As you can see, the sun was out- but it felt COLD! Looking back at Weather.com, the high for the day was 39 and the low 27. It was my first winter weather run this fall/winter. I wasn’t sure what to wear, but I ended up with capris and a long sleeve shirt. I didn’t “warm up” until about half way through. The wind was brutal at times.

The most exciting thing was meeting up with Sarah (@SeeSarahEat). I have been following her blogs and have been a twitter follower for a while, but we finally got to meet in person. I also saw @mudd4goals before the race and we got to chat.

So, a few firsts. This was my first race without glasses- let me correct myself- with out prescription glasses. I picked up a cheap pair of running sunglasses the day before the race and I was so glad. They were less than $15 at Dick’s Sporting Goods, but worked great for that short of a race. If I was training for something more, I would definitely look into getting a nicer pair.

My first race with my iPhone. My nano case broke a few months ago and I couldn’t decide whether to replace it or start running with my iPhone. I ran a few times in the neighborhood just holding my iPhone and using RunKeeper Free. It was neat. Although I like the voice functionally of Nike+ on my nano, I just push the button to hear all the stats. I had to keep looking at my iPhone. It was extra hard when it was in my armband. During the race, I hardly ever looked at it. I think there was a setting to have voice-overs during certain distance markers, but I didn’t really have a chance to play around with it before the race. I’m not sure how accurate the distance or time (I think I forgot to turn it off immediately after crossing).

Okay, so back to the race. It started in front of City Hall at 6th and Jefferson. Sarah and I started together. I warned her that I hadn’t been training, so feel free to leave me behind if she needed to! They had us head down Jefferson and turn to 8th, then to Muhammad Ali. It was windy and I wish I had worn another top layer or at least gloves!! We turned onto 4th Street and ran down by the River (1st Mile was 10:00). This is where it got a little crazy. It wasn’t well marked, but we ran by Joe’s Crab Shack and underneath the Interstate, almost to Witherspoon, but it wasn’t well marked at all. Then along the Louisville Riverwalk. We were right by the water, with no barrier. I remember telling Sarah that I wouldn’t want to take little kids down here- it was straight into the water! We hit 2 Miles (10:55 split).

We went by the Belle Louisville and turned back onto 4th Street. I remember crossing Main and Market- and seeing cars stuck in traffic. I felt kind of sorry for them. By this time, I was tired. But I had kept up with Sarah and I needed the extra push to keep going. That is why I love races and also running with others. It really forces me to push harder sometimes. If I’m by myself, I’m more prone to slow down! We hit 3 miles around Main and Market (10:30 split). We turned back onto Market and I remember passing a guy- yes, I said I passed someone! The finish was in sight! But my side was hurting!

Keep pushing! And then we hit the finish line. The distance said something like 3.25. Time was 34.06, average pace of 10:28. I was pleased, considering all the conditions (hadn’t ran but once or two in like 4 weeks since LASIK and it was cold). But I was reminded that I prefer cold weather to hot weather!

This race was 2 weeks ago, but I have been waiting to get the picture off my husband’s phone. I finally remembered today!

Official Results: 33:56:00 EricaThoomas (yes, that’s the results said)

I did the race last year- it was actually my 2nd 5K ever, and my first for 2009. This is NOT a flat race. The 2nd mile is almost all UP hill, then there is a little bit of downhill before reaching the end of mile 2. The 3rd mile is difficult as you climb a little bit to run across the bridge that crosses over I-64. You get into the park fairly quickly, but you see the finish line forever!

This was my 2nd fastest 5K EVER! I counted and it was my 10th 5K. And remember, it wasn’t flat. I had low expectations before race time. It had been 5 days since my last run- whoops! And I almost got blisters on the back of my feet from Friday’s work shoes. I was a little worried that within minutes, I would get blisters- but that wasn’t the case!

I found some people early on that had a good pace and just tried to keep up with them. About half way through, there were 2 ladies that I remember from past races and I just tried to keep up with them. I was able to pass 1 at the end. The other lady was the winner in her age group: 65-69. Yeah, a 65 year old lady beat me!

My time was around 30:20, give or take a few seconds. Besides the 2009 Anthem 5K, that was my fastest 5K. Yeah, I think I already said that- but hey, I worked hard!

Afterward, they have lots of door prizes and awards- but I got a free massage while waiting!

I didn’t win a prize, but I did find an old neighborhood friend from where I grew up. We had not seen each other in 20 years! Wow! That’s the first time I’ve had that happen. Most people, it’s just been a few years, maybe 10. As a side note, I got just my invite to my 10 year High School reunion yesterday. Wow, I feel OLD.

Lynn and I ran it together. I had been worried about the distance and the weather. A week before the race, I hadn’t run outside in a month. So on Sunday and Tuesday, I got out and ran 2.5 miles and 3 miles. I went to Body Sculpting class on Thursday, and was still sore on Saturday morning. Whoops!

Here’s at the start of the race:

We made it to the 2 mile marker pretty good. We walked for about 30 seconds, and then ran until we got to the 3 mile marker for water.  We walked for about a minute or so, maybe less- we were chatting and catching up, so I don’t remember how long it was!

The route was super boring!! It started at Slugger Field, on Witherspoon going East, then we turned right onto River Road. We went past Frankfort Ave, made a loop and came back. It was flat, which was good, but was boring- glad Lynn was there to talk to!

Here’s a picture of us close to the finish line:

Ben took a video of us finish:

Time was just over 44 minutes, so an average of 11MM, not bad considering the lack of training and the humidity!

Here’s how my weekend was a few weeks ago, I called it a study date:

And on a Monday night- the picture that I meant to post with the last posting:

I did another 5K on Saturday, Run for the L of It:

I had not run (or is it ran) at ALL in the last week and it had been 2 or 3 weeks since running 3 miles or more, so I wasn’t expecting to do well at all- plus it was around 70 degrees and humid- and I don’t do well in the HEAT! I was hot afterwards, but was pleased with 31:45- a think it was my 3rd best 5K time out of 9 5Ks total- although this was flat.

Running for the L of It

I also went to my cousin’s bridal shower and visited my in-laws on Saturday- after doing ….    guess?? More homework! Gotta love B516.

On Sunday, I got Benjamin to take me to Best Buy (I didn’t have to ask nicely at all) to look at cameras. Then to JoAnn’s Fabric and Crafts, then to Home Depot for some flowers, garden soil, and tomato cages. We did some bush trimming in the evening, right before it poured, but I didn’t get all my planting done.

Today, I spent the morning working on my Ethical Analysis paper (sounds fancy, huh?). I took a break and finished planting the flowers and finally planted the 2 tomato plants and the 2 pepper plants we bought like 2 weeks ago! I also saw a pepper on each of the pepper plants!

I had to start on my project for my class that is due the last day of class and I bet I spent 3 hours researching and hardly got anywhere!

It’s time to head to my mom’s for dinner!

I took lots of pictures of the race, bridal shower, and planting, so I’ll post them later!

Wow! What an amazing day! I can’t believe that I ran a half marathon! Still sounds crazy to me! And to think that 3 months ago, my goal was to run a 3 and 6 mile race- maybe the 10 mile race! Thanks for all my family and fellow running partners ([including Lynn- who I couldn’t find the morning of the mini] and others from Fleet Feet).

After the mini marathon!

We (Benjamin’s uncle and I) got to the starting line and walked around a while. It has stopped sprinkling by then. We saw the huge line for the port-a-pots, but finally found some water. I took my Jelly Sports Beans and some water. I wondered around a while looking for Lynn. I then decided that I had ‘to go’ and since the poncho covered most everything- found a place. I was very thankful that I did because the first 2 port-a-pots on the course I saw had long lines. I walked around and tried to find Lynn again, but they were getting ready to start and I saw 3 girls from Fleet Feet and decided to hop inside the gate. The race “started”, but it took almost 12 minutes for us to get to the start. First mile wasn’t too bad, just crowded, so a lot of weaving. I decided to run behind the other girls and just stay with as long as I was able. The rain started and I made to through Mile 2 of the park, with the first water stop and first (and only) roadkill of the day- a turtle! I think there were 3 or 4 hills in the park- yucky and slow! There’s where I got hot and my glasses started to fog up! Had to take my hat off and tried to cool down. We lost 1 of the girls in the park. Hit another water stop around Mile 4 in the park still. I think it stopped sprinkling by then. I took my first Gu packet here, slowed down a little to eat it.

Mile 5- We lost another girl in the group. That left Ashley and me. I stayed with her for a while (hence how I knew her name). I saw my cousin and aunt between mile 5 and 6. Yay! They looked excited to see me! Made it to Mile 6, and underneath I-65 overpass. Got more water! My knee started to hurt for a while, but thank goodness didn’t last long. Got to Mile 7 and I looked up and saw my mom right before turning into Churchill Downs. Yay again!!

Picture my mom took of me right before turn to go into Churchill Downs

Ran down the tunnel- muddy and slippery- hot and dark! And then up the ramp!! YUCK! I didn’t smell too many bad smells, although I heard stories about last year and the heat- and the horse smells. I remember seeing the twin spires and then they were playing something that sounded like a horse race was being called! I saw lots of people running down the grass to use the restrooms. We were in the track a short time, before having to go out through the tunnel- although this one didn’t seem too slippery. We left CD and ran towards 4^th street and Patterson Baseball Park. I looked for my husband, but we never saw each other- although he saw Lynn and I think she was a few minutes ahead of me. My mom said she saw me again, but I didn’t see her.

Here’s Lynn:

Lynn at Mile 6/7

Mile 8 and 9 were in near UL, running through Old Louisville trying to look for people. Mile 10 was a little rough, I started to get really tired. Ran by a retirement building where there were lots of people sitting in their chairs outside and I tried to wave at them as much as I could. That really made my happy to see them outside. That got me through Mile 10 and we hit up the water stop and had another Gu packet after turning on Breckinridge whether the mini/full marathon split was. Turning the corner to 7^th street hit Mile 11 and I was just exhausted. I think it was a few blocks down and Ashley said something about going faster and I said I would keep up as long as I could- that was about another block. I hit Broadway and I was trying to remember how many blocks to Market Street, where the next turn was. Finally turned and ran 4 blocks. As I passed 4^th street, there was a fire truck or two and an ambulance with someone on a stretcher! Ouch! It’s rough out there on your body if you’re not careful!

I think (that sounds awful, but some parts were just a blur) they turned us down 3^rd street, pass the arena onto River Road, with all the construction. It was a looooong 3 blocks and the finish line was so close, but then they turned us back to Main Street (up a hill) and this was low part of the race for me. About a mile back, I had started seeing people that had finished (with their medals on). Once I reached the top of the hill onto Main, I think it was 3 blocks to Preston Street. I saw my husband and his family there. That made me so faster (after I slowed down a little bit to pose for the camera- since that was probably the only race picture for me).

Coming down Main Street

Passing by Benjamin and his family

The other side of the road were the marathoners and seeing them put things into perspective a little bit and helped me to go faster again. Turning onto Preston, I could see a sea of people, along with that finish line. About 30 feet before the finish line, I saw my cousin, aunt, and great aunt- and they saw me!! Super excited!! I saw the clock and I was subtracting the time difference in my chip and clock time- and realized that I was still around 2:30, so I sprinted toward the finish line.

The official time was 2:30:23. My ‘stretch goal’ was 2:20 and my ‘realistic goal’ was 2:40, so I was pleased. I had a lot slower pace than I thought, but I guess that’s okay- I just wanted to finish and feel good afterward- which I did!

After crossing, they put the medal around your neck and then you have to walk forever. First was water, and then Powerade (blue), and then Sara Lee bagels. The bagels tasted yucky! Not sure if it was me or them- but nasty compared to the Panera cinnamon crunch bagels! I grabbed a banana. I had to keep walking what seemed forever- and I was a little wobbly! I made my way to the “Runner’s Reunite” area and our designated area was “T”.

After the finish!!!

I found my husband and his family pretty quickly. Yeah! I finished. We got some pictures and I finally got a “race-day picture” with my husband- since he was the only one out there with me for the other races, I never got a picture of the both of us!

David and Me

His mother had found some headband rubber bands in multiple colors as a present! Yeah! Now I have some!

The Lutz and Robertsons

We made it back to the car and met his aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins for lunch at Cracker Barrel. I got the Sunrise Sampler (ham, bacon, sausage, 2 eggs, hashbrown casserole, grits, and biscuits with gravy! I was hungry and not so much after that!!! I was a little stiff after getting up after lunch and also up the stairs at home. I tried to take a nap, but like after the PJ 10 miler, it wasn’t happening. I kept thinking of things that I didn’t want to forget, so I decided to go ahead and write about it!!

I learned that my Nike Plus iPod isn’t very accurate. I think it hit almost 14.5 miles, so my pace isn’t going to be right on there either, but when I used an online pace calculator with my time and distance, it said my pace was 11:30- urgh, that’s really slow. But oh well, I did NOT stop to walk once. I thought that if I walked: (1) I would always regret it (2) My knees would kill me if I tried to start to run again- so I decided against it even though I really wanted to between 11 and 12 miles.

I’m not going to say that I’m doing it again next year or that I won’t ever do it again- it just takes a lot of time to train right- so we’ll just have to see!!

I decided to break up this mini marathon post into a few separate ones and this is about the pre-race stuff!

I picked my packet up on Thursday. After getting my bib switched out to run in the Corporate Challenge (long story with a colleague with a very similar name to mine), I felt better after getting my stuff! I only had 5 minutes to run through the expo before I needed to get back to work for a meeting- so I didn’t see much.

Mini Marathon KDF Running Wild Expo

On Friday after work, we went back to the Expo to meet up with my mother and father-in-law to him to pick up his packet, although he was injured and couldn’t run- bummer! We got to go through the expo and I got some stickers to use in my scrapbook and he gave me his jelly beans- because appearantly I passed the free sample booth- twice! I was looking for some of the headbands made out of pony tail holders to keep my hair back, but no luck.

We went to eat and ended up in Jeffersonville at the Bristol. It was a really nice evening, although I probably drove everyone crazy because I was rambling out all the stuff I was nervous and paranoid out. I got salad, some type of pasta (Ben and I swapped each others), and yummy rolls! I got some last minute running tips from Rick- Vaseline on my feet and also have a trash bag/poncho at the beginning if it’s raining. Both of which helped tremendously- more on that later!

We got home around 9:30- which was when I wanted to be in to bed, but I was still running around the house looking for Vaseline and a poncho. I think it was 11:15 by the time I got in bed. I know I tossed and turned a while, then woke up at 1am after dreaming that I overslept. Then I tossed and turned a little bit more, and then woke up at 4:22, a little earlier than the first alarm.

I quickly had a bagel with cream cheese and some water, checked twitter and facebook (it was down). Got a shower (which wasn’t my normal routine but since we got home late), checked the weather, watched the news (balloon race was canceled). It was lightly sprinkling outside. I finally decided what shirt to wear- sleeveless shirt with a large pocket to hold my Gu packets and I also remembered to take 2 Excedrins.

My husband’s uncle arrived at 6 to ride with us. We left around 6:20 and got to the exit pretty quickly, but then it was bumper to bumper. I started to get nervous about whether we would make it on time, but we made it to some side street and we jumped out of the car and put our ponchos on!

It was a rainy morning! UL Ponchos

The Papa John 10 Miler race was on Saturday at 8am. I woke up at 5AM!! I needed to eat at least 2 hours before the race, so that was the only way to do it. During the last race (6.2 miles) I didn’t eat much beforehand and was a little light headed at the end. I did not want that that to happen this time!

I met Lynn at Starbucks, although she got stuck in traffic and I started to panic by thinking that she wasn’t going to show up and doubting that I would be able to do it by myself. We got in line and then it started, so we didn’t have time to pee- I wondered if we would need to stop and use a port-a-pot on the way, but after a little while I forgot about having to go!

The first 2 miles weren’t bad. Since we were towards the back, it had thinned out quite a bit, so it wasn’t that crowded which is good. Benjamin was between mile 2 and 3, on Southern Parkway before Taylor Blvd and he got some pictures.

We then got to Taylor/New Cut Road and the wind was crazy. It was blowing flowers and leaves all over the place. It also knocked over some of the trash cans for the water bottles and runners had to dodge them. We saw the wheel chair racers and then the first 2 men runners coming back from the park. They run about twice as fast as us.

Then the wind caught my hat and blew it off- so I had to chase it down. We then turned into Iroquois Park and it is flat for a little while, then 2 or 3 miles of HILLS. We slowed down during the hills, walked about 30 seconds at each of the 2 big hills. Between mile 4 and 5, I got out a Gu packet (Espresso Love) and had some more water.

There was a strange looking guy along the way yelling funny things, but it made everyone laugh. It distracted me for a minute, so that was good. We also crossed the 5 mile marker and I thought- okay, half way- we can do it!

Just as we were leaving the park, Lynn said, “Did you feel that rain drop?” I looked up and the sky was gray! And then it started to sprinkle and then a good downpour. I had my hat, so it wasn’t too bad. By that time, I had gotten hot and the rain cooled me down quite a bit.

By mile 7, my legs were tired! By mile 8, I started to look for my aunt Pam because she said she might try to make it out. The rain had stopped by then but I didn’t see her. We finally hit another water stop on Southern Parkway underneath the I-65 overpass between mile 8 and 9, I think. We had another Gu packet (Tri-Berry). They had little cups of water instead of bottles and those were terrible. I spilled most of it on me and then there were cups everywhere. We slowed down to a walk almost just to get the water and not fall over the cups. My knee then started to hurt after that, but we kept going.

We turned onto 3rd street and we could see the Papa John’s Stadium and we got to mile 9. Michael’s band (Leaving London) was supposed to play there but because of the rain, I guess they had to pack up because I don’t remember seeing or hearing them. We turned onto Central Ave and that bridge overpass was rough! It is a good little hill and then it started to sprinkle a little bit. It was a little downhill, and then we turned onto Floyd, ran along side the Stadium and finally turned into the Stadium parking lot and then through the end of the Stadium.

Yay, we made it to the stadium!

As we entered the stadium, I saw Benjamin and his uncle David (who finished about 10 minutes earlier). Then we had to run down the side of the field, and the end zone, and most of the way down the other side. It was on the artificial grass, so it was softer than the road. We saw the end and crossed!! It was 1:50:19. Lynn’s watch said it was 10.2 miles!!! You can see the “clock time” and we were 5 minutes behind the starters.

We finished!!!

We got some pictures and then moved to pick up our goodies. They always have water and Gatorade and Panera bagels- yum! Since this was the Papa John’s race and at the Stadium, they had pizza for the runners. I initially wasn’t that interested in the pizza, but I ended up eating it because I was so hungry.

Pizza Time

My goal was to get under 2 hours, so I was pleased. My fear was that I was going to get so tired and discouraged and have to walk a lot, but that didn’t happen. I was so worried that I was either going to injure myself or pass out and not be able to finish.

We went to lunch afterward with Benjamin’s step dad and his running friends. They had finished quite a bit earlier than me and had reservations for Lynn’s Paradise Cafe- so we got our food fast which was good because I was still hungry!!

My left foot hurt on the way to the car- it was the tips of my toes. They had rubbed my shoe I guess. My knees were also sore that afternoon. We went to the mall that evening, so I got some walking in which was good for me.

I was sore the day after, mostly going up and down stairs. But otherwise, I felt good and am pleased with it. I have 1 more big race, the half marathon (13.1 miles) in 3 weeks- YIKES!

Here is Lynn’s race recap and also Stringsn88keys race report.

Sorry for the wonky centering (in Firefox at least), I have been fighting with WordPress and it won tonight!

Shoes!

I did several 5K races over the Fall (Susan Komen, Bernheim Forest, Pioneer Run, Highland Cup) and then signed up for the Polar Bear Grand Prix which was 3 races: Reindeer Romp 4k December 2009, Frostbite 5k January 2010, and Snowman Shuffle 4 Mile February. This race series is what kept me going through the winter (and also where I originally “met” Lynn).

I accomplished a MAJOR goal this weekend- I did the Triple Crown of Running! These three races are: 5K, 10K, and 10 Miles! Back in January, my goal was to do the first 2 races, but after I ran 5 miles with the Fleet Feet group in February, I decided to go ahead and sign up for all 3 races! And 2 weeks ago, when I ran the Rodes 10K (appro. 6.2 miles), I decided to sign up for the miniMarathon (which is a half marathon or 13.1 miles). Sounds crazy, right? It’s kind of addictive! I’ll try to post a Triple Crown recap shortly!