Chattahoochee Challenge 10K

So this week has been eh. Tuesday I got RIF'd. I think I was the only one stunned by this. Oh well. Happened before. Luckily that talk about Pearl Jam in Ireland...I never acted on it. Or the plane tickets for my grandfather's birthday, or a zillion other things. So we have a little bit of savings... But I'm not going to do the Triangle Tri. I really have no desire to see my former boss, at the moment.

So I was very upset on Tuesday and that whole running thing didn't happen. Just sitting in front of the TV staring. Wednesday, I did change the sheets so I could lay in a clean bed all day. At 4, D made me go for a 2 mile run. My numbness didn't go away. I took Guinness on the run. She did ok. We weren't really trying hard.

Thursday, I laid around on the couch, worked on my resume and and applied to 2 jobs. Then I decided I wasn't in the mood to do that, so I took 3 hours to hang a picture. It had to line up with 2 existing pictures. Well being an engineer, it had to be aligned, leveled, etc. and somehow I couldn't make it work. Even duct tape didn't work. 10 holes in the wall later, it is good enough. D got home and we went for a 3.5 mile run. Some idiot brought her dog to the gym, so it made me so mad, I felt my whole workout was ruined. D called the owner of the gym, and he took care of it...D said he was speechless, and then like WTF when D told him. Now, reasons a dog shouldn't be in a gym...messes on the ground stench up the place, allergies of other people, getting in the way of weightlifters, getting smashed by a free weight, etc. Just in case you were pro-dog in the gym...you are a moron, imo.

Friday I cleaned the house, and D's mom, sis and niece arrived from MD. Yes the snowmegeddon, they escaped.

Saturday D, A and I ran the Chattahoochee Challenge 10K. We picked A up at 620 so we could get a parking spot before the road closed at 7. Um every other person in the race thought the same, so we ended up parking .75 miles away. We made a decision that we would walk to the registration and not come back to the car, so no coats, or anything not needed to run (it was 40 degrees). We got to registration and the race was chipped. We still weren't aware if it was going to be a correct chip (not mass start but indiviual...it was correct, individual start time). We did the bathroom thing, and then walked to the start line .25 miles away. After what seemed an eternity, the race finally started. They had pace packs, but I was already lined up and the pacers came after me. I didn't feel like moving MORE to the back so eh. Not a big deal as we had over 3 miles before they made you file to one lane.

So on mile 1 a walker told me she liked my pace. And 2 women were walk/running. I ran with them for a mile. Then one woman decided to pick her pace up, one decided to walk, so I was in between them. Mile 2 was .1 mile farther than my Garmin read. No biggie. The time read 27 something. The first people were coming back (it was an out an back on one road and then another on another road). I finally got to Roswell Road, and turned around. I saw the "good pace" woman. She told me to slow down because she couldn't keep up.

Around Mile 3, I decided flat races were rather boring. (40:30). I looked at the Hooch and realized it was way fuller than last May when I ran this course last. Then the wind picked up. I seemed to run so slowly. 3 cops passed and told me they were opening the road, so I had to run on the bike path. Eh. I seemed to be the only one who move to the path. Fighting the wind, I didn't look at my watch. Mile 4 came at 55, according to the Mile 4 timer.

I turned off the first road. The second road passed the finish line. I am sure there are 2 people who think I'm a bitch because I yelled at them to get out of my way. Sorry, you didn't have people standing on the course when you were running, why should I? So I pass the finish and see D done. Curses! I want to be done. All that stuff made me get to Mile 5 fast in my head. 69 minutes. Fastest I have ever run 5 miles (done 2 5 mile races). Again, like Mile 2, 3, and 4, my Garmin went off about .1 mile before the mile marker. A passed me in Mile 5 (on her way back). I got to the hill and struggled up it but got down faster. At the turnaround I saw the walker lady. Back at the hill I started running, but my legs just decided no. And walker lady passed me. So I walked it. Another lady passed me. Damn it. I got to the top and ran down. And ran. I saw the 5 mile marker, and Garmin dinged 6 miles. Then I saw the 6 mile marker. I ran around the corner, and saw the finish line. I tried to run faster but my legs didn't want to go. I saw D and the photographer. I finally crossed. I saw the time and couldn't believe it. 88:03/6.32 miles. My previous best time was 91:58, and it was this course. I couldn't believe it. I got a dixie cup of water and D and I went up to the center to get shirts.

Kudos to the volunteers. For 2XL people, you had to pay extra for your shirt. I was worried there would be none left. Nope, they made you tell them your name. So I got my shirt! And a grocery bag (eco race). A did not get a grocery bag. Also weird thing, besides the Dixie cups there was no water.

As we were walking back to the car, I told A I thought it was weird that I was getting faster but seemed to be ending closer to the back on races. She said that with the crappy weather, only serious runners were out. I liked that explanation.

With G2 in the car, the ride home was uneventful. We dropped A off, and got home where I iced a cake, made corn bread and then got to spend the day with MIL, SIL, niece, BIL/SIL and 2 nieces. Nice day which made up for a shaky week.

Then the dryer broke (because you know I wouldn't end on a positive note, right?).