Kids Need Heroes 5k

With the temp at 48 degrees and low humidity, the Kids Need Heroes 5k race was going to be a good one. This race benefited those children that could not afford to go to summer camp at the YMCA (which is who put this on) and learn how to live healthy along the way.

After lining up, the directors gave great instructions on racewalking, which is hardly ever done. This included instructing anyone who ran that was signed up for walking would be disqualified. Off we went and I was going pretty strong. Close to the one mile mark I noticed my pace was way too fast so early in a race. The course was nice and flat and there were course volunteers spread throughout cheering and directing course turns as well as mile markers where times were announced accurately. When we made the halfway mark we began to face some gusty headwinds. This made a difference in my running. But that wasn't all. I was running as well as I could and was losing ground on a good race.

Kent finished pretty strong. Everyone was so excited to see him coming and cross the line. I couldn't believe all cheering I heard for him and wished he could have, too. They had no idea I was his wife so this made it extra special. I snapped a quick picture as he crossed the line.

Also one of us.

There were more different kinds of food than I've seen at a 5k. There were three looooong tables. The first table had several different kinds of fruit, different kinds of mini muffins and Gogurts.

The second table had: bagels with three different kinds of cream cheese spreads, bananas, HOT pizzas from Mellow Mushroom and Krispy Kreme donuts. A little later a large chocolate sheet cake was brought out and put on this table.

The third table had very long sub sandwiches cut into pieces with lots of trimmings to add; you can barely see it waaaay down at the end. One thing we've not had before were these Team Realtree Outdoor Energy Low Carb drinks. They are in metal containers. I tried one and really liked it. It tastes like Cream Soda and I haven't had one of these in a very long time. The nutritional facts are: 10 calories, 0 fat, 3 g carb, 3 g sugars, 10 mg sodium and lots of B vitamins. FYI...I do NOT partake of "energy" drinks. The other drinks available by this company were not "low carb" and was high in calories, sodium, etc. I liked the fizz in it and I'm not ignorant to think it is the perfect new drink. But it seems to meet my piddly standards for now. I hope we can find more of these to keep on hand.

This was a low participated race. Not sure why because it was a great one unless it wasn't advertised much. I won First Place in my age group with one of the worst 5k times I've had since racing. I was really disappointed. You must understand I'm not disappointed in winning something but in my efforts and ability. I KNOW I can do much better. The lady that beat me I always beat; she even went around saying that to some. Even with the time she finished on this race, I should have beat that by about a minute!!! Not too good, huh? She and I have become friends and race almost every race together. She is very strong in longer runs but I usually win on the 5k's and 10k's. She's run for years and has run over 100 marathons; she's run the Marine Corps marathon for 25 years straight and many more than those! I feel honored to run alongside of her. My award was a gift certificate to the Nike outlet store.

Kent won 2nd Overall Racewalker. He did really good.

We had eaten greasy ribs the day before and that played a part in my pitiful race. Without sharing one of my worse times I'll just say that I knew better to eat like I did and did it anyway. All in all, I was not in racing shape. Shame on me!!! I am excited to do this race again but next time I'll be in better racing condition...I can and I will get back to shape. Not giving up, I'm gonna

Run 4 It

Tough is Good

Racquetball has always been one sport I've loved. Two problems exist: location and a partner. Seems if you have one you're lacking in the other. For several years now, I've not been able to play due to both problems. But the other day, I pulled my bootstraps up and headed out to a place I'd not been before to play around some. I know how easy it is to quickly get tired so I started out slow. No, there was no partner. But I wanted to play so bad. Therefore, me, my racquet and one ball from years ago decided to see what we could muster up.

After the first hit, I was hooked and it felt gooooood!! OMGosh, how I've missed it. Within minutes of stretching my body in so many directions I knew what was going to happen...can you spell S O R E!! I thought about it several times but I just couldn't get enough. Hitting most every ball served and chasing down the loose ones was a little difficult for one person. Kent showed up from his workout and told me "you know you're going to be sore". Next thing I knew he was inside wanting to bat around some. He's never got into sports that required a lot of fast stop and go.

I wondered how all my running was going to help out and I can't tell you just how much it did! Though I tired some, I lasted over an hour just by myself. Previously, when I would warm up waiting for my partner, I'd be tired and sweaty when we started. Not this time. Not to say that it wouldn't happen had there been a partner.

Fast forward to next day: a little sore. Two days after: I KNOW I worked out. Three days after: My butt and quads are sooooo sore and I now know I have butt muscles that have never been used before! Problem? I can't run...I could hardly get up out of the chair. Groaning and moaning didn't help with my body screaming obscenities at me all the time. But deep down inside, I loved every minute that caused these muscles to scream out. And, yeah, I'd do it again!

On Monday, four days later with NO exercise of any kind, I pushed myself out the door and went for a run...a VERY EASY one. I was still sore just not as bad and I was missing my running bad. Laying off any extra exercises that may use my gluteous maximus was necessary if I wanted to get back to normal with my running. I hoped for 4 or 5 slow miles but ended with 6.25 miles and 1 warm up walk...more than pleased. Today, I'm barely sore but wasn't sure I could eke out 5 miles after being "down" a lot in the last few days. Starting out with that in mind, the first 3 miles were torture. Due to the heavy humidity (98%), it was a killer for breathing. But I wanted to defy these "issues" and DO it. When I entered my 4th mile, I was feeling better. Five came up and all I could think about was I wanted to match my mileage from two days ago. That became easy...moving right on along. Next thing I knew I had eased up to 7.5 miles!! I ended with a one mile cool down and a lot of stretching as my muscles were a little sore.

No, I wouldn't say this one was for the books. But I will say that I overcame several obstacles and in the face of "quitting" or "walking" I pushed through. Listening to my Christian music made my run so pleasant...no push...just thinking, praying and talking with Jesus. I'm so glad that I had this run today. It was a blessing in disguise.

Regretful that I didn't reach 20 miles last week, I do know what the problem was and it wasn't from lack of exercise. So, I'm shooting for a better week this week. Don't sit around. If you're experiencing a little depression from being inside due to the weather, try to find a time you can hit the door for a little run. You won't regret it. There is no "poor" run/walk unless you do NOT do it.

Run 4 It

Sweetheart 5k

It's been quite a while since I've run a 5k as well as doing even a little bit of speedwork. So before I even got outside, I was challenged. The race started at 9:00 so we didn't need to leave too early. It was a lot cooler than when we went to bed. Temps are beginning to drop with the lowest being tonight. Thank goodness!! It could have come in one day earlier and we'd have frozen. As it was, we ran in 46 degrees and a little gusty wind with some sun. The Sweetheart Race was a 5k, 5k Walk and a 10k with a Fun Run at the end. All in all there were over 800 participants with most in the 5k.

I was not as prepared for this 5k as in the past. Since focusing more on longer races this last year, my speed has slowed and my speedwork has about gone to pot. So I was not as concerned this go around. Surprisingly, I didn't choose the 10k instead of the 5k. I usually do and was a little nervous in a different sense. The course was flat and an out-and-back. I loved it. Boy, I had not realized how much I'd missed running the shorter races...but I LOVE the longer ones. I'm just betwixt in my loves here. Oh well, this topic is for another post.

I felt strong my last mile. Though I didn't place this time, I'm well pleased with my 8:34 pace!! Highly unusual, there were 15 in my a/g and the worse part-there some really strong runners that showed up. On the other hand, I couldn't believe I had recuped my speed as well as I did, not having run in 5k's in a while. Kent did well and won the Senior GrandMaster Racewalker. There were over 150 walkers!! Here he is coming in.


After the race, we enjoyed scrumptious nachos. The best part...you could fix it yourself! Here's Kent's bowl with brownies.


I LOVE jalapenos!!! Soooo, I got mine and two other peoples...yay!! Of course, mine looked terrible but it tasted fantastic. The thing with mine is that you could not even tell there were colorful chips hiding underneath it all for ALL the trimmings I added. I like everything on them (ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, cheese sauce, sour cream and jalapenos), sooooo...my bowl is fuller than most! And, by the way, yeah I ate every bit of this mess...yummmm! I got a brownie but had to save it for later. Wonder why???


We ran up with Ginny and Chad while we were eating. Of course you never want others to know how MUCH you eat...well, we were caught grinning from ear to ear. Ginny won 1st place in her age group. She recently qualified for Boston next year...go, girl!! I'm so proud of her.

Until next time...keep your body moving and
Run 4 It

Double Bridge 15k

What a great weekend! Starting with the packet pick-up, we enjoyed the expo. As a matter of fact, more than we should have. A lady was selling a trail-mix of sort of which we got a sample and LOVED!! We rarely like them but fell in love with these. It has a concoction of almonds, walnuts, pecans, cranberries, honey, pumpkin seeds, roasted almond oil, unsweetened shredded coconut and a little sea salt. The honey make it cluster and it was so delish!! Yeah, we got some...not one bag, but two...and made sure we had her website addy to get more when we run out. Going to mix some Greek yogurt in with some to give us an all around good breakfast. A one ounce portion, though seems a little, has 7 grams of fiber in it and gave me all I needed. So that PointsPlus Value of 4 was okay with me. Here is a picture for your eyes to feast on.


Later we went and picked up our pre-race meal. It was a bowtie pasta with maranara sauce (no meat) and a chicken penne pasta. It was really quite good.

Upon check in, we both received blankets given to runners that were staying in host hotels. Yay! We'd decided to stay the night as I had to be up pretty early to catch the shuttle to the race start. The last one left at 6:00 making it a pretty early morning for me, like 4:15, as I needed to pack before leaving...I'm sure I was no different from the other runners. I definitely didn't want to get on the last bus in case it was running late or something weird like that causing me to be late in lining up.

It was a Point A to Point B kind of race. I had been excited to run this one for some time now. It was thrilling to know that we were going to run over two bridges. I love the "water" influence running on bridges. I feel so free and I love it all, even the tough runs. On top of that, I was excited to run over these bridges because they were hard ones...VERY steep. I love to run over the Ocean Springs Bridge and the Bay St. Louis Bridge; they give me a good workout, especially the OS one. But I love to get to the top and look out over the beauty of the water and how the light dances on the top. There's nothing like it! Don't get me wrong. Bridges, even flat ones, can be challenging. There's always wind, some days worse than others.

The race began at 7:00. I enjoy running in larger races as you enjoy running with runners of many different ability levels. I use to (and sometimes still do) feel like I'm the slowest runner and that no matter how hard I run I'm still at the end of the pack. It makes me real nervous and takes away from the love of racing it. But when there's a lot of people, it takes the "stress" out of it and helps keep my mind directed on MY run and pace and listen to my body. On the bus, I talked with a young lady sitting next to me. I was getting so nervous, even a tiny bit nauseous, for fear I'd not have the strength or ability to run across those huge bridges that seem to grow in my mind every time I thought about it. Thanks, Laurie, for taking my mind off of it and for listening to an old woman nervously babbling along. You are real sweet and I hope you did well.

We were in corrals due to the number of runners. I personally like that because I don't feel so alone. There were friends of ours from the Gulf Coast Running Club that came over to race and I think they were in the first coral. They are literally like lightning!! I'm glad they even speak to me, they are so above my level. Of course, I keep telling myself that I would be much better had I started running when I was younger instead of beginning at 51. I wish I had known how much fun it really was.

Excitement built as our corral neared the Starting Line. Then it was us. After we all "found our pace" it became more like a race. It takes a little longer to get to that state when there are so many people. But in a long one, to me, this is good cause I tend to go out way too fast...and I did...thankfully, not to my detriment this time. I love my Garmin for many reasons but pacing is great to keep me where I need to be and not "peter out" at the end when I want to run faster but have no energy left.

It was barely light when we looped around a block or so before getting on the beach road. It was exciting to see the water slowly glistening as the sun tried to come out. It was hid behind many clouds keeping the temp just right for running. It was in the mid 60's when we began and high humidity. I'd read to get water at all the 3 water stops, because it is a tough run, to help keep you from dehydrating, even if you weren't sweating. So I made it a point to do that. The last two stops was just before a bridge and I thought I'd need all the help I could get to climb them. Usually, I slowed down to drink them and this was working but it probably cost me in my time at the finish.

The first bridge is amazingly beautiful! You can see it from a long distance; the entire bridge. It's flat until you get to the "hump" and it flattens back out again. When we got to the base of it, excitement built. I was fixing to start running it. I don't know why, but I get a thrill out of running bridges. It's just a feeling I really love to experience. I don't care how hard it is, I just love it. Check out some of the pics...yeah, it was just about this dark when we were on it. This is the first bridge...don't know the people but wanted to share these amazing views.








This last one is looking back at the runners climbing the bridge. Oh, yeah, they got me!! I'm in red just over the right shoulder of the guy in the yellow with his left arm up.

Woo-hoo!!

We finally came up on the 5k start in Gulf Breeze. It was really exciting as the runners were lined up along the streets cheering you on. What a neat surprise...I loved it. Their race started at 8:30 and was 20 minutes or so away. Immediately after that, we had another little bridge, which was not even mentioned but would have been in another race, that rose steeply, curved around and back over the Interstate. Thankfully, it was short lived. I gathered my "stuff" again and kept going.

The final water stop was ahead which was located at the bottom of the "mega" bridge. The Sikes Bridge was just ahead and I knew I was about to face the giant. After the first 20 yards on the bridge, the elevation began. While I was getting close to the peak of the bridge I began to really feel it. My thoughts "here it goes" crossed my mind, my heart was in my throat, and the excitement began to build. It got harder as I got to the top and the wind showed no mercy. BUT, I loved it...every challenging moment! I love running bridges because it reveals to me what I have inside and how much it wants to come out. I find places within I never know I have until I'm pushed like this.

At the 8 mile mark we began to decend. You could see the bottom of the bridge and you knew it wouldn't be long. Usually I don't like downhills but I loved every minute of them in this race. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed getting to the Finish Line.

I had misplaced the knee strap I usually wear on longer runs but my knee gave me absolutely NO problem. Success all the way around. I got stronger and stronger though I didn't know exactly where the Finish Line was. My Garmin kept me informed. Then I turned a slight corner and saw the "shoot" knowing the clock was just ahead. People and finished runners were cheering you in. I get excited with goosebumps just thinking about it all again! I got my second win a third time and ran as hard as I could. I finished strong and am proud of my time. Chip time was 1:34:30. A PR seeing as how it was my first 15k but a good time for me nevertheless.

I lined up waiting for Kent to cross the line. He has been struggling with a lot of joint pain and I was concerned with him racewalking on that very steep bridge. When I saw him, he looked great...no pain in his face and was looking strong!! I am so proud of him. He continues to amaze me with his persistance and abilities.

After the race, there was red beans and rice with something that looked like a chicken mixture over rice. It was really good. I took a pic but blogger, for some reason, wouldn't post it. The post race party was at Hemmingway's on the beach and the day turned out beautiful with warm sun. I love Pensacola!!

Congrats to our friends: Leonard V. for receiving the GM, Mark K. 1st in his age group and Leah W. 1st in her age group. They are great runners and I'm proud of them. Can't wait until next year...yeah, I wanna do it again!!