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Arizona Road Racers Summer Series #1

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Location:

Mesa,AZ,

Member Since:

Apr 04, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Marathon Finish

Running Accomplishments:

Prs:

1 mile:  6:31

5K:  23:37

Half Marathon: 2:04

My first post-high school 5K, in which I thought I was going to die

The first time I won my age division.  Yippee!

My first half marathon, in which I attack Sasha

The time I beat my high school PR for the 5K (as a 31 year-old mommy of 3!)

My first 5K barefooted

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

I'm just getting back into running after a long break to have my last child.  I would like to race some 10Ks, a half, and a marathon in the next 2 years.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Be the oldest woman to complete a marathon.  Yea!  But hopefully I will also complete some BEFORE I geezer up, like, before I'm 40 for sure.  I think it would be fun to dress up really strange for marathons, like impersonating celebrities and stuff.  Except I don't really like celebrities, as a rule, so maybe I'll have to stick to the age old question of ninja, or pirate.  I say ninja. *Hyah!*

Personal:

I am happily married to James W (Cool Runnings). We have 3 boys and 1 opinionated little girl.  I love reading and I'm also a news junkie.  I am a stinker.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
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3 miles with Christine at 9:40 pace on ave. Doh! I tried so hard to get to bed early last night. I skipped my Sunday nap, got in bed early...but wouldn't you know it my kids inexplicably refused to go to sleep last night, and when they finally did, my dog woke me up with frenzied barking, and after putting him away I had a hard time getting back to sleep. I absolutely MUST have good sleep tonight and the rest of this week. My little 5K on Sat. is my BEST chance for breaking my high school record this season. Soon temperatures will be most unfavorable for setting PRs. Uuuugh. I want to break it sooo badly! I've been thinking about this for over a year! Okay. No stressing out. It is going to be fine....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

2 miles tonight, and it is STILL over 100 F.  9:53 pace on ave.  It is supposed to cool down for the weekend.  (I hope!)

I got new shoes today.  I have a funny story about it, but I'll have to tell you tomorrow.  Time for bed!

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3.35 miles with Christine this morning. 9:39 pace on ave. Eventful! Yesterday Christine's daughter almost got clipped on the freeway and swerved so hard that she ended up going into a tailspin and crossing all kinds of lanes, only to end up facing the right direction--completely unharmed. Thanks goodness! So the was conversation was even livelier than usual, and it was overall a pleasant run.

Soooooo don't die of shock, but I went and got new running shoes yesterday. I've been running in crocs or barefoot for quite a while now. They did a shoe dog analysis/gait analysis that yielded interesting results. I've had my feet/stride analyzed 2 time previously and they both said that I over-pronated pretty strongly and needed a stability shoe (and the right foot could even do with a motion control shoe). But yesterday, the results were better! Left foot was completely neutral, and the right was not pronating so much, as that the arch was a little more flexible, so barely fits into the "stability shoe" category. Better, eh? I tried to tell him that it was because I've been running barefoot, but he laughed and said that if I'd been running barefoot and I needed stability shoes my arch would be worse, not better.... Not according to my feet, but whatever.

So here's my funny story...the young man who was helping me asked me what my goal time was for the 5K this Sat. and I said "23 minutes," to which he replied by making a muffled choking sound. I looked at him and he was hiding a smile so I said "slow" and he said "yeah." So he thought my goal was laughable. I was just starting to think of a sign that said: "Wanted: Shoe store employee to do gait analysis and sell running apparell. Tact not required." Then he asked me if I'd ever done any longer races and I told that I recently ran a half in 2:03.  He made another interesting sound, so I asked him what HIS half marathon time was and he said "2:04." He was so shocked that I could beat him in a half! It was very gratifying.

1.65 miles later with the kiddos and the double jogging stroller.

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3.35 outside alone at 9:30 pace on average. I am ready for Saturday. I'm going to show you guys that I can be tenacious.

Any prayers for my little 3 year-old would be greatly appreciated! Yesterday he chewed up and swallowed some glass. I called 911 and the fire department came, and we took him in... NO cuts in his mouth or throat and now we are all just waiting to see if his body can safely expel it naturally. I am a mess. He seems completely normal, though.

1.65 a little later with my boys.

 

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3 miles outside alone. What a beautiful morning--so cool and humid. Reminded me of the beach for some reason. Hope we get rain.

I run right after James gets back from his run every day, and he scared me a little today by telling me that he saw a real mountain lion not half a mile from our house. I've heard of mountain lion sightings close by, but I've never believed them. We live in a city! Anyway, although I was scared and alone, I was also very curious, so I ran over to where James said he saw it. With about 100 yds. from the "sighting" my feet just stopped without my permission and turned me around. I've got kids. I have to live. : ). By the way, let's not bring it to James' attention that I went looking for the mountain lion. I doubt he would be pleased.

2 BAREFOOT miles outside in the RAIN!  9:29 pace on average.  Yippeeeee!  It was puddle splashing fun.  You've got to try it.  Make sure you know your route really well, though.  It would be harder to see glass and stuff. 

I really like barefooting.  I wish I could transition to running barefoot all the time.  The thing that keeps me from doing it is that then I feel like I have to run the same little .5 mile loop all the time.  I don't feel safe just taking these bare puppies wherever because of the possibility of broken glass. 

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE broken glass?  I HATE IT!  Whoever invented glass should be forced to eat it every day for breakfast, with no sugar. 

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3 miles outside.  Wow, the temps were perfect--54 degrees at 7:30  I hope it is like this tomorrow too!

James is home today.  Yea!  We are all going to the zoo today, so that should be a fun time. 

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Race: Arizona Road Racers Summer Series #1 (3.13 Miles) 00:23:37
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Woo-Hoo!!!

I've dreamed about this moment for a WHOLE STINKING YEAR! I've visualized it hundreds of times, hoped, prayed, and hungered...all for this day. THIS is the race where I squashed my high school 5K pr of 23:58 with room to spare. Feels insanely good to trump my high school self--I was such a punk! It was time to bring me DOWN! (I need therapy, I know.) 1 minute and 3 seconds faster than my old-lady pr of 24:40 set just a couple of months ago.

I started with a nice 2 mile warm-up and a ridiculous number of potty stops. As I was warming up at 10:30 pace, I was thinking, 'Man, this feels hard. Can I really run 3 min. a mile faster than this?!?' It was a staggered start. The oldest ladies started first, followed by the 80 year-old guys. Then the 70 year-olds etc. I met up with Shauna, and was having such a great time talking to her (she is such a sweetie) that we totally missed our start time. Whoops! We ended up taking off with the fast dudes. This was a really big race for a 5k, and there was a pretty narrow road to run on. So WEAVING was the name of the game. How can I get past this 5 year-old running with his grandma--without bumping into Mr. Football fan over here? You expect weaving for the first .5 or so in any race, but I was STILL in major weave-central at 2 miles. It was actually a really good mental exercise for me. Usually I hate passing people. This time I had no choice. I passed someone every 2-5 seconds the whole race! I would estimate that I passed over 100 people, and I only got passed by 1 that I can remember. So, major success in the roadkill department today. (Never mind that many of them were octagenarians, but anyway.)

7:37 for the first mile. The first .3 miles were rolling hills with a net uphill. I wanted to quit after .8 (he he).

7:36 for the second mile. This is when I started to see that I could really break the record. Traditionally the 2nd mile is my slowest. I was like, "what? I didn't slow down? How'd THAT happen?"

7:30 I honestly have no clue how this mile wasn't slower. There was some downhill the last .2 of this mile (it was an out-and back course), so I suppose that helped. Sasha taught me how to do downhill when I did the Provo City Half, and I consider it a strength now.

:54 sec. for the .13 (7:00 pace) Right at the end my eyes started doing this funny thing--kind of like I had someone else's glasses on. Wrong prescription by just a little. And my eyes took just a little too long to open back up when I blinked. Weird.

I am happy to report that I really gave my all in this race. This is the worst I've felt after a 5k in quite some time. In the finish chute, you had to put your foot up on a step for a volunteer to take off the time chip, so I stumbled up and wavered on one foot while staring at the sky. But instead of taking off the chip, the guy just asked "do you need to sit down?" I saw why he was deliberating--I had put up the wrong foot. *Blush* Overall a great race and a great experience.

I have to thank everyone on the blog for helping me get to this point. I never reached my potential in high school because I had no concept of how long it takes for the aerobic development to peak. I'd only run during the cross country season and track season. In between I'd just hang out and get slow. I've learned so much from all the fabulous runners on this blog, and especially Sasha, with his pointed advice. In the last year I've taken 4 min. off my 5K time. 4 more minutes would give me a really competitive time! (Ha ha). But I do know this: there is a 22:XX in my near future. Time to go get it!

PM ran a little with the boys. Had a hard time keeping up with my 5 year-old and I am not exaggerating!


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(32)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
27.253.1330.38
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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