My Halloween Queen and Anniversary Return to Epcot

My Halloween Medieval Queen!

Halloween for our family was nearly a non-affair. Normally we decorate the yard and have a scary Halloween Knight greet the Trick-o-Treaters, but this year we were at a marching contest with our oldest daughter. So, to make sure my younger daughter didn't miss out completely, I took her to the mall where she competed in a costume contest. Although she didn't win, we had a great time!


Return to Epcot to Celebrate our 19th Anniversary at the International Food and Wine Festival

The following day, my husband and I (sans children), spent the day at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. It was our first visit back to Epcot since completing the Disney World Marathon back in January (such memories!!!). We had an incredible time walking around "the World" and enjoying food and wine from France, Japan, Ireland, South Africa....2 laps around the world and, well, you are one happy individual!!!

Life is an Adventure....Bring it on!

At the mall waiting for the results of a costume contest - for my little Medieval Queen!

It's Almost November Already????

With my girls on my birthday!

Hard to believe that my last post was on my birthday back in September. Now here it is, just 1 week away from November. Where does the time go and and how is everyone doing out there????

I guess I will start from today and count backwards on what has been going on.

Running Bandit, Race for the Cure, and Running with Maddy

What a day it was today. After several days of low sleep (due to crazy kid schedules) and just recovering from illness over the past week, I wasn't sure how I would do meeting Maddy at 6 am to run Race for the Cure and then additional mileage to make a total of 16 miles. But I figured I would prepare for the run and see what happens.

It was a nice cool morning when Maddy pulled into my driveway at precisely 6 am. I was feeling okay for a run. Seems Maddy's schedule has been about as crazy as mine lately - and her training hasn't been as good as she likes, so she, too, was not sure about 16 miles. We headed over to UCF, got a good parking spot and headed over to the packet pick up area. It opened at 6:30 am and we were there just as they opened. There weren't many folks around yet, but the area was well organized - and ready for a really big crowd. The T-shirt table indicated that they only had shirts for the first 8000 people who picked up their registration. 8000???? Wow, what a big crowd was coming. We were glad we got there early.

Since the race didn't start until 7:45, we decided to make the 2.5 mile loop around UCF's campus as a warm up. It was a cool morning, almost chilly, and felt great for running. We did our 2.5 mile lap and by the time we were back near the packet pickup area, there was a huge crowd there. Now we were really glad we got there early.

Running bandit: The reason I was running "bandit" was I thought I could register for the race on race morning, but it turns out for the chip timed event, you had to pre-register by Wed. I could have registered for the "fun" run and not be timed, but I figured I would either run bandit with Maddy (who I sponsored for $25 so I had really contributed to the event) or watch Maddy run and then run with her afterwards. We decided to go bandit!

We didn't race it - we ran it pretty easy - and really enjoyed the race - chatting the entire way. We ran across the finish line together with our arms up in the air!

We then grabbed a snack and then headed out for the rest of our run. We had 6 miles down already, only 10 more miles to go. We took a nice slow long run pace and started running through the Central Florida Research Park. It was then (about 2-3 miles in) that we didn't think we had 16 miles in us - but 12 seemed ok, so we decided to do a tour of the Research Park where I showed Maddy everywhere I worked (I guess I have worked in 6 different buildings) and gave her the boring tour of the Modeling and Simulation industry there.

After running through Research Park we headed back around campus. By the time we got there we decided to start walking and walked the last 2 miles. Still our overall pace for the morning was under 13 min/mile. It was a enjoyable run! Thanks, Maddy.

Running the Mt Vernon Trail in Crystal City - Arlington, VA

Earlier this week (Mon - Wed) I was on a business trip to Crystal City, just across the water from Washington, DC. While there, I had a late afternoon with enough time to fit in a run. I was still recovering from my chest cold sinus thing so I wanted to take it easy. In fact, I left the Garmin home and only brought my running watch. I checked with the hotel desk for places to run and they told me how to get to the Mt. Vernon Trail, which was less than half a mile from the hotel. I headed for the trail and ran north around the airport, past Gravelly Point and just beyond the Navy and Marine Memorial before turning around to head back. After about 6 min I found a mile marker on the trail, and ran 2 miles before heading back - so I estimate my distance to be about 5.1 miles - in 56:42. Not too bad! The temperature was perfect as well - low 60s.

UCF 5 Miler and 2 Mile Races - the Distance Dare!
Last Sunday, I ran the UCF 5 miler (which I run every year) only this year
they created a "Distance Dare" where you run the 5 miler AND the 2 mile race which follows. I wasn't feeling that great, and was regretting signing up for the race - but I went with my husband and decided to take it nice and easy. The 5 miler went well and I ran it in 56:58. The 2 miler was timed but only clock time was recorded - I finished in 22:05. I had planned to run to the race, then run home - but since I wasn't feeling very well, my husband and I drove to the race (it's about 3 miles from my house).

Life in General....

School is going well...but homework ties me up for 10-20 hrs a week. My older daughter's marching season is in full swing. We were in Tarpon Springs for a marching competition yesterday and got home after midnight. She has two more the next two Saturdays. Jamie has soccer every Saturday and this week we were up at 6:30 am to get ready and get to the field by 8 am! Busy times! But I would not trade it for the world.

So that is the latest from Marathon Chris' world. I hope to catch up with everyone else's blogs this week. This week at work should be slowing down a bit so I may even have some time between homework assignments! Run strong everyone! Congrats to everyone who ran the Marine Corps Marathon today. Fond memories! Also a big congrats to Shirley who completed her first Ironman race in 15:01!

The Rock n Run 5K Race Report (updated)

My first ever 5K was run right about the time of my birthday. My goal at that time was to complete a 5K for my 40th birthday. Such a long, long distance - and I was going to attempt to run the entire distance non-stop. The 2002 Autumn Run 5K (no longer held) is where I set my first 5K PR of 35:44.

My last 5K PR for a timed race was in Oct 2006 when I ran the Susan Komen Race for the Cure in memory of my mother-in-law. My time was 30:03.

My last unofficial 5K PR (timing by Garmin) was the Dec 2007 Reindeer run with a time of 29:28.

I have been looking forward to this particular 5K for a couple of months. Since the race fell on my birthday I was determined to make it extra special by going for a 5K PR. My goal was to bust 30 minutes chip time. I had a secret dream goal of beating 29 min.

My training for the past couple of months has been going pretty well - and my last 3 miler gave me hope for a good race. Still, it would have been nice to get a few more weeks of speed training in before this week's race. I feel like I am in good running form right now so I was pretty confident I could do this. The only down side leading into today is that I have not been getting the amount of sleep I should be - particularly this past week. That always has an impact.

I met up with Maddy just before 7 am in the parking lot. She wanted to surprise me by coming to watch me race...but sent me an email so we wouldn't miss each other. This was her first time as a race spectator! It is an odd feeling being at a 5K race early in the morning and not be pinning on a number - but it is pretty cool. The race event takes on an entirely different perspective.

We chatted for a while and Maddy took a few pictures until just before the race when Maddy took a spot just beyond the starting line to get pictures. After an electric guitar belted out the national anthem (it is, after all, a Rock n Run race) we were off. I felt pretty good at the start and was maneuvering my way in the crowd. It felt a little fast but not too bad. Mile 1 seemed to take a long time - and I was feeling tired enough to wonder if I could do this for 3 miles. I passed the 1 mile marker and my Garmin showed 9:05 min. I was a bit ahead, so I took a short walking break.

Shortly after the 1st mile, the leaders were already heading past us in the other direction. We pressed on and the running got harder. I was beginning to think that I may not have it in me to run a PR today. The air was warm, humid and not moving at all. It felt hot. Thank goodness it was cloudy and there was no sun beating down on us.

I only made it another half mile before taking another walking break. I then took another one before hitting mile 2. These breaks were short, 15 sec - 30 sec in length - just to catch my breath. When we came up on the water stop I decided to take a quick break for a little water. It tasted pretty good!

I don't recall the Garmin time at Mile 2, but I knew I was within pace so I took another walk after mile 2. At this point, I was beginning to think that I just didn't have a PR in me for today. I thought if I stopped much more any chance of that was gone. I tried to think about Elijah (who is battling neuroblastoma) and a co-worker's mom who just had half a lung removed with lung cancer. I tried to tell myself that I could run and they can't - that I should keep going. That trick didn't work for me this time.

I tried shortening my stride instead of walking - that worked okayish....still, I walked at least 2 more times before the end.

Finally I could see the area where we started the race and I picked up my pace. When the finish line was in sight and I was passing the 3 mile marker, I really pushed hard through the finish. The finish line clock was 30:11 but I knew I had more than 30 sec extra for crossing the start. I had done it! When I stopped the Garmin it read 29:36.

Maddy was taking pictures near the finish chute. We met up and headed over for water, banana and the posted results. My result - 29:31. Under 30 min and a new official PR. Even with all that walking and struggle I still made my birthday goal! I was quite happy!

My Garmin download told the story later. My average heart rate for the race was 173 bpm (high). My max was 189 bpm (highest I have seen it in a long time....only higher time was 190 bpm at the WPRR).

My splits:

Mile 1: 8:48 min AHR: 162 bpm (Garmin 1 mile mark vs the race mile marker)
Mile 2: 9:19 min AHR: 176 bpm (a bit slower)
Mile 3: 10:18 min AHR: 178 bpm (walking and walking stuff - HR is high)
Mile 3.17: .17 in 1:19 AHR: 184 bpm

Maddy and I chatted a bit longer as we made our way back to our cars. It was great having her there! Then I headed off to my daughter's soccer game.

Here is my 5K - the movie. Thanks to Maddy the video production queen!

Beware of Runners

Today was the Celebration of Running 5K - the first race in the Trackshack Grand Prix series. I won't be running the series but my husband is - so I will be attending a few races this year that I am not running in.

I love the atmosphere at a race before it begins. We got there about an hour before the start so we didn't get caught in the traffic coming in. That gave my husband plenty of time to stretch. I left him right before the start to get a video of the start of the race. I made sure I was on the other half of the road where the runners were not lined up - and thought I had found a good place to stand...




Ah well....

He ran an easy race...30:13 was his finish time.

Next up, the Rock n Run 5K on Sept 12th! I will be running that one :-)