Kim versus the 5K: Chick-fil-A 5K

I just love me the local 5Ks, you know?!  So nice not to have to drive down town and deal with parking.  Last night I pulled a "Kim".  You know what that means.  total. aggie. moment.  I knew I had to pick-up my race packet at the Chick-fil-A off of 2920.  I was apparently not clear on which part of 2920, so despite the fact I was coming from my parent's house which is closer to the one I should have been going to, I proceeded to go to the incorrect Chick-fil-A.  About 2 minutes into my uncomfortable awkwardness of standing around inside the wrong location, it dawned on me that there were no packets being distributed and that I was clearly mistaken.  I used my trusty Android to find the correct location and went on my not-so-merry way.

It was a cutie packet in a Chick-fil-A box instead of a bag.  We got a t-shirt, a kiddie toothbrush, coupons for free Chick-fil-A, a pen (I have a thing about pens...bet you didn't know that), our respective bibs with safety pins, etc.

I placed all my gear on the dining room table the night before.  Man - it sure does take a lot of stuff just to run 3.1 miles.  Sheesh.

I had the best intentions of going to bed early, but...well...you know me.  I got about 4 hours and 45 minutes of sleep.  Blech.

I met up with Rachel first.  We headed over to Lowe's to use the facilities.  There was a chain across an area near the bathroom that Rachel and I had to climb across.  I made a joke about the turtle (me) doing a hurdle before the big race.  We then headed over to the Chick-fil-A to pick-up our time chip.  This was when we found Lauren.

We started the race - it was a decent route - out and back with a few supporters sporting bells along the path.  I made the decision to run the entire 3.1 (sans intervals) knowing that a PR wouldn't happen as I just can't seem to run as "fast" this way.  For the record, there is no accomplishment for me in running the whole thing without walk breaks as I run 3 miles without stopping all the time now, but still...it was my first 5K to run in its entirety.

I felt good for the entire run - had my breathing under control, etc.  I have to laugh at how different a 5K is for me now versus a year ago.  A year ago I would be all sore later that day and the next.  No soreness today, of course, and tomorrow I'm going for my long run of 7 to 8 miles.

I finished strong, was handed a bottle of water, and found Rachel (who handed me a banana) and then Lauren.  Lauren had found Brittaney, a local runner and blogger we were meeting for the first time IRL.  Brittaney won 1st place in her age group - AWESOME JOB!  Both Rachel and Lauren PR'd this race - AWESOME JOB!

After the award ceremony, we took some pics (of course - we all blog, you know!) and then Rachel, Lauren, and I headed over to Starbucks for some chitchat.

Official Time:  41:59
Laps  (Garmin stats):  Mile 1 - 12:55
                                 Mile 2 - 13:25
                                 Mile 3 - 13:32
                                 Mile 0.18 - 2:14 (which is a pace of 12:11 which means I busted a$$ - hahaha)

Finishing Song:  Ke$ha's Take It Off (I know a lot of peeps don't dig her music, but I can't help but have a few of her tunes on my iPod for running.  If it's got the right beat, I'm down with it, yo)

Next Stop:  Bayou City Classic 10K - March 12th

Kim versus the 5K: Bearkat Bash

Before we get into the details of the race, my little buttercups, let's discuss the events leading up to it, shall we?!  This is a bit long winded, so I apologize in advance...

So, as previously discussed I've been having some awful headache issues and an occasional bout of the dizzies.  I once again awoke in the middle of the night (2:02am to be exact) with the head pounding very sarcastic yay here>.  I rummaged through my medicine cabinet...er drawer...and discovered some slightly expired migraine OTC medication.  What's your take on expired medicinal products?  I personally don't buy into it...I think it's just the manufacturer's way of getting you to buy more - or at least that's what I'm going with here.  So, I popped 3 of them (shhhh...recommended dosage was 2, but I wasn't messing around with this hammering) and then I did something bad.  Instead of returning to the comfort of my bed, I went to my laptop to check on how my job was coming along in Tokyo (Sorority Life on Facebook).  Uh oh...only 16 minutes and 22 seconds before I could collect my earnings.  I could just go back to bed and collect the yen when I awoke again, but where would be the fun in that, so I decided to go to Las Vegas (Mafia Wars on Facebook) in the meanwhile and fight mob bosses and the lot until my 16 minutes and 22 seconds were up.  When the time was right, I collected my yen and then I thought about how I had just enough to buy this really cute Japanese print dress for 38,000 yen, so I bought it and then I had to try it on my little Sorority pledge, but then I kinda thought it made her hips look big, so I put her in an olive green Kimono instead with a pink sash.  Ah...that was the ticket.  Anyway, once I found the perfect shoes, the right hairstyle, and the appropriate accessories, the fashion show was over and I retired once again to my bedroom not so much because I was tired, but really just to shut my little doggies up who were both whining (one of them, Delilah, had already gotten out of bed to come check on me).  It was now 2:39am and my alarm was set for 4:30am.  

I tossed and turned and tossed and turned some more.  I had one of those laugh out loud moments, too.  The other day there was some dialog going on amongst my brother-in-law Craig, my double cousin Danielle, and I (or is it me?) on Facebook.  Craig ended the dialog by saying, "Too late.  Head is Uge!" This was making fun of my father who has a special problem (he likes to call it a disability) and can't pronounce the Hs in words beginning in H for some reason.  So, what made me laugh out loud was I thought of a sentence - How long is the flight to Hawaii?  Only I removed all the words starting with Hs, which made it Ow long is the flight to Awaii?  Maybe you would have to have been there with me or just know my dad to appreciate this.  Regardless, I think what made me laugh the most was how just earlier that evening, double cousin Danielle was insisting that 2:30am is hilarious.  I told her I hardly doubted that was the case, but now I think she might be on to something...  The dogs were getting a bit annoyed with me - it was obvious by their big sighs and their exasperated switching sleeping positions.  Whatever, dogs.  I'm in charge here and clearly so mature.  I decided to go to the bathroom.  One of the dogs (Delilah, again - shocker) decided to steal my spot on the bed.  She was removed, no worries.  I settled back down and must have eventually fallen asleep until that dreaded alarm sounded off just a short while later.

I got up, got ready, ate a whole wheat bun lightly toasted with Justin's almond maple butter and banana, stretched A LOT - especially that IT-band, and eventually headed out the door to the park.  Meyer Park has two sides and my team always meets on the one side in particular.  This side, for some reason, was closed.  There were cops there informing us that we must go to the other side.  This was weird.  In my head, I had decided there had been a murder on the other side.  This goes to show you how morbid I am.  One of my teammates thought that perhaps there was going to be some sort of event later that day.  Another teammate thought maybe there had been a drug bust.  Regardless, it annoyed us because our routine was thrown off.  Our coach gave us our swag bags which had our bibs, d-tags, tshirt, and some goodies in it.  I went to put the bag in my car after securing my bib and d-tag, and then I started doing some mileage.  I did about 1.75 miles at the park and then headed out towards the high school.  I found the route the 5K was taking and kept asking the volunteers if I was winning.  They laughed!  I hit the mile 2 table and they even offered me water - bless their hearts I was in need and took them up on their offer.  I continued all the way to the high school and  it ended up being 3 miles.  I got there in just enough time to use the facilities and I found Lauren and her sister, Sarah.  I was sad that I somehow lost my spare piece of gum, so that meant I had to run without it.  This sucked royally because that's how I control my breathing and how I stay hydrated even though some people (younger sister Linda WHAT?!) beg to differ.

I started off strong.  My first mile was 12:36.  Yes, this is good for me.  I know...le sad compared to so many others.  ha!  I'm okay with being a turtle.  Remember that my motto is slow and steady to finish the race.  I was a bit annoyed, however, because there were bunches of high schoolers running the race (that's not the annoying part) and some of the girls were just plain obnoxious.  They would walk in a line blocking faster walkers or runners and then they would all the sudden start sprinting just to stop and walk again.  They were rowdy and I guess what it boils down to is that they just didn't take it seriously.  I'm all about having fun, don't get me wrong, but to me...a race is a big deal and they were just doing it so nonchalantly that it kind of demeaned the event, if that makes any sense.  Maybe my age is showing?  Ah well...  I'm glad nobody made me take off my illegal headphones (yes, they tried to say they weren't allowed for insurance purposes - first race I've seen that).

I ran mile two MUCH SLOWER and with half the heart.  My energy was diminishing under the burning sun.  After my Garmin read mile 2, I walked to the water station.  It was cute when I picked up a water and the one kid said, "I remember you!"  Kinda made my moment, you know?!  After I finished my water, I tried to start running again, but I got dizzy.  Ugh!  Not again!!!!  I walked it out for a quarter of a mile, then tried to start running again and then came the charlie horses - it was like deja vu from my half marathon.  I walked it out for another quarter of a mile or so and then started a ridiculously slow jog towards the finish line.  I had to catch myself from stumbling over my own feet 5 times - NOT COOL, but eventually I finished the race with the worst 5K time I've ever had.  =(  Then, I drank tons of water cuz dang...it was HOT and HUMID.  Oh and my finishing song was Jason Mraz's "Mr. A-Z".  

It was my hottest 5K to date.  It was also the only 5K I've done where I've run 3 miles BEFORE running the race.  I've also been fighting these headaches all week.  Yes, I know...all just excuses...

Instead of running back to the park to get my car, I thought it best to ask Lauren and Sarah to give me a lift back and they were so sweet to do just that.  This race marked the 4th race Lauren and I have run together!  Doesn't look like we will have any more opportunities this year with me training for The Houston Half on October 24th and the Houston Chevron Full on January 30th while Lauren is training for the Nike Women's Half on Oct. 17th.

 Okay, enough of my ramblings...I know this was a VERY long post.  How's your weekend looking?  

Kim versus the 5K: Bunny Run

My friend Lauren told me about this race a long time ago and together we stalked The City of Tomball's website awaiting them to post the race info. This race, last year, was Lauren's first race and she raced it with her husband, Rodney. They had fond memories and couldn't wait to do it again.

Do you know that I have raced all my races this year with Lauren? I will surely miss her when I do the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half on 8/1! I think she will miss me in two weeks when she runs her Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Half. I'm so proud of her though...I am nowhere near ready to do a half yet, so mad props to Lauren and Rodney!!!

Okay, I set off to do this race with one very specific goal in mind. Of course everyone always wants a PR whenever they run a race...that's a given. I wanted to get that PR, but to do so with a time under 40 minutes. Now as you may recall, I clocked a 44:15 at the Rocket's Run on January 31st. We don't talk about the Rodeo Run on February 27th because I sucked and didn't have an official time anyway (but...yes it was worse than the Rocket's Run time). The first half of the H.E.B. Bayou City Classic (March 13th) which would be a 5K since the whole race was a 10K, I clocked a 41:33. I know you don't want me to hold you in suspense, but patience, my little grasshoppers, is a virtue.

Let's talk about the race. The Bunny Run was a small town race in every way you can imagine, but it had a charm that was...cute. The mayor gave all of us runners a little greeting. There were some local vendors out there providing free products/services. Apparently some port-a-potties were ordered, but didn't show up (ooops). There were even some moonwalks for the kiddies. As promised, the course was flat (yay) which I am a huge fan of, by the way! There were 3 water stations in total - two along the course stationed at Mile 1 and Mile 2 and then the third one was once you crossed the finish line. There was a dude holding a cooler filled with water bottles. The local policemen they had along the course were friendly and gave "thumb-ups" or shouted encouragement. All in all, it was a fun experience and I would happily partake in next year's Bunny Run!

Let's talk about my performance. Courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner (yay), I had all kinds of info available to me as I ran. I had my pace at any given moment, I had the time, I had the distance, and I had my average pace (just to name a few of the fields I was working with). I, once again ran using my 4/1 intervals - 4 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking and repeat. I'm still struggling with the whole negative split thing, but hey...I'm a continual work in progress.

So now for the answer to the question you have all been PATIENTLY waiting for......did she do it? YES I DID! I clocked 39:40!!! This was a 12:35 average pace. The improvement makes me emotional because it is so much more than the physical achievement...it's an accumulation of how far I've come in mind, body, and spirit in the past 9 months.

Oh...and I almost forgot. My finishing song (and this, my friends, is priceless) was Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".

Next stop: The Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on 8/1 (eeeek)!

Happy Trails!!!

Lauren and I before the race.

Lauren, Rodney, and I.

Me before the sweat all Nike'd up.

Victorious!!!

Kim versus the 5K: Rodeo Run

I walk away slightly disappointed with my performance on this race. I did not beat my previous time, though it can be argued that I also gave up on even trying to do so. What happened? Hmmm...where to begin???

I looked up the weather the night before and all indications were that it was going to be 48ish during the race. This is pretty cold, though not the coldest I've run in, so I decided to modify my outfit slightly. Last race I wore a long sleeved running shirt, a sweatshirt hoodie, gloves, and my running pants. This time I decided to wear a short sleeved running shirt, a light weight running jacket, and my running pants. I pinned my bib on the outside of my jacket, so I was therefore committed to wearing it. Despite that, I found myself ridiculously overheated shortly after mile one and I had no choice but to take it off (or die) and tie it around my waist for the remainder of the race - which meant no bib showing. Lesson learned - it is better to be underdressed in running than overdressed.

I was running with my "fanny pack". I ran the last race with one as well, but it only had an extra stick of gum, my car key, chapstick, and of course a bottle of water. This time, I added a camera, some Kleenex, and my cell phone. This added significant weight. To make matters worse, I started off running with the bottle and pouch in the small of my back and the water bottle fell off near the beginning of the race, which sorta broke my concentration. I was able to get it back, thankfully. Lesson learned - less is best. Find a way to lighten the load. I may also need to find a better "fanny pack" - one that has a secured bottle.

I decided to skip the iPod this time. All races strongly discourage the runners from having their own tunes - they consider it to be a safety hazard. Whatever. Regardless, I always run with music...it helps me get into a zone. I decided to be experimental and to try to take in the sights and the sounds. Bad idea for the girl with A.D.D. I found myself easily distracted and I never quite got my momentum maintained. Lesson learned - go with what you know and don't experiment on the races.

Since my last race (February 27th's Rocket's Run), I had incorporated a methodology to my madness - my 3 min run / 1 min walk routine. I was able to do 5 miles. Last week, I upped the ante with doing 4 min running / 1 min walking. This was when I was only able to do 4 miles. I decided to do the 4/1 for today's race in lieu of doing what was my body's true comfort zone, the 3/1. I don't think that helped me any. Lesson learned - don't push your body to do what it is not ready to do and you won't be disappointed with the results.

I think that I would have performed better had my body been a bit more limber, as well. I did not exercise this week at all since I'm nursing tendonitis in my right hip (orthopaedic doctor diagnosed and being medically treated with Voltaren) and I was trying to give it as much of a rest as possible.

Okay, so I'm not a girl who believes in regrets because I feel strongly you should learn the lesson and move on. I've listed my lessons learned up above and I will be applying them to all future runs. I'm also a big believer in finding the positive somewhere, someway. There are a few from this race. I ran a 12 minute first mile!
This is a best for me!!! I was able to experience this race with some of my favorite people - Meliska & Greggy-D (who were awesome enough to keep me company to and from the race) and Rodney & Lauren Giles (who were awesome enough to keep me company after the race PLUS Lauren kept me company during the second half of the race).

I've got 2 weeks before the HEB Bayou City 10K and I just know it's gonna be a great experience!

Kim versus the 5K: Rocket's Run

Lauren, Melissa, and me!

Waiting for the race to start!

On your mark, get set, GO!

5K finishers!

Melissa, Clutch, and me!

I'm writing this blog in parts because I want you to experience it as I feel/felt it. It will post in one post, but it's much more complicated than that. Do you follow me, oh faithful readers of mine?


Part 1 is the day before my very first 5K. I have feelings of excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and perhaps a little bit of fear. I wonder if I will have a hard time sleeping tonight. My grand plan of 1/2 marathon training was to little by little build up my endurance. I figured I would run/walk one mile on the weekends in January, then run/walk two miles on the weekends in February, and so forth and so on until I was ready for January 2011 to do the Houston 1/2. Once I experienced the excitement of my sister, Linda, doing the Houston 1/2 this January, well...let's just say my friend Melissa didn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to sign up for The Rockets Run. We recruited our friend, Lauren, and the three of us signed up for it! Today (Saturday) was packet pick-up day. The three of us ladies decided to meet at my house at 10:00am and I drove us to The Toyota Center. We paid for our parking (to avoid getting booted and towed - others were not so lucky), stood in line, got our packets, went to the ticket booth, redeemed our vouchers for next Saturday's game (or so we thought...turns out they gave us the wrong tickets and now Melissa is working on remedying the situation). Next, we went to Cafe Red Onion for a wonderful lunch and awesome conversation. I have all my stuff laid out all ready to go as if it were the first day of school and I were 5 years old. I have a runner's belt with a water bottle (necessary because it has a zipper pouch so I can put my car key in it). I have gum (necessary because it helps me keep my breathing steady). I have my ear phones - really cool Nike sport ones that I totally recommend and my iPod shuffle. I have cheap gloves that I can lose if I need to. It's gonna be a cold one tomorrow (starting in the 30s), so I am also running in a hoodie. It's challenging to carbo-load for a South Beacher, so I did so the best way I know how (and in sticking to my diet plan) for dinner...I had a BIG salad from Salata and then I made a pizza with my latest find Artisan Flat Bread (sold at H.E.B.). It only has 17 carbs, but 8 grams of fiber for a total of 9 net carbs, and 1 gram of sugar. Best yet, it's only 100 calories and it has flax seed so you get your omega 3! I used a wee bit of pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, and 2% Italian cheese mix. Okay, this concludes Part 1 cuz now I'm just rambling...



Part 2 - the morning of the race is here y'all. I feel good. I'm all showered and dressed. I almost forgot to eat breakfast...but, no worries...I'm "carbo-loading" again with an Artisan Flat Bread egg sandwich using Canadian bacon, two eggs, and 2% provolone cheese. Melissa is coming here and we are going together to the race. Lauren and her husband, Rodney, are meeting us there. We are hoping to be able to exchange our Rockets tickets while we are there since the ticket people never called Melissa back yesterday. It's in the low 30s outside...super super cold. I have a goal of 48 minutes - this is 16 minutes per mile which may be a little lofty for my first race because I've never run/walked 3 miles without breaking in between mile markers. Usually I take a dog with me, switch one out, water break, do another mile, water break, get rid of the dog and handle the final mile all by myself. I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted last night...strangely not because of anxiety, but rather a work call at 11pm and a work text at 11:20pm. Nice. Rar. Okay, Melissa will be here any minute, so that concludes this portion...



Part 3 - I did it! Not only did I do it, but I did it way faster than I had ever imagined! I finished the race in 44 minutes and 15 seconds! This is 3 minutes and 45 seconds faster than my goal time!!! Okay, so here is how it went down. Melissa, Lauren, and I walked to the start line and then we started running. It was COLD! The cold air burned my lungs and all the sudden I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I wasn't able to run as far as I had hoped for that initial burst of energy, but I used the light posts to help me get some kind of rhythm going (which is what I do at home in my subdivision). The first mile marker dude announced 15 minutes and some odd seconds as I passed him, but I knew we were a minute behind the initial starters, so that perked my spirits because I was totally on target. My right side started hurting...I've never had this happen before, but I found out after the race that the same thing happened to Melissa and Lauren. Mile 2 started off slow, but then I found some turbo burst of power at some point and jogged a good portion of it. I kept searching for the Mile 2 dude, but never saw him. Do you have any idea how defeating that is? As the time got later and later and I never saw a sign or a person announcing Mile 2, I started feeling like a failure. How could I have felt like I was doing so well and then the cold harsh reality be that I was so behind where I had hoped to be? Next thing you know, I saw the Toyota Center. All my irrational mind could think then was that somehow I ended up taking the 2K path instead of the 5K path and I was finishing with them instead. Oh great! Now I'm a total loser for not even knowing I wasn't on the right path! I tried to maintain my energy level despite the circumstances. Unfortunately, seeing the Toyota Center didn't mean the race was almost over as you had no idea at what point you were entering it. It was really hard at that point to determine what kind of run/walk combination to do when in the back of my mind I kept thinking "finish strong!" I finally relented to walk for a brief time until I saw a police officer who told me I was almost there and to give the race a kick in the rear! It made me laugh and I shouted to him it was my first 5K and I was going to do just that! Since he didn't correct me with a "you are on the 2K route, dum-dum", I thought that maybe, just maybe I somehow missed the 2 mile marker and I really was on the right path. So, I kicked it into gear, committed to myself to jog the rest of the way no matter how far that may be or how my body felt. I jogged and jogged and then jogged some more and then I finally entered into the Toyota Center. There were volunteers lined up all inside and they were shouting encouraging words. At this point I got a little emotional and tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't believe what I was doing...what I was about to finish. For some people this may not be a big deal, but for me...this is a huge leap! This part of the race was downhill which would normally make me very nervous since I'm quite clumsy, but I welcomed the ease of it since I was determined to keep going. I was like the Energizer Bunny! Then the ground evened out and it was hard to make the transition, but not as hard as the next transition to the uphill to actually enter onto the Rocket's basketball court...and then....I ran to the center court across the finish line and there was Clutch and I high-fived him and looked for Melissa, Lauren, and Rodney! We got some water, then Melissa and I went to exchange our game tickets (yay!), we then got a picture with Clutch, saw our posted times, and headed back home.

Official Race Stats:
Time: 44:15.5
Pace: 14:16


Completing The Rockets Run was one of my proudest moments...it was when all the hard work I've put into diet and exercise was self-recognized and rewarded in an internal way that words can't even begin to describe. I'm on a total runner's high right now. Next stop - Rodeo Run on February 27th!