Surrounded by 5k’s

I can’t believe how busy I’ve been this weekend… Not that I mind, it’s just that the days have flown!

After work on Friday, I drove down to crash with my friend Nicole.  We went out for eats and drinks at Rebel and have decided Rebel has some of the best bar food in all of Wrigleyville.  Don’t believe me?  Try their buffalo chicken quesadilla.  Your mouth and stomach will thank you.  The Blackhawks had a disappointing loss and I went to bed.  Crazy night… I know.

Volunteering for Girls on the Run was fun.  They were short on help in some stands, so while also rocking out my talents as a tiara decorator, I found out I’m pretty much awesome at face painting.  Hearts, smiley faces, and rainbows… yep.  And I also found out some insider information from an eight-year-old that you’re hearing here first- the peace sign is way cool again.  Just letting you know.  I’ll have to track down my peace sign necklace from fifth grade.  With matching earrings.  I was baller…

Yesterday I made the final decision to just go ahead and do the 5k Run to Alexian Field in Schaumburg.  I watched the weather (because we got rained on at GOTR and I wasn’t really feeling a 2nd day of it) and last night decided I’d be doing the 7:00 race.  Ugh.  Mon wasn’t really feeling her plans to go to a bar to see some band play, so us and another friend from the apartment complex got together to watch Shutter Island.  Oh- you say Shutter Island’s not on dvd until Tuesday?  Ok then… well, we’re in the mood for a thriller, so what else is on?  Oh… Just Wolfman?  Well… it DOES have Benicio del Toro in it.  And Emily Blunt just rocks.  So how bad can it be?

Dude.  It was pretty bad.  In what world do they cast Anthony Hopkins and Benicio del Toro as father and son and think it will work?  I dunno…  I guess with a title like “Wolfman”, we should have known what we were getting outselves into.

Moving on…

I got up at 5:30 and was still second-guessing my decision to run this race.  I have no idea why.  I just was.  But I’m glad I did it.  The Schaumburg Park District put this race on, just like the Chilly Chili 5k.  And one of the organizers remembered me as “that girl on crutches from the last race”.  Sweet.  I just sorta laughed and said, “yeah, I’m back.”Apparently the race had more people sign up on race day than they anticipated.  Or I just didn’t get there fast enough for a real bib number.  So look what a lucky 20 or 30 of us got:This caused me sadness because I like to keep my bib numbers (which are currently on display in my kitchen).  And the race is smaller and not chip-timed.  So what did they do?  At the end, my number got ripped off of me as soon as I crossed the finish.  I felt almost abused.  And concerned if I was, in fact, legitimately part of this race. 

The race went well.  It was the smallest one I’ve done for sure.  So small that we even ran through a residential neighborhood.  On the road.  With cars coming.  Which sort of reminded me about how I was stuck in traffic after Girls on the Run yesterday and almost hit a man who ran through the traffic.  Yes, almost hit  him.  Like I was less than a foot away from a lawsuit.  He gave me a dirty look.  I flipped him off.  Because clearly, I was not the dumbass running through traffic. 

But I digress.

So the race and cars…  but it wasn’t bad.  I mean really, how many idiots are up at 7:00 in the morning on a Sunday in the burbs?  Only about 250- and we were all running that race.  I was nervous about pacing myself because I really didn’t know what pace to aim for during the race.  So I just found a comfortable pace, then I found a girl ahead of me, and just kept up with her.  We even switched places back and forth for the last mile.  But she killed me in the last stretch.  Kudos to her.  Although I was kind of bummed.  I had casually browsed last year’s results to see where I’d fit in.  It wasn’t an overly competitive race and I was really hoping for a shot at the top two.  A nifty plaque would have been swell.

I finished in 24:07- which was an average pace of about 7:46.  That put me in third in my age group.  Shucks.

Now, before you think I’m complaining, let me just say I am SO SO happy with my time.  Seriously- I had to think for a minute of who I could call that early in the morning to talk about it with.  Hey mom and dad…  ha ha.  It’s an entire minute faster than the last 5k I ran in April, although I really just wanted to break 25 minutes.  So this is awesome for me.  And I did a little happy dance in my head after I crossed the finish line.

So far, I’ve improved every race I’ve done.  I’m wondering if I’m coming close to my plateau yet?  I’m pretty sure this could be it.  But I’ll be damned if I don’t try to break 24 on my next one…  :p

A few guys came up to me after the race and congratulated me on my time- one said he had been trying to keep pace with me, but I lost him somewhere in the 2nd mile.  He also talked about a couple of the running groups he’s in and said I should consider joining them, especially if I’m in training for the half marathon (which I had mentioned).  I was really flattered.  I like how nice the running community in my area is (or actually in most races I’ve been in).  Lots of cool people that I can talk to about it.  Because I’m pretty sure the majority of my friends don’t know what a negative split is, or care to even hear me talk about running.  I shut up when their eyes glaze over.  So thanks for listening to my stories.    I appreciate it!  Also, I love my friends who have actually started to regularly read this as a way to keep up with me- love you guys! 

Enjoy your Sunday!  I did the race, but I’m about to go out and tackle another three miles.  I’ve had to move some stuff around, and this is supposed to be a long run day.  So far, I’ve just done three.  And I still feel pretty good.  So yeah… I’m chilling out a little more, and then pulling another three.  It’s sunny now, so remember if you happen to be out today- wear sunscreen.  Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen.    (Does anyone remember that crazy song?)

Power Hour

Anyone else ever play “Power Hour” in college?  Did anyone ever actually make it through?  I feel like I never lasted long.  Usually I’d say “screw it” at some point and drink when I felt like it.  Even early on I wasn’t a big fan of structure… go figure.  :p

However, I had my power hour at the gym last night.  28 minutes on the elliptical.  Why 28?  Who knows… it just felt like a good number to end on.  Weights.  More weights.  Stairmill (or as Mon would say, “stair demon”) for 16.  And then ending with the ab work.  Normally I like to throw a mile or so on the treadmill in there as well, but the gym was strangely crowded and I didn’t feel participating in the “who’s gonna jump on the good ‘mill first when this dude gets off” game that was being played.

Plus I had a Thirsty Thursday date with Mon.  We gossiped as we drank a couple Goose Islands… what’s new?

I honestly don’t have much to say today.  Knowing me and my mouth, that’s kind of strange.  It’s my rest day.  Hopefully work will fly.  And I’ll be staying with a friend in Wrigleyville so we can drive together to the Girls on the Run 5k early tomorrow morning because we’re both volunteering.

We may be getting up early tomorrow, but we’re still planning to go out for a drink or two to watch the Hawks game somewhere- gotta show Chicago pride, right? 

So with that, happy Friday!  Here’s how I started mine out:I once again broke out the dessert oatmeal!  A little Special K underneath, coconut, peanut butter, and white chocolate chips.  And this is how it made me feel:I hope this is how I continue to feel about my breakfast.  I think the milk might be starting to get bad.  Ok, it could have been bad… but lets not dwell on that fact.  I clearly need to go grocery shopping.

Have a good weekend, kids!

Goose Island Rewards

So the majority of us don’t love Kristen Stewart.  And I’ve been so turned off by her for so long, I had no idea they call her K Stew.  True story…  So thanks for informing me.  I am a firm believer you learn something new everyday.  I guess we all know what I learned yesterday.

Also, my favorite character at the gym came from Ms. Salty Tooth.  Seriously- the guy kissed his muscles in the mirror?  Seriously?  I didn’t know people actually did that.

Moving on…

I did four miles last night on the trail!  And this time, I was able to finish before the rain attacked.  Whew!  And I even ran an 8:28 pace without being freaked out about being shot down by lightning.  Thank goodness.  Although I am slightly suspicious that my Nike+ is off and needs to be calibrated again (as in I think I’m a bit faster than what it says- if it were the other way around, I don’t think it would bother me at all- ha).  Being the procrastinator that I am, I’ll just worry about that later.

I know my pace wasn’t an improvement due to the copius amounts of sleep I got.  Because I slept like crap.  Maybe it was all the caffeine I took in to compensate?  Or it could have been the most filling salad of all time?Black beans, corn, and the leftover BBQ chicken I made the other day.  This is probably one of my favorite lunchtime salads to date.  Just sayin’.

I’ve also been meaning to tell you my thoughts on the edamame hummus I picked up at Trader Joe’s about a week ago…It’s ok.  But I really do like my standard chick pea hummus better.  I think this stuff is a little too creamy for my liking.  But it still works well in wraps and such.  I don’t hate it.  I just don’t love it.  Ya know?

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it recently, but this weekend I am volunteering for the Girls on the Run 5k in Chicago.  If you’ve never heard of the organization, definitely check it out because they do it in quite a few cities!  I think it’s a great mentoring program.  Unfortunately I don’t have the schedule that would allow me to do after-school stuff with the girls, but I am glad I get to help out in other ways by volunteering at the races!  And hello- I’m supposed to be helping with the tiara decorating stand.  If that’s not awesome, I don’t know what is.

Enjoy your Thursday- can you believe how quickly the week has flown by?  Love it.  Mon and I decided if we do a good job with our workouts, we’re celebrating with a cold beer.  Goose Island Summertime brew of course.  As long as weight slammer is no where to be found, I plan to kick some elliptical ass. 

That is all.  Peace out, kids…