My Fat is Crying

I saw this slogan on a Bondi Band the other day and it came to mind after my workout last night. Certainly not glamourous but it sure felt good! 

Sweat is my Fat Crying!

I should have taken a picture of my back, I was soaked! Even though I used the treadmill to avoid the 111 degree weather, I was drenched.

Should we say it together?......eww! 

I gross myself out. ;)

Running while Reading

Friday night, my parents kept Ethan overnight so that Jim and I could enjoy a date night. We enjoyed a delicious meal at the newly opened Mexican restaurant in town. The food and service were terrific and I enjoyed a child-free meal with the hubby.

Since Ethan was away at the Grandparent's, I knew I could fit in a nice, relaxed run on Saturday morning. Typically, I have to cram in a shorter run than I would like extra early in the morning so that Jim can leave for work before 7 a.m. and I am back to take over parental duty. This weekend, I got to fuel up and take my time. Bliss!

Before hitting the pavement, I had a waffle with peanut butter and a small cup of coffee.

I had to turn around at mile 3 and make a new course plan as I ran into a very muddy, unpaved road out in the country and was soon sinking in the mud.  We have had some major thunderstorms lately.

The rain has been a huge relief as our temps have been over 100 degrees for the majority of the month. Any break from the scorching heat has been welcome!

I felt like I was running rather slowly, which the above results prove that I was, but it was nice to not worry about speed or distance and just to run for the sake of enjoyment. 6.41 miles total.

What really made this run enjoyable for me though was listening to an audio book during the run.

I listen to a lot of audio books during my two hour daily commuting time for work and find they really help me to pass the time in the car. Recently, I have been getting bored with my standard song playlist for my runs and was inspired by the post on Running Off the Reeses to try listing to a book while running.

I have been wanting to subscribe to Audible.com for some time and finally bit the bullet and signed up. I quickly downloaded The Help, which I have been wanting to read for some time now...along with everyone else in the nation it seems.

I downloaded the book to my phone, which I use while I run for tracking my time/distance using the Run Keeper app.

I LOVED running along with the book! The book kept my interest from the start and provided a great distraction while on a longer run. I'm already looking forward to my next longer distance run so that I can get back into the book, which I'm saving only for runs over three miles as an incentive.

Do you have any book recommendations? I need something that is pretty fast moving and with an interesting story line. It's hard to "read" heavy/detailed material while running or driving, I find.

Riverless Festival Fun Run

Last weekend, I ran the Riverless Festival Fun Run here in Phillipsburg.

Originally, I had entered my nephew, Austin, into the race. However, he injured his foot during the high school regional track meet and had to pull out. Since I had already paid the registration fee, I decided to compete in his place in the 2 mile run.

The race started as scheduled at 7 a.m.

 

I went out a little too fast at the beginning but quickly fell into stride. I had my regular coffee that morning and could really feel it in my stomach...yuck! I really worried that I was going to be sick during the first 1/2 mile of the race.

The race course took us one mile out and then we looped around to return.

On my way back, I spotted my cheering section.

 

My Dad, Mom, Brother, Nephew and Ethan were all near the finish line to cheer me on. My brother took all of these pictures with his new camera that I am green with envy over.

 

 So happy to see the finish line! 

I ended up placing 2nd in my age group (20-29) and 3rd overall female. Not bad for only recently starting to run.

My time ended up being 16.41 or 8.20 minute mile pace.

Ethan quickly claimed my granola bar from my goodie bag from the event sponsors. 

And then he claimed my medal.

I guess he earned the right to wear the medal since he beat me in our own little race.

Bolder Boulder 10k Race Recap

In December of 2010, I went to Colorado to a Mason cousins Christmas gathering. We enjoyed shopping, eating, exchanging White Elephant gifts, drinking margaritas and catching up with each other.

Sometime during the consumption of those margaritas, we all agreed that it would be a fabulous idea to run a 10k together in the spring. In December, that seemed like plenty of time to train and prepare. No matter that I hadn't ran in years and had no routine or consistency when it came to working out.

Before I knew it, spring was just around the corner and I still hadn't been running with any consistency. Occasionally I would hop on the treadmill for intervals of walking and jogging but nothing too strenuous.

In March, I decided it was finally time to get my butt in gear and to start running regularly and started jogging three times per week following the Couch to 5k program. Come May, I could jog 4 miles without stopping.

Memorial Day weekend came quickly and I headed for Colorado to participate in the Bolder Boulder 10k event. I was very worried about the altitude and hills and how those would affect me but knew that I would have fun running with family and could walk anytime I needed.

There were over 60,000 participants in this race. I started in the "N" waves. The first waves started at about 7 a.m. and my wave didn't start until 10 a.m.

Before taking our place in the gate, we hit up the porta potties.

 

My cousin Jennifer who was the ring leader for getting all of us together.

And we are off...I am in the blue shirt behind the number "2" of the watermark in the picture.

The first stretch of the race. Perfect running weather - 60 degrees and cloudy with very little wind. A few rain drops fell during the race but the nasty weather waited to hit until later in the afternoon.

The woman in the pink shirt is Ginger, a friend of my cousins that ran with us. She had just completed a marathon earlier that month. She was a pleasure to meet and really fun to run with. We started with a nice, relaxed pace and just had fun taking in the sights and sounds. Lots of bands playing, belly dancers, people handing out beer shots, stilt walker, the works!

 

My self portrait that I took during mile 3 of the race. Sorry it's so blurry but you try taking a picture while huffing and puffing and bouncing up and down.

This picture was taken by the race photographers. Apparently, I'm a cheese ball even while running.

Another photo from the race photographers. Still cheesy and smiling.

Coming up the hill that leads to the University of Colorado's football stadium. (Another blurry shot courtesy of my running photography skills.)

Finally made it inside the stadium! Final push for a lap around the track to the finish line. See how full the stands are? It made me feel like kind of a big deal. ;)

At the finish line. Why do the other two look so fresh and I'm all red faced and sweaty??

Celebrating our conquering of the Bolder Boulder. 6.2 miles and my finish time was 1.06. A nice, easy run. Proud that we ran the whole thing without walking and taking time for pictures along the way and enjoying each other and the atmosphere.

Following the race, we visited the expo and then went back into the stadium to watch the International, professional runners. Then I enjoyed the Memorial Day service very much. They had parachuters representing each of the armed forces and one for the American flag that landed on the field, lots of patriotic music and honoring of a few veterans.

The Mason cousins that participated in the 10k. Jennifer, myself, Jonathan and Becky. (Jonathan ran in the elite group and placed 2nd for his age division. He represented us well!)

 

I enjoyed the event more than I ever thought I would and it reminded me of the runner's high that comes from completing a race. Maybe I'll sign up for a few more...

I'm already thinking it would be fun to make this a tradition and do it again next year. I love that we were able to bond over a healthy and physical activity. I think this type of event is a great example for the generation coming up behind us.