My First 5K Race - A *Run* Report

To give some background, ever since I got Lucy, I've been casting around for ways to make sure that she gets enough exercise to keep her from bouncing off the walls of my apartment. Along the way, I decided to make a major push toward improving my own fitness levels. 

In late April I discovered and began the Couch to 5K program. Over 9 weeks, I worked up from running very short intervals all the way to 40 minute training runs (5 minute warm up walk, 30 minute run, 5 minute cool down walk). To give myself even more motivation, I signed up to run in a 5K race that a couple of friends were also doing. Lucy has been running alongside me this entire time, but for some unfathomable reason, the race organizers do not permit dogs on the course.

This morning's Dad's Day 5K race in downtown Houston was my first 5K race and also my graduation run from the Couch to 5K program. 

Results:

Chip Time: 40:35

Gun Time: 41:16

Overall Place: 630 / 725

Division Place: 33 /44 (F 30-34)

I met up with friends Michelle and Jesse at the race start under the Wortham Arch around 7:40 AM. We were standing towards the back of the crowd (past the 10 minute/mile pace sign) so we hadn't been able to make out what the announcer at the front was rambling on about. When the gun went off at 8 AM, it was a little unexpected.

As the crowd started to slowly edge forward, I quickly put my headphones in and started my music. My trusty Polar F11 HRM was queued up, requiring just a one button push as I crossed the start line about a minute later.

I emerged from under the arch and was immediately presented with brilliant sunshine and a fairly steep (compared to the few other hills I've covered during my training) climb up and over 6+ lanes of Interstate 45 through downtown Houston. I knew I would be slow compared to other runners, so I stayed to the side, but I will say I was a little surprised at how very many people were passing me on each side. Michelle and Jesse quickly disappeared into the crowd ahead.

The run had started over an hour later than my training runs. The sun was beating down and there was very little shade on Memorial Drive. I estimate that it was already in the high 80s or low 90s. I kept telling myself that just like my initial *long* runs, this would be a mind over matter experience. I was capable, I just had to keep my mind on running and off my aching legs.

Passing the first mile marker, I was shocked to see that I had run it in only 12:15. This was my fastest mile ever, at least two minutes faster than my training pace. My heart rate was also much higher than it has been during my training. I started to constantly remind myself to slow down and save my energy for the rest of the race. I finally gave myself permission to walk about 16 minutes into the run when I glanced down at the HRM and saw it in the 180s, higher than I've seen it since my first week of C25K. 

I started paying a lot more attention to the HRM at that point. Even at a brisk walk, it was high, at running rates. During the rest of the race, I ran only in brief spurts. I'd set a goal: run to that water station, run to that overpass, etc. Once I made the goal, I'd walk for several minutes. Despite walking large portions of it, I took only 14 minutes to get through the 2nd mile.

Climbing back up the I-45 overpass, I spied the Wortham Arch in the distance and saw that my time was still under 40 minutes. I decided right there to make a big push at the end and try to come in under 42 minutes (14 minute/mile pace). A few moments after starting to run, I found myself getting chills, and thought "This can't be good". I ignored it and the feeling soon went away.

Michelle and Jesse were on the sidelines cheering me on as I approached the finish line. I'm still a little surprised that I had the presence of mind to hit the "end" button on my HRM as I crossed it. I didn't make it in under 40 minutes, but my chip/HRM time of 40:35 far surpassed my original pre-race estimate of 42 minutes minimum, 45 minutes probable.

After I'd cooled off a bit, I looked more closely at my HRM results and was slightly horrified to see that over the 40 minutes, I'd averaged 91% of my max heart rate and even hit 101% at some point during the race. To compare, my recent training runs have averaged 80% and maxed out at 89%. I know that none of this is where I *should* be running, but as my body continues to adjust, average HR is trending slowly downward.

Anyway, the 5k was a lot harder than I expected. I need to work on not getting excited about running in a group and keep my pace slower and more sustainable. I hate to make excuses, I but I feel the weather was a big factor in my inability to run as much of the race as I would have liked. Houston in summer is pretty brutal. The organizers might have done better to schedule the race an hour earlier.

Lucy and I will continue to run and plan for another 5k in July or August. I'd like to improve my time and aim for actually running more of the race.

For my readers who are more interested in motorcycle topics, I have not been riding much lately, but I do have a 9 day trip planned for late August. I will be heading toward the east coast this time.

Life With Lucy

I've had Lucy for about 4 months now. She's mostly figured out how things work: where to "go", which toys are hers, don't chase the Cat, etc.

Some pics for the grandparents:

A typical evening nap on the couch (she steals pillows)


At work (she comes with me about once a week)


Taking a bath (poor little abused puppy)




On a hike

Playing Keep-Away

Problem:
Dog likes to eat Cat Feces and Bunny Poop.

I've been yelling at Lucy for the past week or so for going scavenging in Sorscha's cage. It was a problem, but my family has had a long history of dogs going after the "delicacies" that rabbits leave behind. There's also the problem of Cali invading Sorscha's inner sanctum (cage 2nd floor).

This morning Lucy discovered Cali's litter box. I came out of the shower to find a trace amounts of litter on the living room carpet. The box didn't look hugely disturbed, but there wasn't any poop (in the accessible area) either. (I use a Scoop-Free Automatic litter box)

(Short-Term)Solution:

The first priority upon coming home from work today was to make the cat box inaccessible and to make it harder to get into the rabbit cage.

I found an old damaged plastic packing box in my garage and proceeded to cut a hole in the "top" with an old steak knife. The next step was to put Cali in the box and make sure he could climb out. YAY! That problem solved (hopefully).



Sorscha's cage was a little more difficult. I have visions of using my new set of xtra-large bolt-cutters (thanks BF!) to modify some of my old cube storage system grids (an old time-tested bunny-proofing product) to create a vestibule for the cage. For now I went with an old cardboard box with a hole cut in it by the same steak knife.



Sorscha will probably "remodel" it into uselessness soon (chomp chomp), but it should work until I get my act together.

30 Days of 30 (cont.)

W1A3 (week 1, activity 3):
(Feb 6) My actual 30th birthday. Nice day at work, got some gifts from coworkers and boss. BF and I met up at Rice Village after work and went out to dinner at Bombay Brasserie, a yummy Indian place.

W2A1
(Feb 7) My "observed" 30th birthday. (if public figures can do it... :P ) I dragged BF over to my parent's place around 3pm. We spent 3-5 cooking furiously and then the next few hours after that being furiously social. It was a nice relaxed party with around 10 friends (mostly fellow riders) in attendance. Everyone raved about the food: Tri Tip (it's a California thing), roasted turkey breast, red potato salad, Dad's Special baked beans, garlic bread, shrimp nachos, salsa, and guac. We finished off the party with a home-baked cake (yellow cake filled with vanilla pudding and fresh bananas with chocolate frosting). I managed not to spit on it. (I think/hope)

W2A2
(Feb 11) BF and I decided to be adventurous. Most of my past home cooking Thai endeavors have involved lots and lots (and lots) of peanut butter. This time we tried for Thai-style red chicken curry. There was a hint of restaurant-grade taste to it, but we both agreed that something was missing. There will definitely be more attempts (we have 3/4 can of curry paste to go through).

W2A3
(Feb 14) (the Valentine's edition) A while back, one of BBFITW (bestest BF in the world)'s coworkers introduced me to a wine type that I could actually drink without making a face (Muscato D'Asti). BF got me a bottle of that wine for my birthday. After going out for sushi, we headed to Pier1 for some fun wine glasses. Then back to his place for a relaxing evening with wine (yummy), a movie, and Lucy.

30 Days of 30

Last month I half-jokingly designated January 30th + February + March 1 as my "30 Days of 30".

I will turn 30 on the 6th of February, a date that is now fast approaching. Thinking further about it, and with the BF bringing it up again and taking it much more seriously than I originally did, I've made it a goal to do something neat and out of the usual rut for myself on a regular schedule during the 30 day period.

I think a daily activity is probably an unattainable goal (a bit too much like a grueling IBA ride) so I'll go with a number-riffic! THREE out-of-the-ordinary activities per week.

It's only Monday and I've already gotten two down.

W1A1 (week 1, activity 1):
(Jan 30 - Feb 1)Last weekend was spent in Austin, TX. BF, I, and some of BF's friends attended a showing of "Master Pancake Theater : The Matrix" at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown. We had dinner and drinks in the theater while 3 comedians spent some time mocking the movie but mostly focused on Keanu's acting skills (or lack thereof). Before heading back to Houston in the morning we stopped at Kerbey Lane, a cute local cafe. I had some of the best buttermilk pancakes ever (sorry Dad!).

W1A2:
(Feb 2) I attended a Bike Night! It's been FOREVER since I managed to get myself out for a ride after work. The GS accommodatingly roared to life after a night on the trickle charger. I was a good little rider and made sure to top off the tires before riding off to Sugarland and the Live Oak Grill. I only realized after I'd gotten on the freeway that the last time I'd worn my winter/touring jacket was in July and all the vents were open, streaming 50 degree plus a 70 mph windchill air onto my body. Brrrrrrr!

Overdue Update

It's pretty bad, really.

None of my motorcycles have moved since Thanksgiving and while it did snow here once, "winter" isn't really a vaild excuse.

The ST badly needs an oil change and valve adjust. I briefly considered trying to ride the GS on Saturday, but the battery was dead. We'll try for take two tomorrow night (I removed the center "gas tank" panel to access the battery (six screws!) and put it on a trickle charger overnight.

So what HAVE I been doing all this time?

My last real motorcycle trip was in July. I took a long weekend (4-days) and played "tag" with Georgia and South Carolina. I had a grueling schedule on this trip and didn't stop to take many pictures other than the required "state welcome signs". I found some enjoyable roads in the north Georgia mountains and also rode the Natchez Trace again (in the southern direction). Weather-wise, it alternated between disgustingly humid/hot and rainy. During this trip, I came to prefer rainy.

The good news is that all I have left to fill in on my "states visited" map is the Northeast + WA and ND. Alaska will continue to wait on the back-burner.

Not long after my last post in early September, Hurricane Ike rampaged through Houston and seriously disrupted my life. There was no damage to my apartment, but I lost power for 13 days. I bounced around between my parents house and my boyfriend's house, stopping in at home daily to check on the power situation. Due to those same electrical issues, my office was closed for 4 days. We ended up missing some deadlines and I had to work long hours the next week getting things taken care of (all while dealing with crazy traffic and junk all over the roads). The motorcycles didn't move at all in the month of September. CSTN (Central ST.N meet) took place a week after Ike hit. Having missed the National ST.N meet, I really wanted to go to CSTN. I agonized over it for several days before ultimately canceling my hotel reservations, reasoning that I just couldn't take a long weekend after having had to use 4 days of vacation for the hurricane and with overdue deadlines.

My four-wheel-ed-ness during the rest of the year can be attributed to a glorious, wonderful, incredible rut I've been in, spending weekends (as much time as I can, really) with my non-riding boyfriend. I'm optimistic that this may soon change. As a Christmas present to me, he signed up to take the MSF (beginning motorcycle class). We'll see where that takes us.

As of the beginning of February, I'm celebrating NINE YEARS on motorcycles. I also figure that somewhere in there, I've managed to amass 100,000 miles on two-wheels.

(I haven't kept the best records, but with ~37k on the YZF and ~60k on the R12ST, I have to have hit it with mileage between the F650GS, GL650, CB350, and Elite80. And yeah, I was a slow-starter. The majority of my mileage has been in the last 5 years.)

My biggest news-to-report came to me in late December when I welcomed Lucy, a 1.5 year old beagle, into my life.







The rescue society that she came from told me that she ran around a Houston neighborhood for several months after Hurricane Ike before getting picked up by animal control.

Other than a few stray accidents in house training, she's been a wonderful addition to my household. Sorscha tolerates her and even Cali is starting to warm up. Lucy absolutely loves spending hours playing with the dogs (Sophie and Kelsey) at my parents house and just had her first sleepover there so that I could go out of town for a weekend. I'm happy to report that my dog-exploration post in September was largely spot-on.

Anyway, I haven't put much thought into riding plans for the year.

The ST.N national is in Colorado this year. I'm unsure yet as to whether I'm going. Colorado is very close and I'm not sure I want to take a full week for it. I'm thinking a 10 day trip into the Northeast in August is probable. There is some possibility of New Mexico or Arkansas in April. More to come as my plans shape up.