Hoooouston

Houston means that I'm one day close to you.

Closer to you. Oh baby Hoooooouston.

Now that that song is effectively stuck in your head...Guess what I'll be doing in 186 days?

Did you guess running, ne, racing the Houston Marathon? You're so smart. I have the smartest readers, really I do.

Well, I certainly hope to be running the Houston Marathon 186 days from today. This is the first year they've set it to a lottery. Eeep. I've got pretty good luck with lotteries. At least the racing kind. I got in to Nike Women's Marathon the first year I entered!

You can actually enter as a group so I set up a group and fingers crossed, me and several friends will be kickin' asphalt in H Town come late January. How cool will that be, running with my besties? I've already got it all planned out. Matching outfits, tutus...of course, they don't know this yet. (wink) I'll know August 17th. Which, incidentally is the day before I begin marathon training for the White Rock Marathon. Yep, I'm running WRM Dec 5 and then Houston Jan 30. Hey, that's 7 weeks. I'll use WRM as a training run. Houston is for PRs. (no pressure) Marathon season is upon us...

Houston means several things to me. A. It's flat as all get out. So I'll be setting myself up for that sub 5 I have my eye on. B. It's close. I don't have to fly to get there. Just an afternoon drive down the highway. C. This part is even better than a possible PR...it's home to fab bloggers Lauren, Kim and Melissa! Rumor has it that Kim might just be running her first full then!

My fingers are crossed and I'm getting that tutu all fluffed up...

Phone Phun

Ring Ring Ring.

Me: "Hello."
Kat: "Hello."
Me: pause
Kat: "How are you?"
Me: "I'm good. How are you?"
Kat: "Good."
Me: long Pause
Kat: "What are you doing?"
Me: "Laying on the couch. I just woke up from a nap."
Kat: long pause
Me: "What are you up to these days?"
Kat: "I'm at my son's baseball game. It's tied in the 2nd inning 2-2 and this is a playoff game. I'm so nervous!"
Me: (thinking that's a strange time to call me than) "Oooh, fun." long pause
Kat: "Are you okay?"
Me: "Uh, yes. Are you doing okay?" (thinking that was a strange question)
Kat: long pause "Did Patrick call you?!?!" (Patrick is her 4 year old)
Me: uncontrollable laughter

Patrick had been playing with her phone and since I'm first on the contact list...accidentally called me. And then handed the phone to mom and all she saw was that I had called. Hence the uncomfortable convo where we both wondered why the other didn't just get to the point!

Kids are funny.

Winner, Winner

Chicken dinner!

Last night before class I did some shopping at good old Run On. See, I had a gift card and needed to pick up a prize for tomorrow's Free Friday Five Kay. I did indeed get a great prize and I also picked up this beauty for myself. It sparkles so pretty! A while back I won 2 Sweaty Bands from Copia Verborum. (thank you again, BTW) I've had my eye on Sweaty Bands but the price was a little steep for what I was sure would just slip off my noggin like all other headbands. WRONG! They really do stay put. And, can you say adorable? I hoard ribbon like it's gonna see me through the next Ice Age. I think I could become addicted to Sweaty Bands like I am Nike Tempo shorts. Seriously. You can't stop at just one! When I saw this pink sparkle - I stopped in my tracks and actually gasped. So of course it came home with me. Beautiful and functional. That I like.

Oh yes, the prize! Here it is...prize for what you ask? Well, this morning I "hosted" (fancy term for forced my friends) a Free Friday Five Kay. I wanted to see what we could do when the day is at it's coolest (a breezy 78 (25.5C)) and without crowds to weave around. To give a twist, I made it a prediction run. I had the girls guess what their time would be. Whoever got closest, won this.

Okay, y'all, this isn't exactly news but it's really, really dark at 5 am. And my early morning non-track runs are usually at a pretty slow, safe pace. I've not torn through the blackness of pre-dawn at breakneck speeds before. I admit I was a little skeered. (same hood as the Great Fall, remember?)

I predicted my time at 28:13. (secretly hoping I would make finally make it in under 28) I made the other girls give me new times and would not accept their initial predictions. 40 minutes, seriously? I'm not gonna let you sandbag just so you can win. Not that that was the motive. They just have less faith in themselves than I do. Hey, it was a little early to have faith.

We started out strong and tried to maintain a sub 9 pace. It was not so. I got so hot around mile 2, I thought I was going to catch fire. I made the decision to forgo drinking water and started pouring it over my head. This heat is stinking ridiculous! I managed to come in at 28:19, just 6 seconds over my prediction.

I sat on the sidewalk, quickly making a disgusting puddle in the shape of my behind and waited for the rest of my cru to roll in. And roll in they did. Bahama Mama kicked in just over 30 minutes and got closest to her predicted time. WTG Bahama Mama - see I knew you could do it!

Here she is wearing her prize, a star spangled Bondi Band. Doesn't she look cute? Now she can wear a Bondi Band!

Speaking of, thanks for all the advice on how to wear a Bondi without looking like a dork. I just don't have that kind of style. I think I'll stick with Sweaty Bands. I can't mess that up!

I really enjoyed the Free Friday Five Kay. I might have to make this a monthly event. Now, what am I going to give away next month???

WWoW

Where has this week gone?

It seems to have flown by extra quickly! Monday night I got ready for class. I tried, once again, the Bondi Band. I just can't wear these. They look so cute on y'all, especially Running Diva Mom. She can ROCK a Bondi Band! Me, I just end up looking like Charlie Brown. This is my contemplative look.

When I arrived for class I was greeted by a sea of pink! Two of these ladies were in my class last time. It's been fun to see them go from cotton tees and comfy shorts to decked out in running clothes! Aren't we all matchy matchy in our Nike gear - I turn everyone I can onto Nike Tempo shorts!!! Again featured the Bondi Band fail. I look like a pinked out biker. I'm going back to hats.

Today of course, was WWoW. Y'all know Lauren hosts Workout Wednesday. WWoW certainly qualifies! I cheat and every Wednesday my workout is running. I'm kind of a cross training reject. Not that I reject it, I'm just not very good about it. Ever since the uh, whole tri experience. Welp, we met at a new location this morning to warm up for a half mile or so and then...busted out hill repeats. My favorite! We got 6, one minute repeats up a neighborhood Legend of a hill. It's monstrous. I had my sights set on this particular utility pole. I didn't make it until the very last one. But I made it! I need to reconnect with my foam roller in a bit because I'm pretty sure my hamstrings are going to be screaming in the morning! Oooh wee, it was a good workout. I love it when I feel challenged by a run!

Work was full of tedious perfunctory tasks today. Sweet Jules brightened my day by bringing me this treasure.

Okay, so it's a toppled over, melty cupcake. But a cupcake none the less! Hey, things happen in the car. I lovingly placed it in the training room fridge for an hour or so and that divine cream cheese frosting set up again. And yeah, I totally scrapped it off the packaging. You can't ever waste cream cheese frosting! Thank you Julie!

I've got to come up with some cookies for a work party tomorrow. Not feeling like cleaning up homemade cookies...but not sure where to pick up good store bought cookies either. Eh. I'll figure something out.

Friday I'm hosting a Free Friday Five Kay. I won't get the chance to race again until August 7th. And that race doesn't start until 8 am. It's gonna be hawt. So I'm putting together a little prediction run for my cru. Each girl must guesstimate what her finish time will be. Whoever is closest gets a prize! We don't need a whole production to race. We just need the motivation! I'm excited and need to get to thinking about what I can realistically run. Hmm.

Hope y'all are enjoying your week!

I am Too Hot to Handle

Or something like that.

Let me amaze the blog world with my mad culinary skills. Behold my pre-race dinner. Peanut butter (crunchy) and jelly with milk. Can you believe the Food Network isn't ready to give me my own show? Hey, it was organic milk AND organic peanut butter. Does that count for something?

I got up only sorta early this morning for today's 5K race, Too Hot To Handle. You can rest assured that I picked out the pinkest outfit in the drawer, paying no mind to matching. Hey, I planned to run so fast I'd be a blur anyway! Notice the double pink race day bow. Tradition. And no, I haven't cut my hair, I just double up my pony to keep that mass of hair off my back. I've tried braids, but then my hats don't stay on. Eh.

I arrived early enough to get a few warm up miles in and lo and behold, ran into my girl Kat at Flagpole Hill. We were parking twins! (I know gag, hey it's my blog I can be dumb if I want to) We walked the half mile or so to the pre-race madness. And then the reunions began. I love a good Run On race because I'm guaranteed to see so many people I know. This one did not disappoint! I met up with my group from last session (remember I ran their first 5K with them here) and tried to be as encouraging as I could. It was barely 7 am and already quite warm. The race was supposed to begin at 7:30. At 7:45 we were still lined up, packed in at the starting line, going nowhere. Uh, what? With each passing minute the sun rose higher in the sky. This was not going to be pretty.

The horn finally went off around 7:50 with no fanfare, no warning. I hastily pushed "play" on my iPod and crammed it into my Spi Belt. Gave the Start button on my Garmin a tap and we were off!

Except we weren't moving very fast. Lots and lots of weaving. Oh how I wish there was a quick overview of Running Etiquette on the back of bibs. I totally support the walkers and the slow folks (hey, I'm one of them) but Good Golly Pete. It's a lot of work trying to get around walkers at the start line. And it is dangerous for them as well - lots of shoving from rude fast people. We all need lessons.

The crowed thinned a bit when the 15K broke away from the 5K. Thankfully, I was a 5Ker. Thankful until we headed up a short, but steep, hill. Who plans these things? At least the hill wasn't at the end! (well, actually it was but in reverse)

Here's the dealio. It was amazeballz hot. And I weaved and wove the entire race. I tried to hard to maintain a sub 9 pace but it just didn't happen. At mile 2 I realized I was just over 18 minutes and though that I had it. I could certainly do a 10 minute mile. Right?

Wrong.

I ended up, by my watch, at 29:32. Sadness. I didn't even PR, much less meet my goal. But y'all it was 89 (31.66 C) when we started. Brutal. Barely a lick of shade on the course. I crossed that finish line and proceeded to rush to the grass, fearful I was going to ralph all the water I managed to consume. The heat really took it out of me.

So, what are you gonna do? I can't PR every race I run. I can't control the heat. I ran a good race, I'm proud of my effort and I'm moving on. It's all good.

I shoved a slice of pizza in my cake hole and headed back to the finish line to cheer on the remaining 5Ker's and ran in my group. They did great! After I got them hydrated I headed back to the finish to cheer on the 15kers. I love spectating! It's so much fun to see everyone working so hard and to see the look on their face as they see that finish line. They look that says, "I did it!"

And it's that what racing is all about?

Sleepy Saturday

The rumors are true.

I slept in today. And I loved it. No long run for me since I'm racing tomorrow. That still sounds weird to say, racing. I went to bed on time and staying nestled in that biscuit until after 9:30.

Oh yeah.

More on my Saturday in a bit. Remember how I said one of my favorite things was mail? And how I was going to work on including actual letters into my life? Well, I'm on track. I decided that work would be a good place to implement this at work as well. On Friday I wrote a few notes of encouragement, detailing the characteristics that I admired in them, including why they were seen as a strong leader in our organization. Don't think I'm kissing up - I sent these to people who are at all levels and none of them over me directly! Who wouldn't want to receive a note of encouragement? Try it!
Of course, no Saturday would be complete without some gore. Hubs headed out front to shut off the water so that he could address some faucet issues in the bath. He wasn't out but a moment when he came running back into the house with a horrified look on his face. Apparently one of the stray cats we feed had treated herself to a little midnight snack and left the remnant as a gift for us. Isn't she thoughtful? She left us a mouse butt complete with tail and mouse head. Either those are the best parts she saved for us or the worst parts, discarded for the ants. Probably the later. Left right in front of our door on the mat. Ewwwww. I could almost hear "Circle of Life" playing in the background. Nature sure can be gross!

After we recovered from the nastiness...we headed to Eatzi's for lunch. No trip to that part of town would be complete without a trip to Tyler's! This place has the largest selection of Nike Tempo shorts ever. Larger than even Niketown. (and why don't we have Niketown in Dallas?) Now we all know that I certainly don't need any Tempo shorts, I practically have enough to open my own Niketown. But you just never know what new cute color has come out. I did manage to leave Tempo-less. This time. This photo shows only one of about 10 racks of Tempo shorts. I drool just thinking about it.

We spent the rest of the day in the air conditioned house. It's hot here y'all. That is most certainly not news, it is Texas afterall. But it's still best to stay put when you are in triple digits. I can convert this to Celsius for you, but it would just blow your mind. Some things are better left unsaid.I'm drinking water like it's going out of style in preparation for tomorrow's race. Yep, another 5K. My goal is to get under 28 minutes. So sad to see that typed out. That reads so s-l-o-w. But I've never claimed to be fast. Fingers crossed all this speed work is paying off. I think I'm gonna break tradition and run with my iPod in the morning. Get some sweet tunes to keep my going. Any suggestions?

Update: Here is my amazeballz playlist for tomorrow.
Texas Cadence - Texas Longhorn Band (who doesn't love a drum cadence to get you through the weaving?)

Rock Superstar - Cypress Hill

The Choice is Yours - Black Sheep (love those hamsters)

We Will Walk - Matisyahu

Rollin (Air Raid) - Limp Bizkit

Texas Fight - Texas Longhorn Band

Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas

Right Round - Flo Rida

Lose Yourself - Eminem

Texas Fight - That Longhorn Band again (hopefully this song will take me across the finish line)

Going the Distance - Cake (just in case!)

Three Things Thursday

What a week!

It's been a busy one, but what is it they say, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop...or...no rest for the wicked." So, which is it? Should I be busy or not?

1. I'm a tried and true Mizuno girl. I love my Mizuno Waver Riders. But one of the perks of coaching is that I get paid...in shoes. Brooks shoes. Brooks run a little wide and my feet run a little narrow. I tried on every pair of Brooks shoes in the store trying to find the most narrow pair. My feet slid around in all of them! So I finally settled on this pair of Ravenna. I do love the orange color! I took them out for a 5.5 mile spin on Monday. My feet slid around in them and my knees were very sore afterwards. So these shoes will def be casual only, no running. Ouch! They are cute though. 2. Wednesday morning, per ush, we had WWoW. Wow is right. We did a ladder workout again this week, with a little twist. 1 min hard, 1 min easy, 2 min hard, 1 min easy...so on up to 4 min hard, 1 min easy and then back down. It wore me out! It's a great way to simulate race conditions. I'm trying to get used to longer bouts of hard running. I'll tell ya though, the longer I ran the closer my "hard" got to my "easy" and not because it was getting any easier!

3. I've got a race on Sunday. Another 5K. I've got my sights set on a sub 27 this Summer, but for Sunday my goal is under 28. My last 5K was 28:42. Certainly I can take 42 seconds off. That's only 14 seconds per mile! I think I'm most looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday, ha!

Made my Monday

Today was Healthy Monday at work.

I had the opportunity to speak a bit in chapel, in front of a good number of our employees. We use this Healthy Monday to try and educate our staff about the benefits of healthy living and making better choices. Among other things, one of our demonstrations was a visual. Five pounds of fat. Do you know what five pounds of fat looks like? Well, here you go. Ewwwww! I had way too much fun with this fake fat. (yes, it's fake) It actually weighs five pounds and is kind of spongy, like real fat. It's pretty big. I think I'm gonna keep it on my desk for a while.
It Made my Monday!

Tonight I ran tempo runs with my group. Comfortably hard. It wasn't exactly a tempo run for me, but still a good workout. Bahama Mama joined us and after our tempo run we got in another 2 miles or so. All in all I managed a little over 5.5 miles in 1 hr and 11 minutes. It was good to get in over 5 miles at once and to catch up with Bahama Mama!

I'm already looking forward to hill repeats on Wednesday...

Do you believe in Magic?

Yesterday morning I swam.

It's been a while since I've snapped that latex cap on my head and slithered into the cool pool waters. And it was as hard a workout as I remembered! I keep waiting to "get sooo skinny" because that is what so many swimmers told me would happen. What, like pool water is just magic? I don't think my gym has the magic water. That, and just maybe you might have to swim faster and more often than I do. Oh well, after FOUR speed workouts this past week I figured I owed my joints a break.

Yes, maybe a touch too much speed work. Wednesday morning's WWoW was so good I decided to repeat it on Thursday for those that missed. And then Thursday evening I ran hill repeats with my group.

This morning I was really looking forward to a nice slow long run. Except, no one wanted to run as long as I did. True, they all had very valid reasons...but I'm gettin' antsy not running over 6 miles at a time! We busted out 6 very humid miles. Good golly Pete it is humid. But we did it and it felt good to go nice and slow, not worrying much about time. I know my long slow run days are numbered. I've got a sub 5 marathon in my sights and I understand that you've got to run faster to, uh, run faster. Like the swimming, it won't just magically happen on race day. So I took my time today. We did 6.2 miles in 1:11.

Aren't we all so cute with our matching pink Nathan hand held water bottles? That's me, Bahama Mama and Doc. (she just graduated with her doctorate in audiology!)

Okay, so there is this guy that cycles all over town. I see him everywhere. What makes him unusual is that he rides a unicycle! He has several and I understand he even commutes to work on it in traffic! What skills. I totally photo bombed him this morning.

After bidding my cru farewell, I spotted my Running 101 group from last session. They were all meeting to get their long run in. So I gleefully invited myself to join them. Bliss, another 3.5 miles on the register. They are at a 6:1 run/walk ratio and it was nice to slow down even further and just enjoy catching up. We did 3.5 miles in 38 minutes. All in all I got in a little over 9 and a half miles this morning. Just the run I was looking for. Perfect!

I came home, showered and promptly took a nap. Now I just need to pick up the house and get the laundry started. Now if only I had a magic pool to throw that in!

DRC 5K Race Report

I'm in love with 5Ks.

True story. I slept until after 6:30 this morning, rolled out of bed, headed to the lake around 7 and still arrived in plenty of time to park, get my number and run a 2 mile warm up. Uh, yes please!

This was a very small race. I have no idea just how small, but small for Dallas races. It wasn't even chip timed! But registration was only $10 so I was totes in for it. Boy howdy it was humid this morning. Fortch, it was only 73 (22.7 C) at race time. I'm sorry, I thought it was July. Where did this cool weather come from??? I'll take it!

I lined up with my fellow runners and promptly at 8, Miss Tall Texas sang the Star Spangled Banner and then then horn went off. And so did we. There was no "Start Line" so I started my watch as soon as I started moving. This was my first race with my new Garmin and I was determined to stay on pace. Sadly, the first mile of the race was in a heavily wooded areas so I had a difficult time picking up satellites. At one point it told me that I was running a 7:15 pace. Ha!

I didn't have a solid goal time because I wasn't sure what I should aim for. I'm so new to this distance that I don't really know what I'm capable of. Bahama Mama suggested I shoot for under 30 so that was kind of a loose goal. In the back of my mind, I had my 5K PR from 2008 (before marathon) in my head. It was the first time I'd even finished under 30 minutes and I was beyond thrilled. My time? 29:25.

Look at that fog! It was so humid...any more water in the air and it would have actually started raining. (thankfully, the rain held off until post race)

I took off with the rest and quickly remembered what I DON'T like about 5Ks. The weaving. Distance running, well, you can hang on for a bit. The walkers will eventually just end up behind you. But if you are going to PR in just over 3 miles, then you better start booking it pretty quickly. I tried not to waste too much energy but I bobbed and weaved through the sea of walkers, dogs, strollers and slower runners. And believe it or not, there are a few of those than me. Just a few though!

I saw young people, older people, kids, a girl with a purse. Oh yes, she had her purse slung over her body, boucing up and down. I saw little dogs and big dogs, babies in strollers. Lots of iPods. I considered using mine. I rarely use music to run anymore and only on the treadmill. Decided that making a playlist wasn't worth staying up any later and I'm actually glad I left it at home. I rather liked just listening to my breaths and my steps. Helped me focus.

The turn around came much more quickly than expected. Gosh, this is a short distance! I maintained my pace below 9:30 and felt great. But my head is still in distance mode and kept telling me to hang on, I might need that energy later. So I bargained with myself and fartleked the rest of the way back. I'd pick a tree and speed up until then.

Breathless, a young girl asked me how far the finish line was. I know the lake pretty well and recognized where we were. Just 2 more turns and then the finish line was a straightaway away! Wait, what? I glanced at my watch, I better book it! And book it I did.

Finished in 28:42. (by my watch...I'm not really sure how they calculate it since there wasn't chip timing...and no apparent start line!) Eh. I never understood how some of y'all could PR and not be pleased.

Now I know. Yes, I PR'd and I'm happy about that. I'm still faster than I was before marathon training. (yay about that - I was afraid that I might not finish in under 30!) This was a pretty flat out and back course. I could have pushed myself harder. My tank was not empty when I crossed that finish line. I'm still learning my threshold for this shorter distance. All in all, I'm pleased. I really am. But I know I can do better.

So I'm signing up for several more 5Ks this Summer. And I'm proclaiming on the blog for all to see. I'm gonna get under 27. Can I shave over 1:42 off my time?

Yep.

And I will. I'm doing speed work with WWoW, but I'm also doing speed work with my group that I coach. I'm gonna really kick my strength training into high gear and focus on quality, not quantity miles. There is NO REASON I can't make my goal!

Oh yes, and I bet if I finally get around to shedding a few pounds that might help.

Keep me accountable y'all!