Friend Making Monday + RWTH 5K race report

Saturday I woke up late…like really late.  Usually when I’m running I’m up around 6am.  I didn’t roll my lazy butt out of bed until 11am.  Geez…really?  In my defense, a cold front had blown in Friday night, so it was still in the 60’s in central Texas at 11am.  Also it was raining.  I said a couple weeks ago to some people at work that with me running 5 days a week for my marathon training, that I was bound to be faced with running in the rain at some point.  Well, it happened on Saturday.  I just slid into my Marmot rain jacket and off I went.  It was a little awkward when I took water in at every mile mark because I was wearing my waterpack under my jacket instead of outside of it.  But, it wasn’t pouring down rain, so partially unzipping my jacket to take a drink wasn’t a big issue.  I attempted to deftly dodge the puddles I came across and was mostly successful.  Overall, I have to say, running in the rain is not a bad thing. 

Yesterday (Sunday), I ran the Run With The Heroes 5K in Austin, TX.  I ran this race last year and I did pretty well.  I ran it in 29:40, I believe…at any rate, it was a 9:41 min/mi average.  I knew I wouldn’t do that well this year.  Why?  Because I allowed myself to be lazy and gluttonous over the last year and now weigh 25 lbs more than I did when I ran this race last year.  Believe it or not, weight does play a large factor in how fast you can run.  Also, I’ve been slacking in how I do my runs and have not been pushing the pace.  However, after I ran Saturday’s 6 miles in the rain at a full minute faster than I’ve been cruising along at on my runs so far, I have vowed to push the pace on all my 6 miles or less runs.  I’ll leave it slow and steady for the longer runs, but I need to be doing something that resembles tempo runs on my shorter runs if I hope to hold a 12:30 or faster pace for the Dallas Marathon just 90 days away.

Anyway, back to RWTH 5K…I ran it in 33:38 this year.  That’s a 10:40 pace.  I’m quite happy with that.  That is pretty much 2 full minutes per mile faster than I’ve been cruising along at on my runs the last 4 weeks.  Also, I did this all in a running skirt.  First time ever I’ve worn one.  And, in the future, when I wear one again, there will be either Body Glide applied or thigh length spandex worn underneath.  I did like how I looked in the skirt, so I definitely don’t want to give up on it.

There was an issue with the RWTH 5K this year.  Normally, the Austin police department (that hosts the event) does their own barricading, but this year decided to hire a barricade company to do it for them.  Mistake.  The company was 45 minutes late.  Well, they were actually later than 45 minutes…the start of the race was delayed by 45 minutes.  It was supposed to start at 8am, but didn’t start until 8:45am.  It was very frustrating, but the Chief of Police, Art Acevedo, kept us entertained by taking the microphone around the crowd of runners at the start line and started interviewing people and making jokes.  I’m sure the police dept will be back to doing their own barricading at next year’s RWTH 5K.

This morning, I ran 9 miles.  It was a really good run, too.  I held onto my 12:30-ish pace except for mile 8 where I slipped to almost 13 min/mi.  Oops!  But, I picked it up in mile 9 and got my fastest mile of the run at 12:14.  Tomorrow is 6 miles, so guess what…yep, gonna push the pace tomorrow!

And now onto this week’s Friend Making Monday questions!

1. If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be?
Hmmm…I would be an eggplant, I think.  Not the most common veggie, but great if you know how to cook me.

2. If you woke up tomorrow as an animal, what animal would you choose to be and why?
Duh, a cat!  Why?  Because I love cats.  They have amazing lives…at least my kitties do…and as long as I have another cat to play with, I’d never be bored.

3. If you could live anywhere on this planet, and take everything that you love with you, where would you choose to live? Tell the group about your choice.
Wow…great question!  Even though I have never been there, I think I would choose (and this will probably throw some people that know me for a loop) Switzerland.  You pay out the a$$ on taxes but all your schooling, including college, is paid for…your medical care is paid for.  I believe housing is also taken care of (I could be wrong on this point).  It’s beautiful.  It’s close to so many things, so there would always be something to do…lots of great weekend roadtrip opportunities.  I could learn new languageS!

4. What favorite color are you and how does being that color make you feel?
Pink…totally girly!  Like a diva!

5. If you could choose an imaginary friend, who would you choose and why?
I never had an imaginary friend growing up…I was always a super logically minded child.  But I would choose an imaginary friend that knew all sorts of games, loved going running, loved reading, knew all sorts of knowledge and we could play jeopardy together.

6. If you could sit on a bench in a beautiful woods, who would you like sitting next to you on the bench and why?
Amanda, of course!  We could talk about all the crafts we’re going to do together from all the stuff we collected on our hike through the woods…and all the pictures we took while we hiked!

7. Are you sunrise, daylight, twilight, or night? Please share why you picked your time of day?
I think I’m becoming a sunrise person.  I love starting my runs pre-sunrise and watching the sky turn all sorts of fun pastel colors and then the sun pops over the horizon and it’s gorgeous.

8. If you could choose your age forever, what age would you choose and why?
I’ve actually had this question before.  I would pick my current age because I’m old enough to not be a total idiot about everything and I’m still young enough to do pretty much whatever I want.

9. If you could be in the movie of your choice, what movie would you choose and what character would you play?
Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  You probably haven’t heard of this movie, but I would be Frankie from Dream For An Insomniac…I love her.

10. If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
To me, Edgar Allen Poe is/was/will always be the man.  He’s my absolute favorite historical author.  I love everything he wrote and that I have read (I’m almost ashamed to say that I haven’t yet read everything he wrote).