I'm Running for Chocolate!

Second race committed! I debated about this race, it seems fun but as I mentioned in my last post, I am feeling lazy. I had just about decided I wasn't going to run it when I saw a friend of mine post on facebook she was running. After debating it with myself, I decided to sign up for this and the Texas Half 5k a few weeks before. What better way to jump start that consistency factor than to run two races?!

It should also be noted I have signed up for the Bikram Yoga 60 Day Challenge at our studio...this is where you take 60 classes in 60 days. This counts by the way as one of the 12 events for my own Bike Run Yoga Challenge of completing 12 events in 2012. This means by mid March I will have completed 3 events! YIPEE!

Let's not get too excited, it is still just mid January, we have a long way to go...

Dabbling my feet in the running waters

I finally signed up for another race! Albeit a 5k, it is still a race and it is still running...or jogging as I learned earlier last year. Whatever right, I am attempting to get back out there and see the world one mile at a time.

It's been awhile since I have been out on a run; I think my last run was on Thanksgiving day when I ran 5 miles in Austin. I've been in kind of a fitness slump and skating by on the bare minimum effort.

I was reminded yesterday by a good friend that  three things are necessary for improvement. We have a theory in Bikram Yoga, perhaps this applies to lots of things....consistency, precision, intensity. In speaking to my friend I admitted I am a little lazy and I don't try hard at working out...running, yoga, biking, etc.

I did my best running when I ran with Team in Training where I was at least a little accountable to someone else for running. I even trained pretty decent for the Hotter n Hell 100 mile ride. This might have been because the fear of riding for 6 plus hours with no training was worse that slacking off. And in yoga I like group classes so I have someone telling me what to do.

Even when I had a gym membership, I never went unless my trainer was there training me and I certainly never paid attention to what she was doing as far as adjusting the machines and putting on weight. I could never do it myself...I have no idea how those machines work.

Consistency is hard. One reason so many running magazines tell you to sign up for a race is because once you do that, you kind of have to train...at least put your running shoes on and appear to have run a few miles. If you don't, you can end up like me, running a half marathon with no training and seriously messing up your hip. I don't recommend it; even months later I could barely run a 5K without my hip popping and having sever pain. 

Consistency...Step One - Sign up for a race. Check! Step Two- Train! Step Three - Run Race! Step Four - Repeat!

This 5k, which I have to admit is funny to me because it is called the Texas Half 5k, is hopefully one of many. I'm going to make concerted effort to finish my own challenge, completing 12 events in 2012. Anyone with me?

I Boogied the Butterfly Boogie 5K!

My new BFF, Exit 1B, and I had a little rendezvous today for the Butterfly Boogie 5K. Apparently everything "cool" is off exit 1B in Dallas. I just recently found this out or I might have looked for a place over there when I moved to Dallas. Whatever, now exit 1B and I are good friends, we see each other often...on my way to see my OTHER friends! Jessica, Dave and Chris ran the 5K with me and Kelly and Doug were ambitious and ran the 10K! It was a great race, perfect weather and a great course and to top it off, I set a PR(Personal Record) for a 5K race, 32:55!

I decided when I picked up my race packet at Luke's Locker a few days ago I wanted some running tights, I've wanted some since my first race this year when I froze to death and was talked out of them because "it will get warmer." There was a $10 off coupon in my race stuff so it was the perfect time to pick up a pair, if they still had some. I not only got some great running tights by CW-X (Women's Pro Tight), I got some Nathan arm warmers too.



I'm so glad I had both too! It was cold waiting around for the race. I'm use to 105 degrees on a yoga room so 50's feel very cold. And the arm warmers were perfect, during the race, I just took them off when I got hot and tucked them into my tights, so much better than wearing a jacket.

Course Map

The race was really a nice race. The course started at Reverchon Park, went along Turtle Creek and then the Katy Trail, ending back at Reverchon Park. I started off strong and felt good the whole race, at the one mile point I was at 10:47, at mile 2 I was at 21:42, at that point I knew I could get a really good time for the race. At about the 2.5 mile point we hopped on Katy Trail and I knew it would be smooth sailing form there, Katy Trail is all flat. The part of Katy Trail we ran today I had run before so I felt a little more comfortable with the course than when I ran basically the same area for the White Rock Half Marathon.

I kept looking at my watch from about 25 minutes until I finished, just trying to focus on 1 minute at a time. Then I thought I heard a beep from a police car but of course it must be a motorcycle. Weird I think...I wonder if someone hurt themselves on the trail. The beeping gets closer. Then I start thinking, oh crap, I am so slow this is the sweeper! How embarrassing! So I of course speed up. I see ahead of mea guy ahead waving people to the side at the same time watching a police motorcycle drive slowly by me. Then I see a runner behind the motorcycle and realize the finisher of the 10K is RIGHT NEXT to me, nope, now he is past me....and there he goes....into the finish line.

My last .2 or some kilometers I had to run knowing someone had just run the 10K faster than me, great. Had I known that beeping was the 10K lead person, I would have made more of an effort to finish before him! :D At any rate, I finish in record time, 32:55, which is the fastest I've ever run a 5K so I am darn happy. It's a good building block to my uh, training, yea, training for the America's Run in a few weeks in Arlington. Yes, I might actually run again before then, I need to improve at least a little on my half marathon time. :)

Now I am off to yoga to stretch out all the muscles I just tightened up running, the two are yen and yang. 

The Gang at Bread Winners after the race.

It's a Race People, Not a Beer Run - Dash Down Greenville 5K 2010

The Dash Down Greenville started off with driving to Mockingbird Station and taking the train UP to Lovers Lane. It seemed a bit backwards to go down, then up when my house is almost a straight shot, as a crow flies, to the race start but with parking issues and the potential for lots of drunk people around, the train was starting to sound better and better.

From Dash Down Greenville 5K

It was a COLD morning, way to cold to be waiting for the train or standing around waiting for a race to start! My friend Ginny, Jessica and I were FREEZING almost the entire time. The worst was just standing around waiting for the race to start. But the scenery was fantastic! Lots of people were there to see the race AND the parade so they were all decked out in green St. Patty's Day garb. Lots of girls in inappropriate short skirts and low cut tops too, not sure how they were doing it since I was freezing in pants, shirt and jacket. But God Bless them, someone had to give the guys something to look at!

From Dash Down Greenville 5K

Ginny and Carolyn

From Dash Down Greenville 5K

Jessica and Carolyn

We huddled together with the other runners while we waited to start. It was so packed for at least the first mile which made it hard to run a good pace, not that I run fast anyway, but I certainly don't need a pack of people in my way either! I'm not sure why but there were walkers, lots of them, near the front, and the race path was relatively small compared to the amount of people so as I started off I was practically walking. I tried to run and had to hop on and off the curb to get past the walkers. Such a crazy race.

As we turned the corner onto Southwestern, there was a water station, or what I thought was a water station, it only had beer! I kept running. I know it's a St. Patty's day run people but beer? As I am thinking about the beer and how ridiculous it is I come upon a HUGE hill. Not really...but any slight incline to be is a big hill. All I could think about at that point was to just keep running up the hill, not stopping at all - and I did it! I rounded the corner onto Skillman and felt so happy I had run up the hill without stopping. I normally consider hills to be my "walks" and do my best to walk quickly up but instead I found the motivation to just keep running.

I was about at the 2 mile mark when I decided I wasn't going to walk or stop, I had been running since the start and I was still feeling pretty good, another mile, no problem! (My normal running strategy is intervals with 5 minutes running and 1 minute walking but for 5K's, I try and run the whole thing now, a BIG accomplishment for me!) I didn't even stop at a water station!

I finished at 34:28. Three minutes faster than "Dash for the Beads" in February and just 45 seconds slower than my PR from last year. Considering the first mile was packed and we could hardly run, I consider this time to be wonderful!

Afterward we went to Ozona for a "make your own" Blood Mary, so good! A great ending to a fun race.

From Dash Down Greenville 5K

Now THAT is a Bloody Mary!