Kumbaya

A three part blog post

Part 1

Activity: Run
Date: 06/07/09 08:12 AM
Distance: 3.13 miles
Time: 0:31:25
Speed: 6.0 mph
Pace: 10' 02 min/mile
Calories: 299



Yesterday was the AFLAC Iron Girl 5k/10K event. I did the 5k. The above stats are just an estimate based on my GPS, as official results haven't been posted yet. This was a chipped event, so my time might be either higher or lower than what my GPS shows.

FINAL RESULTS
2842 Irene M F4549 335 27/157 335 31:11 10:02

My morning started early, at 5 AM, however the early morning hour is getting to be the norm, and I find my self waking up early without an alarm clock. I donned my neon green t shirt, the one from my second marathon, which sort of matches the neon green of the Heffers race day shirts. I didn't want to mess with the Heffer's Chi, Karma, color coordination, fashion sense, or something, since I was getting a ride up to the event with AKA Alice and some of the herd. Besides, the color made it easy to find everyone.

I'm soooooooooo glad I opted for the 5k. I just wasn't ready for the 10K, even though I found a few track club members there who were in the 10K who also ran the marathon last week. The race began near the Del Mar race track, on the fair grounds midway, and finished right on the race track. It was weird running on the race track because we were running on the poly-crap. (Yes, that's the proper technical term, as used by AKA Alice). It's basically recycled carpet ground up and spread on the race track, making it softer for the horses, however, more difficult for people to run on. I understand that this year the poly-crap was flattened a little, making the surface a little easier for the runners, but it was still weird. This was one of those runs where I wished they had starting corrals because, for some odd reason, there were a lot of walkers who began their walk right in front of the start line. There was plenty of going slower than I needed to at the start, just because I couldn't get around some of the walkers. I really wasn't going for speed, but still, it's a chipped event if you're running, meaning there are plenty of people running for a time goal. I saw a few track club members on the 5K run, and it was fun watching everyone race in to the finish the 10K.

The goodies at the end of the race were pretty decent. They offered a nice tech t-shirt, a finisher's medal, a bagged breakfast (which I brought home only for my grandson to scarf it down), a stuffed AFLAC duck that says "AFLAC!" three times when you squeeze it, plus the usual stuff you get in race goody bags, like lip balm and sample sized Luna bars.

I also went to breakfast at the High Dive in my neighborhood with the AKA Alice and the herd. After a couple of mimosas we were rather relaxed and happy. Kumbaya.

Mik, Kat, Me, Betty, AKA Alice

Check out AKA Alice's blog for more pictures and detailed explanations. I left my camera in the car during the race.

Part 2

Last night we had a few of friends over to help celebrate my birthday. This year my birthday is on a Tuesday, a work day, and I honestly didn't want a big deal party. It has absolutely nothing to do with turning 50, as the age thing has never been an issue, it has more to do with the past year I've had, which pretty much ripped up and rearranged everything I do and believe in. Some of the stuff I've blogged about, such as the injury, all the other stuff is off limits. It's amazing that I never needed Prozac. I'm ready to put the past year behind me in a subdued way. Our friend Sam played his guitar for me, well all of us - we were all sitting around a back yard table. Sam played several classic Spanish songs (just beautiful), and since our friend's little girl was there, he played some songs for her, like "Itsy Bitys Spider." (So cute!) The gathering was simple and far from over the top, but that's what I wanted. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. The office birthday celebration is on Wednesday, but there's three of us with June birthdays, it's going to be anything but low key. My office can get a little goofy and loud. It's all good.

Part 3

Today was sports rehab with a twist because it's technically not rehab any more, but we're still working out the kinks from after the marathon, and that's where the rehab part still applies. I worked on the piriformis muscles and hips with a lot of foam roller, a lot of stretching, then the weights with deep lunges, pylometrics, and running. Lather, rinse, repeat.

My brother called me this morning (and yesterday) because he won a second place medal in a 10K he did somewhere in Northern California. I don't remember what his time was, something ridiculously fast. He always calls me after a race, which he did yesterday as we were leaving the AFLAC race venue, just to say he finished and that he might have PRed. He called up this morning all excited that he placed second in his age group, and got a medal. My brother is 53 and there's some hella fast guys in his age group. No one is slowing down, even with age, so there's plenty of competition. He always comes in 4th place in smaller races, just by seconds. I'll post his results once they show up on Athlinks.

Thursday's song:
Rollin' With My Homies - Coolio - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

I've just realized... I linked AKA Alice's blog 8 times...