Sunday, April 29, 2007

Will Wonders Never Cease...GIG results

The Get in Gear (GIG) races were held yesterday. The weather could not have been more cooperative: warm, sunny -- just lovely.

This event is known as a 'kick off to summer running' event and generally draws about 5,000 plus runners who participate in a 5K, 10K or 2K event.

GIG was the event that the Beginning Running group I've been coaching were working towards. Realistically, they all should have participated in the 5K event, but I had a number of "over achievers" that wanted to do the 10K. I found this out after I signed up for the 5k....

This actually worked out very well, since the 10k started first and, running the 5K, which started about 20 minutes after the 10K, I could be done with my event and still be there to cheer everyone on as they got to the finish line.

I had an unbelievely good race. I felt very good throughout -- only took a couple of walk breaks, ran the tangents and just kept one foot in front of the other.

It got warm out there on the course but even that felt good.

In all my years of running (almost 10 years now), I've always wanted to run a 5K in 30 minutes or less....I did not hit that goal this time around, BUT I did finish with my best time ever: 31.04 for a pace of 10 mintue per mile.

Even more unbelieveably for me was that I finished 14th out of 66 women in my age group category.

I typically finish very near the bottom of my age group...and I know that I should not take much pride in this placing for this race. There are a lot of people that run this event without training at all or very much -- some people walk the course.

BUT, I'm very happy with my placing for the event nonetheless. Maybe this is my year for a 30-minute or less 5K.

My running group did very well in the 10K event -- they all finished and were very proud of themselves. I was too. They all worked very hard this season and I had a great time working with all of them.

I had lots of other friends from my running club that did the 10k was well. They all finished strong, despite the temps.

I'm registered for a 1/2 marathon next weekend and I have not been training very hard for the distance. I've been debating doing the event at all. This is a race where I have placed second to last a couple times in the event.

It is a point-to-point course and I'm afraid that I'll be so far behind that I'll miss the last bus back to the start line to get my car to go home... Hubby assured me that if that happens, he'll come and get me.

I ran some extra miles after the 5k yesterday to help me be somewhat prepared for next week Sunday. The extra miles helped, but I still am not quite sure how I'll do next week.

I'll keep you posted.

Friday, April 27, 2007

What's Goin' On.....


So here is my mini update after many weeks away from blogging:


Hubby and I went to Las Vegas at the end of March. We had a ton of fun, although the weather was lousy. (Cold and windy). We gambled and GOLFED! It was our first time officially out in 2007. We had a blast. Our golf league back here in Minneapolis starts tonight. We play in a Couples League with some friends from work. I've also signed up to play in a LPGA event where we get some coaching, training and playing time. So looks like there will be a lot of time out on the links this summer. YEA!

I've been doing this weight loss program thing that is being offered by my health club. It is a 12-week course and we just finished week 9. We workout three days a week on a treadmill using heart rate monitors to help us determine our zones, follow an exchange-based diet and meet with a nutritionist once per week. Our group, the "Early Risers", consists of about eight people (7 women, 1 man). A couple of women attend somewhat sporatically, but the rest of us are there Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:00 am for our workout.

The program, plus the fact that I've been really limiting my sugar intake and trying to eat whole grains rather than white flour/rice, has helped me lose 18 pounds. YIPPEE!

My weight had been creeping up and I'd been struggling with Weight Watchers. This was a change I really needed. We have three weeks left of the program and then some of the Early Risers will continue to meet to keep the momentum going.

I know it is one thing to lose weight; it is very much another thing to keep it off.

My good friend Dori gave up all sugar at the end of last year. She has lost about 15 or so pounds and is looking great. I am not eating candy every day and I'm trying to really limit the sugar found in every thing else, BUT....

Every three weeks, after we get weighed, I pretty much eat what ever I want to eat for most of the weekend. I eat sugar, which pretty much makes me naueous in about 10 mintues, but I keep on eating it. (Old, old behavior there!)

In any event, I'm happy with the results; I'm happy about how I'm feeling physically; I'm happy my jeans fit me better and I'm running much better too!

I am just wrapping up coaching a Beginning Runners group. I had 7 women participate -- aged from 29 to 64. They were a great bunch of people to work with. Our race is tomorrow -- Get In Gear/ About 4,000 runners will do either a 5K or a 10K event. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I'm excited to run the event and to cheer my newbies on!