Sweat Your Thorns Off 5K Report

http://TheBoringRunner.com

So as of Friday night at bedtime, I had no clue where I was doing this race.  Saturday morning as I lay in bed, McM decided we should all lay on Dad.  So as we all laid across D, and he cursed us for elbows in the kidneys, McM got excited and hit me in the eye.  Claw mark across the eyelid and down the cheek.  This went with the claw mark on my pelvis and another one in my armpit (yep I look like a French woman and smell like a French man due to open flesh!) that he achieved by jumping on me at 3am Thursday am.

So I begrudgingly got up, and got ready for a run. D had already said he was taking McM, so I decided to take SB. So I solved where I was running. Now for how long?  Was it going to be 2 and drop off? Was it going to be 5K and quit.  I just didn't know.

After everyone had a poop break, SB and I were off.  Up German Shepherd Pass, up Terrorist Dog Hill.  STOP... Oh SB you have to poop again?  But I'm wearing spandex. I don't have another bag.  Oh wait, I wouldn't pick that up anyway.  Leaves with condoms and God knows what else.  It is natural.  It will disintegrate.  Good job for picking that spot!

Off again.  Drug Hill, Bell South Hill and Friday Hill.  1 Mile in 14:30 minutes.  Not too shabby for SB.  Chased a squirrel, and back to the school.  Coming up on 2 miles and how was SB doing.  OK.  Not too hot.  We ran back up Terrorist Dog Hill and then he decided he had enough.  So it looked like 2 miles. So we ran down Nemesis Hill and he pepped up.  Meanwhile I was cursing McM for all the claws.  All the salt from my sweat was dripping into the claw marks and my pelvis, armpit and face were on fire.  While I was cursing him, we passed D and McM, so that didn't help.  It hurt to blink.  We ran over to the Stolen Car Hill and SB was still going strong.  Up to the prison, and back to Stolen Car Hill.  Then he started running funky because 2 dogs had spotted us and he was looking for them.  He did a little strut too.  So we turned around and the "scary dogs" saw me, and ran away.  SB pulled hard to run for one of them.  I'm a mean mommy and wouldn't let him go. Back down the hill, and still strong.  45:00 for 3.11 miles.  Dare we go .89 more?

What say you, Scuttlebutt?  As he pulled me down the hill, it was clear we were going .89 more.  We got to the turn and he stopped.  Just walked.  So we walked about 3 feet, and then he was good to go and we got up to the cul-de-sac.  There is a lot of grass, so we had to sniff all the grass.  We got up to the top of the CDS hill and more grass.  More sniffing.  Finally he was good with all the sniffing and we had .4 to go.  So we ran down the hill and to the front of the subdivision.  Then we were done.  I took his Halti off and put the leash on his collar.  Was he tired?  Nope, he pulled all the way up the hill to the house. When we got inside though, he acted like he had never run at all.  Huffing and puffing and getting Dad to get water and such a little actor.

But he is a cute one.

Scuttlebutt and McMenamin lounging, watching TV, drinking and sleeping while D and I work all day

When Running with D

So I managed 2 of 3 runs this week (so far). 

I ran after work on Tuesday.  I was still feeling eh about the whole 10K, but changed my clothes at work and drove to the gym (my gym doesn't have locker rooms).  On the way there, I got stuck in traffic on the Connector. So for once, I looked around (I typically drive with blinders on).  The man on the side of me was fine.  Like mouth fall to the floor fine.  He was in a convertible. He had broad shoulders that fit the tan leather seats very well. His face was smooth.  He had a strong jaw line.  He said something to me.  So I rolled down the window, and he says, "Yes, it is me."  I said, "I don't know who you are. You are just hot."  With that, his lane starts moving, and I see he is driving a Ferrari (no vanity tags).  He is driving towards the Ted. So I go to the gym and relay the story to D (who is already at the gym). He thinks it was Jason Heyward, although he would have been late seeing as he was on the Connector at 5:20 and game time was at 7:10. I looked at pictures, but he has shit on his chin in the pictures. But he is the only Brave that is dark enough and wide enough to be him (the Braves have A LOT of white players on their team...I hate baseball so I had no idea of this).  But it could have just been a fine, rich black man. 

Anyway, so I decide to run the first of my 3 miles faster than normal.  Then oh, let's see if I can do one more.  I got to 27 minutes at 5.2 mph before wanting to die, and ran the total 3 miles at 35:15.  I ran fast because D had already left and was making dinner (leftovers).  So I didn't want to keep him waiting.

Wednesday, I changed but traffic was a mess.  So I just went home.  At 730, I didn't want to run. D said "C'mon. It is only 2 miles."  So off we went.  Since we were in the same car, I knew he would be waiting on me, so I decided to go fast again.  This time at 5.3.  I thought I was going to die.  But I did it.  22:45 (I run the first 2 minutes at 4.9 to get acclimated to the machine).  I did my walking after but not the stretches.  That was because we had to hurry home to watch Franklin and Bash.

Thursday, at work, I led a meeting. The PM asked if I was on something (in so many words), because my eyes wouldn't focus, I lost my train of thought in the meeting 3 times (in 30 minutes), and I couldn't read something.  Basically I was so exhausted, I could barely sit up, let alone function.  So the 3 miler has been pushed to Sunday.  I did go home and sleep 11 hours. 

I was going to find a race to run the Sweat your Thorns Off 5K, but the only one I could find starts at 830.  WAY TOO HOT/HUMID BY THEN. So the SYTO5K will be done either at the gym or very slowly with a dog. 

Possum Trot 10K - After 32 of them, you think they would have this down...

So the big day was here.
A and I did this race in 2009, when it was in May (read cooler).  It is the same course as the Chattahoochee Challenge that I have done in 2010 and 2011 (February).  So, what could go wrong? Nothing besides I didn't feel trained for it, I didn't want to do it and I had no passion about it.

Friday night, A, D and I all got emails telling us they were closing the Nature Center at 615am, and we would have to park a mile away. No big deal. Been there done that 3times.  So A picked us up at 615 and off we went to Roswell. We get to the road we need to turn on to turn onto the road we need to park at 645. It is closed. D asks the cop where we are supposed to go (remember none of us are familiar with Roswell, except for how to get to this one place).  He tells us to "Go up there, and points to some trees."  D says, "Thanks, Asshole," as A turns and goes north.  Luckily, I have my phone and we get a map and find where "up there" is, and manage to get to where we want to park. We grab the last space where we wanted to park thanks to D's awesome navigation skills and the fact A's Subaru takes curbs like a champ.

We hike it over to the Nature Center- .8 miles away, and get our numbers.  A uses the Spot-A-Pot, and I grab some water (why does a Nature Center use plastic cups and have no recycling?).  I'm sweating like a whore in church.  It is 72 degrees, 94% humiditiy.  After we get all situated, we walk to the starting line, .46 miles away.  After a few minutes we were off.

I don't think I could run slower.  I felt like I was running through sludge.  D and A are nowhere around me after about .1 mile.  What the hell was I thinking to run this race?  I didn't train like I said I would.  Why am I singing "Smoke on the Water" (thanks, D!) while ABBA is playing?  I get to a small decline and of course 9 minutes has passed so I walk.  I turn the corner, and Garmin says 1 minute is up at 12:02.  The Mile Timer says 12:30 (it is chipped time). 

I'm ran to the water station and got 2 little cups, and poured one on me and drank the other.  At the same time the winner came back the other way.  No one was near him for about another minute.  I focused on keeping my form up.  I got to Mile 2 at 12:29.  Mile Timer was at 2.04 miles according to Garmin.  I didn't see D, but I saw A pass me (out and back).  I waved, but she was very focused. She was also further along than I thought she would be.  I saw this power builder also.  He was about 5 people behind her.  I turned at Roswell RD  and thought evil things about the non-helpful cop, and wondered if he was the one who didn't know what a 5K was.  Then I started back.  I still was focusing on my form. The last people were closer to me than I thought they would be.  I was a little bummed about that.  I thought I was going a little faster to not be so close to the back. Right before I got to Mile 3, I saw the power builder.  He was not looking good.  He was still ahead of me.  Mile 3 was 12:29 as well. 

At the next water stop, I did the water on the head and the water in my mouth.  I was still focusing on my form.  People were passing me, but such is life. Right before the turn, was Mile 4 and that was 13:13.  My fastest 4 miles yet.  So I started on Mile 5.  There was one hill in this section. Body Builder had now decided I wasn't going to pass him. But he was still hurting.  I was trying to figure out if the woman next to me had something in her music to tell her when to walk, because she had no watch.  I tried to pay attention to picking up my legs, but I was getting hot(ter). When I did my 1 minute walk, I felt dizzy.  It went away when I ran.  We got to the finish (we had more to go), BB went and got water.  That is when I FINALLY passed him.  I was kind of happy to pass him, because I wasn't really sure what to do if he dropped dead in front of me (I know, nice...). I saw D and waved.  My Garmin went off after I passed the Center.  64 minutes for 5 miles.  But the 5 Mile Timer was at 5.15 miles when I got to it. 

I knew I had 2 more hills (one hill but up down turn around up down).  I was lucky enough to hit a walking part when I got to the it, so I walked up the hill.  By the time I got to the top, it was time to run again.  I started.  Then down and around, and up.  I kept slowing down going up, that I decided to walk and save some energy. When I got to the top, I started running again.  Where the hell was the finish?  I ran all the way to 6 (14 something minutes) and decided I was done.  It was techinically time to walk, so I did.  For 30 seconds.  Then I decided to be done.  And ran the rest of the way in.

Of course there was no photographer there. This pissed me off (D later said he went to the bathroom, and then went to take pics of the winners...I guess they don't realize the slow people actually BUY the pics!).  Anyway, I was pissed off.  I decided to get in below 82 minutes.  I kicked it up. But there was nothing to kick. My legs wouldn't go.  I gave it as much muster as I could, but nothing.  I crossed at 82:08.  And like every other race on this course, 6.31 miles according to Garmin.

D ran and got me 2 cups of water.  I downed them, and went and got some more.  We went and got our T-shirts.  Luckily they didn't run out, although they ran out of environmentally friendly shopping bags (again).  I got a banana and some more water, and we found A. And we walked the .8 miles back to the car.

When we got home, I looked up the times.  We all got PRs!

So I am trying to be happy about the new PR.  I know in better weather, it would have been faster, so that in 94% humidity, I should be ecstatic.  I'm blaming my non-excitement on the humidity. I really hate this weather.

Will I be Last?

So about 6 weeks ago, I decided I was running a 10K this coming Saturday. Fresh off the half-marathon, it would be no issue.  I wanted a faster time, so I printed out Hal Higdon's 10K Intermediate Training.  I achieved one week, and then fell out of it.  D and I lifted for 3 weeks until I noticed lifting really hurt my hip.  So we stopped.  Then we just got busy/burned out. Neither of us wanted to run what Mr. Higdon had on the schedule.  We didn't care.  Then as we watched McMenamin destroy the house more and more each day, we played with him and Scuttlebutt more and more.

The plan went out the window.  Last weekend I ran 7 miles. It was hard. It was hot out and the humidity sucked.  This past week, I got up at 5 and ran with McM.  We ran 4 miles and 2 miles.  At the gym, I ran 2 miles in 23 minutes. With McM, I ran it in 32 minutes.  4 miles was over an hour.  Surely it was just him, right?  Never mind it was 70+ degrees at 5AM.

So this Saturday we had 8 miles on tap.  I told D I hated running with McM.  I was walking SB when I decided I would take him 2 miles and then go home, get some water and run 4 more miles (yes, I had already decided to skip 2 of the miles).  So SB and I ran, sans his Gentle Leader.  He did decently.  We only had to yell at one asshole, who had his dog on a retractable leash and wouldn't retract it away from SB (as I'm running on the grass across the street).  I stopped and told him to get the fuck away from us.  At 730am, I'm sure this is not the first thing he wanted to hear, but stop being stupid.  We had to skip a little of our path, as 2 big dogs (D said 3) were loose, so we had to run on the main road on the sidewalk (not good with a bad hip).  Finally we got home.  29 minutes.  McM was already home. 

I dropped SB off and grabbed some water and then went and did 2 more miles.  Up to Stolen Car Apartments, to the Prison, and back into the subdivision.  Faster miles still.  Went back up to Stolen Car Apartments. The old men who drink beer are not crazy so they weren't outside.  I decided I didn't want to run up Nemesis Hill, so I ran on the street by the prison.  I got honked at and told to run on the sidewalk.  I went down a new road, and it was a hill.  Finished that road and back to Prison Road to German Shepherd Pass. 

Ok, I'll turn and do another mile.  So I ran to Terrorist Dog Hill. They were out (I hadn't seen them all year). They are still Terrorists.  I didn't see the roaming dogs.  I skipped Needle Hill and Bellsouth Hill, and Friday Hill, and just ran the part of the path I had skipped earlier.  OK back around, and only .4 clicks (a tenth of a mile) to 6, so I ran up Needle and Bellsouth. Skipped Friday.  I finished up and was back at German Shepherd Pass, when I didn't feel like running down Nemesis Hill.  My shirt was heavy.  I was getting slower and slower.  I was pretty sure I can walk faster, but oh well. So I ran back on Prison Road.  My time to Mile 7 was way off and I needed to walk so I walked (on the sidewalk) until I got to a down power line, and then started back on the road.  I eventually reached the subdivision again, and finished up the 8th mile.  I was drenched, although I noticed I was no longer sweating.

According to Wunderground, the humidity was 68%, 72 degrees when I started.

So I have no idea what to expect for my 10K.  Not a PR, that is for sure.

In other news, I found a new beer store. It is a convenience store with a cellar.  The guy seems knowledgeable about beer.  And I tried another new local...Jailhouse Mugshot IPA.

In the Ghetto

So I have been running, sort of. Like most things in my life right now, I am kind of half-assing it. I think I'm depressed. I'm really not enjoying much. I'm not hating much either. Everything is just eh.

I told D about the way I was feeling. He said he was having the same issue. Maybe it is just too damn hot out and we just don't care. Eh.

Well McMenamin doesn't feel the same as us. He is loving destroying anything he can find while we are gone (I think I already said he ate through his crate).  We decided to tire him out exercising, but we are going on the 10th or 11th day of 90+ degree days, so he can't go run with us. The past 2 nights I've been asleep by 9pm, and am awake when D gets up at 5am. So this morning, I got up and decided to take McM out for a 2 or 4 mile run.

So D and I walked him and SB and then D took SB home (much to SB's dismay).  McM and I went up to German Shepherd Pass and started running.  It took us about 5 minutes to get that I wanted him to run on the left side of me, and he wanted to run where ever and it would be great to run between my legs.  So we alternated throughout the run like that.  He managed to poop on a condom in the middle of the road (no, I didn't clean it up).  And when we went up Friday hill, a lady was at the bus stop. McM saw her right as a rooster crowed, and it scared the shit out of him (not literally, because he already left that on the condom).  So we went down Friday hill rather fast. I decided we would go for 4 miles.  While we ran down the hill by the school, I noticed I was singing this...




So I'm singing and McM takes off down the hill. It took all I could do to slow us down. I could see myself breaking my nose from him pulling me down. We ended up going really slowly on that section. We turned around and saw 3 loose dogs. Yay!

However, I don't think a Collie with no legs (a Corgi), a miniature Golden Retriever, and something else would get us. So we went back up the School Hill. We started the route again but at Bellsouth Hill, McM started walking. As I was assessing if he was dehydrated (as we turned for home), he saw a squirrel, so off we went.

We went back to the Subdivision and down the hill. Another freaking rooster. Since when do I live in the frigging X-burbs? Again, McM went apeshit, so that mile finished up fast.

I'm hoping he is worn out. I've already wanted to go to sleep 3 times since 6am.

And I got home and checked my email. Apparently gun shots rang out at 5 and there were cop cars. Um, yeah, no. I'm pretty sure we would have heard those. So we may have roosters, but we're in the ghetto...