Laboring on Labor Day

I ran a new race this year, the Avondale Estates Labor Day 5K in Avondale Estates.
I ran this one by myself, but met up with some of the Moms Run This Town Decatur group. I was invited the join the group earlier this year, even though my children have fur on them.
Turns out, the organization is transitioning to calling itself She Runs This Town to be more inclusive, but I enjoyed meeting the women in the group today. Two of them even won awards in their age groups!
I stuck around for the awards. You never know! But I didn't place in my age group.
No worries, I ran the town Labor Day and that was reward enough.

Rocking a 5K in Cleveland

I've added Ohio to the list of states I've run a race in, and had a terrific time in Cleveland.
I did the Komen Race for the Cure 5K with my college friends Patti and Susan, resuming our girls weekend. In fact, you might say we got the band back together!
Susan suggested Cleveland last year as our city for the Komen 5K because she was keen to visit the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. I was game, thinking the attraction would be cool to visit. I had no idea how cool that attraction would be!
I got to Cleveland Aug. 25 and met Susan at the airport. We took transit to the public square in downtown Cleveland and walked the short distance to our hotel. Goodness, I was soaked when I got to the hotel. It must have been mid 90s and really humid. I guess that's because Lake Erie is right there!
Thursday we wandered down to the area around the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. There is a small sand volleyball park there and Thursday night must have been group night. All three courts were going and folks seemed to be waiting to play as well.
We saw the sunset toward the west of the lake, too.

Guess where we are?!

Sunset

Sunset

You can see the volleyball in the foreground and the skyline in the background

Cool public art

Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, from a distance

Friday morning we headed out to pick up our race packets for the Saturday 5K and we also visited the Great Lakes Science Center and the William G. Mather steam ship.
The science center was really interesting, especially the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, which had a lot of information about the Apollo missions, since astronaut John Glenn was from Ohio.

Apollo capsule

Three men in there?

Too small for me!

Ready for blast off!

Walking on the moon

The William G. Mather

About to take a three hour tour?

Who's driving this thing?

 I was also very surprised at how much public art is in downtown Cleveland. Atlanta really could take a lesson. Here are some of my favorites:

The Free Stamp

It really looks like a giant stamp

The orchestra. This was in front of an office building.

As Susan and I went to tour the Mather, we stopped at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, where a duet was performing for free. They were OK, but I won't be looking for them on a paid stage any time soon. In fact. everyone stopped paying attention to them when this little fellow, looking REALLY thin, came out of the bushes. Didn't seem to be all that afraid of the people that began to fawn over him/her, so maybe that means this little critter gets handouts and expected some!

The Hall of Fame mascot?

 Patti arrived Friday and we did the 5K Saturday morning. The weather was really nice. Still very humid, but sunny. In fact, the race organizers kept talking about how nice it was compared to last year, when apparently it poured. Glad we did it this year!

Komen selfie before the race began

Along the route in Playhouse Square

More public art: A giant chandelier in Playhouse Square

Close up of the chandelier

Playhouse Square. The second ornate sign over the street

Along the route

We finished the race, cleaned up and headed out for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

For those about to rock!

We got there before noon and left around 7 p.m. I am so glad we went early. It would have been a shame to get there in early afternoon and only have a couple of hours to see the exhibits. In fact, I could have gone back a second day if I'd had the time. There was a lot I'd like to go back to see or see more of.
Above the door as you walk in is the iconic phrase: For Those About to Rock, We Salute You!
The first three floors are dedicated to inductees to the hall of fame. There were costumes, instruments, hand-written lyrics, records, concert bills, posters and tickets, and other memorabilia.

We were there during the Louder Than Words special exhibit, spotlighting music's influence on social and political issues, done in conjunction with the Newseum in Washington, D.C. It was really well done and I really enjoyed it. Wish I could have taken more time there, but we were getting tired and hungry!
Again, Cleveland has some really cool public art. One collection of the art was guitars, painted by local artists, and strewn throughout the city. There was one such guitar at our hotel, but I forgot to take a photo of that. However, I did get this one of the Beatles, and the tribute to Prince, which was located at the airport.

Beatles guitar

Prince tribute guitar

I had a great time in Cleveland. And I can't wait until we get the band back together again next year. And with that, mic drop.

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.