Final 5K in my 40s

I ran my final 5K of my 40s yesterday.
As of next week, I'll be running races in a whole new age group -- a whole new decade.
I ran the Lakeside Viking 5K, which is not far from my house. I really hadn't expected to run a race this weekend, but Monday on my way to work I saw little signs up around the area announcing the race. I had run it before, so I quickly signed up.
I'm so glad I did.
It was a cool morning Saturday, and a little damp.
I got to the race and realized I forgot my iPod. It was too late to return to the house, even though I wasn't that far away. I just could not have gone home and returned in a comfortable time to make the race. So I decided to run old school, with no music.
In a way, it was better to run without it. I'm so used to running with my set playlists, and I know that they are all about 36 to 38 minutes long. I know what the final song on each playlist is, so when I hear it, I know I need to be close to the finish
Without the music, I could only listen to the cadence of my footfalls and my breathing.
It allowed me to zone out completely while I ran, which I think helped me run a little faster.
I was pleased with my result.
That night my sisters treated me to a birthday dinner, and even picked me up in a stretch limo. It was such fun. They even gave me the perfect gift:

My new wine glass

What I love about this wine glass, other than the bling, is how BIG it is. Because I hate to have to go back for seconds. :)
I just looked up my first race of this decade. I'm a full three minutes slower now. Not bad. I'll take that for my final 5K in my 40s.

Paying the last toll

I got to run today on a stretch of an Atlanta freeway that was anything but free, and often nerve-wracking to negotiate in a car.
Today was the Georgia 400 - Pay the Last Toll 4 miler.
Georgia 400 is a toll road that gets many motorists to the northern suburbs of Atlanta -- 50 cents each way. Until Nov. 22, when the toll, after 20 years, finally goes away.
Race organizers shut down the highway this morning to allow runners to run 4 miles and throw in the final toll, with all of the cash going to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
It was a cool, misty morning. Very gray, but that wasn't too bad for a road race in mid November!

Erin and I at the start

 The race started on Glenridge Drive, then went down the ramp on the northbound side of the freeway.

View down Georgia 400

It was fun that every time a MARTA train went by it would sound its horn and we'd wave to the passengers on board, and we could see them wave back!

Approaching the toll plaza

Erin paying her final toll

Me paying my final toll

What's funny is I started collecting all of this found money around the toll plaza! I was like a kid in a candy store. Dimes, nickels and pennies. I did find a quarter further up the road, but it was likely someone's toll money that fell out of their pocket during the race. I did scoop up some coins, but they all went into the bucket. This was one time when the found money should have gone to charity, and not the pig, although I had found a couple of pennies on the freeway earlier and they ended up in the pig because I couldn't dig them out in time for the bucket.

Photos at the former toll plaza signs

Being silly on the route

Taking heed

Sign of the times

As you can see, Erin and I weren't serious runners on this race, which was fine, but sort of made me regret I'd paid extra to be a timed runner! Oh well. We had fun, and in the end, if you are not having fun on these races, why do them?
I will say this race exacted a bit of a toll on my right knee, though. I could tell I was still sore from last weekend's half marathon. But it was the kind of toll I was willing to pay.

Rocking it in Savannah

I ran my second half marathon of the year this past weekend in Savannah, Ga.
It was another in the Rock N Roll race series, and unlike the Country Music Half Marathon back in April, the weather was near perfect for this race.
My running buddy Jessica and I drove down to Savannah the Friday before the race. We got there in the early afternoon and hit the runner's expo to pick up our race numbers and T-shirts.

Having fun at the expo

Rockin' it, old school. LOL

We had a little fun at the expo, too, taking some crazy photos.
We got there at just the right time. We walked right in with no line or anything. When we left about an hour and a half later, the line was snaking out of the convention center and the cars were lining up to get into the parking area.
We parked downtown next and walked around doing a little shopping before finding Tubby's restaurant to stop for supper.

 

The view of the sun setting near the Talmadge Bridge from our restaurant on River Street

 Savannah is such a great city. When I lived in Southeast Georgia after college, I would drive up to Savannah every now and again. Back then, you could still drive a car down River Street and park in little dirt parking lots right near River Street. All of that is gone!

River Street is still a big tourist area. We were lucky to be eating dinner early so we could sit right on the rail of the restaurant and have a great view of the street below. While we were eating, one of the big container ships from the nearby port went by. It was too dark to get a photo, though.

On our way back to the car that evening, we climbed back up the steep steps to Bay Street. These historic steps would not be fun to negotiate in the rain or after one too many cocktails!

We risked it

 We stayed at an EconoLodge about 7 miles from downtown Savannah. It was much cheaper than staying right downtown and we decided we'd rather spend the money on a nice meal rather than a hotel where we'd only stay for a little while.
Of course, the saying "You get what you pay for" was true for this hotel.
We put in for a 4:45 am wake up call and were flummoxed when we got a 3:45 am call. Turns out, this hotel never changed its clocks back on Nov. 2 in its wake up call system! I can't believe we were the first to tell them about it!
We met up with friends Angela and Jeff, who ran the Country Music Half as well, and walked over to the start.

Heading over to the start

At the Start

Running into co-worker Dixie

 There were about 15,000 runners for the marathon and half marathon. Never ceases to amaze me that out of all of those folks, I manage to run into a co-worker who was there to run it as well!

Beautiful morning for a run

The morning was absolutely glorious, not too hot or too cold. Once the sun came up, it was beautiful blue skies.

Moss draped oaks along the race course

The race course ran through Savannah's historic district three times. We started out on Bay Street, then doubled back along Gwinnett Street to Montgomery then onto Broad. We  then came back on Anderson Street and finished up in Forsyth Park. I even managed to pick up two quarters along the course. I saw another quarter and penny, but it was too crowded for me to stop and collect it.

the fountain at Forsyth Park

Finishers! Angela, Me and Jessica

Me and Jessica

Here we are with our finisher's medals. I didn't finish in my goal time, but I did finish in under 3 hours. I really had hoped to finish in 2 hours 45 minutes, which would have been a full 10 minutes better than my time in Nashville. I realize now that was a bit ambitious, and I was only 1.5 minutes slower than Nashville. All in all, I'm happy.

When Jessica and I finished the race, we were on the hunt for lunch. We ended up at a chain Italian restaurant near our hotel.

How every half marathon should end



The best part was the celebratory glasses of wine and pasta!
We realized at the finish area that because we ran both the Nashville race and the Savannah race, we were going to get a bonus medal.

Run two, get the Rock Encore medal

The Rock N Roll series provides bonus medals for more races you complete in a calendar year. One guy was picking up his 10 medal and it was HUGE. The others were on display and we totally fell in love with the extra bling. In particular, I now must have this:

Grand Slam medal for completing four races in a single year

For me to run four half marathons in a single year is going to be extraordinarily ambitious, but a girl's gotta dream, right?
If I can do it, I would completely rock.

 

 

Anything IS possible

There are times I know I am a complete runnerd.
Who else would run a 10K on Saturday morning and turn around and run a 5K at almost 2 a.m. on Sunday? Well, me.
I ran the Anything Is Possible 5K at 1:50 a.m. this morning. Why 1:50 a.m.? Well, you start the race right before Daylight Saving Time ends in the United States, so you end up finishing the race before you start it. Get it?
I really had no intention of running this race this year.
After all, I had signed up for the Strong Legs Run 10K Saturday morning. I really didn't expect to run another 5K on top of that! But I did!
I convinced my friend Kellie to run the Anything Is Possible 5K last year and she enjoyed it so much she wanted to do it again this year. How could I say no??

Me and Kellie

 To be honest, I was kind of dreading this race. I ran the best 10K time I'd run in years Saturday morning and had a very busy Saturday. I never had time to take a quick nap and feel refreshed for the race.
When the alarm went off at midnight I was not all that sure I was going to get my behind out of the nice warm bed! But I did.
And after the race was over I was so glad that I had.
Kellie invited a couple more friends along.

Me, Sasha, Joy and Kellie

Sisters, Sasha and Joy

Sasha and Joy are sisters and they are just as nice as they can be. There were really good sports to do a 5K in the middle of the night!
We all had fun. Kellie absolutely smoked the race, coming in at 25 minutes.
I ended up running, even though I had fully intended on walking, but my legs still felt pretty good. I didn't too badly, even though I was a little slower than last year.
Here I am coming in at the finish, courtesy of Kellie, who is Ms. Speedy.

At the finish

Today I have taken it easy, enjoying a nice walk with a neighbor.
Next up is the half marathon in Savannah. Will I do better than my time in Nashville earlier this year?
After all of this training, I truly believe anything is possible.

Strong Legs, Run

I ran my fastest 10K race this morning in at least three years.
I did the Kids II Strong Legs Run 10K this morning, held at Turner Field in downtown Atlanta.
I know I've mentioned this before, but downtown Atlanta is hilly. The roads are deceptive when you are in a car, but on foot, it's easy to see.
The race started early, and it was lovely to see the sun shining on the gold dome of the Georgia Capitol.

Morning breaks on a beautiful fall day

I had not run this race before, but some veterans told me the route was changed a bit this year. Turns out some road construction was the cause of that, but the race did turn down Auburn Avenue, an historic African-American area, and we turned a corner right at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached. The King Center is right near by. It reminded me of a half marathon I ran several years ago downtown and when we ran by the church, the choir was out singing. It was incredible!
No choirs today, but it still was wonderful to run by there and be reminded of history.
This race was timed, as many are that I run, but when I read the instructions, it said that it wouldn't be timed beyond 75 minutes. It has been a long while since I've run a 10K in under 75 minutes!
But I did so well in the 10 miler last Sunday, I wanted to try to push myself. I thought I had a shot at coming in right on the money.
Turns out, I was off by just 2 minutes! I came in at 1 hour, 17 minutes. And that's the best 10K time I've had in years. And it turns out the results were published, so maybe I didn't read the instructions correctly. That mistake pushed me, however, so it was a happy mistake on my part.
I even found a penny during a short walk break. I saw another penny, but I had to let it be. I was pushing for time at that point.
As tired as these strong legs are, I've got another race tonight -- that crazy 1:50 am race that starts right before the time change, but more about that later.
For now, I'll just say my strong legs do run.