A Wrinkle in Time

Fall temps have finally arrived in Atlanta, just in time for Daylight Saving Time to end and for me to run the crazy Anything Is Possible 5K.
I ran it this year with my friend Sasha, and thankfully it did not rain!
Last year was such a mess! This year it was really nice out. I just had a light jacket to start out with.

Me and Sasha before the race

This is held out at Town Center at Cobb shopping mall. We run around the perimeter road of the mall twice. It's nice because there is absolutely no vehicle traffic to worry about. The bad thing is the lighting is really poor on some parts of the course, so I have to pay attention to my feet for fear I'll trip over something. But, because it is so dark, I actually could see Orion's belt and other stars!
Here we are coming in for the finish:

I finished!

Sasha finished!

We always get pajama bottoms at this race, rather than a T-shirt, which I really like. This year we also got a glow-in-the-dark finisher's medal.

It really does glow around the edge

But Sasha and I both thought there were far fewer people at the race this year. In year's past it has been packed. Not this year. Makes me wonder how much longer this race will be sponsored.
We'll see. But for 2016, I managed to race through a wrinkle in time.

Sleep deprived and wet

I ran that crazy time change 5K last night, or rather early this morning.
Last year it was so cold, tonight is was so wet!
It poured the whole three miles of the Anything is Possible 5K, where the race starts at 1:50 a.m., just before Daylight Saving Time ends. So, we "fall back" and finish the race before we start it. But here I am with Joy and Sasha, my intrepid and crazy friends who did it with me!

Joy, Sasha and me

Recognize that blue rain poncho? That poncho is about two and half years old and I have gotten more than my fair share out of it! I'd really rather not!
The bad part about the rainy race tonight was how few people showed up. Not surprising, but in nicer weather the Anything is Possible 5K is a near party atmosphere, with lots of music, lots of food.
We tried to get some food at one vendor and it ran out just as we walked up.
We didn't stick around this year. Back to our cars to dry off and warm up.
For this race, rather than a T-shirt, we get pajama bottoms. They came in handy for the rest of night. I'm still a little sleep deprived, but I'm nice and warm and dry now.
Until next year, crazy friends!

Let's do the time warp, again!

Like last year, I ran two different races this past weekend.
I ran the Strong Legs Run 10K on Saturday morning, then got up around midnight to run the Anything is Possible 5K.
After I did it last year, I swore I wouldn't do that again, yet there I was Nov. 1, lined up in the cold and stiff wind to run the Strong Legs Run 10K, knowing I'd be back out in the cold and wind about 16 hours later!
This year's Strong Legs Run really was pretty brutal. I called it the running hell trifecta -- hills, cold and wind. I think the wind gusts were up to 40 mph, and just for fun there was a little freezing rain that kept hitting me in the face.
I was very glad those six miles were over! I was about 2 minutes slower than last year, which was a bit disappointing. Oh well! It's done.
Then, just before the time changed to Standard Time here in the United States, I was up in the dark to meet my friends Sasha, Joy, and Kellie, and new friend Amanda, to run that crazy Anything is Possible 5K again.
The race starts at 1:50 a.m., just 10 minutes before the time "falls back" to Standard Time, meaning it suddenly becomes 1 a.m. and you end up finishing the race before you start.
It was still very cold and a bit breezy on this one, too. You can see how bundled up we are!

My crazy friends!

All of us trying to stay warm

We didn't stay too long after the race. We headed back to our homes and our warm beds!
The fun thing about this race, other than I have nutty friends willing to do this one with me, is instead of a T-shirt, we get flannel pajama bottoms instead. Those came in very handy this cold, cold weekend.

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.

A wrinkle in time

Once again this year, I ran a 5K race I swore I would not run again, but this time, I really enjoyed it.
This morning, at 1:50 a.m., I ran the Anything is Possible 5K. In the states, the race begins 10 minutes before most of the country returns to Standard Time. We "fall back" an hour. So at 2 a.m., it becomes 1 a.m. And all of the runners finish the race before they even started it.
I ran this last year by myself (my friend Nicole was sick and couldn't run) and in very cold temps.
What made this race so much more enjoyable this year were 1) I ran it with my friend Kellie, 2) the swag was a pair of pajama bottoms and 3) it was about the balmiest November night I can remember. It was in the upper 60s when we ran. I wore a T-shirt and capri running pants and about half way through I was wishing I had worn my running skirt!
Now, that temp won't last. We are already supposed to head back down to the low 60s and upper 50s for highs this week.

Kellie and me before the race

 Kellie and I adorned ourselves with glow bracelets and necklaces. Some runners really got decked out with blinking lights and glow sticks. Others were running in their pajamas. One woman ran with curlers in her hair. That was funny. I should have gotten her picture for this blog. I hope those curlers stayed in while she was running!
Kellie is a much faster runner than I am, but what is turning out to be quite nice for me, is she waits at the finish line and snaps a picture of me crossing.

Finishing up

What was funny about the race was the time on the finish line showed your actual race time, but also your "negative" time, with the clocks moved back. The one part that was kind of off-putting in the race was the area where they had set up strobe lights and called it the "Time Warp." Mostly it was hard to see with those strobe lights.

At the end of the race there was food, music and fun. Kellie and I stayed a little while, but then headed home. I put on my new PJ bottoms and hit the bed. Getting up at midnight to go run a race has left me feeling a little bleary-eyed all day.
There was a little pitfall this week in my family's life. My brother's oldest son, Chase, fell and broke his collar bone on Halloween. However, ever the trouper (and a 6-year-old who wasn't going to miss trick or treating), he got out to get his candy. I'm not sure he was able to wear his Batman costume. My brother said he was the "one-armed Ninja." All's well that ends well, I suppose

Chase sporting his sling and Gavin sporting his monkey blanket

If I could go back in time, I think I'd try to prevent the broken collar bone.
But since I can't, I'll just have to settle for a fun "wrinkle in time" 5K.

Anything is Possible

I ran one of the most unusual races early this morning, the Anything is Possible 5K.
Here in the United States, Daylight Saving Time ended at  2 a.m., and some race director somewhere came up with a bright idea to run a 5K race just before the time changes back and hour -- so the runners can say they finished the race before it started.
The race started up in Kennesaw, Ga., around Town Center mall. It was cold and when my alarm went off at midnight to get up for the race I really had second, and third, thoughts about having signed up for this race.
I bundled up and drove up there around 1 a.m. It was the only time I have ever been able to set my cruise control on a highway in metro Atlanta and keep it on for the whole drive.

All bundled up before the Anything is Possible 5K

I wore some glow necklaces and those blinking arm lights from the Firefly 5K I did earlier this year.
The course was twice around the outer street of the mall, so it was relatively flat, but parts of the course were pretty dark,which I didn't like. I'm always fearful of tripping and taking a bad fall. I've taken two really bad falls while running, so that's why I am fearful of ever doing it again. (I'll blog about those later!)
And while I was running I spotted two dimes. Can you believe? As dark as it was out there, I happened to spot them under some of the street lights. But there were runners behind me and I could not get them. I'm hoping a walker or two along the course found them.
I had a fairly fast time, for me.
And the funny thing about this race was my Runkeeper application got fooled. Because of the time change, Runkeeper showed my time for the race as -22 minutes! YES! I'm a rock star!!
I guess it DOES go to show, Anything is Possible.