Nun Run 2011

I was asked to be a shadow participant in the annual Nun Run on March 12th.  The run is actually taking place in Tempe, AZ.  Since I don't have unlimited funds at my disposable, I opted for the shadow option.  I'll be running the race 'virtually', ie on my roads and then reporting in.

This order, Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, is one of my favorites. Why?

1. The focus is on Jesus.  
2. Perpetual Adoration is to constantly give thanks to Our Lord
3. Full habits
4. From the order that Mother Angelica founded in the U.S. (EWTN)  more history here
5. The race motto is awesome.  "Nun Run...it's a great habit to be in!"

The nuns are in the process of raising funds to build a monastery for 28 nuns.  Could you join me and give any amount you can?

Give Here

 One of these years, I want to run with the nuns!

Thanksgiving Day 10K Race Recap

A week has gone by and I have not updated my blog on my Thanksgiving Day 10K.  Maybe because it was my PW (Personal Worst) 10K.

After driving for eleven hours, we arrived at my mom's house in Kentucky.  My sister and I had signed up for the local Thanksgiving Day 10K race / fun run.

The morning of the race, rain was coming down pretty steadily.  My sister bailed on me.  She didn't want to get wet ... worried about melting since she's pretty sweet.

I decided that I was going anyway.  I hadn't run in over a week in prayer that my left foot would feel better to run on.  It didn't feel the greatest, but after a few Tylonel, I could run without limping.  I was so determined to run.  Running has been such a great joy and stress reliever for me.

I drove myself to downtown Cincinnati.  The race was to start and end at the Paul Brown stadium, where the Cincinnati Bengals play.  Parking was surprisingly easy.

People were huddling inside the stadium since it was raining.

Waiting for the start.

The people behind me.  The rain had stopped.

Before the start.  Lovin' my new ipod.

By the time I was at the starting line, the clock was running for almost twelve minutes.  This was my first big city race.  There were 12,000 runners.

Mile 1:  10:52
First mile was slower than what I wanted.  I was constantly weaving around other runners trying to get into my groove.

Mile 2:  10:15
Feeling good and in the groove.

Mile 3:  11:13
Left foot is starting to really hurt.  The course took us over the first bridge that crosses the river.

Mile 4:  11:36
Saw a couple dressed as an Indian (bow and arrow) and a Pilgrim.

Mile 5:  11:55
Another bridge crossing back over the river.  Left foot is crying.

Mile 6:  11:33
The end is in sight and I focused on enjoying the race.  Of course, people watching was a hoot!

The last 0.2:  11:26
Passed by a gentlemen who had collapsed from a heart attack.  The paper covered the story and he had lived.  He was fortunate that two nurses were running just a few yards behind him and administered CPR within seconds of his collapse.  Also, a young runner ran off course to get the ambulance which was only a block away.  The gentleman ended up having a quadruple bypass and is on his way to recovery.

Official Results:

1:10:21

(11:21 pace)

342 / 602 in my age group

3135 / 5488 in women

7312 / 10756 overall

Finished!

Chase the Pumpkin 10K

A local Knights of Columbus group organized a race to raise money for diabetes.  A friend of mine asked if I was interested in going with her to run the 10K.  The race was less than two hours away from home and the fee was less than $20.  I was in.

I've been working on my running form; changing it from a heel strike to a forefoot strike.  Changing my running form has slowed me down.  I've also have been focusing on increasing my cadence, steps per minute.

My goals for this race was to run the entire race using a forefoot strike.  I haven't been able to do much speedwork or tempo work with my new form yet, so I knew that my time wasn't going to be close to a PR.

Before our 10K

The temperature was 35 degrees.  There wasn't too much wind which was a nice change from earlier in the week.  The course was an out and back.

Mile 1:  9:50  Avg Cadence 82.1
A 12 year old ran along side me and jabbered away about how she tries to find a running buddy in the race.  I said that she was welcome to run with me until her half way point, since she was running the 5K and I the 10K.

Mile 2:  10:07  Avg Cadence 81.4

Mile 3:  10:36  Avg Cadence 80.8

Mile 4:  10:34  Avg Cadence 80.4

Mile 5:  10:43  Avg Cadence 81.0

Mile 6:  11:20  Avg Cadence 78.4
There wasn't any runners ahead of me.  I came to a corner and I didn't know if I was to go straight or turn.  I turned.  Bad move, I had taken a wrong turn on the course.  When I realized my mistake, I had two options.  Go back to where I had turned or cut through the field to get back onto the course.  Not sure what was proper race etiquette but I elected to run through the field.  Upon coming out of the field, a volunteer asked me if I had taken a wrong turn and pointed me into the right direction.  Looking at my data, my detour cost me more than 1:17.

With the course being an out and back, you can see where I took the wrong turn.

To the finish:  0.35 miles (0.15 miles longer than the race)  10:06 pace with an average cadence of 81.5
My friend had finished ten minutes before me.  She was very kind to run with me into the finish.

This was the flattest course that I've raced.  Gunner didn't register any elevation change.

6.35 mi

1:06:43

10:30 pace

80.7 avg cadence

Harbor Springs Half Marathon

On Friday, hubby was able to work from home so that I could get an early start on the five hour drive.  The kids were a dear and woke up early to get our school day completed before I left.  I had work graded and workboxes packed for Monday before I ventured off on my little mini-retreat. 

At 4:30 pm, I met up with my mom, my little sister, and my little sister's friend.  On our way to pick up our race packets, they humored me by letting me stop at a yarn shop to pick up some fingering merino wool for a running hat that I've been wanted to make.  My head is just too big for 'normal' hats.

We choose to stay at the same beautiful hotel / resort when we ran the Charelvoix Half Marathon in June.  After that race, we had some awesome ice cream at the cutest mom and pop shop.  I could eat ice cream year around.  Therefore when we made a pact of not eating any ice cream until this race, it was a struggle for me.  I slipped up once, July 29th ... after a rough day at home.  After picking up our race packets, my sister made dinner for us in the suite.

Early the next morning, we woke up to a beautiful fall day.  The temperature was warmer than normal for the time of year.  It would be 54 degrees at the start of the race.  Perfect ... well, for me ... the others were not comfortable, too cold.

Mom

Little Sis

Little Sis's friend - her first half

One of the race photographer's took our picture before the race ... waiting for it to be posted.

I started off well.  At mile 7, I was on target for a PR.  I was pushing myself.  This course had many rolling hills compared to my last half marathon.  

The course was beautiful.  The trees were in full color.  Most of the course was along Lake Michigan.  One of the stretches of the course was through "The Tunnel of Trees".

With this being the 'first' annual race, there were a few bumps...

The aid stations were few and spaced very far apart.  This was a huge mental struggle for me.  I kept telling myself that I can make it until the next aid station, but that aid station didn't appear ... just another hill.

At mile nine, my overall pace was 10:58  just shy of my PR pace of (10:57).  Gunner was telling me that I'm falling behind.  I kept pushing myself ... telling myself how wonderful I'm doing especially with the hills  ... reminding myself that it's a downhill finish.

Then from mile 10-12 was a constant uphill battle.  By the end of mile 12, I had fallen behind Gunner by over 2 minutes.  There wasn't enough race left to make up that time.  I kicked it in as much as I could that last 1.1 miles.  I was disappointed but proud that I was out there running.  This was my third half marathon this year.  I began running last November ... so not even a full year of running yet.

Traffic was everywhere on this course.  Here, I'm dodging people getting out of their car!

Check out all the colors of the trees!

My running tank says, "There's no I in team, but there is in Ice Cream"  =)

Official finish time:

2:25:54

The Girls in our matching outfits.

 

 Congratulations to my mom and my little sister for both placing 3rd in their respected age groups!

For lunch, we had take out from Buffalo Wild Wings.  Mom and my little Sis watched the U of M vs. MSU game while my little Sis's friend and I watched a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

After Mass, Mom and I stopped for ice cream.

Enjoying carmel praline pecan ice cream.  Yum!

The resort had given each of us a coupon for $20 of slots at the local casino.  They talked me into going.  Once there, we signed up for their rewards card to receive the $20 slot credit.  We were also given a coin for the free pull machine.  My little Sis and her friend were given an extra coin because it was their birthday month.  Everyone put in their coins and pulled.  Nothing.  I was there to be a good sport.  I prayed to God that whatever I win with this free money that half would go to the church.  I prayed more for the strength to be disciplined not to use any of my own money.  I pulled the lever ... Five dollars!  So onto the slots we went.  My mom and my little sister split off.  We stayed and played the penny slots.  We figured that would be the longest way to be entertained.  Well, I won at every slot machine I sat down at.  In the end, my total winnings were $41.48 ... $20 for me and the rest goes to church.  I spent the rest of the evening watching the others play blackjack.  At one point, they were complaining to the dealer about the cards and needing to win some money back.  He said that the best way not to lose your money is not to gamble.  I had a hard time not bursting out in laughter!

My first ten miles were ran to celebrate a fellow blogger's birthday:

10 miles

1:50:17  (11:01 pace)

Happy Birthday Neil Z!

Marquette Half Marathon

We decided to spend the night in Marquette instead of driving up the morning of the race.  The race started at 7:15 EST and we live on CST (the race would start at 6:15 our time; which meant I would have had to leave by 4 am).

Friday night, I picked up my race packet.  The wind was wild.  Hurricane Earl had nothing on the weather here!  I hoped that the wind would calm down before the race the next morning.  After driving the course, we enjoyed swimming at the hotel pool.

Saturday morning, a good friend of mine, S., and her friend, P., agreed to pick me up from the hotel.  I was so thankful of them to do that.  That way, my husband didn't have to rush to get the children up and eat breakfast before the start of the race.  I had marked out on the course map about what time I would be at each mile marker so that he could find me.

At the start of the race, the temperature was 48 degrees with wind and a rain/sleet mix.

The poor volunteers were cold.  They were so cheerful and helpful.  

Aid stations were placed about every 1 - 1.5 miles apart.

Mile 1:  10:13

I started out running with S.'s friend, P.  She said that her goal was 2:20 ... She's a bit faster than that!  By mile 2, I told her not to let me slow her down.

Mile 2:  10:39

It looks like I'm on my own.  I saw a group of three runners wearing Vibram Five Fingers.  So cool!

Mile 3:  10:36

Connected with a wonderful lady named, A.

Mile 4:  11:04

Chatting away with A. and the miles started to fly by.

Mile 5:  11:05

I ate a raspberry gel that was handed out ... really gross!  I should have eaten the Clif Shot Bloks that I brought with me.

Mile 6:  10:55

On the bike path in the downtown area of the city.  We could see the Farmer's market going on.

Mile 7:  10:19

We had a speedy split this mile.  I think it was from the excitement that we were half way done.

Mile 8:  10:57

We walked for a bit after the aid station.  The wind was really cold coming off the water.  We passed one of the big playgrounds and I was surprised that I didn't see my family yet.

Mile 9:  10:41

Still no site of the family.  We passed by Picnic Rocks park.  Two swimmers have drowned here this summer.  Click here to see the local paper's article.

Mile 10:  11:43

Tried to open my Clif Shot Bloks that I brought with me, but my hands were so cold they could not open the package.  A. tried and couldn't get it open either.  She had the exact same kind with her and was able to get hers open.  Thanks for sharing A.!

I heard the honk of a horn and see our family van.  The kids were yelling, "Run, Mommy, run!"

Mile 11:  11:19

Mr. T took this picture of us.  Great job there, son!

Mile 12:  11:33

The only hill on the course was during mile 12!  It was an 80 foot climb for about 3/4 of a mile.  We killed it!  (No walking)

We saw three gentlemen who had just finished surfing in Lake Superior!  They had on full wetsuits with hoods and shoes.  Crazy!

Mile 13:  10:45

We are almost to the end.  We can do it!

The last 0.1 miles:  8:44 pace

The finish:

Official Time:

2:23:34

PR!!!

 Check out those waves and the wind!

Thanks, hubby for taking photos of me at the finish line!

 The Finisher's Medal & the Running T-Shirt

After the race, I refueled with a hamburger, bagel, and a banana.  I met up with the family and we went to the local Catholic bookstore.

We drove the course to see if we could find my friend, S., who was running the full marathon.  I asked the family if they could wait around while I ran with her for a bit.  We met up with her just before mile 21.

 Hubby thought that I was just going to run a mile or two ... since I just ran 13.1 miles.  After he took our picture, he realized that I was going to run with her all the way into the finish.  He was so sweet to let me.
Are you liking my recovery socks that I changed into?  I won them in a blog drawing.  Thanks Marcia!  I would like to try running in compression socks.  My legs felt great.
I think that I could have done the full marathon.  I ran 18.5 miles ... what's another 7.7!

To see what the course looks like on a nice day, click here.

The local paper's take on the event is here.

Lake Antoine Classic 15K Race

**I was waiting on the posting of the results before I published this post.

August 7th:  A local race to support Special Olympics!  I signed up the for 15K and the oldest three children decided to run the 2 mile race.

This race was full of lessons.

Lesson 1:  Have everything ready the night before.  Make a race checklist.  We turned around once to get my handheld water bottle (good thing).  We turned around a second time to get the camera.  Luckily, this race wasn't too far away from home.

Lesson 2:  Go to the bathroom at least 30 minutes before the race ... you may be waiting 15 minutes for your turn.

Lesson 3:  Wear the right shoes.  If the course description sounds like a trail race, chances are it's a trail race.

Lesson 4:  Set up your Garmin before the gun goes off.  Make sure those satellites are in sync with you.  Yes, I stopped and waited until my Garmin was ready before I began my run.  It added 2 minutes and 30 seconds onto my time because I was impatient and not standing still.  And I was not going to run unless I knew how fast and how far I am going.  I guess I have some running OCDs.

Before:

After running for 15 Kilometers:

1:42:11 was the official finish time.

Lil' Chef, Mr. T, and Squeaker all started their 2 mile together.

Then Squeaker took off after the first mile leaving behind her two bigger siblings in the dust!

She placed 2nd in her age group with a time of  23:30

Lil' Chef and Mr. T finished together with a time of 32:19 and 32:18, respectively.

Windsor Rodeo Run - 10K

It was a beautiful morning for a run.  The temperature at 8:00 am was 63 degrees.  This was the first year that the Windsor Center organized the run.  They were surprised by how many runners showed up.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on which outfit I should wear.  I went with the majority.

A very good friend of mine (another homeschooling mama) was running her second 5K.  We stayed together for most of the first mile.

Mile 1:  10:20
Mile 2:  10:10
Mile 3:  10:20
Mile 4:  10:32
Mile 5:   9:59
Mile 6:   9:54
The finish:  9:09 pace

Time:  1:02:53

PR!!!  (I beat my last 10K time by 1:39)

Placed 1st in my age group!

Elevation:

Lil' Chef (#343) ran the 2 mile with a good friend of hers (#340).  They are standing next to their swim instructor (bib #370)

Her friend finished first in her age group and Lil' Chef finished 3rd in her age group with a time of 27:20  (39 seconds faster than her last 2 mile race)

Next, Mr. T and Squeaker ran the kiddie race.  Squeaker was disappointed that she wasn't running the 2 mile race.

At 10:00, the town had a Rodeo Parade

We had lunch at a local sub shop and then onto the rodeo!  A big thank you to Babcia and Papa for taking all of us to the rodeo!