating with a birthday cake for us to enjoy together.  But not just any birthday cake, mind you- a cookie puss birthday cake!  I grew up with Carvel- heck, I even worked at one for a year in high school.  But I literally cannot remember the last time I saw a Cookie Puss cake.
 
 Needless to say, it was the best weekly staff meeting I've had yet!

And, of course, more running  I've pretty much abandoned the track at the gym in favor of running outside and thanks to MapMyRun discovered a loop near my house that runs through an office park before leading back to my street.  The full loop is two miles and on Tuesday I did two laps.  Yesterday I did two laps plus an extra 0.3 miles on the streets near mine.  Now 4.3 miles is not 6.2 (which is what my 10K next weekend will be) so I gotta ramp it up over the course of the next week.  But I know I can make if I don't let my brain talk me out of it.  It really is all mental.  Wish me luck!

Happy Friday, all!
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Friday, August 1, 2014

Celebrate the Small Things- August Already?

Thanks to our host Viklit and co-hosts Diana Wilder, L.G. Keltner, Cyborg Mom and CaffeMaggieato!

Well, it happened- August.  Not that I'm complaining, mind you.  August means that September is just around the corner and shortly after that things improve dramatically with the arrival of the best season- Autumn.  And before then, I may be celebrating a certain annual acknowledgment of my birth at the end of the month and that's not too bad either.

Anyways, time to celebrate!

Running Outside  So I've been telling you all for weeks that although I'm very proud of myself for building up my stamina by running on the track I was very aware of the fact that if I wanted it to transition into longevity in races I needed to get outside.  Well, I finally transitioned.  I logged in a full 4 miles outside yesterday!

It was WAY harder than I thought it would be- the heat and sun really suck the life right out of you and make it super difficult to keep up the pace.  Not to mention the hazards of uneven sidewalks, hills and insects.  But even so I manged to keep up a ten minute mile pace whilst running around my neighborhood and I'm pretty psyched about that.

Any of you who are runners probably already know about Map My Run- an app that tracks distance, speed and routes.  If you're not a runner but have any interest in it whatsoever I highly recommend you check it out- it's amazing and I don't know how any runner lives without it.

More 5ks  I ran another 5K on July 19th and learned another very valuable lesson: don't be late to a race.  I'm sure that's a pretty obvious one but somehow I overlooked it.  I was just getting parked (thanks to being redirected three different times) when the race was about to start and by the time I got through registration the race had already begun.  I sprinted to catch up to the crowd and then had to slow to catch my breath before I could pick back up and find my pace.  Needless to say, my time wasn't as good as it had been the previous race.  But I was able to find my stride and sprint to finish which I hadn't before so I'm proud of that.

I have another 5k tomorrow and this time I will NOT be late!

Reading/Writing  It's been so long since I wrote anything besides a blog post that I'm embarrassed to admit it.  First it was black belt training and then, obviously, running took over.  That's still not an excuse for completely dropping that important activity.  So I'm pretty psyched that I finally finished a book and wrote a full review on it (look below- isn't it cool?).  It helps that I seriously enjoyed the book, of course.  But really I'm just so happy to be writing something again.  Now if I could just get a piece of fiction composed...

Who else is celebrating?

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