Saturday, February 11, 2012

5k Love 'em or Leave 'em: I loved the run but I'll leave the cold!

As you may or may not remember, last week I met up with some bloggers for a run.  Stacie and Rebecca were signed up for today's Love 'em or Leave 'em 5k, and Ann Marie and I decided to join them.

We did race-day registration, so we needed to show up over an hour before the start of the race.  I left my house with my phone, license, cash, a credit card, my health card, and my virtual run bib.

I met Ann Marie and we walked a mile to the race area.  I had dressed in my fleece-lined Nike Combat Pro shirt, Lululemon compression tights and shorts, Tommie Copper compression ankle sleeves, and a pink loooong sleeve thin Nike running shirt over top, just for good measure.  You will mostly see me back in my typical garb in this post, but I wanted you all to know that I did dress for the weather.


(It's a good thing I'm not a brand ambassador, because I love them all!  For the record, my shoes are Brooks Defyance.)  The pink shirt was a last minute decision, and it took a comment from Ann Marie to realize that it was a good idea since this was, in fact, a Valentine-themed race.



We went to the registration tent to pay.  I pulled out my cash.  And saw that I had not brought enough. And they did not accept credit cards.  Luckily, it was Ann Marie to the rescue with a cheque!


This is not the first time I've been completely clueless about race details. 

It was chilly cold enough to freeze a witch's...um, do kids read this? Let's say broomstick...cold enough to freeze a witch's broomstick (wink-wink, nudge-nudge), and I wished there were someone handing out coffee.  There was some great cinnamon chip bread and some Nuun, neither of which warmed me up.  I threw on the long sleeve shirt that came with registration, but the shivering had begun and I couldn't stop it.  We happened to be in front of the First-Aid tent, so I asked if they had any hand warmers.  I was told I couldn't have any.


Oh well.

With a good 30 minutes until race time, we met up with Stacie and her husband.  At that point, Ann Marie and I made executive decisions that we would wear all our layers throughout the race.  Ann Marie had to switch out her race bibs, and I had to take off my race shirt and pink shirt, then put them back on in the reverse order.  I offered to help Ann Marie with her bibs, but then changed my mind, as I was otherwise occupied trying to free myself from my bubblegum-coloured shirt...while still shivering.


Finally, we were set.  Stacie's husband took some pictures of us.  Pulling our shirt sleeves over our hands did not make us any warmer, and I, of course, continued to shiver.


We wore our Running for Sherry bibs on our backs, and it was nice to see other runners sharing their run in her honour.

We met up briefly with Rebecca, took another picture,

then headed off to the start line.  We joined over 3,000 people (and many dogs and babies in strollers).

The race horn sounded and we were off! ...to a slow walk.  Eventually the pack thinned out and we started running straight to a bottleneck.  After that, we were finally moving.  Rebecca was off like a shot, so Ann Marie and I ran a bit with Stacie, but very quickly lost her.

The majority of my first mile was spent worrying about my Achilles and trying to get feeling back to my fingertips.


The second mile was pretty perfect.


The third mile had me straining to see the finish line and trying to keep breathing while not falling behind Ann Marie.  She stayed with me the whole time and made sure I didn't slow down; then as usual, she told me to push it at the end!  I finished in fabulous form.


We went back to the registration area for more bread, and got some Honest tea (look for us, eventually, on their Facebook page!)  

We officially finished in 31:20 (10:07 miles).  And while I finished my tri 5ks in less time last summer, I am very happy with today's race time!

Oh!  One other odd thing happened:  After I recovered from the run, we started walking again and I got shoved by an old bitty kindly, elderly lady in a puffy white coat.  I may have yelled at her a little.


Yeah, that happened...more or less.

P.S.  Anyone notice my new URL?? Sayonara 'blogspot'!  Because my blog name is a mouthful as it is.


NEXT POST: YOGA, AS PROMISED.  THIS RACE (AND POST) JUST SORTA HAPPENED).





39 comments:

  1. Yes!!! Welcome back to racing, Tri-girl!! Great effort, and a new PR *kinda* for post-traumatic tendon issue racing :)

    and I've got LLCoolJ in my head cuz I was about to say "great comeback" bwahaha

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  2. Look at you .. running in the cold! Such a trooper :D

    Love the domain name purchase!

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  3. Awesome job! way to get out there in the cold. Waiting around for a race to start in the freezing cold is the worst!

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  4. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your drawings! But like you, i HATE waiting for races to start :( I attempted one marathon where I never warmed up and dropped out after running 26k. Great job on sticking it out

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  5. Great job on finishing the 5k in the cold with your tender achilles. Also congrats on the domain purchase. And finally, congrats on yelling at an elderly lady, the octogenarians have been given a pass for too long! Someone needed to stand up for the differently-aged. (I once flipped the bird to an elderly nun. To be fair she was driving like a jerk and I didn't know she was a nun until after.)

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  6. i detest cold!
    nothing can get me warm enough
    great job on the run though
    and tooo funny about old lady!
    congrats on your own .com :)

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  7. You are awesome! So glad you did well and are on the comeback trail! I can't wait to join you guys for a race soon :)

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  8. Congrats on your run! New to your site, and I LOVE your running animations... how creative and fun!

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  9. Yay! Great run! Love the new, official http too :)

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  10. We have a Freeze your Gizzard run here, it is always touch and go... can be up to -29F. FUN RUN!Love the drawings as always!

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  11. Adrian: Thanks! It actually is a PR if you just count pure 5k runs, since the only other one I've done was in 2009 and took me 39 minutes and change ;) P.S. "Mama said knock you out".

    Yvonne: Yeah. Hardcore ;) And thanks! Happy with my purchase.

    hiker mom: Thanks! Not the most fun is it?

    The Fitness Cheerleader: Thanks so much, Janice :) Oh, I would be so bummed to have to drop out of a race due to cold. Oh wait, I have done that. It sucks, doesn't it?

    Pickleope: Thanks! My second grade teacher was a former nun. She really didn't like me. True story. So maybe that was who you flipped off, and in that case, thank you :D

    Tara: Thank you :) I hate being cold too, and it doesn't take much for me to freeze. And really, I was so annoyed at that woman. I literally just finished a race and she needed to shove me?? Ugh.

    Erika: Aww, thanks :) I can't wait until you're here so we can run together!

    Laura: Thank you! So glad you stopped by!

    Brigid: Thanks! I'm happy with the run and the domain :)

    Meghan: Yikes! That sounds like something only crazy people would do :D And thanks!

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  12. Awesome 5K! I love the way you recap your race with your own drawings. Super fun!

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  13. WAY TO GO! You killed it! And nice dropping the blogspot - doesn't it look so much better without for only $10?! :-) And I loved your pictures, you may need to work on your heel striking though. I've heard it causes injuries! :-) CONGRATS CONGRATS!

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  14. Your artwork always cracks me up! I ran a 5k today wearing two pairs of winter weight running tights (brooks and lulu lemon), a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a long sleeve light weight half zip, and a Sugoi running jacket with gloves and hat and I never got sweaty. Brrr!

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  15. running escapades: Thanks! It feels good to be running again!

    Ricole: Yes, $10 for a shorter name is definitely worth it :) Can you imagine if I really landed that way on my heel?? Ouch! And thanks for the support! Hope to meet you soon!

    MCM Mama: Thanks :) I definitely should have done the gloves and hat! Congrats on your 5k, lady!

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  16. Yay on the domain name and congrats again on your time :) Tried looking for you after the race but only ended up seeing Stacie. I was hoping we'd have weather like last weekend instead of numb-butt weather. Have no idea how some of the front of pack people were running in tanks and shorts.

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  17. wahoo! congrats on a great comeback race, especially in less than ideal conditions. My jaw dropped when I read you own something pink. I never thought I'd see the day ;) What a great way to honor sherry - a comeback race with good friends. So awesome.

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  18. Nice job! My old organization used to host a valentine's day themed 5k. Showing up at 7 am to help with set up and registration SUCKED (it was freezing!)

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  19. Wow, you're a "com" now! I'm impressed.

    Allie

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  20. You're a braver girl than I - but I DO actually relate to one of your pix this time. Yes, it's the 'finishing the race in fine form' one!!!!

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  21. Man, wtf is up with the crazy old lady? It's a good thing you didn't shove her back since she might have broken a hip. Anyways, that race sounds tragically cold, but you did great anyways!

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  22. You tell that old lady off. Being elderly is not an excuse for being rude!

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  23. Rebecca: Thanks! So glad you had a great first race! It was still super-packed at the end and we needed to get going :) I have no idea how people didn't get hypothermia in their skimpy clothes!

    MegO: I know, right? I had a momentary lapse in colour blindness when I bought it :P Yeah, it was a great way to remember Sherry.

    Gia: Thank you! I would not find setting up and having to stand/sit around in the cold very much fun either. Blech.

    Allie: Yep. And it was pretty painless.

    Red: See? We have lots of common ground!

    runningonwords: That would have been bad. It was definitely colder than I was prepared for. The official weather said somewhere around 42F, but we were right next to the lake and it was cloudy, so I'm going with 32. And I'm stickin' to it!

    DWei: Good point :) I hope I'm nice when I'm old...

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  24. So so happy you are back in the game. I had a great time with you guys. When is the next one?! haha I am so ready to redeem myself! P.S. I am obsessed with your attention to detail.

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  25. You show that old bitty who is boss. :) Glad you had a good/ok/finished race! Maybe I can get in on the next 5k race you guys do.

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  26. skippinginseattle: Me too! Next time we meet, let's do it somewhere a bit warmer!! I fell like you can see how cold we are in that picture on your blog :) I do tend to get lost in the details, but that's what is so much fun about drawing for me.

    Lindsay: Yeah. She was rude and I was shocked :P We are thinking of doing the 10k at the Heroes Half, and I'm hoping to be ready for the Rock n Roll Half in June. Also, we might do the 5k Color Run. Do you want to do any of those?

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  27. I don't know when the Heroes Half is, but I will look into it. I am DEFINITELY doing the Color Run. The Women Runners of King County (WeROKC) is forming a team for it. Team name?: "Smells Like Team Spirit". :)

    Not so much a fan of the Rock'n'Roll Series, but if I'm around, I'll definitely come and cheer you on!

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  28. hahaa these drawings were the best drawins ever (other than your dog....and the some of the swimming ones) - I loved you guys and WAY TO GO!!!! so happy you're racing and running :D

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  29. Lindsay: It's April 29th. Love the team name for the Color Run! You should definitely come hang out if you can pre/post rock n roll; a few other bloggers are coming in for it :D

    Ali Mc: Hehe, thanks :) I'm so happy too!

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  30. Woo-hoo! Welcome back to the run. Great job on your race and, as always, the fabulous illustrations.

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  31. It always makes me laugh that you draw the other women with curves but you're straight up and down.

    Witch's broomstick? Yeahhhh....:)

    Well done on your improved time and good job not getting hypothermia! And way to stick it to Grams! The nerve!! Impressed you stayed upright. After a run like that a slight breeze would have been enough to knock me over.

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  32. Megan: Thank you. It's frustrating to feel like I could go further but my Achilles act up, or my endurance has dropped. But, hopefully it keeps getting better :)

    Vapid Vixen: I draws 'em as I sees 'em :) I knew I'd get support for yelling at that woman.

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  33. Why did that old lady shove you? So strange but makes for a great story! I'm flattered that you follow me even though you don't have kids!! Thank you so much! I've been following you for awhile too, even though I barely run...treadmills count right, even if you run/walk?? :-)

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  34. Haha, too funny. As always :) My dad uses that witches expression sometimes. I'm like "DAD, inappropriate" So that made me laugh, lol.

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  35. Mommy With Selective Memory: It was weird. Um, I'm no fitness expert (clearly) but I think if you are moving your body then that counts!

    Texa: It's always embarrassing when our parents talk like that, even though they were saying it long before we came around :)

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  36. LOL. This post is hilarious. Love having a friend that can push you to the finish! Yay to a great race and the new URL. ;)

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  37. OatmealBowl: Thanks so much! It is good to have that push in a race, because sometimes I just settle in at a far slower pace than necessary.

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  38. love all your pics! Put you in my blog today about spin class!

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  39. Lyndsey: Hi! Thanks so much for the shout out! Enjoyed your post too :D

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