June 8, 2013
Okay, I realize I've got two posts marked with the same date. With the first post I just wanted to post that I had run the 5k and I was MUCH too tired to give the details. In this post I will talk about the run and give the details.
Before we go any further I would like to just throw out there that if you have not run one of these, DO IT! It is loads of fun. There, having said that, got that out of the way, let's talk about it!
This was not a race so I won't call it a race. This was a 5k run and the whole point of it was to have fun. It was held in my home town so this trip up was a good excuse to see one of my besties too. I got to town around noon and we spent the early afternoon taking pictures of my new inventory to post on my website. (I sell $5 jewelry and accessories; if you want to check that out, go to www.facebook.com/PaparazziByKarley or www.paparazzibykarley.weebly.com.) Around three o'clock I left to go pick up my run packet. The run was being held at a park that had been built near the neighborhood I grew up in. When I got to the park the parking lot was full but I lucked out and found a spot that someone must have just left. :-) The lines for packet pick up were long and it was chilly. I was a little concerned that I hadn't brought warmer running clothes. Then again, running warms you up so I guess it wouldn't have mattered if was chilly as long as it wasn't cold. While in line I chatted with the people around me. The woman behind me was with her daughter. Her daughter is a morning runner and the woman was a burn victim. She had lost several siblings to a fire. She didn't say but I assumed it was the fire that she survived. She had made T-shirts to support burn victims. The organizers of the race were donating to the Memorial Regional Burn Center. We chatted while we waited in line to pick up packets. The wait wasn't THAT bad although I've seen people complaining on the website that the wait was too long. Maybe I'm just naturally patient? Yeah, right....NOT! LOL!!!! Once you got up to the table it was quick and easy, although I do want to point out to the people who made the signs for packet pick up that N comes after M. The signs were labeled A - G, H - N, M - Z. HELLO!!!! Someone needs to go back to school! Anyway, packet pick up was a cinch except for parking and waiting in line. They gave me a T-shirt, a racing bib and a baggie full of pink powder. I wasn't sure if I was meant to start my colorizing early or what but I decided to save it and take it home to let my kids play with it.
My bestie and I had planned on having an early dinner and settling in early but packet pick up took longer than I expected then I had to run to WalMart and pick up a pair of jeans. I had set a pair out to put in my bag but somehow between setting them out and leaving they didn't make it into my bag. So dinner ended up a little later than we had planned. We have two traditions when I visit. We go out for Mexican the night I get there and one morning of my visit we go to IHOP. We have a regular restaurant that we patronize when I come to town. So one order steak fajitas and a strawberry margarita for me and an order of Texas fajitas, a raspberry ice tea, and a peach daquari for my bestie and a shared order of fried ice cream later we headed out to Verizon to have my phone checked out. It's been acting up. It intermittently works and sometimes it won't send/receive texts and then sometimes it says "No mobile network available". Oliver at Verizon said it was the SIM card and gave me a new one. The phone started working again then went back to its old tricks. Don't know what the problem is. I'm going to have to have it looked at again. Anyway....we made some stops, went back to my besties house, hung out then got to bed early. Well, she did anyway. I couldn't sleep so I stayed up and read until 12:30. That was okay though because the run didn't start until 11:00 and I didn't need to be there until 10:00.
Saturday was a bright sun shiny day and it was warm. I was up around 8:00, messed around on the computer and read some more, my bestie was still sleeping, and around 9:00 started getting ready for the run. The odd thing about 5k's is that most of the ones I run aren't really about racing. This is the fourth one I've run and of all of them only one was about racing. So, it seemed really odd that I had a kind of nervousness about me. I went over all my gear: white shirt, check...light colored shorts, check...sport bra, check...iPod charged, check...racing bib, check...shoes & racing socks, check...Garmin, check...water bottle filled half way the previous night and put in freezer, check! I was ready....oh, no, I wasn't! I had forgotten to bring safety pins for the racing bib and I had forgotten to pick some up while I was at WalMart the night before, and I had been there twice the day before! DOH! Luckily I had one from the strap of the cami I wore the day before and my bestie found three others. I was set.
Now, before I go any further, I want to explain something about my bestie. She has a hard time leaving the house in certain situations. For instance, going out to dinner the night before was okay because of the time we went and the restaurant we went to. As I said before it's a tradition and a place she's extremely familiar with and on top of that, it's usually not too crowded so it was easier for her to go. However, this race was a different story. I believe the count of people that were there was at least 3,000 and while I was running my bestie would've had to have been standing alone amidst all the others who were milling about. That would've been too much for her. She said she probably could have done it if she would've had someone to be with her but no one was available. So, for the first time ever I was alone. I've always run alone so that didn't bother me and it didn't bother me that my bestie couldn't go with me. It did bother me to be alone though. All around me everyone had someone with them. Everyone was having fun and enjoying the festivities but I was alone and there was no one to take pictures with, and believe me, if you do a color run of any kind you are going to want to take pictures, and there was no one to visit with while waiting for the run to start. I got there around 10:15. My sister's friend lives in the neighborhood that the run course went through and she graciously allowed me to park in her drive way. Thank you very much, Melissa! Her house was about half the distance of the run so I got a warm up walk in before I ran which I found very nice.
Upon arriving the first thing I had to do was find the bathrooms. I had only had a handful of chocolate almonds to eat so I wasn't heavy and I didn't have to GO TO THE BATHROOM, if you know what I mean, but I did need to pee and I figured if I was going to run I needed to run on an empty bladder or I would be stopping at Melissa's house to use the bathroom and that would cut into my time, LOL!!! Unfortunately, there were no bathrooms but there was a line of lovely Port-A-Potties. I know most of us have had the wonderful experience of the Port-A-Pottie but for those select few who have not.....Port-A-Potties are DISGUSTING! And for those who have had the experience let me reiterate, Port-A-Potties are DISGUSTING!!!!! Also there was no where to wash my hands when I was done. Yuck! So...after waiting in line (again) for the bathroom, I was quick because the potty I was in looked like someone else had some pre-run nerves and they weren't so lucky as me! GROSS!!!!
After using the potty I wandered around for a little bit taking in the scene. Almost everyone was wearing a white shirt. Some were wearing the shirts they provided; others were wearing their own shirts. I made a shirt to wear myself. I wanted to show off my Paparazzi bling so a friend of mine made me a shirt. Thanks, Melanie! Some people were wearing tutus. I don't understand that. Not sure how they could move comfortably in those itchy net skirts in that heat but I'm pretty sure none of the tutu wearers were running. I wandered around for a while to kill time. I thought a couple of friends were supposed to be there so I was sort of looking for them but given the crowd it's no surprise that I didn't find anyone I knew. After wandering aimlessly for a bit; I was hoping I wasn't looking too much like a loser who didn't have any friends, I decided to walk with a purpose and to find a place to do some stretching. It looked like people were lining up on the side walks so I meandered that way, picked a spot and started loosening up and doing some stretching. It was still pretty early but it turns out the lines were actually lines for the starting line so I picked a spot and stayed there. They played some dance music (step to the right...one hop this time....everybody clap your hands) and people were dancing and having fun while waiting for the run to start. Finally eleven o'clock came and it was time to start the run. The sidewalk made a circle with the Starting line at the top of the circle and I had somehow chosen a spot that was at the bottom of the circle. However, people were heading to the Starting line from both side of the circle so I being in the middle, I picked a side and waited. I picked the wrong side. The run started at 11:00. At 11:17 some of the first people, the fast ones, were already crossing the finish line and I was still waiting. While waiting I chatted with people in line with me. We were amazed that we were still waiting and people were already coming in. Long story short....I know, too late....I didn't get out on the course until 11:40, a full forty minutes after the race was supposed to start. AND the other line of the circle was already on the course by the time I even got close to the Starting line. Go figure! LOL! The really sucky thing was that me and the two ladies in front of me I was chatting with had FINALLY gotten to the Starting line and they cut us off into the next group. We had to wait another ten minutes before we could go out on the course. It was pretty warm too.
At 11:40 I finally got to head out onto the course. The first part of the course was fairly easy. The whole course was sidewalk, except when you needed to pass a group of people that was going slower than you. Then you had to go around on the grass which I really don't care for. But, as I said, the first part of the course was easy. I had good strong music blaring in my ears and I was in the zone. Unfortunately, I started the run out too fast and I think I wore myself out. There was a hill about a quarter of a mile in. It wasn't too bad though. Nothing I couldn't handle and it was the only hill in the whole course. But as I said, I started out too fast. I believe I was running at a pace of 9:56 which is too fast for me. I ran a full two miles but I just couldn't go any more. My body was tired and I was hurting. My legs were aching and my muscles were tired. I had to walk. I walked maybe about half a mile of the whole run. However, I was determined to finish the run running so I took off toward the end and I ran the finish.
As I said in a previous blog, I looked over the course to familiarize myself with it before I ran it and there was only one water station. We did run through the area twice so if need be there was another opportunity for water, but it was about a half mile from the finish so I decided that the best way to handle this run was to carry water. I found a bottle that you don't have to unscrew to open at WalMart that was only $1.50 filled it about half way full and put it in the freezer the night before. Right before I left the house I took it out of the freezer and filled it with cold water. The plan was that the ice would cool the water I put in the bottle and melt throughout the run, keep the water cool and keep the bottle replenished throughout the run. Unfortunately, we had to wait so long to start that the ice was melted before we were even close to the Starting line. However, warm water is better than no water so I wasn't complaining. I got pretty hot while running so it was good to have the water to squirt over me too. I only did that twice. I didn't want to run out of water to drink! This worked out pretty well. While I didn't much care for having something in my hand while I was running, I did like having water handy. I'm going to have to think about this. Having water handy is nice.
Now, on to a few comments about the run. There were at least 3,000 people at this event. That's a LOT of people. I want to say that I have never been in the presence of that many people where I didn't see a child throwing a temper tantrum, a teenager being sullen and buttheaded or people behaving badly. I did not see one person acting mean, nasty, gross, selfish or bad in any way. I will even go so far as to say that I did not even see one baby cry! And that's the truth! Everyone at this event was having a good time. It was truly a joy to see. While there was whooping and hollering, there was no unruly screaming and I didn't see one person dressed vulgar. I did see a girl in a wig with rainbow hair but that was just unattractive, not vulgar, LOL!!! It was truly an enjoyable event. People were throwing powder on each other; no one got angry with anyone for throwing powder on them and there was a bit of that going on. There was a guy who had a bag of purple powder who was walking through the crowd throwing powder on people before the run started. He got me with a tiny bit of it but I didn't care. That was what the run was all about! So, a well behaved group of people and it was nice.
While we were waiting for the run to start there was a guy who had a tank of the powder mixed with water, kind of like the tanks that exterminators use for their bug killer gunk, and he was spraying us as we got closer to the Starting line. That was fun. There were two "Color Stations" in the run as well. The first was just shortly after we got on the course. There were several people sitting on the side of the sidewalk with boxes of the powder and they were throwing it on everyone. I didn't expect that. I guess I expected something more like the tanks and having people being squirted. At any rate, you ran by the people and they threw the powder on you. If you wanted both sides colorfied you had to go on both sides of the sidewalk. That would've been pretty hard to do since there were so many people on the course at the same time. However, despite there being only two color stations and it being a little difficult to get to both sides at each station, I did get pretty colorfied.
All in all, this run was a ton of fun. I will say it again: If you get a chance to do one of these runs, DO IT! It's worth the training and the entrant fee. A few words of advice if you plan to do one: 1) Wear white. Wear as much white as you possibly can, white shirt, white shorts, white socks, white shoes....wear WHITE! 2) Wear sunglasses or some sort of eye protection. The powder got in my eyes and was yucky. 3) When you go through the color stations, put your shirt over your nose. The powder makes a big cloud and it's kind of yucky to breathe in, especially if you are running. Bring a handkerchief or put your shirt over your nose or something. 4) Don't run this alone. This would've been soooooooooooooo much more fun if I'd had at least one friend to run it with me. You really need someone along to take pictures with, goof off with and just have a great time with. 5) Don't take this run seriously. I don't mean, don't take your running seriously, for me the goal is always to run a full 5k and not have to walk and to put up my best effort and best time that I can. What I mean is this is an event that is all about having fun and goofing off. That's the whole point of this run so don't get bent when people are walking or dancing or goofing off on the course. That's the whole point of the run. 7) Don't take anything with you that you will be upset if it gets dirty. This run is messy. Put your cell phone in a baggie or some kind of running belt or whatever. Put your iPod in an arm band and keep it covered. Things get messy really quick. (I didn't even take my cell phone with me and left my keys at my car keys at my sister's friend's house for her to keep safe for me.) 8) Finally, have fun!!!!!! Dress up if you want to. Decorate your shirt if you want to. Be goofy but have lots of fun because that's what this type of run is about!
Now for the numbers! As I said, I had to walk some of this. It was hot and I'm out of shape AND I started out too fast. I ran 3.14 miles and my time was 38:24; my running site says my average pace was 12:14. That's a little slower than my pace on The Mill, but I did start out faster and ended up having to walk so this is an average of all the paces I ran through the whole thing.
Overall I'm satisfied with this run. Deep down I knew I was more likely than not going to end up walking some of this, especially since it was in the middle of the day and it was hot. I'm glad I wasn't hard on myself about this run. I am glad I could realize this wasn't about putting up my best time and that it was about having fun. I wish I would've had someone to enjoy this with. Next time I will make sure I have someone to go with me even if I don't have a running partner. Incidentally, I've never had a running partner to start with so that's not even really the issue. I just wish I would've had someone with me to talk with and enjoy the event with. All in all it was a good time!
Finally, there is still one week left to donate to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure! Please help with this worthy cause. I've heard a rumor that this is the last year they are doing this run because they can't get enough donations. I don't know how true that is and I haven't researched it at all so it could be just a bunch of bunk but if it IS true, please, don't let that happen. Donate today! Here's the link: http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
Happy Running!
KEA
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Color Blaze!!!!
June 8, 2013
Ran the Color Blaze 5k today!!! It was fun. Will blog more about it later. I'm just too exhausted; wanted to get it recorded though.
Happy Running!
KEA
Ran the Color Blaze 5k today!!! It was fun. Will blog more about it later. I'm just too exhausted; wanted to get it recorded though.
Happy Running!
KEA
Thursday, June 6, 2013
I'd Rather Be Running
June 6, 2013
Got up early today. I had a friend coming over to talk to me and visit while I work on get the house organized and packed. Had to get a run in before she got here. Seriously debated running on the street this morning. It was early and it was really nice out. However, I decided not to for reasons I'm not going to mention.
This run was hard today. I ran a full 5k distance. Only a couple of days left until the run. I can't slack off now. So I had to run the full distance. It was hard today. I was tired and I really don't know why. I ran a mile and a half then stopped for a drink. After that it got really hard. My mind tricks didn't seem to be working today. I struggled to keep myself distracted. I made it through though.
Today's run was uneventful even though it was hard. There's not much to say about it but I wanted to document it.
Here's the details: I ran 3.166 miles @ MPH for a pace of 12:00. It took 38 minutes.
Not much to say. I was tired and I was glad it was over. Short sweet and to the point. Off to the prepare for the run tomorrow!
Happy Running!
KEA
Got up early today. I had a friend coming over to talk to me and visit while I work on get the house organized and packed. Had to get a run in before she got here. Seriously debated running on the street this morning. It was early and it was really nice out. However, I decided not to for reasons I'm not going to mention.
This run was hard today. I ran a full 5k distance. Only a couple of days left until the run. I can't slack off now. So I had to run the full distance. It was hard today. I was tired and I really don't know why. I ran a mile and a half then stopped for a drink. After that it got really hard. My mind tricks didn't seem to be working today. I struggled to keep myself distracted. I made it through though.
Today's run was uneventful even though it was hard. There's not much to say about it but I wanted to document it.
Here's the details: I ran 3.166 miles @ MPH for a pace of 12:00. It took 38 minutes.
Not much to say. I was tired and I was glad it was over. Short sweet and to the point. Off to the prepare for the run tomorrow!
Happy Running!
KEA
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Death By Treadmill? Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!
June 4, 2013
Today started the final week for training for this weekend's 5k. I didn't start yesterday like I intended to because I had my granddaughter. Unfortunately, our van is broken down and with my husband having the other car for work I'm kind of stranded until we can buy a new vehicle. Unfortunately, we can't do that until after closing on the new house in a couple of weeks. So, being without a vehicle prevented me from taking my precious baby home and I had to rely on her father to come get her. He came around 1:00 in the afternoon and while I was grateful for the extra time with her (I'm not going to be able to see her as much since we're moving almost four hours away, uber sadness) it didn't leave a lot of time for a run. Especially when I had many other things to accomplish in the day...none of which got accomplished since I took a nap when she left and ended up sleeping WAY too long. So here we are, cutting it close again with training. That stinks. I had really intended to be in better shape by the time this 5k came around but it is what it is and I'll get through it one way or another.
Really considered running outside today but since I've not run a full 5k distance I wanted to do that and I knew if I ran outside I wouldn't get that accomplished. Outside has hills....treadmill doesn't. So The Mill won out today. On the up side, I got a new pair of shoes. This 5k on Saturday is a Color Blaze and they recommended that you wear as much white as possible. I don't have any white shoes and quite frankly this looked like a good opportunity to buy a new pair of shoes. I am, after a woman, and any excuse to buy a pair of shoes is a good excuse, yeah? Yeah. So I searched for a pair of white running shoes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a pair of completely white shoes so I had to settle for as close as I could come. My new shoes are Addidas Marathon 10W's. YAY!!!! LOVE that style!!! They are a kind of grey with black stripes on the side. They've got a cool animal type print on the bottom and the laces are turquoise.
NEW SHOES!!!!
Even though these aren't shoes for The Mill I wore them today anyway. I wanted to see how they fit to see if I was satisfied with them. Am I satisfied? Oh, yes, I am. LOVE me some Addidas; LOVE me some Marathon 10W's! I am partial to my pink and black shoes but these will be good as a back up street pair. Guess I need to invest in a pair of back up Mill pair. A girl can NEVER have too many pairs of shoes!
So.....now that we've discussed fashion footwear for running, let's discuss running! Today's run wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was tired when I finished but at least I accomplished my goal. Today my goal was to run a full 5k distance. Up until today I haven't done that since I ran my last 5k in October I think it was. I can tell you that I do believe this 5k is going to be hard. I call it a 5k because it is a Color Blaze and it's not about racing or time or being fast; it's about having a butt load of fun and that's what I intend to do. But, I do want to be able to run the full distance and not have to walk. I'm not sure that's going to happen but there's still the rest of this week to train so we shall see what happens.
Okay, so I got on The Mill and the first thing that happens is my son decides that he wants to go outside and play in the hose with his sister and her friend. I know I bought him some new swimming trunks but in the process of cleaning up the house we put them somewhere and I couldn't remember where. So I had to stop my run and go on the hunt. I didn't find them. (Incidentally, they were in his drawer where I'd told him to put them when we were cleaning up. Go figure!) I gave him a pair of my running shorts and told him to wear unders underneath them and have fun. He might just be mortified if he finds out I posted this on the web so let's just keep that between us runners, shall we? No harm done....besides, the running shorts I gave him weren't girly; they didn't have any pink on them anywhere! So there! Got back on The Mill. Started up again. Next thing that happens is Micah, the curious kitty, starts eyeing The Mill and my busy feet. Two weeks ago, Micah had a visit to the vet and got spayed. She's been quite docile and less feisty, bitey since she's been back but she is still a kitten and she still likes to play. Her eyeing The Mill made me very uncomfortable and since we've lost one cat recently (RIP, Nibbles, we love you!) I'm not ready to lose another anytime soon. So I reluctantly but with good cause got off The Mill and carried Micah to the bedroom, giving her lots of kitty love in the form and pets on the head and of course kitty baby talk and shut her in my room for the duration of my run.
While reviewing the course of the 5k I noticed that I only saw one water station on the course of the map for Saturday's 5k. Insert digression here: I think that's just crazy. The run is scheduled to start at 11:00. Now I haven't checked the weather or anything but isn't that supposed to be the time of day when the weather tends to heat up? Having only one water station seems a bit not terribly smart to me. Just sayin'. Back on topic now: However, having noticed that there is only one water station on the run course I decided to start training myself to be prepared for that. To begin to prepare for this situation I only stopped to take a drink at 1.5 miles today. This made me a very unhappy camper. I prefer to be better hydrated. I think I will get one of those hand held water bottles. The kind with the band that goes over your hand so you can grip it. I think that will help me keep up my pace although I'm not completely hopeful. It depends on whether there are any hills on the course. Please no hills, thank you very much! I will check out the course Friday, maybe even run it Friday evening. We'll see. So, as I was saying, I tried to start training myself to only have one water break in my running. I didn't much like it.
Today I used the half mile mind trick. I started out with my run and I know it takes me six minutes to run half a mile. So, I did a six minute countdown to keep myself going. Six minutes......five minutes.....four minutes......three minutes.......two minutes.....one minute.......then start over again. It may not seem like it but it really works. It's like housework. If you break your chores down into manageable pieces you are more apt to get it finished. If you try to tackle it in one fell swoop, you become overwhelmed and just give up. At least I do. I have to break things down, especially when I'm on The Mill. I don't seem to have to do that on the street. I think it's because I am moving, going toward a goal. It's like you can see the progress as you are moving. On The Mill I'm just running in place, looking at the sconces on the wall and while my sconces are lovely it is boring to look at them for 37+ minutes, feeling the pain and boredom of being cooped up in the corner of the living....which reminds me, where the devil am I going to put The Mill in my new house? Holy cow! There's no room for it! It's going to have to go in the garage! That's going to be hot in the summer! Oh, I digressed....back to today's run. The six minute mind trick worked really well today. I was able to complete my run and actually felt pretty good. On my running website I only gave my run a straight face instead of a full smiley though because I was tired when I was done. I was also dripping with sweat, but then, that's how I like it. It makes me feel like I've worked hard. I must have because The Mill says I burned 502 calories. GO ME!
Here's the details: I ran 3.12 miles @ 5.0 MPH. That's a pace of 12:00 although my running website says it's 12:10. I'm going with The Mill, the website wasn't there; The Mill was, LOL! It took 38 minutes to finish.
I'm quite content with today's run. I know I can run a 5k distance and that was the goal for today. It's always nice to accomplish one's goals. Now that we've marked "Get a Run In" off our list of things to do today, let's move on to the next item on our list.....clean cat litter boxes. GROSS! Maybe we'll put that off until tomorrow. It's getting late and I'm pretty hungry. I've only had a handful of dark chocolate almonds today and those are NOT my favorite snack! Who's for walking to the Chinese restaurant and having some honey chicken?
Remember there is still time to donate/sponsor me in the Susan G. Komen 5k Race for the Cure! That run is scheduled for June 15th and you can donate up to the day before the race. Please, help women who can't afford health care and donate to this worthy cause. Here's the link, just copy and paste it into your browser: http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
Happy Running!
KEA
Today started the final week for training for this weekend's 5k. I didn't start yesterday like I intended to because I had my granddaughter. Unfortunately, our van is broken down and with my husband having the other car for work I'm kind of stranded until we can buy a new vehicle. Unfortunately, we can't do that until after closing on the new house in a couple of weeks. So, being without a vehicle prevented me from taking my precious baby home and I had to rely on her father to come get her. He came around 1:00 in the afternoon and while I was grateful for the extra time with her (I'm not going to be able to see her as much since we're moving almost four hours away, uber sadness) it didn't leave a lot of time for a run. Especially when I had many other things to accomplish in the day...none of which got accomplished since I took a nap when she left and ended up sleeping WAY too long. So here we are, cutting it close again with training. That stinks. I had really intended to be in better shape by the time this 5k came around but it is what it is and I'll get through it one way or another.
Really considered running outside today but since I've not run a full 5k distance I wanted to do that and I knew if I ran outside I wouldn't get that accomplished. Outside has hills....treadmill doesn't. So The Mill won out today. On the up side, I got a new pair of shoes. This 5k on Saturday is a Color Blaze and they recommended that you wear as much white as possible. I don't have any white shoes and quite frankly this looked like a good opportunity to buy a new pair of shoes. I am, after a woman, and any excuse to buy a pair of shoes is a good excuse, yeah? Yeah. So I searched for a pair of white running shoes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a pair of completely white shoes so I had to settle for as close as I could come. My new shoes are Addidas Marathon 10W's. YAY!!!! LOVE that style!!! They are a kind of grey with black stripes on the side. They've got a cool animal type print on the bottom and the laces are turquoise.
NEW SHOES!!!!
Even though these aren't shoes for The Mill I wore them today anyway. I wanted to see how they fit to see if I was satisfied with them. Am I satisfied? Oh, yes, I am. LOVE me some Addidas; LOVE me some Marathon 10W's! I am partial to my pink and black shoes but these will be good as a back up street pair. Guess I need to invest in a pair of back up Mill pair. A girl can NEVER have too many pairs of shoes!
So.....now that we've discussed fashion footwear for running, let's discuss running! Today's run wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was tired when I finished but at least I accomplished my goal. Today my goal was to run a full 5k distance. Up until today I haven't done that since I ran my last 5k in October I think it was. I can tell you that I do believe this 5k is going to be hard. I call it a 5k because it is a Color Blaze and it's not about racing or time or being fast; it's about having a butt load of fun and that's what I intend to do. But, I do want to be able to run the full distance and not have to walk. I'm not sure that's going to happen but there's still the rest of this week to train so we shall see what happens.
Okay, so I got on The Mill and the first thing that happens is my son decides that he wants to go outside and play in the hose with his sister and her friend. I know I bought him some new swimming trunks but in the process of cleaning up the house we put them somewhere and I couldn't remember where. So I had to stop my run and go on the hunt. I didn't find them. (Incidentally, they were in his drawer where I'd told him to put them when we were cleaning up. Go figure!) I gave him a pair of my running shorts and told him to wear unders underneath them and have fun. He might just be mortified if he finds out I posted this on the web so let's just keep that between us runners, shall we? No harm done....besides, the running shorts I gave him weren't girly; they didn't have any pink on them anywhere! So there! Got back on The Mill. Started up again. Next thing that happens is Micah, the curious kitty, starts eyeing The Mill and my busy feet. Two weeks ago, Micah had a visit to the vet and got spayed. She's been quite docile and less feisty, bitey since she's been back but she is still a kitten and she still likes to play. Her eyeing The Mill made me very uncomfortable and since we've lost one cat recently (RIP, Nibbles, we love you!) I'm not ready to lose another anytime soon. So I reluctantly but with good cause got off The Mill and carried Micah to the bedroom, giving her lots of kitty love in the form and pets on the head and of course kitty baby talk and shut her in my room for the duration of my run.
While reviewing the course of the 5k I noticed that I only saw one water station on the course of the map for Saturday's 5k. Insert digression here: I think that's just crazy. The run is scheduled to start at 11:00. Now I haven't checked the weather or anything but isn't that supposed to be the time of day when the weather tends to heat up? Having only one water station seems a bit not terribly smart to me. Just sayin'. Back on topic now: However, having noticed that there is only one water station on the run course I decided to start training myself to be prepared for that. To begin to prepare for this situation I only stopped to take a drink at 1.5 miles today. This made me a very unhappy camper. I prefer to be better hydrated. I think I will get one of those hand held water bottles. The kind with the band that goes over your hand so you can grip it. I think that will help me keep up my pace although I'm not completely hopeful. It depends on whether there are any hills on the course. Please no hills, thank you very much! I will check out the course Friday, maybe even run it Friday evening. We'll see. So, as I was saying, I tried to start training myself to only have one water break in my running. I didn't much like it.
Today I used the half mile mind trick. I started out with my run and I know it takes me six minutes to run half a mile. So, I did a six minute countdown to keep myself going. Six minutes......five minutes.....four minutes......three minutes.......two minutes.....one minute.......then start over again. It may not seem like it but it really works. It's like housework. If you break your chores down into manageable pieces you are more apt to get it finished. If you try to tackle it in one fell swoop, you become overwhelmed and just give up. At least I do. I have to break things down, especially when I'm on The Mill. I don't seem to have to do that on the street. I think it's because I am moving, going toward a goal. It's like you can see the progress as you are moving. On The Mill I'm just running in place, looking at the sconces on the wall and while my sconces are lovely it is boring to look at them for 37+ minutes, feeling the pain and boredom of being cooped up in the corner of the living....which reminds me, where the devil am I going to put The Mill in my new house? Holy cow! There's no room for it! It's going to have to go in the garage! That's going to be hot in the summer! Oh, I digressed....back to today's run. The six minute mind trick worked really well today. I was able to complete my run and actually felt pretty good. On my running website I only gave my run a straight face instead of a full smiley though because I was tired when I was done. I was also dripping with sweat, but then, that's how I like it. It makes me feel like I've worked hard. I must have because The Mill says I burned 502 calories. GO ME!
Here's the details: I ran 3.12 miles @ 5.0 MPH. That's a pace of 12:00 although my running website says it's 12:10. I'm going with The Mill, the website wasn't there; The Mill was, LOL! It took 38 minutes to finish.
I'm quite content with today's run. I know I can run a 5k distance and that was the goal for today. It's always nice to accomplish one's goals. Now that we've marked "Get a Run In" off our list of things to do today, let's move on to the next item on our list.....clean cat litter boxes. GROSS! Maybe we'll put that off until tomorrow. It's getting late and I'm pretty hungry. I've only had a handful of dark chocolate almonds today and those are NOT my favorite snack! Who's for walking to the Chinese restaurant and having some honey chicken?
Remember there is still time to donate/sponsor me in the Susan G. Komen 5k Race for the Cure! That run is scheduled for June 15th and you can donate up to the day before the race. Please, help women who can't afford health care and donate to this worthy cause. Here's the link, just copy and paste it into your browser: http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
Happy Running!
KEA
Thursday, May 30, 2013
And don't forget....
There's still time to donate to the Susan G. Komen!!!
Here's the link:
http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
All you have to do is copy and paste this into your browser thingy up top!
Here's the link:
http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
All you have to do is copy and paste this into your browser thingy up top!
It's Fun to Run at the Y.M.C.A!!!!
May 28, 2013
We are in the process of buying a house and moving. It's been somewhat of a slight nightmare because we are moving to another state so we had to go to the new state, look for a house, make a decision and put an offer in all in one weekend. That was a few weeks ago. Our offer was accepted and we are now in the process of buying the house. It's tricky though because I'm still in the old state so when something is going on with the house I have to make arrangements to go be there. It's been a rough few weeks. But the end is in sight and we are happy about that.
I was at the new house for the home inspection and planned on staying a couple of days. I'm still in training for the 5k's....they are coming up FAST and I needed to go run. My husband said that where we were staying wasn't really a good place to run on the street and suggested I go to the YMCA. Now, I don't know about any of you, faithfully readers, but I myself remember the YMCA in a very different way than what I experienced when I walked through the door at the local YMCA in the town we are going to live in. If I could use one word to describe this YMCA, it would be PLUSH! Holy cow!!!! Times have certainly changed since the Village People wrote their song!!!! The YMCA I remember was a concrete building with little or no decoration. The YMCA I remember was a very institutional looking building with posters offering various anthems of advice or advertising one class or another, certainly not very pretty. The YMCA I walked into Tuesday was a plush (yes, there's that word again), comfortable building. There was a circular desk with two young ladies sitting at it. They were dressed in khakis and YMCA oxford shirts. Both were pleasant young girls who were nice and eager to help. Off to the side of the service desk was a cozy little area with coffee pots and a sitting area. How nice! I don't recall THAT being in the YMCA I remember! The facility was very clean and didn't smell funny....you know the smell I'm talking about - old gym shoes, mixed with chlorine, mixed with sweat, mixed with old building. This building was nice. Behind the service desk was the indoor pool. It was the one used for swimming laps. There was also a whirlpool in there and a wading pool as well. To the side of that was the entrance to the outdoor pool. It was bright and sunny and good times were being had by all out there! It was all so clean, clean, clean and it looked new, new, new!!! It was a very nice facility.
It only cost me $10 for the day and it was good for all day. I wish I'd known that sooner; I would've brought my swim suit and sat by the pool some. But I was a woman on a mission and not to be deterred. I was already behind in my scheduled and had to put my run off until later in the day so I didn't get my run in until almost three o'clock. That wasn't my intention when I started my day. However, life and obligations intervened and I was forced to rearrange my schedule. Oh well. It worked out in the end. Okay, so all I had to do was fill out my address and give them a copy of my driver's license and $10 and I could use the facilities for the whole day. I think that was a pretty good deal if you're only going to be using the facilities once in a while. I didn't price a membership so I can't comment on whether it's a good deal to join the Y or not. I will go back and do that. If it is a good deal I might be getting rid of the old 'Mill and running at the Y....or maybe not. More on that in a minute. So anyway, as I said, $10 gets you the use of the whole facility (don't know if that included the outdoor pool or not. I should've asked). So I paid my $10 and entered the exercise room.
The exercise room was a bit small but they offered personal trainers which I thought was kind of cool. Don't know how much it was for a personal trainer but the girl at the desk told me they were offering a training class to help people prepare for a 5k at 6:00 on Wednesday. I wish I could've attended that but I had to leave on Wednesday to come back home. That would've only been $10 too! How cool is that? Anyway, so the workout room was a bit small. They had about three rows of treadmills and I swear these things were HUGE!!!! I was quite intimidated when I stepped onto the one I chose. It had a huge computer screen and I just stared at it for a minute before I could started pushing buttons....did I say buttons? Oh, the "buttons" were on the screen. I went through a little tutorial that didn't help me much and to be honest, I was a little stumped on how to get the silly thing started! See, there's something to be said for my old 'Mill at home! So I finally pushed the "Quick Start" button and had to push the speed button several times to get it up to 5.0 MPH. My 'Mill at home has a button that says "Start" and a button 5.0 MPH. Actually it has buttons for 2.0 MPH, 3.0 MPH, 4.0 MPH 5.0 MPH and so on. If you want anything in between, you have to push the up arrow. Not to hard to figure out how to work MY 'Mill. I was a bit stumped on how to work the technological thing of beauty at the Y! After a few minutes of running I knew something wasn't right because the numbers on the screen weren't matching what I am used to at home. I pushed the speed button up to 5.0 MPH but I KNOW I wasn't running at that speed. It takes me 6 minutes to run .0 mile at 5.0 MPH....but six minutes I hadn't even run a half mile! And I could tell I wasn't running as fast as I normally run. I felt like I was powering the treadmill and it was requiring me to make it go. It felt like hard work and I didn't like the feel of the treadmill.
Oh, here's a little bit of interesting for you....on the side of the computer screen it had a button you could push to play games or surf the internet or watch TV or listen to music. I was amazed! The woman next to me was playing Freecell as she was walking! I thought "I could never play a game or surf the net while running!" But it was amazing that people do that. Just a little tidbit there that I thought might interest you all! Computerized treadmills....even to the extent that you can surf the net while treading!
Okay....so here are the details of my run: I ran 2.51 miles at 4.9 MPH (the treadmill spit out a little report on the screen at the end of my run....see, I KNEW I wasn't running 5.0 MPH even though I had it set at 5.0 MPH!) It took me about 31 minutes. I don't know the exact time because it is Thursday, May 30th as I type this and the run was on Tuesday. I've slept since then and I didn't have anything to write the information on with me so I have to just kind of guess at my faulty memory....the memory is one of the first things to go as you get older! So we're going to say 31 minutes because I know it was in the 30's and it might've even been 32+ minutes but I just can't remember. That gives me a pace of 12:21 according to my running website and we'll take that.
This run wasn't necessarily hard but I didn't really enjoy it. I think it was because I knew I wasn't running at the right pace and I was busy trying to figure out how to make the treadmill work the way I wanted it to. Next time I visit the Y I will ask someone for help. In retrospect, I should've run the full 5k distance. But I didn't like the treadmill and quite frankly it felt weird to be running in a room full of people. Okay, so there weren't THAT many people there but there were people behind me and I know they were all caught up in their own little workout worlds with their own little workout routines, etc. but it felt strange and I was very self conscious. It felt like my shorts were riding up and well, I just don't like the way parts of me bounce and jiggle. Okay...there, I said it. I don't want people staring at my flabby butt! Pfffffffffft!!!!! Anyway, would I go back to the Y and run again? Sure I will. But I will ask for help with the treadmills and I will run on one in the back next time. Oh, one last thought....I don't like running in that sort of a public venue because I tend to be rather vocal when I'm running. I cheer myself on, calling out how much longer, how many more miles, or talking to my iPod or the treadmill. I'm sure I'm look and sound very silly to the average person who doesn't know me and I'm sure my family probably thinks I'm more than a little odd, but they love me so I don't care. Strangers don't know or love me and they don't understand the mental tricks that help get me through a run. I have to keep my "weirdness" in check when I run in a public place like that. Bummer. So I'm okay with this run, just wish I'd ran longer. I could've done it, especially at the 4.9 MPH, 12:21 pace. Oh, well, live and learn.
So, I guess the only thing that's left to say is: It's fun to run at the Y....M....C....A!!!!!
Happy Running, y'all!
KEA
We are in the process of buying a house and moving. It's been somewhat of a slight nightmare because we are moving to another state so we had to go to the new state, look for a house, make a decision and put an offer in all in one weekend. That was a few weeks ago. Our offer was accepted and we are now in the process of buying the house. It's tricky though because I'm still in the old state so when something is going on with the house I have to make arrangements to go be there. It's been a rough few weeks. But the end is in sight and we are happy about that.
I was at the new house for the home inspection and planned on staying a couple of days. I'm still in training for the 5k's....they are coming up FAST and I needed to go run. My husband said that where we were staying wasn't really a good place to run on the street and suggested I go to the YMCA. Now, I don't know about any of you, faithfully readers, but I myself remember the YMCA in a very different way than what I experienced when I walked through the door at the local YMCA in the town we are going to live in. If I could use one word to describe this YMCA, it would be PLUSH! Holy cow!!!! Times have certainly changed since the Village People wrote their song!!!! The YMCA I remember was a concrete building with little or no decoration. The YMCA I remember was a very institutional looking building with posters offering various anthems of advice or advertising one class or another, certainly not very pretty. The YMCA I walked into Tuesday was a plush (yes, there's that word again), comfortable building. There was a circular desk with two young ladies sitting at it. They were dressed in khakis and YMCA oxford shirts. Both were pleasant young girls who were nice and eager to help. Off to the side of the service desk was a cozy little area with coffee pots and a sitting area. How nice! I don't recall THAT being in the YMCA I remember! The facility was very clean and didn't smell funny....you know the smell I'm talking about - old gym shoes, mixed with chlorine, mixed with sweat, mixed with old building. This building was nice. Behind the service desk was the indoor pool. It was the one used for swimming laps. There was also a whirlpool in there and a wading pool as well. To the side of that was the entrance to the outdoor pool. It was bright and sunny and good times were being had by all out there! It was all so clean, clean, clean and it looked new, new, new!!! It was a very nice facility.
It only cost me $10 for the day and it was good for all day. I wish I'd known that sooner; I would've brought my swim suit and sat by the pool some. But I was a woman on a mission and not to be deterred. I was already behind in my scheduled and had to put my run off until later in the day so I didn't get my run in until almost three o'clock. That wasn't my intention when I started my day. However, life and obligations intervened and I was forced to rearrange my schedule. Oh well. It worked out in the end. Okay, so all I had to do was fill out my address and give them a copy of my driver's license and $10 and I could use the facilities for the whole day. I think that was a pretty good deal if you're only going to be using the facilities once in a while. I didn't price a membership so I can't comment on whether it's a good deal to join the Y or not. I will go back and do that. If it is a good deal I might be getting rid of the old 'Mill and running at the Y....or maybe not. More on that in a minute. So anyway, as I said, $10 gets you the use of the whole facility (don't know if that included the outdoor pool or not. I should've asked). So I paid my $10 and entered the exercise room.
The exercise room was a bit small but they offered personal trainers which I thought was kind of cool. Don't know how much it was for a personal trainer but the girl at the desk told me they were offering a training class to help people prepare for a 5k at 6:00 on Wednesday. I wish I could've attended that but I had to leave on Wednesday to come back home. That would've only been $10 too! How cool is that? Anyway, so the workout room was a bit small. They had about three rows of treadmills and I swear these things were HUGE!!!! I was quite intimidated when I stepped onto the one I chose. It had a huge computer screen and I just stared at it for a minute before I could started pushing buttons....did I say buttons? Oh, the "buttons" were on the screen. I went through a little tutorial that didn't help me much and to be honest, I was a little stumped on how to get the silly thing started! See, there's something to be said for my old 'Mill at home! So I finally pushed the "Quick Start" button and had to push the speed button several times to get it up to 5.0 MPH. My 'Mill at home has a button that says "Start" and a button 5.0 MPH. Actually it has buttons for 2.0 MPH, 3.0 MPH, 4.0 MPH 5.0 MPH and so on. If you want anything in between, you have to push the up arrow. Not to hard to figure out how to work MY 'Mill. I was a bit stumped on how to work the technological thing of beauty at the Y! After a few minutes of running I knew something wasn't right because the numbers on the screen weren't matching what I am used to at home. I pushed the speed button up to 5.0 MPH but I KNOW I wasn't running at that speed. It takes me 6 minutes to run .0 mile at 5.0 MPH....but six minutes I hadn't even run a half mile! And I could tell I wasn't running as fast as I normally run. I felt like I was powering the treadmill and it was requiring me to make it go. It felt like hard work and I didn't like the feel of the treadmill.
Oh, here's a little bit of interesting for you....on the side of the computer screen it had a button you could push to play games or surf the internet or watch TV or listen to music. I was amazed! The woman next to me was playing Freecell as she was walking! I thought "I could never play a game or surf the net while running!" But it was amazing that people do that. Just a little tidbit there that I thought might interest you all! Computerized treadmills....even to the extent that you can surf the net while treading!
Okay....so here are the details of my run: I ran 2.51 miles at 4.9 MPH (the treadmill spit out a little report on the screen at the end of my run....see, I KNEW I wasn't running 5.0 MPH even though I had it set at 5.0 MPH!) It took me about 31 minutes. I don't know the exact time because it is Thursday, May 30th as I type this and the run was on Tuesday. I've slept since then and I didn't have anything to write the information on with me so I have to just kind of guess at my faulty memory....the memory is one of the first things to go as you get older! So we're going to say 31 minutes because I know it was in the 30's and it might've even been 32+ minutes but I just can't remember. That gives me a pace of 12:21 according to my running website and we'll take that.
This run wasn't necessarily hard but I didn't really enjoy it. I think it was because I knew I wasn't running at the right pace and I was busy trying to figure out how to make the treadmill work the way I wanted it to. Next time I visit the Y I will ask someone for help. In retrospect, I should've run the full 5k distance. But I didn't like the treadmill and quite frankly it felt weird to be running in a room full of people. Okay, so there weren't THAT many people there but there were people behind me and I know they were all caught up in their own little workout worlds with their own little workout routines, etc. but it felt strange and I was very self conscious. It felt like my shorts were riding up and well, I just don't like the way parts of me bounce and jiggle. Okay...there, I said it. I don't want people staring at my flabby butt! Pfffffffffft!!!!! Anyway, would I go back to the Y and run again? Sure I will. But I will ask for help with the treadmills and I will run on one in the back next time. Oh, one last thought....I don't like running in that sort of a public venue because I tend to be rather vocal when I'm running. I cheer myself on, calling out how much longer, how many more miles, or talking to my iPod or the treadmill. I'm sure I'm look and sound very silly to the average person who doesn't know me and I'm sure my family probably thinks I'm more than a little odd, but they love me so I don't care. Strangers don't know or love me and they don't understand the mental tricks that help get me through a run. I have to keep my "weirdness" in check when I run in a public place like that. Bummer. So I'm okay with this run, just wish I'd ran longer. I could've done it, especially at the 4.9 MPH, 12:21 pace. Oh, well, live and learn.
So, I guess the only thing that's left to say is: It's fun to run at the Y....M....C....A!!!!!
Happy Running, y'all!
KEA
Thursday, May 23, 2013
No Clever Title Today....Too Tired....
May 23, 2013
It's been a busy week this week. Our cat had kittens yesterday and I spent the day watching over her and the new kittens. It was fascinating! This is the second cat that I've had who has had kittens and I've watched give birth. I was going to get on the treadmill yesterday but it just didn't happen. So today I knew I had to get a run in so I got dressed and got on the treadmill.
This was an uneventful run. I'm just too tired to write much about it so I'll just give details and be done (I'm sitting on the floor; I'm hungry, sweaty and my butt hurts from the hard floor so we'll be brief.)
I ran two miles @ 5.0 MPH for a pace of 12:00. I then walked .5 mile @ a pace of 3.6 MPH for a pace of 16:40. I'm not sure how long it took because at 1.5 miles I stopped and I messed up the treadmill so I had to turn it off and turn it back on again....but I know it takes 24 minutes to run two miles at 5.0 MPH and it takes 16:40 to walk a mile at 3.6 MPH so that would be 24 minutes for the two miles and 8:20 for the half mile bringing the total up to 32:20 but when I plugged it into my online website it said 36 minutes and gave me an overall pace of 14:10 or something like that. That can't be right but I'm too tired to go dink with it. At any rate...this run made me tired and I'm still incredibly out of shape. I need to get cracking because I've only got two weeks before I run my first 5k. It's a Color Blaze run and should be fun.....if I can get back into shape! The week after that is the Susan G. Komen. I will be ready for that one although now I'm regretting signing up for the timing chip. I'm so out of shape that I know my time will be much worse than last year! However, that's not what that run is about. It's about raising money to help those women who need financial help with preventative care, mammograms and treatment for breast cancer. I'm asking that if you can, please donate to help these women.....even if it's only a few dollars. Those few dollars can help!
Happy running!
KEA
Copy and past this URL in your browser to donate to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure: http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
It's been a busy week this week. Our cat had kittens yesterday and I spent the day watching over her and the new kittens. It was fascinating! This is the second cat that I've had who has had kittens and I've watched give birth. I was going to get on the treadmill yesterday but it just didn't happen. So today I knew I had to get a run in so I got dressed and got on the treadmill.
This was an uneventful run. I'm just too tired to write much about it so I'll just give details and be done (I'm sitting on the floor; I'm hungry, sweaty and my butt hurts from the hard floor so we'll be brief.)
I ran two miles @ 5.0 MPH for a pace of 12:00. I then walked .5 mile @ a pace of 3.6 MPH for a pace of 16:40. I'm not sure how long it took because at 1.5 miles I stopped and I messed up the treadmill so I had to turn it off and turn it back on again....but I know it takes 24 minutes to run two miles at 5.0 MPH and it takes 16:40 to walk a mile at 3.6 MPH so that would be 24 minutes for the two miles and 8:20 for the half mile bringing the total up to 32:20 but when I plugged it into my online website it said 36 minutes and gave me an overall pace of 14:10 or something like that. That can't be right but I'm too tired to go dink with it. At any rate...this run made me tired and I'm still incredibly out of shape. I need to get cracking because I've only got two weeks before I run my first 5k. It's a Color Blaze run and should be fun.....if I can get back into shape! The week after that is the Susan G. Komen. I will be ready for that one although now I'm regretting signing up for the timing chip. I'm so out of shape that I know my time will be much worse than last year! However, that's not what that run is about. It's about raising money to help those women who need financial help with preventative care, mammograms and treatment for breast cancer. I'm asking that if you can, please donate to help these women.....even if it's only a few dollars. Those few dollars can help!
Happy running!
KEA
Copy and past this URL in your browser to donate to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure: http://www.komenstlouis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1542226&pg=personal&fr_id=1150
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