Get In The Pink 5k

Travis and I ran the Get In The Pink 5k in Columbia last week. I wasn't sure what to set my goal as, but just decided to start off fast and see what happened. When I reached the first mile in 6:17 I knew I was in trouble. Oh yeah, did I mention it was in the upper 70's? And about 200% humidity? Yeah.

My next two miles were.... very slow. I walked four times. Ouch. I've never done that in a 5k before. It was kind of a disaster race, but I actually got a 13 second PR. Scott says that if you don't feel like you're going to throw up, then you didn't push hard enough. I think I did okay. I felt like passing out. Does that count? I guess next time I'll take the time-tested advice and start off conservatively. And hopefully next time I will be in better shape. I'm going to start training for the 50k soon, so hopefully I can get in some good 5ks during training. I think I can knock off another minute.

Our photographer (Megan) came to cheer us on. Isn't she so pretty?

Getting our timing chips on and waiting at the start in the sun (yes, I'm the one NOT in pink). We were sweating and sticky before the race even started.

The redhead boy to my left ran with me for most of the race. I wanted to hop on his back and ask for a ride to the finish line. There were a lot more girls than guys in this race, so I wasn't expecting to place in my age group. But I did! First in my age group. 3rd overall female. It was very exciting. That's one thing I like about small races. You get a better chance of placing. My time was 24:25. I feel kind of bad because I know lots of girls who can run so much faster than that. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while I can. :) And I won a $100 gift certificate to a luxury spa/salon for placing 3rd. Woo-hoo!

Travis had a great run. He ran with some friends for a little while, then took off on his own. It was a little too hot for us, but I'm sure we'll back for more! Here are some pictures of us coming into the finish.

Time: 24:25 Pace: 7:52

14/229 overall

3/166 women

1/? age group

race results here

Butts and Bicycles

I got a couple more infections one after the other, so my running has been almost non-existent for the past month. And now my pants are ... not fitting so well.

You might be chuckling, but I wasn't when I heard the rip. You know, I keep blaming my sicknesses and not being able to run for the weight gain, but frankly, I think I'm still eating like I'm training for a marathon. Oops. I'll have to work on that. :)

Better news:

Travis is graduating (getting hooded tomorrow!) and my birthday is coming up, so we decided to get some bikes. I haven't ridden a bike in a LONG time so I was pretty excited (and a little nervous). We got the bikes last night and rode probably 7 miles when we got home. I was a little nervous riding on the road with cars passing us, but I got used to it after a little bit and we stayed on the sidewalk whenever we could. In fact, I was grinning like a school child the whole way. It was so much fun!! I told Travis I hope I don't start to like biking more than running.

We have another 5k this Saturday. I've only had two quality runs since I've gotten off the meds and felt up to running. I'm going to try to get my big butt to run a PR, but I'm not expecting too much. Of course, I'm just happy to be running again (I feel like I say that a lot these days). And I've got the Goblin Valley 50k in October that I'll start training for in a couple months. I'm really excited about that--another family event! And I'm going to keep an eye out for a local marathon sometime in the Fall. I still want that sub 4.

I'm sure I'll be posting in the next week or so with the results of the 5k. Happy Cinco de Mayo! Adios!