2010 Barnyard Dash

This past Saturday I participated in our first official 10k. Yeah, I know I ran the Rhodes City Run 10k back in April. But I did that one Bandit! So this was my first official one.

The day started off kind of early. Shawna, Jen, and Tom were planning on putting in a few miles before heading to the run. So I decided to join them. I normally run between 11 and 13 every Saturday, so I knew if I didn't join them for an early am run that I would either not put in the extra miles or I would have to run later in the afternoon in the heat. Which was not what I wanted to do with my Saturday afternoon. I arrived at the Y just before 5 am. Not long after Dave, who has joined us on a couple or runs, showed up. Right behind him was Chris! That one kind of surprised me. Chris had said he was going to take this Saturday as an opportunity to sleep in. Guess 3rd shift got the best of him, because here he was.

We headed out on a kind of random route. We started out by heading into my neighborhood and then onto our normal loop, which Chris and I modified since we only wanted to run between 6 and 8 miles on this run. As we are running along, Shawna asks me if I would be interested in running in the Red Eye Relay with them next month. They had a team member drop out and needed a replacement. After hearing all of the stories of how much fun they have on this, how could I say no? I told her I would have to check with my wife, but I didn't see it being a problem. I checked, and it looks like things are a go. I just hope I don't die!

Chris and I ended up putting in 7.77 miles on our morning run. We then headed to my house to change into some dry clothes and headed up to the Barnyard Dash. We ended up arriving about 30 minutes early. Which turned out to be a good thing. Earlier in the week Chris had taken our registrations to Pacers and Racers to hand them in, since he was getting new shoes and it would save us a few bucks not signing up online. For what ever reason they had his info and not mine. This is where having friends who work there comes in real handy. Tom told me when I walked in that he could not find my registration info but to head to the table to make sure. Of course it wasn't there. So I headed back to Tom who hooked me up in record time. Within no time I had a number and a shirt and was good to go. It turned out that about 30 registrations had been misplaced as well.

About 10 minutes before the start, Shawna and Jen showed up and picked up there swag. Then it was on to the start. As we started the run the sky looked ominous. Within the first mile we were getting rained on. I don't really like running in the rain, but I will say that once it was gone and the sun and humidity hit I would have welcomed it. The course was a bit hilly, but nothing terrible. Chris and I decided to walk the water stops, which seemed to be about every 2.5 miles, just to take a small break. I ended up having to walk a couple of more times as well. My threshold seems to be between 13 and 15 miles right now before my legs start telling me it is time to walk. So, instead of doing something stupid, I listen. Running is supposed to be enjoyable, right?

My only goal for this run was to come in faster that our last one. We succeeded! We ended up knocking about 30 seconds off of our 10k time and running a 52:50. Afterwards we hung out and listened to the awards being handed out while gorging on fresh strawberries, bananas, and free sodas. What an awesome way to end a run.

So now it is on to getting ready for the Red Eye, which I started doing yesterday by doing hill repeats with Shawna and Jen. So wish me luck.

Later

June Already?

It is hard for me to believe that it is already June. This year seems to be flying by. The one good thing about it being June, is that in about 22 days I will be headed south to Disney again. Can't wait! Speaking of Disney, I am planning on running in the 2011 Disney Marathon. It will be my second marathon, if I don't die on my first in November. So hopefully the first one doesn't suck and make me dread the second. I can't see that happening, but you never know.

As far as running goes, I have been putting in quite a few miles. Last month was my biggest to date. I ended up putting in 142.5 miles! I am at 589 for the year. That is awesome, since my goal for 2010 was to hit 1000. Shouldn't be a problem. I am steadily upping my weekend long run mileage in order to start getting ready to run a full. So far it hasn't been that bad, but I haven't been much past the 15 mile mark. Yeah, I know, there are still 11 miles past that for a full. It will come with time.

Chris and I are planning on running a 10k next weekend, but he may have to sit this one out. He had a mishap with a shampoo bottle and may have broken his foot. I sure hope not. Time will tell. Last week we attended a 3 mile fun run that one of the local running stores put on. Chris had ran one last month and really enjoyed it. So I had to make sure that I hit one. It was a pretty good time. It ran through an awesome part of town and a park. The weather was kind of hot and humid, but I guess it's better than rain.

And if you didn't know, today is National Running Day. So get out there. Even if you only run to the mailbox, it counts.

Later