I Am An All-Star 5 K Runner!

Downtown Was a Soggy Mess

I had to go downtown today to pick up my All-Star 5K race packet from the booth they set up across from Busch Stadium.  It was pouring down rain, the whole way from my house.  By the time I got there, it let up some, and I picked up my t-shirt and race number and D-tag to track my time.  My plan was to jog the actual race path, to get a feel for it.  But I’m sure you know by now, I don’t get down with the rain like that.  I could not risk getting drenched.  Traffic was a mess because all the fan fest stuff was going on, and they’re still cleaning up the city.  They built a new park, filled in the pot holes and even cleaned up the bus stops.  They even cleaned out the pee smell from the stadium garage elevators.  I guess they want to make a good impression of St. Louis for President Obama who’ll be throwing the 1^st pitch at the all-star game!….St. Louis is doing big things!…I drove the race path, to familiarize myself with the hills and the terrain.  It didn’t seem too bad, just really long, and it’s supposed to rain again!  I kept saying in my head that tomorrow’s blog heading would read “The Race that Never Was”   But, I know that I want my blog to be successful and help other people accomplish their goals, so I went to the track at the gym.  I jogged about 2 miles, because I didn’t want to over do it.  Well…tomorrow is the big day, so I’m logging off, and calling it a night.   

Why Did the Duck Cross the Road?

Today, I was determined to run the entire 3.1 miles to prepare for my 5K race on Sunday, although part of me felt like I couldn’t do it.  Which was is totally crazy, seeing as how I did it in April.  I was still hurting from yesterday’s Jump Rope fest during boot camp class and totally unmotivated to go running.  I went to Forest Park anyway, and hit my regular path that I know for sure is 3 miles since my Nike iPod tracker still needs to be calibrated.  Today’s run was hard…my left leg cramped up…that annoying pain in my right side reared it’s ugly head, but I pressed through it.  Like the boot camp instructor said, once you work though the tough parts, you’ll see your break through….and low and behold I did.  I was in a good groove, that is until the Mama duck and her ducklings took their time crossing from the pond over the bike/jogging trail.   They were so cute, but they slowed me down as you see on the chart.  Eventually, I picked back up my speed and finished in 53 minutes!  Maybe I’ll be able to meet my goals after all! 

Gearing up for Race Day

It was raining on Saturday, my normal workout day, and of course the gym was closed because it was the 4th of July. What’s a girl to do? Go to her friend’s birthday party, eat off the buffet and watch fireworks under the Arch of course.  But, on Sunday, it was back to the real world. I bought some new purple headphones to match my purple iPod as a treat to myself. The sound quality is so much nicer than the $4 pair I got from Family Dollar. It was a great day to run, only about 75 degrees out. But half way through my run, I had to pee! I freaked out, what if I have to stop and pee on race day, that will so screw up my time. I finished a little less than 3 miles, in under an hour. Nothing spectacular, but hey it’s a holiday weekend, and I’m out running, that counts for something. I can not finish this post without mentioning that my mother was in the St. Louis American newspaper. Not only was she in there, but her huge picture was advertising the next healthy happy hour. I was the guest speaker at healthy happy hour, I was the “weight loss expert” who passed around fat before pictures. But, her picture was featured in the paper and not mine! Hump…I guess that’s the way it goes!

A New Routine