April Race - 2011 George Washington Parkway Classic

I signed up for an April race today! 

The 2011 George Washington Parkway Classic is one of the most popular races in our area.  The course is described as having "rolling hills."  Hopefully they are little rolling hills.  And it's also a point-to-point race (different starting and ending lines) - working out those logistics will be interesting!

Le course:

Exciting!

2011 Love The Run You're With 5k Recap

Official time: 40.29 (13.02/mile average).

I really wanted to come in below the 40 minute mark, but we were close enough.  Notice that a 70 year old woman named Janet finished just 14 seconds behind us.  Go Janet, go!

Overall, I thought the race was really well organized and fun.  There was a pretty brutal hill at the beginning of the course, but after that it was flat.  And on the way back, you get to run down that same hill.  I totally need to run a 5k downhill sometime.  Weee! 

I felt really strong the first mile (we walked the hill), but at mile two I started getting a weird chest pain and/or cramp in the ribcage.  Argh.  I thought if I walked a bit, it would go away, but it kept coming back with a vengeance.  Needless to say, I walked a ton, but we still finished with a decent time and not in last place.  WIN.  Thank you to JB for cheering us on, and to everyone else for the supportive comments, texts, etc.  I RUN FOR YOU!  J/K, but I really do appreciate all the love :-)

And on a non-race related note, just wanted to say how excited I am that it's almost 60 degrees out today (heat wave!).  I'm so excited for spring.  In celebration, I made a spring-inspired spinach and fruit salad at lunch today:

That hot mess in background is turkey chili.  It paled in comparison to my salad.

Happy Monday!!!

Pre(5K)-Gaming

Doing what I normally do the night before a race...

1.  Creating a playlist.

2.  Testing said playlist.  AKA, dancing around my bedroom acting like an idiot.

3.  Laying clothes, heart rate monitor, bib, etc. out ahead of time.

Let's do this thing! :-)

Get Fit, Or Die Trying.

I'm starting to get excited for my February race on Sunday! 

I really want to finish in under 40 minutes.  The race course is right along my old running route (where I used to live), so at least I'll know the area.  And it's super flat.  Thank you, baby Jesus.

.... or at least trying.  Finger's crossed this won't be an epic fail.  Happy Valentine's Day!

2011 Resolution Run 5K Recap

Happy 2011!  I survived the Resolution Run 5K in Baltimore on Saturday.  The race wasn't chip-timed, but I'm estimating that we finished somewhere around 40-41 minutes.  What's even more exciting is that we actually finished!  Little did I know, but the course is about 60% hills.  It was a bitch.

I can't find any good pictures to prove my point, but Patterson Park, where the race took place, is incredibly hilly.  Below is a picture of a cool building (?) that we passed between miles 1-2.  This was at the top of the biggest climb, which I swear was at least half a mile of straight hiking.  There were plenty of curse words exchanged by this point.  The top of the hill was very pretty though... I enjoyed the view between grunts, hacks and breathlessness. :)

(Source)

The race wasn't the most organized (we didn't even know where the starting line was until about 5 minutes before the race), but the organizers and runners were all really nice and supportive, and it made for a great time.  Also, since the race is only run within the park, there weren't any streets closed, police activity, etc.  We arrived about an hour and half early and found a parking spot right near the park with no problem, and it was a breeze getting out of the park after the race.  I love cities that aren't a logistical nightmare.

In February, I'm registered for the "Love The Run You're With" 5k in Pentagon Row, and in March I'll hopefully repeat (more successfully this time!) the St. Patrick's Day 8k in DC.  Fingers crossed for good health and continued improvement. 

Thanks to everyone for all the support leading up to this race.  And to Emmy, for running the damn thing with me! :)