A Dancer's Heart

I ran A Dancer's Heart 5K yesterday with my friend Erin.
It was the first time I'd run the race, but it was a similar course as the Frostbite 5K and several other Decatur races that start at Decatur High School.
This was fun in that we finished on the Decatur High football field.
Here are Erin and me before the race, note how fashionable we are in our running skirts. :)

Fashionable runners!

This race benefits A Dancer's Heart Inc., which was established following the death of Imani "Twiggy" Thompson Twine. She was a member of the Decatur High School class of 2011, but died just shy of her senior year of a heart infection. She was a ballet dancer.
They had her photo on display at the race and she was a beautiful young woman, clearly taken away too soon.
I took two weeks off from running after the Monastery 5K. I'm trying to baby my running injury while I keep running. I know that's not the thing to do, but I've got the Peachtree Road Race 10K coming up.
I met my running buddy Jessica at the Greenways trail this morning for about 4.25 miles. We'll do another 4 next Sunday and we should be ready for the Peachtree on July 4. I am going to have to push myself to run a couple of miles at least twice this week. I'm just going to have to take it easy and pray I don't really tweak my hamstring.
And as Jessica and I got in our miles, Jessica mentioned she was interested in the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Savannah in November. Oh, Lord! Here we go again!
So I'm likely going to sign up for another half marathon soon. What a crazy year this will be!
I truly thought my days of endurance racing was over, but they are not. I may be a lot slower than I used to be, but I'm still crossing the finish line.
It must be my runner's heart that keeps me going.

The spirit moved me

I ran with the monks this morning.
That means I ran the Monastery 5K, held at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Ga.
This was really more of a trail run, and it was quite challenging. Mile 2 felt like it was all uphill.
Because it was a trail run, it was a bit crowded at the beginning, until it naturally thinned out. The nice part of the run was that it WAS a trail run and I felt like my legs weren't taking as bad a pounding. It has rained this week, so a bit of the trail was muddy, but not spongy.
There were a lot of families at this race, and there seemed to be some school groups there as well.
And then there were these little participants:

Ready to run?

I don't think these little fellas actually took part in the 5K. I think they, and their human, were there to support someone else on the course. I don't think it would have been easy to push that stroller on the trail.

One bonus to this race was I could buy some Monastery honey at the Abbey Store on site. The monks also make bread, biscotti, fudge and some other goodies on site. One of the monks also makes bonsai trees. And the monastery has an apiary, so local honey was for sale.

When I signed up for this race, I was sure this race would be one and done. I didn't anticipate that I'd want to run it again. But I had a nice time and it was a lovely venue.

I guess the spirit moved me, and now I'll think about doing this one again.

Hot fun in the summertime

This morning was one of my favorite races, the Summerfest 5K in the Virginia-Highland area of Atlanta.

2013 Summerfest 5K

Honestly, this is not my favorite course. There is a hill right after mile 2 that is challenging. I find myself sucking wind and power walking at that point.
What I love about this race is it finishes just as the artists are setting up for the Summerfest, a two-day art and music festival. I love walking through the center of the festival taking a peek at the art, and being able to talk with the artists, all before the crowds arrive. The festival doesn't start until about 10 a.m. I was done running long before then and had walked around the runner's area before heading back to my car around 9 a.m.
I should have taken some photos of some of the great art that is there, but I'm never sure if artists want that.
I ran Summerfest 5K with my friend Michelle. We ran this race together two years ago, but she couldn't make it last year. I was glad she was able to run it this year. Running with a buddy is so much more fun!

Me and Michelle at the start line

I didn't do too badly on the run. I'm waiting for the official race results, but I think I came in a little faster than last year.
And on the way back to my car, I found a dime. The poor found money piggy bank has been very hungry lately. So the pig got fed today.
The Summerfest 5K was the first 5K I wrote about in this blog two years ago. I just re-read that post. I talked about the hills! Some things never change, I suppose.
I also wrote about the heat. It's funny that it is about Memorial Day weekend and the first weekend in June where the heat in Atlanta really begins to kick in.
So I'm guaranteed hot fun in the summertime at Summerfest.