My Second 5K!

Yay for my second 5K!  You can read about my first 5K here. 

I had been running more in the past month (than normal) but my runs were never longer than 2 miles or so.  This made me nervous.  During the first 5k, which was soley in a neighborhood, SwimSis and I were able to run it in the evenings a couple of times before the race.  This time, part of the race was on a major road, so that was pretty much a no go.  And in June, we started one of our practice runs at 9pm.  Now it is almost pitch black around 6:30ish.  Again, another hinderance.  But I have stepped up my game in the fitness department since then, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!

The best part about this Thanksgiving morning race was that it started/ended at the YMCA meaning NO PORT A POTTIES!  Oh indoor plumbing how I take you for granted!  It is only the second year for the race, so there were still a few kinks.  There were "corrals" as in "runner, walker, stroller".  But they weren't well marked and people who got into place later were stuck with slower people.  It was also difficult for the participants to line up toward the back as the road wrapped around the back of the YMCA.  The start was sort of lopsided with people properly lined up at the road and some coming in from the side of the YMCA.  Overall, it ended up being a rather smooth start.  At the beginning, I felt like a lot of people were passing me, but I passed a lot (for me) in that first mile.  Most depressingly during that first mile (and really she did it throughout), there was a girl/woman (18ish?) who was SKIPPING.  The whole 5K.  I passed her again around the water stop at Mile 2, but wow I don't know if it was awesome or stupid. 

My major goal was to run the portion of the race that was on the main road (as opposed to winding through a subdivision).  When it turned into the subdivision, I was free to walk! Also, I could not, for the life of me, find my watch.  IDK where I put it!  (*Update:  Found it!  Was in my suitcase from the week before*) So I was stuck with keeping my cell phone in my bra.  Super classy.  So I just looked at my cell after I crossed the start and it said 8:06.  The main road was rolling hills which some dislike, but I enjoy the change. Because of the rolling hills, I could not see where the road turned into the subdivision till I got closer.  But I got there and the "Mile 1" sign was on the corner.  Score!  I looked at my watch and it said 8:19 - 13 min/mile, awesome!  Very proud of myself.  TeenSwimSis had said she wanted to keep up with SwimSis (being the fastest), then she said she wanted to keep up with me, then she said she would just keep up with our dad.  Well, I passed her about a half mile in where she was walking with her shoe untied.  LORD.  I told her to go to the side and tie it and then catch up to me, but I wouldn't wait on her (because my goal was the run the first mile).  She never caught up.  I was gaining on my dad and kept sight of his bald head during that first mile and I finally caught up with him and told him to go wait for her.  hahaha 

I walked for that second mile more than I should of and then I realized we were running in the same subdivision as my first 5K, just a different route.  I decided I would be really disappointed if I walked as much in the last 1.1 miles as I did the second. During this time, I had kept the shot blocks from my first 5K (June) in a plastic baggie...5 months later, those puppies were not soft and chewy.  I put one in my mouth and it was like a now and later!  I spit it out after the race was over.  lol!  When I finished I knew I was faster than my last time by a few, but I didn't know how much.  Final time:  44:02!  That is 2:37 faster than my last 5K!  14:11 pace.  Very happy about that! 

SwimSis squeaked in under 38 mins.  We watched my dad come in at about 52 mins.  That dude was seriously whistling while he was strolling to the finish.  hahahaha!  He said he had gone back for TeenSwimSis a couple of times, but she had just been too slow.  Finally we saw TeenSwimSis strolling in.  I went back onto the course and ran it in with her.  She finished in 55 minutes.  I think that was 3.2+1 point for getting my fam out to exercise.

I'm Squinty McGee on the left.

I then attemped to recreate my grandma's sweet potatoes (not bad!) and was the last one to shower before we hurried out the door.  Thanksgiving was nice.  I shouldn't have gone back for a second plate of food, but I did get some more.  I was so stuffed, I went and lounged for an hour!  I had a headache forming, but ignored it and I went back for some pie.  Pumpkin looked yucky and all the apple pie was gone, so I was stuck with pecan pie.  I ate too much of that and soon it was pretty near a migraine.  So I went to lay down in the study (lol so sounding like the 1950s here).  We went home and everyone went black friday shopping except for myself and SwimTot.  I stuck SwimTot in the bed next to me with the iPad and I tried to sleep!  She needed a snack and wanted a piece of cheese.  I knew she would want another snack later, so I just gave her the cheese, a bag of marshmallows and she went in her room to watch whatever was on TV.  haha!  I fell fast asleep!  When I get headaches like that (once every month or two, I don't even bother with medicine, I just want sleep! I mean, medicine might work, I just never give it a try because sleeping always makes it go away). I felt terrible and I contributed it to majorly overeatting whether that was the cause or not.

I am always terrible about holidays (and my birthday) in the sense that I don't think about them in the weeks leading up to them and then they pass and I'm sad that they are gone already.  I like to be sentimental about things and when I don't give myself the time to do that, I end up posting things like a list of things I am thankful for a full week late :)  So here we go on a few (mostly fitness) related things:

-I am thankful for my body not giving up on me.    I was headed down a bad path.  I'm glad to be (literally) running/swimming/pilaties-ing/yoga-ing the other direction. 

-I am thankful I can be brave and try new things even when I have some anxiety. 

-I am thankful my family is supportive, but not overbearing.  Having someone tell me what to do is the last thing I need!

-I am thankful I have a job.  I didn't have one last year and the security of a job makes an emotional change.  Also, I'm thankful my job pays me well enough to replace the box of frozen breakfast sandwiches (I'm addicted) that someone stole out of the freezer here at work.  Jerks. 

-I am thankful for being on the swim team growing up.  Even though I am slow and out of shape at other things, I feel like I kick ass at swimming (most days).  It is like riding a bike when you get back into it.  Same motions, just improve your strength/cardio capacity.

  -I'm thankful for Pilates.  Not only does it make my muscles feel like mush every Saturday (and sometimes Mondays), slowing movements down and focusing on precise movements rather than relying on momentum to carry me through has helped my self-esteem.  When you're obsese, you often feel like a big blob of person.  Pilates has helped me find and use each little part of my body that I was not able to acknowledge before. 

-I'm thankful for Swagbucks and Amazon's lightning sales.  I got a new pair of Asics for $30 when all was said and done.

-I'm thankful for this blog.  I'm like to be sentimental, but am terrible at writing in a journal.  I was reading some early posts and it feels like a lifetime ago although it was only 9 months.  The support of the blog community is so awesome, sweet, and most definitely funny!