Race Review! Frosty's Frozen Five Mile

I look so serious.

LOVED this course!  I have done a couple other races from the Winter Distance Series in previous years when it was at Chatfield, and the change to Hudson Gardens was perfect. In addition, the weather was great at about 45 degrees and sunny, and all of the snow and ice had melted from the course.

There were over 500 finishers for the five-mile race and around 300 for the 10-mile. 

The morning started a little slow for me.  I woke up feeling a little under the weather, like a bad cold might be setting in (which, of course, it has today).  But I made my coffee, put on my running clothes, ate my peanut butter English muffin and hit the road.  As I was driving down there, I started panicking, thinking maybe I was wrong about the 9:15 start time I had in my head.  I peeked at my Blackberry (at a red light!) and realized I was wrong.  It started at 9.  I started hurrying, and then started giving into the negativity.  I wasn't feeling that well, I was now running late, and it was cold outside, plus, I had promised a friend that I would come to his Body Step teaching debut later that day, so I knew I had another workout yet to come.  Etc, etc, etc.  I seriously almost had myself talked out of going.  By the time I got there and was directed where to park, I was feeling kind of lame and ready to go back home.  The parking guy said, "Just drive past that loop, flip a u-turn, and then come back and park right here next to me"  I seriously almost kept driving.  As in, no u-turn, no parking right next to him, I just wanted to go back home and nurse my cold.  But I did make the u-turn, and I did park, and I did run the race.  And I loved every minute of it! 

I walked about half  to three-quarters of a mile out of the 5.  I was feeling kind of breathy, probably from being stuffed up and having a seriously sore throat.  I finished in 1:06.  Not a good time for me, but with walking some and not feeling so hot, I'll take it. 

The good things:
The weather, the course, and running PAIN FREE, thanks to the awesome girl who works at Runner's Roost in Lone Tree.  She sat with me for almost 45 minutes letting me try on every kind of insert they have until I found the right ones.  And those inserts rock! Also, the Winter Distance Series is super organized, but not huge.  They really have a good thing going with these races.

The bad things:
Really, I can't think of anything that was bad, except for my initial bad attitude and my sore throat.

Can't wait to do The Snowman Stampede 10 miler in February!  Next year, I want to do all three races.

And by the way, after doing this race, the Body Step class kicked my butt later.  But still, so glad I went to both.  Isn't it funny how when you are dreading working out, you always feel bad and regret throwing in the towel and skipping, but you NEVER end up regretting forcing yourself to do it?  I almost skipped this race, but by the time I was standing at the starting line waiting for the gun, I was in it and so glad I was there.  I love running!

Because I am doing Run for the Bling of It, I am supposed to show my race bling. There wasn't a medal for this race, but we got a cool long-sleeved t-shirt with this logo:
I wore it with pride to Body Step and sweated all over it.

P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Arizona 1/2 Marathon- Check!

I'm not a runner.  I'm certainly not built like one.  I carry myself more like Brian Urlacher than like Kara Goucher or Ryan Hall.  I have thick legs and broad shoulders and shortness of breath, and I usually lumber instead of run, but I call it running anyway.  Never was any of this so evident than last Sunday, January 17th.
The Good:
I checked off the first race from my list, I finished, I got a cool medal. (I later heard my 84-year old grandmother on the phone telling one of her friends that I won an award at the race and had to explain that everyone who finishes gets one)
The weather was AMAZING, the course was fun and interesting, and I got to visit my grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousins as part of the trip.

The Bad:
For the past few months, I have been struggling with a weird breathing/throat closure thing when I run.  It happens on and off, and on this day, it was most definitely on.  I had to keep stopping and walking after about the 10k mark, and when I did that too many times, my knees started to stiffen. By the last three miles, I was hobbling, and my goal time of 2:30 was completely out the window.  I finished in a sad 3:22, my only consolation that I was 38 minutes ahead of the 4-hour course sweepers.

The Resolution:
I set a goal of 2:30 because I know that, when all goes well, I can run ten minute miles the whole time.  This also factors in a little extra time to walk the water stops and potentially wait in a bathroom line.  So, until I break it, 2:30 is my half-marathon goal.  The next half on my list will be the Colfax Half Marathon in May, right here in sunny Denver.  I am going to put everything I have into making goal for that race.  In the meantime, I have had some tests done on my heart and lungs, which are both extremely healthy (good to know, even though the problem remains a mystery).  Whatever the problem is seems to be in my throat and sinuses, and I have heard that something called vocal chord dysfunction could be the culprit.  I am working through it right now, and will head back to the doctor in the next couple of weeks to continue to try to figure it out.

My next race is on Valentine's Day morning, a 5k at Wash Park.  Maybe I can get my Valentine to run with me, even though he only really likes to run when he is chasing a soccer ball.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I have added two charities to the sidebar of my blog.  All proceeds from ads clicked on this blog (they should be up and running anytime now), as well as any funds I raise along the way will go to these charities.  More to follow on why I picked what I picked this week! Also stay tuned for weigh-in Fridays and some fun new links coming this week.  In addition, I would like to thank everyone for all of the support, comments, and "fandom" on Facebook.  This was something that was hard for me to put on paper and begin, but once I did, I felt so much love and support.  I am SO excited to complete this goal and raise awareness and honor my mother.  It wouldn't be the same without the love and support of the people I care about.

Have a great day!  I am off to run Monday intervals...