FOLEPI River Trail Classic 4 Mile

Well, I'm rather sad this is my last race this year. It's so addicting!

This race was in East Peoria, it was 30 degrees and sunny. It was a little cold while we waited to start, but perfect while running. It started 10 minutes late due to getting everyone bussed to the start line. This was a point to point race, so they picked us up at the finish line and bussed us to the start line. I wore the same thing as the last few races and felt fine. I actually peeled off my gloves 1/2 way through and carried them, I was getting a little toasty. It's funny how your hands can go from freezing ( I had them balled up in my gloves) to way overheated in matter of 15 minutes.

I was a little nervous about this race because it WAS 4 miles. I've only ran 4 miles in a row once, on the treadmill. I decided that I wasn't going to worry about my time-I just wanted to be able to run it all. I kept at my 10 minute mile pace and sped up/slowed down every so often. I wore the iPod today and that helped tremendously! I tried to explain the fast music=faster running concept to Brent but he wasn't buying it. It's true! I swear! After 2 miles I was feeling good, after 3 I knew I'd be able to finish. I wasn't out of breath at all, no side cramps, I was doing ok. The trail had a little downhill slant to it, barely noticable but it was there and that was nice.

I finished at 39:41 and went inside to see what they had to eat. Pizza and subs from Avanti's! Yum! Nothing like pizza and diet pepsi at 10 in the morning, lol! I changed and tried to make my hair look like I HAD washed it in the last week (because it was looking like I hadn't) and then did a little Christmas shopping and headed home.

We got really nice hooded sweatshirts instead of the standard t-shirts at this race. Fun!

A Frosty look-alike gave out flyers to a January race so I may have to keep that on the calendar!

Galesburg Turkey Trot 5K

Well, we're getting to the end of my racing year. One more to go next week-and it's a 4 miler. Woo!

Turkey Trot #2-I had a decent time 30:05 and came in #4 in my age group, darnit! Alex still said he was proud of me though, so I'll take that instead. This was at Lake Storey and started at the pavilion and wound around the bike path. It had some little hills, and I mean little. I'm still not used to hills at all, though, so I didn't much like them! There were a lot of Y people there and it looks like several carloads of quad city people. Mostly older men in tights......um, yea. I just wore my underarmour "base layers" (pants and shirt), fleece pullover and shorts. Hat and gloves, of course. One guy did tell that I was looking good so that was a little pick me up. I think I look like a boy with a hat on! It was kinda windy, but sunny so it was okay, supposed to be 34 degrees but feeling like 27 degrees supposedly. My fingers were a little cold so I tucked them in the first mile until they warmed up.

Pretty uneventful. I hung around with Y people afterwards and ate some bananas and gaterade. Looking forward to next week!

Abingdon Turkey Trot 5K

Today was the 2nd annual Abingdon Turkey Trot. I wasn't really sure what to expect. It wasn't advertised very well and I couldn't find any information about it until this past Monday. So, I get there and I think there were 15 runners and about the same for walkers. I'm not really sure. I found my HS PE teacher and talked to her. After the race I ran into my JH PE teacher. PE teachers all over! Ha! There were also a few people I knew from the Y so I chatted with them.

It was supposedly 44 and overcast at 2pm (thank you weather.com) but it was sunny during the race. SO nice. It was really windy going out so I was freezing but coming back was nice and I was getting pretty warm. I ditched my hat and gloves coming back and I KNOW my hair was looking oh so good. Yea! Hat hair!

When I got near the finish line I saw my parents who were watching my boys. There wasn't anyone close behind me so I swung by and grabbed Alex's hand and he ran to the finish line with me. I think he was excited! I ended at 30:32. Not too bad considering I had not ran since last Sunday so I wasn't expecting much. I did end up getting a 1st place trophy for my age group. Up to 4 this year! Alex is trying to lay partial claim to it since he helped me finish!

A few pics:

I'm in the blue hat, nice and toasty!















Here I am picking up Alex towards the
finish line.

Jingle Bell Run

Well, this was a no go. Alex got sick about 9:00 last night so I called it off. Of course, he's acting FINE right now and has no other "incidents". Sigh, tis be the life with kiddos. So, I'm saving some gas and the boys and I might go out and do a little looking around so they can pick out Santa presents. Santa is having a hard time finding stuff for them! Of course, they are usually happy about anything so Santa should stop worrying!

Thanks Angie for picking up my race packet! You are welcome to pretend to be me if you want to race! Ha! Ha!! (I am going to miss see my little punkins though!)

A 1/2, perhaps.

So, last year about this time I kind of gave up on going to the Y everyday. I ate whatever and it eventually caught up with me in January. This year, I've decided I need a goal to get me through the winter (and past the Christmas goodies). You know I'm rather goal oriented. I'm going to start training to run a 1/2 marathon in May. "Training" sounds so official and runner like. So not me, lol! I've found a training plan online and I should officially be ready February 22nd. It's very exact! Right after I turn 30, wooo! I start tomorrow-come on 13.1 miles!!

Pumpkin Dash 4K

As someone informed me I have not updated this recently, so here ya go! Today was the Pumpkin Dash at Credit Island in the cities. Barb went with me to keep me company (yea!). I bought some coldweather tights and a shirt yesterday (I *heart* underarmour) so I wore those. It was only supposed to be only a high of 55 today and windy so I wasn't sure how to dress. My legs were night and toasty but I could have used some gloves and a hat and maybe a lightweight shirt over the one I wore. Now I know for next time.

They said there were around 600 people there-some were doing the 8 K though. We ran around the "island" once for the 4K. It was flooded this summer, so the road was full of mud and potholes so I had fun dodging all of that. And, of course, I got stuck behind some walkers at the beginning. WHY DON'T THE WALKERS START BEHIND THE RUNNERS?!?!?! Drives me crazy! I've had a very long week so I decided to try and not overdo it and just keep a nice steady pace. I had to quit running on Wednesday as I had a cold or virus or something and went home early with a fever that day. Fun times. The run went pretty quickly and I avoided the ever fun side cramps I'd been getting my last few runs at the Y. So, not my best time, but respectable. I ended at 25:15 on their timer (or close to it).

Barb and I ate some free food and then went out to breakfast. It's so nice having someone to hang out with after the race!!

Next up is the Jingle Bell 5K in Bloomington on the 9th and the Galesburg Turkey Trot on the 23rd.

Red Ribbon Classic

This race was interesting. It was my first one in complete pouring rain. Lots of fun though! I have no idea what my time was; the clock was not accurate when I pulled in. It was not good, that's all I know. I had to walk quite a bit so that kind of killed me. Learned a lesson though, don't try to do a race after not running for over a month (WAY over a month).

I did this race with several friends so it was a lot of fun. We were all soaked and we all ended up with plaques. Can't beat that!

June 28th-Railroad Days 5K

29:12! 29:12! Wooo!

Okay. This race was my first pm race-7:15 to be exact. Luckily, it was a BEAUTIFUL night out. Not too hot, a little bit a breeze and sunny. Can't beat that. I got my friend Barb to come so I was SO excited! The boys had a kid race at 6:30 and they got ribbons. Too bad everyone doesn't get a prize in the grown-up race, LOL!

Kid Race: Alex was telling everyone that he was going to win. That's my boy, ever-so-confident. Christian spent most of the waiting time hanging out next to me. He refused to put his number on so he went numberless. Alex took off really fast at the beginning and I started running with Christian. He wanted to hold my hand so we took off together. Once he saw Brent he wanted him so we traded off. When they got to the 1/2 way point Christian asked Brent to carry him so Brent did. It was hilarious. I kept watching for Alex because I thought he'd be in the front. I think shooting off so fast at the beginning wore him out because he was trudging along pretty slowly during the 2nd 1/2. Poor guy. He saw me and wanted to hold my hand so I went with him a bit then sent him on too the finish line. He was so proud of himself!

My race: We hung around a bit and I tracked Barb down. We got in line around the middle I'd say. I really don't know how many people were there. We took off and someone, I think it was Rebecca, yelled our names so I was excited about that! My time was pretty good at the one mile mark-I was actually surpised! I saw my boss and her kids yelling at me and my mom, dad and Alex waving at me. I heard Alex yell "good job mommy!". Made my day, I tell ya.

I headed out and avoided a sprinkler set up-I didn't want to get wet quite yet. I made it to mile 2 in pretty good time as well, but I was getting tired. The pasta I had for supper wasn't feeling too good at that time! I hit the sprinkler on the way back in and my feet got soaked. Not so good.

I got closer and could see the finish line so I started sprinting a bit. Then I heard Brent yell my name and my boss's kids yell at me so I started running faster. It was so much fun having people there that I knew! Makes soo much difference. At the time I thought it was a coworker of mine yelling my name, but it was Brent.

The last number I saw was 29:11 so knew to tack on a few so I told people I finished in 29:12 and I was right! Alex ran over to me right away and told me "Way to go mommy! You won! Let's go get your trophy!" So sweet. At least I'm the winner to him! I told him that mommy wouldn't get a trophy, so we got juice and cookies instead and he was happy with that.

I tracked down Barb again and she did really well too! We waited around for the awards and Barb got an award! I was soo happy for her! I am determined to get a railroad spike next year. I was 1 1/2 minutes behind the 3rd place person so I have some work to do.

Favorite race so far, hands down!

June 14th-QC Race for the Cure

Yup, Race for the Cure..again! This race I have two times a correct time and an incorrect time. And I'm not just saying this because one of the times is really good for me. Anyway, I wore my garmin and started it right at the starting line and stopped it right at the finish line. That time was 29.51! My "official" time according to my chip was 31.19. From what I understand the chip starts when the gun goes off and stops when you cross the line. That's the only way I can expalin the big time differences. We started SO far back in line it was crazy. We ran part of the beginning up on the sidewalk to get around the walkers, standers, strollers, wheelchairs, etc. Did I mention the standers/slow mo walkers? They were supposed to be at the back of the crowd and were obviously not.

Back to the beginning. I went with my friend, her two friends and one of their coworkers. I was going to ride with them, but I needed to come home sooner, so I followed them up there. We parked at wandered around a bit then got in line. It was SO crowded. Not as crowded as the Peoria Race for the Cure, but still up there. Like I said, after the gun went off we headed off onto the sidewalk to try and get around everyone. We passed one area and it smelled SO bad like garbage. Yuck, just what you want when you are huffin & puffin. It started thinning out and I lost my two friends (who were apparently right behind me the whole way, if only I had known!)

There were bands playing along the route, so that was cool. It was really good weather, I didn't really start to get REALLY hot until the 2nd mile. Then I was working up a good sweat. I was glad I wore a tank and not the race shirt.

I saw the finish line and started sprinting a little sooner than usual. It was different than usual. At other races I've been at there have been "officials" standing there and people cheering you on. I didn't see that here. There were people there waiting for others...I don't know, it was just different.

My friends had told me to meet them at the clock tower. I look around and cannot find a clock tower. So, I got my chip taken off, grabbed some food and kept looked. I asked someone and they told it was on the street, so I took off walking and it wasn't there. Then I thought maybe it was farther down on the river so I walked there and didn't see it either. So, I kept walking around feeling like a fool for not being able to find the stupid clock tower! I finally see one of them and they are all together standing at the finish line. We got some more food and then I headed home.

The results were up by the time I got home-I was 74 out of 270 for my age group (I should have been 58 according to my time), 305 out of 1889 for the women and 652 out of 2619 for everyone.

Oh, and I FINALLY got a shirt that fits! Yah!

Next race is at Railroad Days. It's at night and the boys are racing right before it-I better start training them, ha!

June 6th-Family House 5K

Yesterday was the Family House 5K in Peoria. It's actually for a really good cause. The family house provides a place to stay for families of people at Peoria hospitals. There were only 130 people there, which was kind of nice. I came in 6th out of my age group at 30:14, finally broke that 31 minute mark! I was panting pretty hard by the end. Usually I get at a comfortable pace and trudge along. This time I decided to push myself, and really try. I'm feeling it today, my legs are a little sore and they NEVER are!

I got there too early and picked up my race packet. With ANOTHER mis-sized shirt. Why, why do I never get the size shirt that I request? Oh well, it worked pretty well to mop off my sweaty head after the race. I sat in the car and read awhile. The sky got dark and it started downpouring. I decided that I would run it if it was still raining since I drove all that way (and I'm stubborn). The rain finally quit and then it was just kind of cloudy. The sun peaked out a bit and I was mentally willing it to go away-it was already steamy out and the sun was not going to help matters. Luckily, it stayed away during the race.

We all lined up on the wet pavement and the announcer told us to all hope it didn't start raining or that the sun wouldn't come out, lol. We took off and I started my Garmin. Man, I LOVE my garmin. I got sweaty awfully quickly so I started purposefully running through puddles to splash myself with the water. I wondered if I actually layed down in a puddle if anyone would notice. Hmmm. We looped around an area and passed the starting point. I panicked for a second thinking that we'd have to loop around again (and we had already went 2 miles) so I checked my bib and it did indeed say a 5K so I calmed down. While I was doing this a man yelled at me to keep my head up so I could breathe. Well, duh. Um, okay, calm yourself down, oh spectator annoying man.

The route cut back early and I could finally see the finish line. I checked my garmin and it said I had .1 miles left so I started sprinting. I couldn't let the old man slightly behind me beat me! I broke out sprinting and the finish line people started grinning at me. I passed the finish line and they held up their hands yelling "you're done, you're done, slow down!" I think they thought I was going to run them over. The last number I saw was 30:14, so close to my official 30:19.

I headed over to the food (may favorite part) and there was donuts, pizza, oranges, gatorade, banana bread....I loaded a plate and sat down. It was sunny then and it was HOT. I grabbed some water and headed home. I got home only 1/2 hour after the boys woke up so that was nice.

I definitely need to pick up a hat. I was kicking myself for not having one when I thought I was going to have to run in the rain. I picked up some shorts yesterday that had a key pocket. Carrying your keys while running sucks! I just had my clicker, but still.

Even though this has been hottest weather race, I had a lot of fun at this one. Maybe it was because there wasn't as many people so it was a little less intimidating. I don't know. Anyway, onto next week. Next saturday is the Quad Cities Race for the Cure. I'm going with several other people so it should be fun!

May 24th-Running Wild 5K

This race was put on by the Running Wild store in Davenport for the ARC of Rock Island (I think-I'm not even sure what the ARC is). There was a pretty good size crowd there, but not too bad. They were allowing strollers and dogs, so that was new for me. It was supposed to be 50 and partly sunny at 8, but at 6:00 this morning, it was not. So, I put on a thermal long sleeved shirt, a t-shirt and pants on. Man, was I regretting that choice about 8:15 when I was sweating! I would have been fine in shorts and a t-shirt. Oh well, live and learn.

I got there about 45 minutes before the race started and got my race packet and chip. The shirts were HUGE. Sucks, they were pretty neat, maybe it'll shrink. Then I just wandered around for a bit. It was at a Gold's Gym. Fancy schmancy. (I come from Y country, ya know).

At 8 we lined up on the street and everyone started moving. I, unfortunately, had walkers in front of me that I almost tripped over. So, I found my way out of that mess and started running. There were a couple of hills, but they weren't too bad. It was through a residential area which was nice. Fancy houses are always a good distraction.

I again waiting until I saw the finish line and sprinted. I probably should start sprinting a bit earlier, but I don't want to tire out before I cross the line! I did run the whole thing, but I don't have my chip time yet. Somewhere in the 31 minute time. I grabbed some gatorade and a couple of cookies (ok, ok, and a banana...and part of a bagel... geez! quit harassing me, I was hungry!) and headed home.

My next one is in two weeks in Peoria! MUST BREAK THE 31 MINUTE TIME! I'm shooting to be somewhere in the 30 minute time.

May 10th-Peoria Race for the Cure 5K

Holy freebies, Batman! Ok, got that out of my system. This race was HUGE. I think there were an estimated 20,000 people there. It was a little overwhelming, but in a good, inspirational way. I think only 600 people had a chip to be timed. I was in the 300's, pretty much in the middle. I came in at 31.32 chip time. I was soo excited! My pace is slowly going down!

From the beginning:

I wore pants and a t-shirt since it was supposed to be in the 50's and semi sunny. I got to the mall in Peoria at 6:45 to meet my best friend Laura. She was going to walk with me, but couldn't (understandably =) ). She was SOOO nice though, and still picked my packed up for me. She met me to give me my packet (thank you!) and she took my keys for me. It was so nice not to have to run while holding keys! I got on a bus (my first time on a city bus, wooo!) and rode over to the race site.

It was crazy at the race site. Well organized, but just a lot of people. Panera bread was there with ribbon shaped bagels, some juice place, Ford was giving away breast cancer awareness scarves, Charmin (It think) was there doing some game to win prizes and a few others. I just wandered around as I had 50 minutes to kill. I did get a scarf that I carried and a free t-shirt from the juice people. I threw that on over my other T and it was insanely big. But, I wasn't going to carry it, so on it went.

We started lining up and they told the people with chips to go towards the front. I had no idea where I was in the group. Sucks being short. Where's Brent when I need him?!? So, I inched forward as best I could. They must have waived the flag because we all started moving...slowly. It seemed like forever before I got to the start line. Really, it was only 30 seconds according to my chip/flag start time difference. I felt like a sardine packed in there. I couldn't move very fast so I knew my time was going to be slow. I got to the first mile marker and I was at 11 minutes something. Sooo not good. I kept going and got to mile two at 20 something. It started clearing out about then as some people were walking so there was more room. Last race, at this time, I started walking. I was determined to run the whole thing this time, so I trucked on.

There were a ton of people, churches, boy scouts, etc lining the streets with water, lemonade, bands singing in driveways. It was cool. During this mile, the men started catching up with us. They started 10 minutes later than the women. They sprinted by me. One guy clapped for us as he sprinted by and said "good job ladies!". It's a good thing I couldn't catch him or I might have tripped him. I know, I know, he was just being encouraging. But, seriously, I'm red faced and sweaty and I don't need you, Mr. skinny legs, to pat me on the back. I might have been getting a little tired and cranky at this point. Maybe.

I was actually feeling pretty good so I knew I'd be able to finish it by running. A woman next to me said the finish line was coming up and I said "I sure hope so!". I didn't know the area, so I had to idea where I was on the course. We came down a little hill and I saw the finish line. I saw the timer said 31 something and I HAD to get in before it hit 32 so I all get-out sprinted towards it. I don't know where that energy came from, but it worked. After I crossed the line a man asked if I wanted him to take the chip of my shoe. Uh, YEA, or I'll probably fall over on you. Duh!

I wandered over to the Cub food area and these guys wearing tuxes were handing out water and bags of food. I headed over to the bus area and almost got high on the fumes. It was awful! They finally boarded us and I got back to the mall. Laura met me again and we went to Panera for breakfast. Total yum.

I did raise $65! Thank you Sandi, Barb and Rebecca! I found out later that one of Alex's teachers saw me there but I didn't see her. I totally wished I had so I would of had someone to hang out with! I'm getting more comfortable being by myself though, so it wasn't too bad.

Next up, the Running Wild 5K in Davenport on the 24th!

May 3rd-Lake Bloomington Run 4.37 Mile

Ah, my longest distance so far! And I made it! I finished this one in 45 min & 46 seconds. My pace was better than last weekend, so that was cool. I ended up 24th out of 47 for my age group. I'm cool with that as there is no way I'll ever be a 6 minute pace girl. No freakin way. As always, I was just happy not to be the last person. I think there were close to a 1000 people there all together.

I spent the night at my sisters the night before. It was fun! I had to do my Proper Aunt Duties and rile up my nephew before bed. It looked like it was supposed to be 50 and partly sunny at 9am so I had high hopes. Saturday morning it was bright and sunny so I threw on some pants and a t-shirt. (Ok, I him-hawed around trying to decide what to wear) I almost put on shorts, thank goodness I didn't! My sister will tell you that I had every possible combination of clothes in my suitcase because of the stupid weather.

I found my way to the lake and had to park probably at least a 1/2 mile away. It was WINDY. Super windy. I walked to the race site while fighting the wind. I stood around for a bit and realized that I was going to need my hat and gloves, so I walked back to the car. This time walking into the wind. Fun. I got my hat, gloves and my fleece coat. Walked back and stood around a bit more.

The race was a "cannon" start and a chip finish. So, I was sporting a cool neoprene (I think) ankle bracelet with a chip on it. I ran the first two miles than walked some. The first mile was right by an open field and the wind was awful! After that, the course wound around by the lake some so it was pretty shielded by the trees. It was either starting to spinkle or the wind was picking up lake water. Either way, it felt good. I ran/walked most of mile 3 and ran quite a bit of the last mile. At this point the people running the 12 K started meeting up with us. And running MUCH faster than me. That's niiiiice. Once I could see the finish line I sped up. There were a TON of people there waiting. Totally not like the last two races.

After I finished I somehow got a water bottle put in my hand, but I don't really remember someone giving it to me. Eh well, I guzzled it. Then they had Avanti's catering sandwiches. I LOVE Avanti's bread. Yum! Some other stand had smoothies, also yum.

I decided to head back to my car at this point so I started the long walk back. Some guy drove by and asked if I wanted a ride, but I declined. After I got to my car I realized I had my hat on inside out and the stupid tag was flapping around in the wind. I had taken it off in the middle of the race and then put it back on towards the end when we got back into the windy part of it.

I drove back into Bloomington and headed to the Y. My friend Doug works there so he was going to bust me in so I could change. My legs were started to hurt at this point. I probably shouldn't have rode 1/2 hour in the car right after the race without walking around some more I guess. Live and learn. I went to lunch at a Mexican place with Doug and then headed home. My legs were REALLY starting to hurt then.

All in all it was a great little trip! I'll definitely try to do this again next year.

Some things I learned this weekend:

Do not try to drink water while running in gusty winds. You will end up with water blown all over your glasses like a flippin rainstorm and you'll have to start walking so you can wipe your glasses off. (Maybe you are right, Ang. Contacts would have been nice at that point!)

Totally gross but, runners don't really care about "niceties". Gotta spit, just do it. Gotta sniff, snort, etc(I'll spare you the sound effects). Just do it. Don't have matching clothes, who cares! People who wear spandex when they really shouldn't? They don't care! Me with my sweaty hat hair? Who cares! It's great!

Next week is the Peoria Race for the Cure!

April 26th-Wildlife Prairie Classic 5K

(also copied)

Well, I made it through my first 5K! The trail was interesting...mud, gravel, grass, pavement, wooden pathways, potholes, did I mention the mud? I had no freakin idea where we were by the middle of it, and I've been going to this park since grade school!

I finished in 34:02. I'll admit I didn't really push myself. I was tired and freezing so I kind of putzed along. Some parts were very narrow, only 3 people across (which I've since learned is normal for a trail run- thanks Lena!). Some people didn't want to move over to the side, that was frustrating. I wore what I did a few weeks ago, minus my thermal leggings. Thank god I brought my hat and gloves!

I got there WAY to early. Packet pick up was 6:30-7:15 and the race was at 8. I had no idea how busy it would be, so I went super early. It took no time at all, so I had over an hour to waste. Good thing I brought a good book along! Got the T-shirt, in the wrong size, and an awesome breakfast afterwards. I was starving...and there were donuts! How cool is that! And I snagged some bananas and a granola bar for the ride home.

Next weekend is a 4.37 mile race. But, my friend is taking me for mexican afterwards, so that'll be motivating. I'm spending the night at my sister's the night before, so I'm looking forward to that! I'm going to continue with my "night before the race" pizza tradition. (Hey, it seems to working well so far)

Note for next year: recruit people to race with me. Racing by yourself sucks. Not the actually racing part, the the before and after parts. Standing around by yourself is b o r i n g. I need some motivation to keep me going-though the donuts worked pretty good, a friend would be nice too.

April 12th-Sandburg 2 mile

(Copied from somewhere else)

I made it!!

The race was at 9, but we got there at 8:15 to check in. It took all of 2 minutes, so we had a long time to sit and wait. It was 38, sprinking and windy. Could have been worse. I wore thermal pants and a top, track pants, a short sleeved T and a fleece coat, a hat and gloves. I took the gloves off by the end and wished I could have taken my coat off, but my number was on it. Started out fine, then a small hill, then a big hill. The one mile turn around point was at the top of the hill. I walked a bit up the hill. My time at 1 mile was 10:25. I was shocked!

I took a few more walk breaks on the way back (mainly because I had a killer side cramp). There was a guy with a bullhorn towards the finish line and was yelling at me, "it's time to sprint, you're almost there". (I wanted to kick him) So, I started running like a mad woman to get in under the the next minute. Now, this sounds dumb, but I cannot remember if it was 21 or 22 minutes I think I made it right under the 21 minute. My friend, Barb, finished shortly behind me so I waited for her. It was her first race as well. Her husband came out and took pictures of us. I'm sure we were looking sexy.

We didn't stick around for awards because I needed to get the boys from my mom and I figured there wasn't really a need. I had no reason to think I would win anything. I go to the Y with the boys for Healthy Kids Day and a coworker who was also at the race comes up to me and says "I told you guys you should have stayed!". Turns out I won 1st place in my age group and so did my friend! We both got trophies!!!!! She got them for us and gave them to me at the Y. I had a perma-smile on my face and probably looked like an idiot, but I was so excited!
_________________

Ok, the results are up and and my time was 20:54. There were only a few of us in my age group so it wasn't a huge victory, but I'll still take it.

The who and why

I wanted to start a journal of sorts to document my first year of running races. If you know me at all, you know that I'm not usually a runner. I detested the mile run in high school. Actually, I detested every one of the "President's Fitness Test" events. (Perhaps because my sister could hang with her chin above the stupid chin up bar for an hour and I could hang, oh, all of 2 seconds...or perhaps not.) Anyway, who would have thought I'd end up here!?

In February I decided to start running. I was super close to my weight loss goal (62 lbs)and thought this might kick it up a notch. I started doing the Couch 2 5K running plan. That first week I had to run 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of walking. That about killed me! I reached my WL goal, and a few extra, in a few weeks and 12 weeks later I'm a true believer in the program. I still continue to run at 5:30am 3 days a week-some days I run more than others.

My official fun reason for running this year is to see how many shirts I can collect. Eventually, I'd like to make a quilt out of them. I've been challenged to collect 7 this year and I think I can pass that. You know me, if I'm going to do something, I'm going to go all the way.

I have several races planned this year. I've finished 2 so far and I'm still living to tell about it. My knees, on the other hand, are protesting a bit but I'm choosing to ignore them. =)