We
have had some excitement in our run-ventures during the month of May!
So this is one big post recapping all of May! So hold on and away we
go...
Busted
Soles
Last
year,
Mr. Marathon took on the Busted Soles Trail Race Series, which is a
series of trail runs each Wednesday in the month of May of varying
distances from 3-6 ish miles in Danville, VA. Each week was a
different distance with different weather and different struggles,
but each week, the first place winner was ALFREDOOOOO GARCIAAAA! He
ended up winning the series overall, and then the final Wednesday
night, there was a delicious potluck dinner of tons of yummy foods!
Everybody won at the potluck! Even me, although I did not run in any
of the races. Hah!
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| And they're off! |
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| Race #3, which was about 4 miles |
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| Last race of the series! I had to be in the pictures too! |
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The gang after the potluck dinner
(Mr. Marathon is on the far right front row) |
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Running
the Vines 9.33K
May
21st was supposed to be the day for me. I have been trying to get my
10K in under an hour for quite some time now. My previous PR for the
10K was 1:04:19 in 2013, and I was determined to get it under an
hour. I haven't been doing many 10Ks but I had been training for a
PR. I did a couple of practice 10Ks, and one day I got a 1:01, then
after a couple more weeks of training, I got a practice 10K in under
an hour! I was thrilled, and I knew (hoped????) I was ready. So I
signed up for the Shelton Vineyards Running the Vines 10K, which we
had done previously and
it was actually my first 10K in 2012. Anyway, we drove over an hour
to Dobson, NC to the winery to get our run on. We got ready, warmed
up, and took off. Nothing was super eventful, and we started just
fine. Both of us were a little confused when we got turned around a
little early. Since we had run the course before, we knew where the
turn around was supposed to be. Granted, Mr. Marathon was well ahead
of me. But he was still equally confused, Both of us trusted the
course volunteers and thought maybe they had added some mileage at
the end or added an out and back somewhere along the way. But no, we
were wrong. He finished with a time of 36:19 and me with a time of
55:51. But neither of us could accept these great PRs because the
course was 0.4 miles short! He ended up finishing 2nd place overall
though! It was great that the race organizers offered a discount for
next year's race or some other local events due to the confusion,
though! That was very nice of them and I do hope to do one of the
races they offered, BUT I still didn't get my official 10K PR!
Luckily, I remembered the Appalachian Power Festival 10K that would
be held the week after. So, I signed up for that, and tackled it head
on!
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We both won! Hooray!
psych |
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2nd place overall prize- a bottle of wine!
Just in case we didn't WHINE enough during the race ;) |
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Appalachian
Power Festival 10K
This
race was all me. Mr. Marathon had another event coming up on Sunday
the 29th, so this 10K on Saturday the 28th was all for me. We
traveled north to Roanoke for me to finally (hopefully) get my PR!
Today was the day! It was fairly warm (low to mid 70s) and very
sunny, so that's a little uncomfortable to run in, but regardless, I
was determined. I lined up at the starting line ready to go. Now, I
got a little excited I guess because I started waaaayy too fast, but
I managed to maintain my necessary pace for a PR for the first 4
miles. Then, the heat started getting to me. My breathing was ok, but
I did have to use my inhaler, and I had my handheld water bottle with
me, but the water was getting warm as well. I stopped at a water stop
for some ice cold water, and kept trucking along. Because hubbs
wasn't running, he was just spectating and taking pictures. He ran in
with me after mile 4.8 or so. By that point, I was not feeling well.
But I had managed to maintain my pace, so I knew I had to keep going
despite the fact that I had 2 somewhat challenging hills remaining on
the course. I kept going until I saw the finish after the final
climb. I usually give an extra OOMPH at the end, but I didn't even
have that in me. I saw a number starting with 5 on the clock (it
hadn't gotten to an hour yet!!!!!!), and gave what little I had left,
crossing the finish line at 59:46!!! I did it! But I didn't make it
much further before giving what I had left... in my stomach... on the
pavement. Blech. That heat really got to me, but I managed to pull of
a PR and my sub-hour 10K!!!! Hooray!
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| Going up the first hill of the course |
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| Running along the Greenway |
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| We found some fellow MHC Inspire fellas from our running community! |
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| My surprise 3rd place finish |
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| Closeup of my bling |
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So
now we talked about why Mr. Marathon did not run the 10K with me...
It was because he was signed up to do the Tuff Strutter 5K(ish) the
very next day. This is a great race that he did a couple
of years ago.
It is put on in conjunction with the music festival Rooster Walk that
is held here in Martinsville and Henry County, and last year, it was
moved to a new location and they didn't get to have the race. Now,
before the festival and the race moved, he ran and won the race in
2014. He had heard that this year's course wasn't as hard as the
previous course, which he determined after running this year's course
was a lie! Or maybe it was the fact that it was raining the whole
night beforehand so most of the course was nice and muddy and slick!
He had his trail running legs it seemed since he had won the Busted
Soles Trail Series, and so he did very well in this 5Kish (the ish is
because it was closer to 3.4 miles I believe) and he won 1st place
overall with a time of 23:41!
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| The Tuff Strutters are off! |
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| And he's done! |
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Now,
we have finished out the month of May strong (despite a surprise root
canal for SOMEBODY the day before the Running the Vines race), and we
are taking on June. We don't have anything officially on the docket
yet, but we are hoping to do a 4th of July run. Other than that, we
are just going to keep on running!
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| Surprise root canal! |
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| Yay! |
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