Football

Sean and I went to our annual Giants/Redskin game at FedEx field where the Redskins play. It was cold and rainy but we still had fun. We went with Sean's brother-in-law Scott and Sean's good friend Joe. We also met up with John, Sean's cousin and tailgated before the game.

Setting up the carbombs

Sean and I trying to stay dry and keep warm

Hamburger, cheese, onion ring, bacon, cheese...delicious!

John and I

We ran out of rolls so John had a double

Sean and Joe enjoy the game

Staying warm

I did it again...

Another cold morning. This time there was frost on the ground and ice on the car windows. Did that stop me from running? If you answered yes you don't know me very well. I didn't make Sean run with me this morning, he did however come and take pictures for me. The race, Blue Talon Bistro Turkey Trot, had a really good turn out with 525 5K runners. There was also a walking category and a kids fun run that when totaled with the runners included 685 individuals. Not too bad for a Thanksgiving morning run. There was no pressure for me this morning, even though there was a large turnout, not all of my normal running buddies were present, in fact I probably only knew a handful of people. I went out faster than normal thinking lets just try and keep it under 23 minutes again. I didn't expect to have a spectacular time, considering it wasn't a fast flat course like Governor's Land on Saturday. Once I started running my legs felt good and I just continued to push it. There were a few girls I kept running back and forth with. I didn't want them to beat me so I kept with them. I ended up with an official time of 22:25.27, over 12 seconds faster than Saturday's race! I had no idea that I would PR once again in the same week. I obviously couldn't be more thrilled. I ended up placing 3rd in my age group out of 35, 7th in the female category out of 267 and 71st overall out of the 525 runners. The prizes were Turkey Trot portable coffee mugs. Now it's time to relax, take a little cat nap on the couch and then spend some time with our wonderful neighbors that have been kind enough to invite us over for a Thanksgiving meal. Can't wait.The race begins (33 degrees)

A little before mile 1

Less than 1/10 of a mile to go

Finally, a time under 23 minutes!!!

The morning was cool and crisp with temperatures in the low 30's. I struggled getting Sean out of bed. He was changing his mind about wanting to run with me. We got to the race and the sun was shinning and their was quite a bit of participation, so I was confident, well maybe not 100% confident, but confident none the less that I could meet my goal. I have been wanting to break 23 minutes but of course that couldn't be my only goal. Considering this course is "the fastest course in Williamsburg" I knew I had to push it up a notch. I figured if I was under 22:50 I would be pleased.

I started strong, knowing that is the only way I work. My first mile was just over 7 minutes at 7:01. My body stayed strong, and my legs didn't let me down. The second and third mile were a little bit slower, at (I think) 7:23 and 7:20, but not bad considering I usually slow down much more. The last tenth of a mile I knew I had done it and although didn't have a lot left kicked it up a notch. I ended up with a final time of 22:38!

I have been waiting the entire running season to get a time under 23 minutes. I was hesitant that it wasn't going to happen. With the last race of the Colonial Road Runner season I had been putting in extra time at the gym and pushing myself extra hard during interval training. My buddy Jami gave me a final training workout this past Wednesday, and that may have sealed the deal.

I ended up being first in my age group and got a really cool dream catcher as my award. The race proceeds went to the non-profit group Dream Catchers, so it was only fit to have a dream catcher as our award. Jami was 2nd overall. She kicked butt with a time of 19:21, 35 seconds off her PR! It must be her new racing flats that she got. As you can tell from all my posts Jami is my running inspiration. One day I hope to be just like her, good work Jami!

Sean and Ryan (Jami's Fiance) both raced as well and did really well. Hopefully we can get them to continue doing more races with us even though they aren't quite the addicts as we are.

I'm now off to take a nap since we're meeting friends for dinner and a comedy show tonight. Should be a lot of fun!

Softball is over

The rain has finally stopped coming on Fridays, it seemed to have rained most Fridays since softball started, and we were able to participate in our softball playoffs that should have probably happened sometime in October. Regardless, we had good participation especially considering it was about 30 degrees, or maybe colder. The wind was blowing, and it was 9:30 at night.

We played well considering we were a little rusty, hadn't practiced or played in quite some time. We ended up as runners up for the league out of 16 teams, not too shabby.

Doing your part

My sister just recently wrote a blog about one way you can be a little greener. Check out her post about phone books. I know our generation is using the internet more and more and the phone book is basically becoming obsolete. If you no longer use it, then you should add your name to the list so that it is no longer sent to you. Do your part!

8K update

Good news. I contacted the race director and my time was updated. Therefore my official time is 38:20. This kept me in 8th place for my age group, but my overall female place moved to 61. There must have been some other errors, because now it has 2077 females, instead of the original 2027.

nTelos 8K

Saturday morning Sean and I ran the nTelos 8K in Richmond. Our race began at 7 am, therefore we had to get up a little after 4 am to be there on time. Sean always makes fun of the fact that I have no problem waking up at 4 am if I have a race to run, but then struggle to get up at 7 on a work morning. I definitely love my racing.
After finally convincing Sean that he couldn't continue to sleep and that he too had to get out of bed and shower and come with me things went a little smoother. The weather radar didn't look good. 90-100% chance of rain and thunderstorms and the fact that it was already almost 70 degrees (still 4-4:30) in the morning, mind you we are in the middle of November.

Sean continued to tell me that he wasn't racing in the rain, and I accepted it at this point, but told him to bring his stuff just in case. Our good friend Jami was racing the half marathon and was kind enough to drive. She picked us up around 5 am and we drove up to Richmond.

We were a little more than half way to Richmond and the rain slowed up and by the time we got to Richmond it had stopped. We parked, and tried to figure out what to wear. Preparing to run a race in November I had decided on much warmer clothes, but ended up in a tank top and shorts, I still can't believe how warm it was. With no rain Sean had no excuse and had to run.

Sean, me and Jami before the race

The race was fairly flat, with one small hill, and then an end that was all down hill, which made for a strong finish.

I ended up with a time I was proud of even though there is a small time discrepancy with my time and my "official" time. I know it doesn't really matter, but it still bugs me, 4 seconds is 4 seconds. Either way I am happy, because I was under my goal time of 38:30, a 7:45 pace. I placed 8th in my age group out of 377 and 59th for all females out of 2027. Sean did really well too, and finished strong. We all loved the last 1/4 mile downhill!

After our race, we changed into dry clothes and then waited for our friend Jami to finish. Her race started at 7:30 and she was trying to get under 1:38:00. We had some time to kill, so we walked around ate and then found a good spot to watch the winners come in. The first male came in at 1:06:54 and then the first female came in at 1:18:34.

We saw a few local runners and snapped a few shots. We saw Jami and looked at the time and saw she was much faster than she thought she was going to be with an official time of 1:32:16! She ended up getting 2nd in her age group out of 357 and 13th overall for females 2038. Go Jami!

The winner of the the men's half

Sean and I watching from the 2nd level of a parking lot

Rick Platt, the president of Colonial Road Runners

Jami, less than a minute behind Rick

(sorry it's blurry...she was going way too fast)

The three of us showing off our medals with Ronald
(McDonald's was the sponsor of the half marathon)

The winner of the marathon

Greg Dawson, a fellow Colonial Road Runner

We stuck around for a little longer watching the winners of the full marathon and then headed home to enjoy the rest of the day. I checked the weather when we got home and stated the temperature was up to 80 degrees!

Overall it was a fun morning and although it's been a lazy Sunday I'm glad we raced. I signed up today to run the Richmond Half Marathon next year. I of course wanted to save money, and by signing up by midnight I got a good deal.

I have my final Colonial Road Runner 5k on Saturday and so I need a good week of training so I can hopefully break 23 minutes.

Wish me luck!