Stockton Independence Day 5K

I have avoided writing about races until they happen, since my 10K fiasco. I talked it up all over town, and then when Amanda got sick and called me that morning, I said, "Well, I'm not running it by myself!" In shame, I have refused to talk up any races until I am positive I'm doing them and/or have already completed them!
So this race was not mentioned until the day of! Since I have done quite a few races, with my previous goal being only to run the whole thing, I figured I can start thinking about improving my time. I actually have not run a 5K race in over a year, but I figured with all the running I've been doing this year, I might do pretty well.
I set an easy goal...run it in under 35 minutes. I used to run 5Ks in between 35 and 36 minutes. Amanda said it wasn't too hilly.
Liar.
It was ridiculously hot, so hot that I took two cups at the water stations, one to sip and one to dump on my head. I ran through every sprinkler set up, which was nice! It reminded me of RAGBRAI, when I would cut people off to get to the kids with the sprinklers. Never had that on a race. I felt like after mile one (always my slowest) I was going at a decent pace. Then the little hills kicked in. They slowed me WAY down in that heat.
I kept trucking, despite the obscene number of annoying little kids and stupid girls with their Bump-It hairdos walking/running and still staying ahead of me. GRRR. Have I mentioned that bugs me? But, I get in sight of the finish, and I start pushing it as hard as I can. (I never do this too early, after it backfired on me, and I had to do another little loop and I had nothing left.) I pass cute little Bump-It Girl in all my sweaty glory, and then I see the clock. Ugh. 35:45. It's not under 35, but I certainly can't get over 36. Faster. 35:50. Move those legs. 35:55. I'm not going to make it. 36:02. I cross the line and mutter "Damn it." And I thought, "Woah this is weird." I've never cared about my time before. Certainly, I've never been disappointed at the end of a race. I'm usually just thrilled I ran the whole thing, and didn't die. So, after discussing with Joel and Amanda, I think we are going to try some interval training and start timing our runs at the track. I've been running for 2 years. I should be getting faster. Also, I decided I need to get my breathing checked out by a real doctor. Hopefully this ideas will help me improve. Any other ideas for getting faster at 5Ks?
P.S. I would be Lazy Girl if I didn't comment on the food situation at this race. Great spread. For a $15 race?! Watermelon, oranges, bagels, other stuff I blocked out as I was staring at the people making snow cones. That's right. Snow cones. Brilliant. Why doesn't every race have delicious sugary ice at the end?? I might have run faster if I knew THAT was waiting for me!

Bird Is The Word.

I am competing (if you can call it that) in the Dubuque Duathlon in about a week. I have been running like crazy, with Amanda forcing me every day. She says we are increasing our time spent running each week, but it feels like every day. One day it's, "Let's run for 35 minutes this week." The next DAY it's up to 40. She's trying for 45, but I'm throwing a fit. I am feeling surprisingly confident in my running abilities now, since we have been killing it this summer!
Even more surprising....my difficulty biking a portion of the course today. Biking has always been easier for me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I only just picked up my bike 2 days ago, after ditching it in the front yard the second I finished RAGBRAI last year. It still needed to be repaired from its terrible RAGBRAI injury. Amanda and I went for a nice 20 miler that night, and I felt good, despite my horribly painful bike butt.
Today was a different story. We started out with a quick one-mile run around part of the course, and then biked one of the two loops on the course, and finished with another (much less quick) one-mile run.

First run = fast, felt good.
Bike = ugh.
Second run = double ugh.

We had driven the bike course the day before and knew what we were up against. This monster of a hill, right off the bat. I think I had nightmares about this hill last night. And sure enough, it lived up to my perceptions. It. Was. Awful. Even Amanda, who is in WAY better shape, agreed! But we eventually made it up. At a snail's pace. God, I hope there are other amateurs at this race, or I will be very discouraged. The rest of the course was kind of fun. Lots of little ups and downs. The downs were very fun!

And then came the bird.

Here I am, minding my business, huffing along on my bike, when I hear/feel a flutter upon my head. That's right. A freaking bird landed/beat upon my helmet! For several seconds. I screamed and swatted at it, and it flew away, but not far. Now, I'm not a big fan of these aggressive red-wing blackbirds, ever since another one lunged/squawked at me as I was finishing up a run too close to its nest a few weeks ago. But this was too much. Needless to say, every chirp or squawk I heard after this was followed by the assumption that I was being attacked again. It was not a peaceful rest of the ride. What the hell, birds? Does exercising Andrea just look like a meal to these birds? Are they kind of like vultures, just waiting for me to give up? Did my black helmet peering up at him look like another bird taunting him? And lastly, do they make bird repellent I could spray before my next ride/run? Too much.
I guess we'll see what attacks me next time.
The running after biking was weird. Usually, I take that jello-leg feeling right to the couch, but this time, I had to start running. What?! Weird. Then slow. Then really slow. This is going to be really hard.

I'm Back?

Wow. This is another one of those decisions I have to make about my fidelity to something. I suck at something, so do I give up, or do I try harder to succeed?
What am I talking about?

(1)This dang blog.
(2)Running.
(3) SO many other things in my career that I will not bore you with!

Well, after a 6 month break from this blog (and nearly that long from running), I've decided I'm back in. Well, to be completely honest, good ol' Amanda made the running decision FOR me. As for the writing about the running....I really enjoy writing, and if I'm going to start doing something I hate again, I might as well pair it with something I love. Running always gives me something to write about. Last summer, I often thought up what I would write about, mid-run. I mean, complete sentences, even paragraphs, would form in my head. I would have to head straight to the computer instead of stretching so I wouldn't lose it! Hmmmm.....maybe that's part of the problem.

I would ideally wait until summer to start up this blog again, with the end of this crazy school year as a first-time classroom teacher hanging over my head. However, tomorrow is a big day, so I'll take the time.
For some stupid reason, I am running my first 10K. I was thinking that a 10K would be a good goal for me to work toward, perhaps in the fall, after a summer of getting in shape. That sounds smart, right? Enter Amanda, aka the devil. "No, there's a 10K on Mother's Day weekend. You can do it. It's all flat and it's at the Heritage Trail (a packed gravel trail). You can do it. You can do it." So here I am, a few runs in this year, in worse shape than last year, and I'm running a 10K at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Seriously. What is wrong with me?

Normally, my goals with shorter races are pretty simple. Run. The whole time.
That's it. I have not previously been at a place where I felt I needed to worry about my time.
For this race, my goal is even simpler. I don't even care if I have to walk this one time. I cannot stress how badly out of shape I am. So my goal for tomorrow?
Don't die.

Thankful IV

After a long, boring Saturday spent working at home, I thought I should search my soul for something I am thankful for today.

Day 4 of Thankful Andrea: November 13

I am thankful for Annie!

Enough said!

Thankful III

I really wanted to write a regular post for once, since I am really trying to be non-lazy this week! But I am committed to this 29 days of thanks thing. So I guess I will combine the two.

Day 3 of Thankful Andrea: November 9

I am (somewhat) thankful for the ability to run. While I find myself really hating running, I can't help but think that a little over a year ago, I never thought I could be a runner. I started gasping for life with any minimal amount of exercise. I had diagnosed myself with exercise-induced asthma. The treatment for my self-diagnosis: Don't exercise.
Little did I know, I COULD run. I could run with a friend. I could run by myself. I could run 5Ks!! By March, I could run an 8K!!! Crazy.
But still this summer and fall, I find myself really not wanting to run. I think RAGBRAI ruined me on running for a while. Biking is so much more enjoyable for me, and the amount of biking I did before and during RAGBRAI left little time or motivation to run.
I am now forcing myself to run in hopes that it will become habit again. As I was struggling through my run tonight, thinking about a what to write in my next post, I thought about this thankfulness idea. We recently received an email at school, asking for the teachers to make cards with their class for a soldier who has lost both of his legs while serving his country. Wow. What on earth am I complaining about when I have to drag my butt off the couch to go for a run. That soldier would probably love the chance to run. Or the chance to complain about a run, because his world is not encumbered by anything else. Perspective, here, Lazy Girl!
On day 3 of Thankful Andrea, I am thankful that I CAN run.

Thankful II

After a very long, exhausting week, I find thankfulness difficult. However, this makes me think it would be a good time to dig deep to find some thanks!

Day 2 of Thankful Andrea: November 5

I am thankful for fall. It is my favorite season, for several reasons.
1) All my favorite colors signify fall. Purple, red, brown, gold....now that I think of it, most of my house is decorated fall-ishly.
2) Sweatshirts and jeans. That's it. Love it. I hate that I had to get my winter coat out this week. My denial of the approach of winter is coming to an end.
3) Crunchy leaves that have that certain fall-y smell.
4) It's just so darn pretty. Dubuque Bluffs. That's all I'm going to say.

Summer's great, but I am always ready for beautiful, comfortable fall. Spring....new life and all that, okay, I get the appeal. But I mainly see rain and mud as the symbol of spring. And I don't even want to talk about winter. Winter is something I really have to work hard to get through every year. I do not like winter. But fall.........that's where it's at!

On day 2 of Thankful Andrea, I am thankful that I live in a region where I can really enjoy the best season there is.

Thankful

Since this Thanksgiving is extra special this year (it is also my 29th birthday), I have decided to write everyday about the things that I am thankful for. 29 thanks for all 29 years of my existence! This is my attempt to be more introspective. I must warn....I am not so good at this self-contemplation, so don't be surprised if I end up discussing my thanks for things like pizza.

Here goes.....

Day 1 of Thankful Andrea: November 2

I am thankful to live in a place where I can vote. I am the second person to tell you that I am not involved enough in politics. (The first would be my friend Beth, who is pretty well-informed in her politics, and who yells at me all the time about it.) I have had a really hard time trying to get involved this year. I want to learn more, especially being a teacher. But, man. I can't handle the negativity that has overtaken the political world. It's almost enough to keep you away from the polls. And actually research is showing that young people (am I still included in that demographic?) are not voting because of the negativity surrounding the political races. And I get that. But still, today I walked into the church down the street from my house in order to cast my ballot on something I knew much less about than Beth. As I walked in the door, I saw my sister, Wendy, sitting at a ballot box, so intently reading her ballot that she could not hear me saying her name. I was three feet away from her. As I was sitting down at my box, with an enormous piece of paper with a lot of names I did not know, I heard the elderly volunteers voicing their hope that they would get 300 people by 3:00. They seemed to think it was not going to happen.
After turning in my ballot, I thought about the importance of what I just did. Granted, it was not as huge as picking out our president. However, if the people living without the "basic" right to vote, were given the chance, they would FILL that church basement today. They ALL would be concentrating as hard as my sister was. Just to have their voices heard. What a gift we have! Yes, our system is FAR from perfect. Really far. But who are we to say "hmmmm....this right I've been given.....the one so many people around the world wish they had....that people fought for us to have.....Nah, no thanks, I'm gonna sit at home and complain about that very right."

Wow. This was deep for Andrea. Ask Beth. Who knew this midterm election would spark this attitude, and this 29 days of thankfulness? I'm thinking maybe it's time to start learning some politics!
On day one of Thankful Andrea, I am thankful for the right to vote.