Weekend Update

Well, for the 2nd weekend in a row I spent Saturday and Sunday morning running.

Saturday was the PFit meeting. That went well, I met some nice people who seemed a lot like me when it comes to running. They're slow, more used to walking, and not 100% convinced that running is such a great idea. One woman in particular was great -- we ran 3/4 of the distance together chatting away and the time flew by and it was easy despite the four miles of hills at Valley Forge.

My sister was not so lucky on this outing. She's already suffering from what we think is a bout of tendonitis and then she twisted her ankle on the run on Saturday morning. It's pesky but better it should happen now than closer to her marathon.

Sunday was the Teal Ribbon 5K in Fairmount Park. This was an adventure because it was the first time I went to a race by myself. I got there with plenty of time to spare and the race seemed pretty well organized for a first time event. They even had goodie bags which were filled differently for men and for women. I really wished Brian could have come with me so I could have seen the guy stuff. I got typical race goodies like a Clif Bar and a livestrong type bracelet only in teal for ovarian cancer. It also had nice hand lotion, a lighted compact and a lipstick holder.

The race itself got off to a late start but was on a familiar course because it's the same loop that the local Turkey Trot takes each Thanksgiving. I started out too fast, as is typical, but this time I blame it on listening to a young dad who was running with his daughter who was about eight I thought it would be smart to follow with them because he really wanted to help her run as much as she could if not do the whole thing. Things were good until we hit the 1 mile mark and I realized I was running just under 10 minute miles which is OK for me for about a mile but after that it got a whole lot harder! I stuck with them until the water stop at 1.5 and then never quite got the rhythm back and had to walk a few times and then would still find myself running faster than I wanted to.

The little girl ran into trouble around 1.5 also and was struggling and wanted to quit but her dad got her through it and by the end of the race she was happy again and extremely proud of herself. The volunteers along the course were really encouraging her and cheering loudly for her so I'm sure it was exciting and I'm really hoping that she won the 12-under age group award because she worked really hard. It was like a marathon for her!

Anyway, my finish time was 33:17 according to my watch and I'm pretty happy with that although I would have been much happier if I hadn't walked. I really need to practice running outdoors and I think at least one of my midweek runs is going to have to be moved outside.

Post-race was great. They had excllent soft pretzels (the real Philadelphia good kind) and bagels and yogurt and fruit. But the best part was they had big cups of fresh squeezed OJ. YUM! And since it was surprisingly hot that was an awesome treat.

My legs feel good after the two runs. Yesterday I had some of my typical knee stiffness but it was gone after a bit of ice and today I had no problems at all.

Tomorrow I plan to do a whole lot of nothing.