7b/12 - Pretty Disappointing

My seventh race this year was supposed to be the pinnacle the goal I was striving for with the rest of the year the downhill slope easing my way through the rest of the year.  Unfortunately it turned into a pretty solid disappointment.  13.1, the half.  Hot, humid weather combined with not quite enough training and still being painfully overwieght made the race pretty bad.  I was hoping to run the whole thing with a backup goal of finishing under 2:30.  Neither was reached.  The most I can say for the run was that I made it to the end no matter how slow and painful the thing was.  Unfortunately, it sort of destroyed my desire to try this again.  I'm limiting myself to the 10K at my max distance at least through the rest of the year.

A breakdown of the splits for the race shows when it all fell apart, right around mile 9 where my overall pace increased by a full minute, then went even higher tacking on another 20 seconds to add insult to injury.
 
5K (33:27, Pace 10:42 ),
10K (1:07:29, Pace 10:48),
10 Mi (1:58:44, Pace 11.48),
1/2 (2:39:29, Pace 12:10)

PRs are now:
5K (3.1 miles): 27:35, Pace 8:54 (4/28/12)
10K (6.2 miles): 1:06:19, Pace 10:41(10/12/08)
1/4 Marathon (6.55 miles): 1:07:51, Pace 10:21 (3/31/12)
1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles): 2:39:29, Pace 12:10 (7/22/12)

7a/12 - Bonus Race and Running Summary

Happy 4th!  To celebrate this Wednesday off I ran a road race with friends.  Actually I ran one as a friend.  My friend hurt her back recently and couldn't run the race she signed up for so I put her bib on and ran the 4 mile race.  I wasn't setting any land speed records, the entire race was hills either up or down the whole time.  But I finished and didn't walk so I'm happy.  41:58 which puts me at a slow 10:30 pace. This put me 51st/70 in my friends age group and would have put me 31st out of 47 in mine.

Unfortunately I've noticed this trend in both soccer and running.  I've been pulling out longer weekend runs to prep for my half and it seems to have slowed me down.  After the half I think I'm going to focus on improving my 5K and 10K times and not worry about distance.  See if I can't break the 27 minute mark.  That would be pretty cool.  And also help my soccer skills.

The running year in summary:
January: 40.21
February: 39.19
March: 38.26
April: 28.76
May: 42.22
June: 34.65
July (to date): 4.00

Total = 227.29 miles

6/12 - Halfway There

You're listening to the third fastest round person!  I ran my monthly race and finished in third in the Athena division.  For those not initiated into the wonderful world of running that's the females over 150 lbs.  Hence the round people. 

Unofficially clocking in at 39:41 we found out at the end of the race they had tacked on an "extra" .8 miles.  So the race was actually 3.9 miles long rather than the scheduled 3.1.  However, because of the heat and humidity they changed the course last minute which made the run longer but left it mostly in the shade.  I finished with a respectable 10:10 pace.  Not where I was but I've been faltering in my training lately.  I'm hoping to pick it up this week with a 10 mile run on Saturday.  The furthest I've ever run!

Here's to hoping this weekends run goes well.  Only 4 weeks until my half marathon so hopefully I'll make it through.

Permanent Marker

One of the things I've wanted to do for quite some time is to get tattoos in honor of my parents.  So with that in mind this evening I was indelibly inked in honor of my mother.  On her 57th birthday I got a tattoo that, to me, represents her.  The words "Live, Love, Laugh" are now permanently scribed on the arch of my left foot.  It's part of an eventual pair of tattoos that speak to the things my parents have taught me about the way one should live their life.  I can only hope to meet and exceed that expectation.  So here's to trying to live for today, love like there's no tomorrow and laugh as often as possible.

Four Wheels Short of a Car

According to the local police department the Fit Sport has seen a rash of stolen wheels/tires.  The stock ones that come on it apparently have chrome wheels.  Unfortunately this means they're valuable.  Even more unfortunately they fit the Honda Civic as well.  Hence the recent thefts. 

Yep.  That's my brand new car.  I've owned it less than 3 months and it doesn't even have 3000 miles on the odometer.  I moved into my new apartment complex last Wednesday.  Ten days later my car was missing all four tires and wheels.  Not a great sight to come out to when you're trying to get to work on a Friday morning.

There is hope for humanity though.  With the exception of whatever assholes actually did the theft I found that everyone has been very kind and helpful through the whole process.  Everyone from the town Police Department officer, to the Insurance Adjuster and Claims person, to the Honda dealer where I'm re-ordering the parts through, down to the garage and the tow guy who came to pick Blueberry up. 
Even my new neighbors have offered up their condolences.  I got offers of rides from a number of different people who are now my neighbors.  Everyone has been very good to me.  The garage even found a set of doughnuts to put on my car so the tow truck could come pick it up.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting wheel locks this time around.  Sigh.

On a lighter note my friend made me laugh pretty hard when she reminded me what I said when I got the new car.  I had mentioned I was glad I didn't have to worry about loosing hub caps anymore, which I seemed to do with regularity on my Corolla, because I had rims now.  So if those were missing the whole tire and wheel was missing.  Oh the irony.  

5/12 - And the Winner Is...

So it wasn't a PR at 29:17 I didn't set any new land speed records and at 2 lbs. back up things were looking down.  However, my time somehow managed to put me on the podium for my age group!  3rd of 19!  A small race but it made me feel pretty good.

Too bad I was too impatient to run errands I didn't pick up my prize.  LOL.  Oh well.

Here's to my first podium finish

4/12 - April and another PR!

Today's race was super exciting!  I PRed again!  Despite a 2 lb. increase in weight from my March 5K I officially clocked in at 27:35 which puts me in at an 8:53 pace.  BELOW 9 MINUTES!!!!  This is super exciting as I haven't run that fast since high school which was forever ago.  I shaved 17 seconds off my average pace and 52 seconds off my overall time.

I'm obviously pretty excited and hopefully this will fuel me to push through and continue with my 1/2 marathon training.  Only 11 weeks until the big race.  I just have to keep focusing one week at a time.  April hasn't been a very consistent running month for me so I'm going to try to let this personal win push me.

PR It:
5K: 27:35, Pace 8:54 (4/28/12)
10K: 1:06:19, Pace 10:41(10/12/08)
1/4 Marathon: 1:07:51, Pace 10:21 (3/31/12)
1/2 Marathon: TBD
Marathon: TBD