Bear Trax Brownie Shuffle (4.2K)

Bear Trax Brownie Shuffle (4.2K) - April 28, 2013
time = 19:53
pace = 7:27
1st in my age group (40-49)
placed 6th over all (out of 154)
2nd among the women


Here I am again at Lapham Peak State Park. Admittedly it is not my favorite place to run or race so here I am... running and racing. I sign up for races here BECAUSE I don't like it. I enjoy the challenge of it and I enjoy knocking myself down a peg or two. I like to think that I'm a pretty good runner for not even having been running a year yet and that's a dangerous opinion to have of oneself... ego. Ego often needs to be checked and this is how I check mine. So I run in a beautiful place where it is intensely difficult for me to run so that I can check my ego at the door. Today was lovely. It was overcast to begin and cold... By the time it began I was freezing! I truly hate that because I feel that my muscles aren't ready to begin at that point... not warmed up enough. However, this particular course is one I've been on before... at least the start. It is full of hills and the very start did not disappoint. Huge hill right out of the gate. I often take off too fast and today was no exception. I thought I was getting better at that but I guess not... although, I blame the fact that no one wanted to be in front and that left only a few of us. So I ran... I passed up several people right away and after that first hill got into my pace. I got stuck behind a kid for quite some time but finally made it past him. At about mile 1.5 I got passed by a woman who seemed to not be running too hard so I told myself to just stay close to her so that I could sprint past her at the end. I thought she was the only woman in front of me and I really wanted to win. Later I saw another woman far far ahead of both of us... *sigh*

Near mile 2 the woman in front of me stopped to take off her jacket so I kept truckin' along... I felt like I was dying but I've pretty much mastered the "one foot in front of the other" trick and I just keep going and hope I'm going fast enough.

I stayed ahead of her and finally DOWNHILL! AND PAVED! I knew I could pick up some pace and catch my lost breath on the downhill paved section so that's just what I did but still I was not at 100%... it couldn't have come at a better time tho'... I felt much better.
This was a super short race. My mapmyrun app put it at 2.7 when all was said and done. It felt good tho' and I'm really glad I did it. I'm getting faster.

After the race the woman and I got to chatting and became friends. I'm pretty stoked on the running community. It takes a certain kind of person and I'm happy to say that I really enjoy the company of those kinds of people.

I signed up for the Brewers mini marathon today so that will be interesting. All in all today was great! I've got plans to start running in Lapham Peak with another friend of mine who runs there all the time. He said he'd get me loving it in no time. I'm not so sure but... who knows.

Hibiscus Festival 5K

Hibiscus Festival 5K - April 13, 2013
time = 23:29
pace = 7:04
1st in my age group (40-49)
placed 5th over all
1st among the women

This was my first race of 2013 and I did it in Vero Beach, Florida while on vacation. It was 74 degrees with about 90% humidity. It was raining on the way to the race but stopped just before we arrived. The race was a one way point to point from the airport to downtown and there weren't too many people there. It was dark out when we arrived and my 11 year old son decided to do it with me even tho' he really hadn't been running regularly. He placed 21st out of everyone. I'm so proud of him. He did great! I didn't bring my headphones because the race frowned on them and once I got there and saw other people had them I was kicking myself but in hindsight I think that NOT having them really helped with my time. This is the fastest I've ever run in my entire life! I am so proud and pleased with my time I don't even know how I ran that fast. I paced myself with the woman in front of me the entire time. The woman I ended up beating at the end because I sprinted. It has given me so much confidence that I feel really great going into this next race where historically I don't do well. Lapham Peak Park. I never do well in the park... Trail running is not my thing... This Vero run was so fun and I'm so glad I did it! If we're down there next year for it I will definitely sign up again!