Race Report - CrossKnox 10 Miler

This race sucked out loud.

I hate to say it but that's just the reality of it.  I had been a little lax in my triathlon training, and that hadn't hurt me any, so I was carrying that same attitude into my marathon training.  Last week I got lazy and skipped a run.  Then I missed another.  At the end of the week I only had 4 miles under my belt and 2 weights classes.  The rest of the training calendar was disappointingly empty.

Then there was the prerace nutrition.  I had very little water the day before the race.  Saturday was the day of the indoor yard sale and while I did remember to pack a cooler, I had no one to watch my booth.  Which mean any time spent in the bathroom was time that I could potentially be missing a sale.  I had 16 oz of water, 12 oz of Diet Mtn Dew, 20 oz of Toasted Almond Iced Coffee, and probably 20 oz of orange soda.

Just in case you are wondering that's a very bad hydration plan.

My eating wasn't much better.  An English muffin chased with a creme filled chocolate covered donut for breakfast.  Pizza and chips for lunch was my yard sale lunch.  Jay offered to take me out Saturday night because I was feeling pretty blah, but I decided we needed to stay home and eat in.

(With a twitter suggestion from Bari) I cleared the table of all electronics, turned off the overhead light, turned on the table lamp and lit a candle.  I was going to get out the "company's coming" dishes, but Jay already had our standard every day stuff pulled out and piled high with Jambalaya.

Sunday morning I ate a quick bowl of oatmeal and almonds before church, then packed a PB&J sandwich and an apple for my prerace lunch. 

Only it was Homecoming at church.  And they invited everyone to stay after for a potluck lunch.  I had two choices (due to tourist traffic where I live going home wasn't an option) - I could leave church, sit in my car for an hour and a half and eat my PB&J sandwich OR I could stay at church and enjoy some good country home cooking.

I promised myself I wouldn't eat a lot, southern potluck food isn't the lightest of fare.  But then I saw the lasagna and the chicken and dumplings and I just couldn't resist.  I capped off the meal with a slim piece of chocolate pie, a brownie, and a rice crispy treat and it was time for me to hit the road.

As always with Knoxville races, I got lost.  Thankfully Jay was home and near a computer and was able to guide me where I needed to be.

(Crap this is already a long post and the race hasn't even started!)

I had allotted myself 30 minutes to get to the race and 30 to register.  I hadn't allotted 15 minutes of getting lost time.  I was left with 15 minutes to register and the parking site was a block away from race registration.  I was in a bit of a rush and forgot my super cool water bottle.

This isn't my exact bottle.  Thanks to a google image search I found the picture here.  But it gives you an idea about what I was working with.  Typically I just slip it on my wrist and go.  It was about 8 minutes before the race start when I realized I had forgotten it in the car.  Assured that there were water stations on the course, I decided against a mad dash back to my vehicle.  I'd just drink what they provided.

Big mistake.

Although it was a race on Knoxville's "greenway" system, the first several miles were in the blazing sun.  Unseasonably warm - it was 85 degrees at the start of the race.  By the first aid station only 2 miles in, I was already parched.  The 1 oz of water provided by the volunteers did nothing to quench my thirst. 

Thankfully I got to the second aid station in time.  A run/walker caught up with me around the 5 mile marker.  She told a race volunteer that the 2nd station had ran out of cups and they need more.  She had advised them to pick up the cups and reuse them.  (Note to self: work on speed so that never happens to you.) 

Shortly there after I had to take my first walk breaks.  I know some of you swear by them, but my body just doesn't like to stop and walk.  Or rather it doesn't like running again after a walk break.  But I was so hot and thirsty I just couldn't keep running without a little bit of rest. 

By the third station I didn't care about my time anymore.  Fearful that they too would run out of cups, I stopped, drank, refilled, and drank some more.  Murder on both my time and my legs but it had to be done. 

Around mile 6 I started feeling better.  I remember what my husband had said about the mileage - I told him that I hadn't worked up to 10 miles and that I'd probably stop and walk a mile or two.  He responded with quite possibly the only kind words he's ever said about my running.

"You know how you get, after a few miles you just keep going and don't think about it.  You'll do all 10 miles no problem."

That gave me the extra umph I needed.  He didn't just say that to be nice.  I know when he comments about my running (for better or worse) he means what he says.

During mile 7 I heard a clatter.  Gosh this dehydration is worse than I though.  I'm starting to hear things.  The clatter got louder and louder.  A spectator had a cow bell - she was ringing it for all the runners as they went by.  This was the only part of the course with a turn around (its normally a 15K race but they added a little to make it 10 miles for 10-10-10) and as I passed her a 2nd time I spoke to her.

"I forgot my 'I need more cowbell' necklace at home.  Thanks for that!" 

After a few quick tears it was settled, I was going to own the last 3 miles of the race.  I didn't have anything left for my standard sprint to the finish, but I was able to pick it up a little more as soon as I saw the big "FINISH" banner.

I thought I was going to die stopping immediately after crossing the finish line to put my foot up on a 5 gallon bucket so my timing chip could be removed.  Unfortunately they had ran out of bottled water, but they were able to take the water coolers to a house nearby and fill them up.  I got a cup, walked, walked back, refilled X 5 before finally taking a seat in the grass to wait for a shuttle back.

This was my first point to point race and besides the constant changing scenery I wasn't a big fan.  Actually I wasn't a big fan of this race at all.  As hot as the day was with the sun directly overhead, there should have been more water stops.  There was no fruit at the finish line - just organic suckers and Carmel popcorn from Earthfare.

Back at the race start/awards ceremony there were Subway sandwiches and cookies, but still no fruit.  What's a girl gotta do to get some post race fruit??

What I'm banking from this race:

1. I do not want to run on the Knoxville greenways without an escort. 
2. This would be a good 20 miler (assuming I've got Jay or another family member on a bike with me) because of the permanent restrooms and water fountains along the way.
3. I really need to step up my training if I wanna shave 15 minutes off my half time from last year.
4. I need to take Disney more seriously.  I think because I've covered the mileage already I'm not as intimidated as I should be.
5. Race day its PB&J all the way!!!

Keeping it real

Did you ever wish you were someone that you weren't? 

I'm not talking about wishing you were Josh Holloway's wife or could do push ups like Demi Moore in GI Jane. (Hi Christie O!)

I'm talking about wishing that a part of you were opposite of who you really are. 

A coworker and I were talking about Disney and she said I was crazy for not flying down.  It a 12-14 hour drive for us and we could probably get tickets for about $100 more than we'd spend on gas heading down there.

At that moment I wished I was the kind of person who didn't care about spending money.  To be the kind of person who buys the latest cell phone with all the gadgets, that goes on vacation without worrying about the cost, that goes out and spends hundreds of dollars on new clothes because her old ones don't fit any more.

Yes it would be nice to "live a little."

But the cost of a plane ticket isn't worth the cost of my security.  I know I've quoted it before, but Dave Ramsey (quoting someone else I can't remember) says that discipline is simply remembering what you want?  He advised to not get bogged down in the how as much as focusing on the why.

Why do I want to save money?  Why would I choose to deprive myself now?

(Although you'd be hard pressed to convince me that a weekend trip to Disney to pay $100 to run 26.2 miles is hardly deprivation of any kind.)

• I want a paid for house.
  Our goal is to have the house paid in full over the course of the next 5 years.  Not an easy task, given that we haven't even had the home for a full year.  As a family who's livelihood is tied up in real estate, I think this is an important goal for us.  He only gets paid if he sells something, which doesn't happen every month.  Would be very freeing knowing that Bank of America isn't going to come calling at the first of every month - paycheck or no.
• I want to retire early enough to travel and enjoy life.
  Sure - I hope to be a healthy, spry 75 year old, but we're not promised that.  I'd love to be able to retire at 60, hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail with my Love.  Travel abroad, visit friends in other states (this means you) and just enjoy myself.
• Pay cash for a bathroom remodel.
  I think we're going to be able to do this one once we close on that piece of property we sold.  We had the money for the new bathroom, then Jay decided we should use it to buy the land when it went up for auction.  Good thing too, since we were able to sell it for a profit in a very short turn around time.
• Fund our Roth IRAs for 2010.
  Going along side both the retire and the bathroom goals, this one should happen this fall baring anything unforeseen.  The earlier you get started on retirement the more opportunity compound interest has to work in your favor.  I think we can accomplish this one with the money from the land sale.
• Save up to buy a Jay a new (to us) vehicle. 
  He works very hard to provide for the family.  Hopefully in the near future we'll be able to save up cash to purchase that redneck quad cab pickup he's been wanting for years.
• Vacation in Maui.
  We've had an offer from a buddy of Jay's who lives there to come stay with him for a week or two.

I realize that Disney falls into the "travel and enjoy life" category.  I really do.  But Maui on the cheap is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Disney is not.

So, yes, I'll admit to jealous of those of you wouldn't think twice about spending the cash for the plane tickets.  I do hope that I can convince Jay (and myself) that its worth it.

If not, I'll still be privileged enough to go to Disney, run the Marathon, and meet some wonderful ladies.  I may not have it all, but you've gotta admit to be able to do those three things I must have it pretty darn good.

Things that make my heart sing

Before I went to weights class I told Lora I'd link up to Thursday's 10.  Then I went to class wore my new size XS Nike sleeveless top...and spent most of the classing looking like Dora the Explorer. 

While the top fit me perfectly everywhere from the belly button up, it didn't like my hip area all that much and kept riding up to my mid section.  Seriously am I banished to a world of loose t-shirts for the rest of my life? 

I'm glad I committed to this list because I need to focus on the positive instead of something so trivial.

1. A roaring fire in my fireplace.

One benefit of a 100+ year old house is a wood burning fireplace.  And a husband who's willing to do the hard labor to make that fire happen.  Which brings me to...

2. The Mutant

He loves me unbelievably.  When the 7:55 PM alarm goes off and I'm too lazy to get up and take my pill, he gets into my purse, brings me my pill and a beverage.   He works both smarter and harder to provide for our family.  When I want to spend time with my family, not only does he not complain, he's exited to get the opportunity too.

Which leads me to...

3.  My niece and nephew

In the picture is the Mutant, the Little Man and the Irishman (my BIL).  Those kids are wonderful.  You know that.  I could go on for days but I'll just say that I have the best. niece & nephew. ever.

4. Reading

I love books. I'm currently reading Mockingjay, the 3rd in the Hunger Games triology.  I haven't plowed through this one the same as I did the other two, but mostly because I'm afraid of how its going to end. 

 I'm team Peeta and am terrified that she's going to end up with Gayle .  Or that the Capital will win and they'll all die.  Or something even worse that I haven't thought of yet.

These books are good.  I was leery at first, given the disturbing premise of the book.  A friend insisted and once I got into the first few chapters and really got to know the characters I was hooked.

5. Hiking

I've told the Mutant before - I'm blessed, he's smart.  I'm blessed because I was born in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He's smart because of all the places in the country he chose here to live.  (And smart for choosing me :P)

Of course the picture leads me to...

6. My friends. 

Family is great, but they are stuck with me.  Its great knowing that I have wonderful ladies out there that spend time with me not because they have to or are obligated to, but because they choose to.  Friends to talk you out of through a stupid idea.  Friends that encourage you when you've had a bad day.  Friends who interview potential boyfriends to make sure they are worthy.  (FYI - They only interviewed one and he passed.)

7. Running

That should go without saying.  But I heart it too much not to mention it.  Its good therapy.  It provides me with countless non scale victories (which are crucial since yall have banned me from getting on the scale).  Its why I will be able to enjoy retirement by hiking the Appalachian Trail.  (Lord willing and the creek don't rise.) 

8.  Toasted Almond Iced Coffee w/skim milk and 2 splendas
(Dunkin Donuts)

Yum!  My sister got me a NY Yankee reusable cup when she was headed home from Cape Cod this summer.  Since its an official Dunkin cup I just get charged $1 for a refill whenever I use it.

9. Shoes. 

I love shoes.  I typically wear pumps, but have a pair or two of "f" me heels.  I had a lady comment that I was dressed down because I was wearing flats with a dress - in a work place where cargo khakis and baby tees are common place. 

Don't get me wrong I love my flats too.  And my tennies.  And my flops. 

*Note to self - take picture of kick-a shoe shelving system that the mutant built me.*

10. The Internet

I can't choose which I like better: blogs, twitter, facebook, message boards.  I've met quite a few online friends IRL.  I'm thankful for the love and support I get from all of you.

If only I had a home computer that could go wireless so I could enjoy you from my front porch swing...

I < 3 Me!

I was reading a new blog the other day - Healthy, Happiness & Skinny Jeans.  The author Samantha just completed a half marathon and was considering how far she's come in the past year.  The she challenged us readers to do the same.  Here was my comment:

I've trained for & completed a half marathon. I've set a new 5K PR while suffering from a respiratory infection. I trained for a triathlon only to be benched b/c of severe anemia. I took iron infusions, was released for training, and completed my first triathlon last week.

Oh and my husband & I celebrated our1st wedding anniversary in California, we bought a home together and are on track to pay it off in 5 years.

Somehow that's now how I view myself.  But that's me and my goals in a nut shell.  So why am I still so critical of myself?

Enter the Shrinking Jeans October Monthly Challenge - I love me (dammit!)  They've asked us to pledge the following:

The Pledge to Love Myself.







I pledge allegiance, TO MYSELF.

Today I will proclaim it

out loud,

TALL AND PROUD

I LOVE MYSELF.

From this day forward,

I promise to be nice.

TO myself and ABOUT myself.

I will accept my quirks and I will love my faults.

I will love my shape, whatever it is

My bones, my muscles, my hair and my face.

My body, all of it, inside and out.

Because that is what makes me, ME.

And there is only one of me.

I will finally allow myself

to see what others see.

My kindness, my spirit, my love.

And starting today, I will share some of it,

with ME.

Because I deserve it.

I will fight for myself, because I’m important.

And I deserve to be everything I am capable of in my life.

I deserve to find my greatness and live my life fully and completely.

With no regrets.

There is so much I want to do in my life,

but first, it begins with “me.”

I LOVE MYSELF.

Today, tomorrow, and every day after that.

I LOVE MYSELF, DAMMIT!

And no one can stop me.

Sad that something so easy can be so difficult.  With that I present the top 5 reasons I should love me:

1. Jesus does.  A very easy WWJD to answer.John 3:16
2. I have a mutant that loves me.  He might not have abs like Wolverine, but he's still pretty incredible.  The best part?  Unlike the X-Men my mutant is real.   To have earned his love and his promise of forever then there must be something pretty special inside me. 
3. I am adored by my niece and nephew.  Partly because they are amazing, but also partly because they know their Aunt Boo loves them with all her heart.
4. My amazing friends - here and in real life.  Who am I to question their taste in friends?
5. Because I know it.   Deep down. 

Today I completed my fastest. mile. ever.  It was a part of the Shrinkvivor challenge - Team Rogue represent!

My 5K PR is at a 10:40 pace.  Today?  I ran 1 mile in 9:07.  I understand that sustaining that over 3 miles would take some work but I blew my old pace out of the water.

Back this spring I whined complained explained to my sister and mom that with all the effort I was putting in, my pace wasn't getting any better.  The both urged me to see my doctor.  I was putting in far too many training hours for my times to actually be decreasing.

I brushed them off.  It was all I could do to not to burst into tears.  "I just suck.  A doctor can't help that."

When you believe lies about yourself it can lead to dangerous consequences.  Be it a damaged self esteem or over taxing your anemic body. 

Today I'm flying high.  My body can get faster.  With some work I have no doubt I'll be able to run a sub 30 minute 5K.  That's a goal that will have to wait until after Disney, but I do have a short term goal that I'm a bit scared to put out there but here goes...

I'm competing in a 3.2 mile race in 10 days - the On Cosby Moonshine Run.  My goal?  To meet my 5K best time.  Given the extra tenth of a mile, that'll mean running this in my fastest time ever - a full 20 seconds quicker than my 5K PR.  But I really think I can do it.

One thing I can not forget is that win, lose, or draw those 5 reasons I listed will still be applicable.

Because I'm that damn lovable.

Head on over to the Shrinking Jeans so that you can take the pledge and join us this month.

The One Where You Give Me Advice

I've got a couple things to confess, then I've got a question for you.  M'kay?

• Dinner last night was an epic fail.  The irony of the "what's for dinner?" crisis on the same day I posted about my monthly shopping hiatus wasn't lost on me.  More than anything, I was cozy in front of the fire (yes it was cool enough yesterday for my man to build a fire) and I didn't wanna move.

• I included a race report with my thank you letter to the infusion nurses.I toyed with whether or not that was me being vain, but I decided that in order for them to see what a difference they made in my life, they had to see how much racing means to me.

• I can't keep my house clean.
  At first I blamed myself.  I've been busy for the past few weeks and haven't gotten around to it.  Then last night I cleaned my bathrooms and straightened up the house.  Only to have Jay come behind me a couple hours later and mess it up again.  Hard to be motivated to clean when there are tobacco flecks in the floor 2 hours after sweeping it.

• I'm participating in an indoor yard sale this weekend.Our local civic center hosts the sale twice a year.  Instead of pricing everything I'm going to label my 2 tables "everything this table $1" and "everything this table $0.50.  I'll be sending the money I make to Christie O's Preemie Project. 

• I'm an anxious person by nature.
  I'd like that to stop please and thank you.

• I have very few pants that fit me.
  At my biggest, I was a size 8.  All of those pants are packed up and under my bed for if I ever get pregnant.  You know that awkward time when you're too big for your regular stuff yet too small for maternity wear?  A friend suggested I keep my 8s for just such an occasion.
  
  At my smallest, I was a size 4. 
  
  Right now I'm more of a 6.  The problem?  I didn't buy very many 6s on the way down.  I kept holding out for the 4 so I wore my too big pants around with pride.
  
  Here's where you come in?  I don't know what to do.  I don't really want to get the 8s out for fear I'll just continue growing until they fit me properly.  I don't want to invest in 6s out of hope that with marathon training will come weight loss.  BUT I can't go around wearing too tight pants until that happens.
  
  Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated!

The September Project

For the Month of August the Sisterhood challenged us to clean out our pantries and get things organized.  Never one to shrink away from the ultimate control freak high - putting things in their proper order - I tackled this project with all I had.

My final report was complete with pictures of my stash and a new challenge for myself - do only limited grocery shopping for the month and eat mostly from the pantry.

I decided that I would spend $15 or less weekly on groceries - allowing only enough for fresh produce, eggs, and milk.  I'll let you in on a secret: in my house we don't eat that many eggs and we certainly don't drink/use much milk.  The mutant is apparently a fruitphobe and only eats veggies when I cook them for dinner.

Given the quantity of food items in my house and our lack of fresh food eating, I never really expected this challenge to be difficult.  It was mostly for my purposes, to try to get creative with cooking as well as seeing how long our food stockpile would last.

I'll just tell you - I barely made a dent in it.  There were those lazy nights where I just made pizza rolls or baked frozen chimichangas with cheese sauce on top.  There were also nights where I dug deep into the cabinets and made old favorites with what we had stocked up.

The final result? 

$40.56 spent on groceries for the month (not including the weekend I was on vacation).  That's a $13.52 per week average.

Frozen convenience food was the only portion of our pantry that was used up, although the meat stash is starting to become slim pickins.  Jay and I are considering buying a 1/2 of a cow (not sure who we would split it with) to refill our freezer for the winter. 

If you've bought a whole cow like this before - please let me know what you though of it and any advice you might have!

The project did get me back into the habit of meal planning, although with lunches I've still got some work to be done.  I'm also excited to be pulling the "beef for stewing" out of the freezer for dinner this week.  Our temperatures have plummeted and its definitely beef stew weather!

The Weekend is a-coming!

• I started the book Intuitive Eating last night and can already tell that it'll make a difference.  The first few chapters describe exactly what I'm going through right now.  Either they were able to read my blog before I ever wrote it - even thought it - or else I'm not the only one in this postion.  I'm hopeful that it will help.
• I'm a month behind in my marathon training.  This should either be a 9 or 11 miler per my training plan.  It will be a 7 miler.  Crap - how am I going to make this up?
• My parents are heading to my sister's to watch the Princess play soccer.  I figure its now or never for me, since my mileage will only be increasing. 
• I have no clue when I'm going to clean my house. 
• I'm a perfectionist.  So in my world a dirty house = failure as a human.
• I'm considering a media fast.  Internet (non-work related), TV, movies, magazines.  I can't give up books and am not sure if I should give up the radio.  Can I last a week??
• I go back to the Hematologist for my 3 month follow-up.  I'm hoping he cuts me loose after this.  Do you think it would be appropriate to write a thank you letter to the infusion nurses?  I thought about including my race report and saying "thank you for the gift of completing this race."  Thoughts?
• Anyone had experience with iron-on words?  I was thinking about making a t-shirt for my next 5K.
• Did I mention I'm a nervous rex (I <3 Toy Story) and overwhelmed?