8/24/2011

dog day 5 mile race

Sunday morning started out bright and early with the alarm going off at 7am.  We needed to meet Shana & Bill at the parkway rest stop by 8am to carpool up to the race so we didn't have a ton of time to dilly dally.  Joe hopped in the shower and I packed a bag with a change of clothes and all my running goodies.  Seriously, whoever said all you need to run is sneakers was mistaken.  I have belts and watches and monitors and specialty clothing, which I guess technically isn't necessary but it sure helps.  Plus I wanted a full change of clothes and my powder so I could clean up after the race and keep the rash at bay.  My stomach is always a little nervous before a race, it made sense the first few times but I'm not sure why it still bothers me now because I know I can finish these distances.  Anyway, I made sure to eat a bagel thin with a little cream cheese (165 calories) to help keep everything settled and grabbed a banana for later before heading out the door.

We got to the rest stop a little before Shana & Bill so we cleaned out Joe's car while we waited and it was a good thing that we did because we ended up driving since Shana's air conditioner has been acting up lately and we didn't want to risk the drive home being hot when we were already sweaty.  It didn't take long to get to the race and we didn't have much trouble parking.  We'd been told it's a huge race and I was expecting something like Broad St where you park super far away and have to fight the crowds to the start line.  Don't get me wrong there were a lot of people but we only parked about 2 blocks from the start line and had about 45 minutes to kill before go time.  We were running with a group of Shana's coworkers and their friends/family and we had shirts made up that said "just run" "dog day race 2011" on the front and "this seemed like a GOOD IDEA 18 weeks ago" on the back.  We received tons of compliments during & after the race on our shirts, people really liked them!
Bill wasn't running so he became the official race photographer.
The corralling wasn't set up extremely well so if you ran it in any longer then 40 minutes you were lumped with the beginners & walkers.  This made the start really difficult and we lost some time dodging people that weren't as fast.  We figure we probably would have come in at least 30 seconds faster if we wouldn't have had the obstacles at the beginning.
Bill was a great cheerleader and called our names each time we passed by him, he got some great shots!
The sun was beating down at the beginning of the race and we were all more concerned with finishing then we were with our times.  The course was laid out to wind through neighborhoods and the homeowners were kind enough to turn on their hoses and sprinklers so we got a nice shower as we went past.  Luckily the clouds rolled in around mile 2 and there was a decent breeze so the second half of the race wasn't nearly as sweltering as the first half.  In the end I think we were all more then happy with our times, Shana came in just over 48 minutes, Joe in around 51 minutes and my time was 52:29 (my place was 761 overall, lol)! 
We were a little disappointed in the race organizers though.  There were over 1000 people running at $25 each which means they made a hefty profit; but there was no bottled water, fruit or other food offered after the race.  They had a few people pouring cups of water and Gatorade but there was no way they could keep up with the throngs of sweaty, tired runners that needed refreshments.  You would think that after 33 years of organizing a race they'd have donations from local businesses to cover the cost of some bananas & pretzels.  Thankfully one of Shana's friends/coworkers brought ice pops for everyone so we got a little extra sugar back into our system (80 calories).
We made sure to take a group picture before we all headed our separate ways and it might end up in the local paper!  Next we headed across town for breakfast, one of Shana's coworkers suggested a place called ScoJo's.  I was starving so I had my banana on the way over (105 calories).
They were very busy when we arrived but it didn't take too long to get a table and they didn't bat an eye when I went into the bathroom all sweaty and came out fresh and clean.  I ordered an egg white omelet with onion, tomato & cheese with home fries and rye toast (582 calories).
Unfortunately, my foot, which had been feeling fine for a few days started to hurt again around mile 3 of the race.  I was hoping to just power through it  but I was back to limping within a few hours.  We took a walk to CVS to pick up a prescription and then over to ShopRite where Joe had found some water shoes the day before.  He grabbed the wrong size though so we were going to try to exchange them but they were all out of anything that would fit me, shocking I know, so I was back to the CVS pair.
Our walk hadn't help my foot much so when we got home I wrapped some ice around it and put it up for an hour or so.  I was surprised at how much better it felt afterward, I probably should have been icing it the whole time!

Nicole, Lou & Jack stopped by to visit, get information on what needed to be looked after in the house and say goodbye before we left the next morning.  We hung out for a couple of hours before Jack was ready for bed and so was I.  We finished packing up our last minute items and got in bed around 9pm since we had to be up at 3:15am to catch our flight.  I was having a hard time falling asleep so I took a benedryl and passed out pretty quickly.
1. 15 Spend Free Days:  9 days total. 
2. At least 20 days with a 750+ calorie burn:  Breakfast: 165 calories + Lunch: 582 calories + Dinner: 416 calories + Snacks: 357 calories = 2470 burned - 1520 eaten = -950 total burned, 11 days total.
3. Complete 1250 fitness minutes: 371 total.
4. Walk at least 10,000 steps for 25 days:  15318 steps.  17 days total. 
5. At least 20 days with 30 minutes of house work:  9 days total.

1 comment:

  1. No water??? My first half marathon was terribly organized even though they had been putting on for years. They had packed up all the food by the time I crossed the finish line! Not cool!
    ~Ang

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