1 year ago

I'm not running this race this year...but here I am a year ago picking my bib up:

Breathing Out

Last week I ran in the local Mother's Day 5K.  It was a great race (most races that end with a PR are great races) so I was curious what the photos would look like.  No fancy photos, just someone in the running club that put on the race taking pictures.

Well, I looked a them and it appears I'm breathing out in all of them.  Not only that, I am doing strange things with my form...

Coming down a slight hill after mile one...leaning back

looking around at who knows what

I think my arm is crossed almost all the way across my body here

No one is perfect.  :)

Mother's Day 5K RR & a PR

It's race day and I can only say that I shocked myself.  I was planning on a nice, comfortable race/run and it turned into so much more!

I took my Vibram KSO's out for their first race:

I have been working my way up to the 5K distance in these, but always at a nice slow pace (usually with Maddie the fuzzy one); hence the reasoning for a comfortable pace.  I did get questions about the shoes before, during and after the race.  I can say only this:  I loved them!  

Mother's Day Hugs

The race course was a new one for this race, but that didn't matter to me as I'd never run this race before.  The first mile was on asphalt and some packed trail.  The trail felt great as it was not as hard of a surface and thus more comfortable on my feet.  However, I did find out that rocks, no matter how small, can really be felt when wearing these shoes!

I had to put this picture in because it really doesn't look like I pick my feet up:

I really am running!

The family positioned themselves so they saw me three times during the race.  This means plenty of photo opportunities!

I haven't raced a 5K in a long time and with these shoes I wasn't planning on it.  I just went by feel and I was so surprised to see my splits as they came up.  I was going to slow down a little on the third mile but when I saw my average pace I knew I should push.  So, I held my pace and kept going.  Most runs I try to finish strong, but I didn't have as much this time.  Don't get me wrong, I love the shoes but they are work when you aren't used to running faster in them.

I ran behind the two women over my shoulder the whole race

My kick at the end was good as ADP caught my hair flying here:

The last time I ran a 5K for time was in May 2010.  Since then I've run with friends or skipped 5K's all together.  So, imagine my surprise when my finishing time was in the 27's (2 years ago I set a PR of 29:01...which was the first time under 30!).

Official results:

27:34 (PR of 1:27)

#35 of 142

AG place #7 of 22

Garmin said it was 3.13 miles and agrees with 27:34

It's a great day!

The TM Verdict

I spent quite a bit of time writing back and forth with customer service about my treadmill.  (I originally blogged about the squeaks here.)  Since I run on my TM 4 or 5 days a week it would be nice for the squeak to be gone.

The verdict is good and bad, depending on how you look at it.  It comes down to the fact that both the deck and the belt need to be replaced.  The good:  it can be fixed.  The bad:  treadmills aren't cheap to fix.  The good:  fixing the TM is cheaper than buying new.  The bad:  we had a much more important something come up so we need to wait to fix the TM until we have the money.

April by the Numbers

I have not blogged much lately.  For those of you who still read, thanks!  I appreciate it.

April was a surprisingly great month.  I had no idea how many miles I had run until this weekend when I typed them all in my excel sheet.  I ran 117 miles in April, which is my first 100+ mile month since September.  No wonder it has felt like I haven't been running for the last 6 months!  Since I didn't do a recap for March, I'm tossing both in this post.

March Mileage:  86.4
March Days Run:  23 (74%)
March Races:  1 (Runnin' of the Green 4 miler)

Runnin' of the Green (Island) Ladies

April Mileage:  117.7
April Days Run:  22 (73%)
April Races:  1 (Furry Fun Run 5K)
2012 Mileage:  324.5

Furry Fun Run 5K with my best running buddy

April turned our really well for me!  I have another race coming up in two weeks that I am looking forward to because the family will be there.  I'm not in shape to race it, but I'll be there regardless.

2012 at a glance