Finish on the 50 Recap

Oh where, oh where..do I start?

I wanted to write a normal post about the race, but so many things went wrong that I just don't know where to start....

So instead of a normal paragraph after paragraph post, I am going to list some pros and cons of the race (from this year).

Pros:

• It's in Auburn, AL. 
• You finish on the 50 yard line in Jordan Hare Stadium
• You start at Toomer's Corner
• You are surrounded by fellow Auburn fans
• You can run any distance (1 mile, 5K, 10K, or [new this year] the half marathon)

Cons:

• Lack of volunteers on the course (especially at intersections)
• Lack of water (5K was fine, but I heard the 10K and half desperately needed more water)
• Course needs mile markers
• Course needs to be marked properly.
• Volunteers need to be able tell people which way to go instead of sending them the wrong way (a lot of the 10K runners were sent down the fun run route and ended the race short of the 6.2 miles)
• Post race food was blah (where are the bagels? Or cold poweraide?)
• Awards didn't happen because of a malfunction with the timing mats 
• No one was handing out medals when I crossed the finish line. I had to go looking for it.

That's just a few things. I hope they listen to peoples suggestions and make next year a lot better than this year. 

Will I do this race again? Yeah, absolutely even if though I thought it was unorganized. I love running in Auburn. I love being able to run into the stadium and finish on the 50 yard line. But like I said I hope they will actually listen to people for next years race. This has a lot of potential to be something great but if they keep doing what they are doing,,,it isn't going to last long.

______________________

Now with all that being said...

I PR'd on the 5K course. I finished the race in 23:47. I even found out that I placed 3rd in my A/G. :)

I am hoping to get some pictures up soon. I have been super lazy since I got home yesterday to even think about uploading them. Maybe by the time I get mine uploaded the photographer will have theirs uploaded as well.

I'll make a separate post with the pictures. :)

Off to Auburn

Heading to Auburn soon. Hoping the rain holds off for tomorrows Finish on the 50. I'll post a recap of this race when I get back into town. Hopefully, it will be better than last years race.

Have a great weekend everyone! If you are running.. good luck!!!

Run the River 10k Recap

Despite it being a chilly morning, I had a great time at the race. It was flat for the most part minus the one small hill that you did a turn around at.

I was doing fine up until the hill. I think if we didn't have the hill I would have kept on going and probably would have finished the race a lot faster than I did.

My official time was 54:49. Not as fast as my PRR, but still pretty good seeing how I haven't ran 6.2 miles outside in a long time. I am happy with it. :) I can't wait to do more and maybe I'll even do another race on that same course and see if I can beat that time.

The only complaint I have is having to wait until 8:30 to run. Normally the 10K people go before the 5K, but at this race we had to wait for them to finish.

Here are some pictures that I had taken yesterday...

Me before the race. Freezing! 

Walking to the start line

10Kers making our way down Riverside Dr

Coming up to the turn..

Using all I had to finish strong.

Making that turn...

Crossing the finish line... official time 54:49

Oh, and one last thing... I placed 9th out of 36 in my age group. Not too bad. That would be a first for me in a 10K race.

Next week is the Finish on the 50 in Auburn, AL. I am beyond excited for it. I also hope its a lot warmer than it was this weekend.

Two Days

In two days I will be running in the Run the River 10k. I am actually sort of excited. I finished up my week of running this morning with an easy 2 mile run. I decided to go at a 8:09 pace just to see if I was comfortable with that. I am trying to slow myself down just a little so I don't start off too fast on Saturday. I'd like to maybe jump back up to the 7 min pace as I get closer to finishing. It will depend on how I am feeling. :)

Also, on Saturday, I plan on dedicating my run to those in Boston. Normally my running motto is "Never Ever Quit", but for Saturday it'll be "Run for Boston". I'll have it written somewhere either on my arm or wrist. I want to be able to look at it while I am running and know I am doing this for them.

Next weekend is 50 on the Finish!!!!! I am sooooooooo ready! :D (Can't you tell I am excited??)

Training so far

I find it funny that I can break a record during a training run but not during a race. I am normally more hyped up for a race then I am for a training run. Maybe I am just weird who knows.

On Tuesday I went out and ran my 2 miles that I was suppose to. I was doing great. Even though I was burning up from the heat (can't complain too much a lot better than the cold), I was still maintaining a good pace. I was able to set a new PR for myself. I haven't ran a fast 1k or mile since 2011. :)

You can say I had a small runner's high the rest of the day. I was proud of myself. Now if I can just keep this up during a real race...

On Wednesday, I got the bright idea that I would do burpees, leg lifts, push ups, and squats. I did more than I had planned on doing. I had originally planned on doing 60 squats BUT I decided to double that. Let's just say I was feeling it that evening and even more when I woke up this morning. Oops!

I woke up this morning (Thursday) sore as heck. I was so sore that I thought about postponing my run until tomorrow. But like always my guilty conscious got the best of me so I took off to run my 3 miles.

Even though I felt like I was starting off really slow.. I actually wasn't. I completed my first mile at a 8:08 pace. I am still not sure how but I managed to start running in a 7 min pace. I have never kept a 7 min pace during a training run or even race for that matter.

I ended up finishing my run but decided to make it a 5k since I still had a little ways to go before I was home. I got to my driveway and looked at my phone. It was saying that I set a new 5k time and that I beat my mile time from Tuesday. How in the...?

I am still not sure where that energy came from, but I hope it comes back for some races and training runs. I am going to need it big time..

First Month of Training for the PRR

So here is the running schedule I have set for myself so far for April.

Note: This schedule is going off what I did in 2011 to get prepared for it.


2 miles - April 9th

3 miles - April 11th

5 miles - April 13th or 14th

5 miles - April 16th

2 miles - April 18th

6.2  miles - April 20th (Race Day *Run the River 10k*)

4 miles - April 23rd

5 miles - April 25th

3.1 miles - April 27th (Race Day *Finish on the 50 5k*)

4 miles - April 30th

I will sort of be going off of this. I may had more miles to it if I am feeling great out on the run. I may even run twice a day. It will all depend on how I am feeling.

Oh, and I will also be lifting weights at the gym and doing other exercises for my legs on the days I am not running.

I am excited about July. Only 12 or 13 weeks until it. :)

Happy Weekend

Just wanted to say I hope everyone has a great weekend. It is suppose to be really nice here. :) Finally some warm weather.

If you are running in a race this weekend --  good luck! I wish I could do the Color Run, but I wasn't sure if I was going to be called into work or not. :-\ Maybe next year!!!

I have 2 weeks until Run the River 10k. I am getting excited. :) Since the weekend is suppose to be amazing I am going to get out there and run 5 miles. If I am feeling great maybe I'll run a little longer, but it may not happen (lol). Usually when I am going by a training schedule I only do what I am suppose to do.

I guess that is all for now. Going to go and enjoy this lovely weather. I love being able to have the window open. :)

Quick question: Do you have any races that are coming up that you're excited for?

April 3rd, 2009..

WOW!!! Today marks 4 years since I decided that I wanted to become a runner and not some walker that only does 6.2 miles every July 4th.

If I didn't buy the Apple iTouch, Nike+ sensor, and the Nike shoes, I honestly don't think I would be where I am today. I took that crazy step 4 years ago and I haven't looked back since...

My Road ID bracelet says this, "Never EVER Quit!" Thinking back that is what I lived by for the past 4 years. No matter how hard it was or how bad it was, I never quit.

Here's to another 4 years. I can only imagine where I will be then...

Got My Shirt

I picked up my Atlanta Women's 5k shirt on Friday. I was so happy to get it and finally say I "earned" it (on the treadmill thanks to the lovely weather). I guess I'll either have to set my new PR on a different race course or hold off until next year to hopefully break it. 

I also decided last week that I'll be participating in the "Run the River 10k" on April 20th. I really need to get out of this "I only run one 10k and that's the Peachtree" funk. PLUS it's part of my training for which ever half marathon I decide to do in October. As you can tell I am still undecided. 

Of course, I'll be running a 5k in Auburn on the 27th of April. I have to say of all races this one I am excited about. Last year I had so much fun running out on to the field. I joked about falling flat on my face just to say I touched the grass. Of course I didn't do it but it would have been pretty funny if I did. 

I think after this month I am going to take a break from races. I don't want to but because of my job it gets harder to make sure I am off on a Saturday for a run. Plus with Summer coming up I may have to go in and help anyways. No big deal. Just means I can save money for upcoming future races. :) Maybe I could find some virtual races to do. I wouldn't have to worry about making sure I have time off to do a race. If you know of any virtual races that will be taking place in May/June please let me know. Free or not. 

Well got to go! 

-Ramona

Bad blogger

I feel like a bad blogger. I haven't updated this since last week. It isn't that I haven't wanted to blog I just have nothing to talk about. When I do have something to blog about, I type it up and usually delete it because it sounds stupid. I know I shouldn't care because after all this is suppose to be my little fitness diary.

I originally made this to keep track of my insanity work outs but I have gradually made this more about my running. I hope to even it out some. I would like to start posting about my work outs and how I feel after each of them again.

Hopefully in 2 to 3 weeks I will start to up date this every day. Even if its a short little paragraph. I want to keep it as active as much as I can.

Well that's all I have for now. It's getting late.

-Ramona

P.S. I finally downloaded the blogger app for the iPhone. Kind of hard to type out a blog and then proofread it. So if there are typos..sorry. I'll go back over this post when I am on the computer.