Running with Atlanta's Finest

I ran the Atlanta's Finest 5K Saturday morning, and despite having had a bad head cold earlier in the week, I managed to take three minutes off my prior 5K.
The Atlanta's Finest 5K includes participants from various law enforcement agencies. There were two police academy cadet formations, and both of them passed me. :)
I ran this with my friend Doug, who recently joined the Atlanta Track Club. He ran a really good time.
This is a fun race, pretty flat, and it's even better when you run it with friends.

Meaningful Miles and wine

I pretty much lost my mind yesterday and signed up to run two 5Ks.
Turns out I could only run one of them, the Back on My Feet Meaningful Miles 5K, that morning. It was SO HOT for the Ultimate Wine Run 5K at 5 p.m. Saturday I could only walk.
I really do enjoy the Meaningful Miles 5K and the cause it supports -- helping homeless men and women through running.
The morning race was humid, but I actually ran a minute faster than last week, so that was good.
I got home, took a nap, then got ready for the second 5K of the day.
It was held out at Turner Field. We had a group of six of us and our team name was the Pinot Pacers.

Pinot Pacers ready to run!

It was so hot. It was 90 degrees and we all attempted to run a bit of it, but almost immediately I had to start walking. I didn't put any sunscreen on, and I didn't bring water with me. Mistake!
Still, we had fun, despite some of the organizational issues of this race. Let's just say, there wasn't much organization and I won't run this race again.
We did finish, and we did get some wine at the end, but 90 degree wine isn't so refreshing!

Finishers!

Susan and Carolyn

Michelle, Dana and Angela

Me (being photobombed, LOL)

Finisher's medal

 We got a finisher's medal, a stemless wine glass and we also got a bonus wine glass because we had the VIP package.

My new wine glass. ha ha

This will come in handy at the beach in Virginia Beach in October!
After the race, we all went out for pizza and had a great time. It was just a fun group of women, most of whom just met each other, but we all got along great and had commonalities. Just so fun.
I will say I got home and considered watching some of the Olympics, but I was sunburned and really tired. After all, I ran some meaningful miles and had wine with friends! I had a big day.

Are you ready for some football?!

I ran the Atlanta Track Club's Tailgate 5K this morning in Chastain Park.
In year's past, this was known as the Jog Days of Summer 5K. This year they put a decidedly college football spin on it.
As I walked up to pick up my race number, I saw my Missouri Tigers represented.

Fight Tigers, fight for Old Mizzou!

It was then I realized I didn't wear my Mizzou shirt! I actually have a Mizzou tank top I could have worn on this hot, humid morning.
I got there early enough to walk around a bit and walked down to a little pond in the park. Some new friends saw me stop and thought I'd brought them some breakfast.

Hey, where's our breakfast?!

This race was my first in two weeks and all this week my hips have felt tight in yoga and pilates classes. So I should not have been surprised that my hips felt tight during the race. There is also a giant hill between miles 1 and 2. Ugh! That was a long walk.
I met a gentleman named Steve at the end of the race. He's attempting to run a half marathon in all 50 states and we found out we both ran the Rock N Roll New Orleans and the Run the Bluegrass this year. We both agreed the wind at the end of the Lexington race was awful!
I was glad to get back to running this morning. It won't be long before I'm training for my fall half marathon in Denver. And it won't be long until it's time to tailgate for some college football.
Are you ready?

4 miles of heat

I'm behind in the blog, so let me get caught up.
I ran the Atlanta Track Club's Decatur-DeKalb YMCA 4 Miler two weeks ago. Met up with Angela, Carolyn and Susan for the race.
It was a hot four miles, and Angela's knee began to bother her badly, so we walked a good deal of it. That one won't go down as one of my fastest!
But, it's always fun to run with friends. We had planned to go to breakfast afterward, but ended up walking up to Arden's Garden smoothie shop and had a healthier treat.

Susan, me, Carolyn and Angela

The day after the race, I drove up to South Carolina to pick up my nephew Chase and had a fun half-week with him in Atlanta. We went to Zoo Atlanta and the Children's Museum of Atlanta, plus other little trips around town. Then I got his younger brother Gavin for the rest of the week and we did all the same sightseeing. It was a whirl of a week. Those boys keep me on my toes!
It was grand, and I enjoy being a fun aunt.
That's sort of why I haven't run in a couple of weeks. I needed to recover from all the fun I had with my nephews!

Hot and steamy Peachtree Road Race

I ran my 15th Peachtree Road Race 10K on July 4.
Last year it rained down buckets. This year, it was hot as the gates of hell.
Really, I was all set to run the race in my mid-packer place, but I was invited by the Atlanta Track Club to run the "media challenge," which was a race among seven other media types for bragging rights.
Honestly, I wasn't their first choice. I wasn't anybody's choice. Atlanta Track Club asked my big, big boss to participate, but he was out of town July 4th weekend. And he gave them my name. And they looked me up and saw I was an ATC member. And lo and behold, the track club invited me to participate.
And honestly, I was very exited to participate. And I'm still very excited I got to participate. But it as a very different experience.

My new race number

So, I had to give up my original Peachtree Road Race number. Here is my Atlanta Business Chronicle number. We got to start up front, way before my original number.

Wow. Way up front

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

 I was so far up front, I got to see the  behind-the-scenes look at how the race is put together. I got to see Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed before he addressed the crowd before he began his trot down Peachtree Road.

Honor guard getting ready

 Again, I was so up front, I got to see the color honor guard get ready for its part of the ceremony.

Color guard performing at the Peachtree Road Race

Old Glory at the start

I got to see the woman singing our National Anthem, and the elite women and men start their races. It was almost surreal. Then, it was our time to go. We started between waves B and C. Let me just say right here, I was scheduled to run in wave L!! Way in the back.

Getting ready to start the media challenge

Media peeps at the start 

So there we were, eight of us media types to start the media challenge.  In a moment, we were off. And let me just say, all those other folks took off like a shot. Me, on the other hand, knew immediately I was out of my league.
I came out fast, but could not keep up. Soon on, I knew I needed to run my own race, but it was so odd since I was running down Peachtree without anyone around me at first. Soon enough, I was being passed by many a runner in waves behind me.
Did I mention how hot it was for this race? Dear heavens!
Last year I needed water wings to swim down Peachtree. This year, I would have welcomed a little rain.
I had foot and leg problems almost immediately. Calf cramps and toe numbness meant I was not got going to have my best race ever. So I walked quite a bit of the race.
But I got to the finish!
And  I was dead last in the media challenge. Well, drat!

I finished!

Susan, Carolyn and me

 As a track club member, I got to hang out at Park Tavern with fellow track club members, so I met up with friends Susan, Carolyn and Angela.

Headed home with Angela

It was not a race without trouble. I saw two runners down at Peachtree and 14th street. Then  I saw a runner go down well after the race at the MARTA station at Five Points.
In all it was a bittersweet experience doing the media challenge this year. I won't do it again. I want to be back in the middle of the pack where I belong.

Trotting with the possums

I got up before the songbirds Saturday to run the Possum Trot 10K in Roswell.
It's the 38th annual running of this race, which takes place near Chattahoochee Nature Center and runs along the Chattahoochee River. It was a 7 a.m. start and the roads close at 6 a.m., which meant I left my house at 5:45 a.m.
I wasn't sure I was ready for a 10K. I've really slacked off from running since my foot had been bothering me so much, but this was a nice flat course and Saturday morning turned out to be cool for June and lower humidity than we had been having.
Still, I ran what I like to think was the "possum division," slow and ugly. Even with it being such a flat course I came in at 1:24:31.
You know you are slow when the race photographer is no longer at the finish line taking photos when you come in for the finish! I'm not kidding. He wasn't there. He'd moved up to the stage, where the awards ceremony was taking place.
Yes, I came in AFTER the awards had started. No need to stick around that morning to see if I'd placed in my age group. I knew with certainty I had not.
Still, it was a great little tune-up for the Peachtree Road Race coming up July 4. I was a little nervous that I hadn't gotten much running in prior to the Peachtree and wasn't sure how I'd manage, but I feel fine now that it will be OK.
Thank goodness for muscle memory!
I think I'd like to do this race again next year. My goal will be to finish before the race photographer leaves!.
Trot on, possums!

Ticking off a trail race

I returned to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers this year to run the Monastery 5K Run With the Monks.
I ran this race three years ago. The grounds are really lovely and this is a trail race. The first time I ran it, it had rained before the race, so the grounds were muddy. I remember race officials had put down hay along the route.
This year the route was dusty, and apparently, there was another difference: ticks.
As I walked up to get my race number, I was pointed toward bug spray "because the ticks have been bad this year." I just about drown myself in the spray! I sprayed my shoes twice, thinking I'd at least keep them from wanting to start up my body to begin with. I haven't found any now that the race is over, so I guess it worked!
I'd forgotten the giant hill from mile 1.5 to mile 2. Goodness!
Because it was a trail race, and a lot of it was shaded, it didn't feel too hot, even though this weekend has tied record heat. It got up to 96 degrees the day of the race, although it wasn't nearly that hot at race time.

On the grounds of Monastery of the Holy Spirit

One reason I wanted to run this race again was I was out of Abbey honey! The monastery has apiaries on the grounds and the monks sell local raw honey. It is delicious. I'm set for another couple of years!
I stuck around for the awards afterward. I didn't think I had won in my age group, but the awards were really nice engraved pint glasses, so I sure wanted to see if I had!
Sadly, I was a slowpoke on the trail run, so I did not garner a pint glass.
But at least I can say I ticked off this race. Ha!