Race for the Cure

Yesterday morning we woke up at 4:30 am, got things packed up and headed out to St Petersburg with the kids by about 5:30 am. By the time we parked, walked a mile and a half to the Race for the Cure location, and registered the boys for the kids' race, we had just enough time to watch the sun rise over Tampa Bay.

The wind was not cooperating with my hair, but considering that I was there to run, I sucked it up.

Here's a fuzzy pic from just before the finish line. The hand in the foreground belongs to The Intuitive. I wish I could say that the picture was fuzzy because I run so fast that no camera can catch me! I mean, I am right behind the super hero in the blue cape.

That must mean I am fast...right!?

Alas...I am not fast...but I was faster than last year. I managed to run just under an 11 minute mile for all 3.1 miles. For serious runners, that's geriatric speed. For me, that's actually pretty good. Last year, I was at a 14 minute pace....so I'm OK with my speed.

Next year I'd like to see my time decrease another 3 minutes. I must have some goals after all!

We signed the boys up for a race, but they were disappointed when it was only a dash. The Rationalist is intent about doing the 5k next year. As long as he actually practices for it, I think that would be fun.

This year, my sister-in-law took up running and decided to run the 5K also. She managed to run at about the same pace as me, even though she's only been running for a couple of months....not that I am jealous or anything. ;-)

I'm sure she'll probably smoke me by next year.

Race for the Cure

I ran my first, official 5K this morning in St. Petersburg's Race for the Cure.

Thousands of people showed up to run, participate and support survivors of breast cancer and those who have lost their battle to it. I was one of about 150-200 survivors....probably one of the youngest ones there.

I lined up in my pace range only to figure out that nobody else was paying any attention to the markings. The vast majority of people were walking the 5K. I had to weave and dodge through the crowd of walkers just to get to a place where I could actually jog. Next time, I will move closer to front of the pack in order to be able to start running right away.

Here I am all sweaty and pink-faced, wearing my special survivor medal. My time was about 42 minutes....hey...at least I "ran" it!

Run, Fatgirl, Run

This past May I received a treadmill for Mother's Day.  I wanted it, so it wasn't some horrible, back-handed way for DH to tell me I needed to lose weight.  Although, last night he rented a video entitled, Run, Fatboy, Run, because he said it reminded him of me.  mmmkay.  Thanks for that, Dear One.

Actually, the reason he said such a dangerous thing, after he prefaced it with the obligatory, "Don't take this the wrong way...", was because I've decided to run this 5K, in Tampa, at the end of February. I'll give DH the benefit of the doubt and assume he was referring to the running part of the title and not the "fat" part. Hopefully, he values his life enough to never declare such a thing to me.

Anyway.....now I'm in training for a 5K.  I've managed to work myself up to a respectable 2.4 mile jog with no walking/stopping.  I only need to add .7 miles more to make the distance for a 5K.  I have 9 weeks, so I think I should be able to do it, even if I'm only running 13/14 minute miles.  According to my age category, which is a lot higher now that I am officially 35, the average time to finish is 38 minutes.  I'll have to get a lot faster to make that.

Endurance, I can do...speed is not really my strength. 

 I guess it gives me something to aim for.