Well hello there, faithful readers! And I do mean faithful. Every time I decide to get sorta regular about this blog (hey, I really do enjoy writing, I promise) something happens. Toddlers. Baby teething. Work deadlines. Relatives in crisis. 20 mile training runs (yeah, I know. But I could have a worse addition, amiright??. It seems there is never, ever enough time in the day. I've been off all week, as our nanny is in Quebec for a wedding, and "write blog post" has been sitting there on the to do list since Sunday, among the other fun household stuff like staining the deck, finally ditching the maternity clothes out of my closet, and pulling out the wedding dinnerware I got for a shower gift in 2009. No, I didn't stutter. I'm sure my mother in law is smiling down on me, as we did battle over those plates for years. What? If I got divorced, I didn't want to feel bad. KIDDING. My plates worked just fine, so why open the new ones? I'm a weirdo, but half of our shower gifts, including some nice towel sets, pyrex, and a bunch of glassware are sitting in the guest room closet, just waiting for the old stuff to break. It feels kinda nice to open new stuff a few times a year :-) In this case, our kitchen is being re done to a cherry theme (pics as I progress!) so the cherry berry corning ware had to come out. It makes me smile, so it's worth it.
Anyways. Enough rambling. It's been a great week off with the kiddos - we have played, hung out together, snuggled, and I've gotten in some house stuff that's been bugging me for months, along with some quality runs (it's amazing what having a sleeping kiddo does for your long run pace - I threw down a sub 7 minute mile on my last mile of a 17 mile LR because the baby was waking up. Sweet). We head to Alex Bay tomorrow for a long weekend - my best friend from high school has a few family cottages up there , so it will be a mini reunion with him, his family, and one of my other buddies that hung out with us. No reception, no laptop, water front, kayaks, beer, and cards. Perfect.
BUT. This was supposed to be a race report, right? Right! I'll make it short and sweet. Last weekend I raced the Walworth 5k - this race is super awesome because it's exactly 2.3 miles from my house. It's only 20 bucks, benefits the Lions Club, and we always know people there. I did it last year for the first time (it aways conflicted somehow before then!) and at 7 months pregnant, threw down a 30:12. It's bitch of a course, with a quarter mile 8% grade hill within the first 200 yards, and has more of an elevation gain than the half marathon I'm running in next month. Yikes. Greg signed up as a birthday present from my uncle, and I debated running it if we had childcare, which we did. So race morning, I forked over my $20, got my shirt, and got in line. It's a small race - 90 people - and I had no idea what to expect. I've started doing some speed work in the last few weeks, but nothing amazing. I figured a 26-27 minute finish, as Mendon was flatter, but I was pushing a stroller then. Good to go. Pre race, I had a waffle, changed a diaper, scrounged for some fruit snacks for a toddler, said hi to some of the other Gananda running moms, and got in line. Good as any prep.
The weather. OMG. At 8:30, it was already in the upper 70s, with stupid humidity. Sweet. Keeping this in mind, when the gun went off, I went up Walworth's version of cardiac hill semi easy, keeping a slow trot. I hit the top, took a few deep breaths, and said fuck it. This will hurt So let's go. I picked off a few people, settled in to some trap music (thanks Rob) and coasted to mile 1. In 6:43. Bull hockey. The guy next to me was wearing a garmin and confirmed it was .9, not 1 mile. Good to know. Miles 1 to 2 were uneventful - I saw Greg, who was suffering in the heat, but soldiering on. Coming up to mile 2 was a gradual .25 mile uphill, then a sharp 200 feet climb. Hit the water stop at mile 2 in 15:02, which was (NOT) mile 2, rather, mile 1.9. Good to know. The last mile was a series of turns and rolls until the last half mile, which was alllll down hill. YESS. I hit the down hill, kissed my quads goodbye, and gave it my all. As I hit the last 100 yards, chasing down some unsuspecting sucker (yep, passed him) when another guy blew past me like I was standing still. I crossed the finish in 24:42, and almost passed out. Success! I confirmed with my Garmin guy that the course was 3.15, which made sense for the long last mile! Finished 2nd out of 6 in my age group, and 6th OA female out of I think 40 total.
Overall, SO MUCH better than I was even hoping or, and I felt good. 7:58 pace is right where I want to be for 3 hilly miles, and I feel great about the Black Diamond Half on August 28 and Syracuse in October - that sub 4 is MINE. Up next - Sodus Sprint Tri on August 7th, stay tuned for more of...I've swam 3 times this summer and ridden my bike....maybe 5 times more. Shit.
Hittin the lake this weekend, wet suit packed!!
Anyways. Enough rambling. It's been a great week off with the kiddos - we have played, hung out together, snuggled, and I've gotten in some house stuff that's been bugging me for months, along with some quality runs (it's amazing what having a sleeping kiddo does for your long run pace - I threw down a sub 7 minute mile on my last mile of a 17 mile LR because the baby was waking up. Sweet). We head to Alex Bay tomorrow for a long weekend - my best friend from high school has a few family cottages up there , so it will be a mini reunion with him, his family, and one of my other buddies that hung out with us. No reception, no laptop, water front, kayaks, beer, and cards. Perfect.
BUT. This was supposed to be a race report, right? Right! I'll make it short and sweet. Last weekend I raced the Walworth 5k - this race is super awesome because it's exactly 2.3 miles from my house. It's only 20 bucks, benefits the Lions Club, and we always know people there. I did it last year for the first time (it aways conflicted somehow before then!) and at 7 months pregnant, threw down a 30:12. It's bitch of a course, with a quarter mile 8% grade hill within the first 200 yards, and has more of an elevation gain than the half marathon I'm running in next month. Yikes. Greg signed up as a birthday present from my uncle, and I debated running it if we had childcare, which we did. So race morning, I forked over my $20, got my shirt, and got in line. It's a small race - 90 people - and I had no idea what to expect. I've started doing some speed work in the last few weeks, but nothing amazing. I figured a 26-27 minute finish, as Mendon was flatter, but I was pushing a stroller then. Good to go. Pre race, I had a waffle, changed a diaper, scrounged for some fruit snacks for a toddler, said hi to some of the other Gananda running moms, and got in line. Good as any prep.
The weather. OMG. At 8:30, it was already in the upper 70s, with stupid humidity. Sweet. Keeping this in mind, when the gun went off, I went up Walworth's version of cardiac hill semi easy, keeping a slow trot. I hit the top, took a few deep breaths, and said fuck it. This will hurt So let's go. I picked off a few people, settled in to some trap music (thanks Rob) and coasted to mile 1. In 6:43. Bull hockey. The guy next to me was wearing a garmin and confirmed it was .9, not 1 mile. Good to know. Miles 1 to 2 were uneventful - I saw Greg, who was suffering in the heat, but soldiering on. Coming up to mile 2 was a gradual .25 mile uphill, then a sharp 200 feet climb. Hit the water stop at mile 2 in 15:02, which was (NOT) mile 2, rather, mile 1.9. Good to know. The last mile was a series of turns and rolls until the last half mile, which was alllll down hill. YESS. I hit the down hill, kissed my quads goodbye, and gave it my all. As I hit the last 100 yards, chasing down some unsuspecting sucker (yep, passed him) when another guy blew past me like I was standing still. I crossed the finish in 24:42, and almost passed out. Success! I confirmed with my Garmin guy that the course was 3.15, which made sense for the long last mile! Finished 2nd out of 6 in my age group, and 6th OA female out of I think 40 total.
Overall, SO MUCH better than I was even hoping or, and I felt good. 7:58 pace is right where I want to be for 3 hilly miles, and I feel great about the Black Diamond Half on August 28 and Syracuse in October - that sub 4 is MINE. Up next - Sodus Sprint Tri on August 7th, stay tuned for more of...I've swam 3 times this summer and ridden my bike....maybe 5 times more. Shit.
Hittin the lake this weekend, wet suit packed!!
