Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00 am to drive just over 2 hours to Greensboro for a 10k trail race. The temperature was 23* when I left my house. Most people that know me know I don't do cold well. I stressed over what to wear all week. I don't want to get cold but I also hate getting too hot once I'm into my run. I made a few last minute changes to my previous evening's choices and loaded myself in the car and was off.
Thank goodness I made it more than 10 minutes on the road without needing a potty break, after the trip to Greenville last month I was a bit worried. I made it an hour before I started looking for a rest stop. There isn't one until you're 30 mins outside of Greensboro, now I know for the next trip. While I'm on the subject of potties, I was thrilled that the bathrooms at the race were indoors. I was not looking forward to using a porta-potty in sub 30* temps.
I did a short little jog around the road at the park just to get my blood flowing so I wouldn't freeze to death while waiting. After getting into the huddled mass at the start I decided that I needed to remove my middle shirt layer. Just when I decide that they give a 2 minute to start call. I quickly tear off my fuel belt, tug my top layers off , frantically separate them, then throw my top layer back on along with my fuel belt. Luckily my car was parked by the start line and I just tossed the shirt on my car. I was back in the huddle mass with 30 seconds to spare.
After the start the race was pretty uneventful. The ground was frozen and my face and feet were numb for the first half of the race. Even though it was uneventful I really enjoyed the race. I didn't feel like I put out the effort I normally do at a race, I put out more than a normal training run, but it clearly wasn't an all out effort. I finished in 54:37. I was very pleased and surprised. That put me 42/100 for overall, 14/42 for women, and 2/9 for 35-39.
I will probably go back up there in April for a half marathon on the same trail system, that's assuming I enjoy the half marathon in Feb.
Right now I'm trying to battle a cold. I'm losing. After my run this morning it was clear it is moving south towards my chest. Right now it's just lingering at the top of my throat but I can feel it trying to drop lower. I really don't need this right now. My running is going so well and my IT band and other recurring aches are starting to behave. Everyone in the family has had this cold. First Emmett, then Brian, now me. Emmett is still fighting his but Brian is all better. I need this to end!
Tomorrow night is Emmett's first Xmas show. This should be interesting, a bunch of 2 year olds shaking bells while the 3 and 4 year olds sing Jingle Bells. I will be bringing the video camera!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
A Girl Can Change Her Mind, Again!
Well, I've been MIA on my blog. Sometimes I just don't have the concentration to sit down and put my thoughts into words. I'll try to give a quick update on all I've done since my last update.
I've managed to do a lot more trail running lately. I've only done two non trail runs in the past three weeks! Hooray! I got to do some trail running Thanksgiving week while visiting Brian's family in Michigan. I really enjoyed getting some time to myself to indulge in my obsession while on vacation. The drive home with lots of sitting made my IT band feel tight and I was worried it might be going rogue on me again but after a few days of being home with my foam roller we are both on the same page again. I'm up to 7 miles for my long runs and have added one more day of running to my week this week, so I will now run four days a week. I hope my body agrees to my new schedule.
I've got a 10k trail race in Greensboro, NC next Saturday. I'm 99% decided that I will not be running the Virginia Creeper Marathon in March in favor of concentrating on the Xterra Trail Race Series in South Carolina and Georgia. It's not like Marathons are going anywhere, when I'm ready I'll find one that fits my mood. I'm not going to blow the competition away in the Xterra Series but I'm already in third place for my age group in SC and I'd like to see if I can hold onto that or move up. I will focus on trail speed instead of long miles. I do like to go fast (well fast for me) and training for a marathon right now would require me to not think about speed. I feel a weight lifted off me and now I can go out and have fun. I am looking to do a half trail marathon Feb 27th in Winder, Georgia, it's an Xterra Xduro race. Brian will be racing it as well, should be a fun weekend with friends and family as well.
I've managed to do a lot more trail running lately. I've only done two non trail runs in the past three weeks! Hooray! I got to do some trail running Thanksgiving week while visiting Brian's family in Michigan. I really enjoyed getting some time to myself to indulge in my obsession while on vacation. The drive home with lots of sitting made my IT band feel tight and I was worried it might be going rogue on me again but after a few days of being home with my foam roller we are both on the same page again. I'm up to 7 miles for my long runs and have added one more day of running to my week this week, so I will now run four days a week. I hope my body agrees to my new schedule.
I've got a 10k trail race in Greensboro, NC next Saturday. I'm 99% decided that I will not be running the Virginia Creeper Marathon in March in favor of concentrating on the Xterra Trail Race Series in South Carolina and Georgia. It's not like Marathons are going anywhere, when I'm ready I'll find one that fits my mood. I'm not going to blow the competition away in the Xterra Series but I'm already in third place for my age group in SC and I'd like to see if I can hold onto that or move up. I will focus on trail speed instead of long miles. I do like to go fast (well fast for me) and training for a marathon right now would require me to not think about speed. I feel a weight lifted off me and now I can go out and have fun. I am looking to do a half trail marathon Feb 27th in Winder, Georgia, it's an Xterra Xduro race. Brian will be racing it as well, should be a fun weekend with friends and family as well.
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