One friend who I thought would commit was out of town. Forgiven.  Another signed up and then ended up out of town. Forgiven.  The others?  Who knows.  So that meant it was just me.

Really, it was a well-timed race.  I ran a 10 miler last weekend and am running another one next weekend, so I wasn’t really sure what sort of workout to do this weekend.  A 5K race seemed as good an idea as any.  And hey, a girl can always use another t-shirt.  Especially an organic cotton one.

This course was surprisingly hilly, but also nice.  It ran partway along a trail that I didn’t realize existed.  Terrible of me, given just how close it is to my apartment.  I may have to check it out again sometime.  I knew during the first mile that this was going to be a tough race.  It was an out and back and the first mile was very much downhill.  Which meant that the last mile was very much uphill.

Great race support.  Tons of volunteers dancing and cheering people on.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves much more than the runners.  Or maybe they were just trying to keep moving because of how cold it was.  When I left my apartment, it was 39 degrees out!  Not bad running weather, but I was definitely cold afterwards.

I really didn’t worry too much about time on this one.  Someday, I want to do a 5K in under 30 minutes, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon and I’m okay with that.  I finished in 32:34, only 30 seconds off my PR from a few years back.  And much better than the 5K I ran last summer with my old roommate where we ran slow and I felt gross afterwards.

I have to admit, when I saw that one of the race sponsors was Whole Foods, I was excited.  That had to mean tasty post-race food, right?  I mean, let’s be honest.  We run to eat.  And I was right.  Post race, we had water and  bananas and Clif Bars and HonestTea and VitaCoco (their van is adorable!).  Run to eat, baby, run to eat.

And then I went to Whole Foods and got breakfast, loitered in Borders for an hour or so reading triathlon books, then went and picked up my race packet for next week’s race.  April is a crazy month for me.

Somehow, I managed to convince some friends from college to run the race as well.  It’s amazing how so many of us have become runners.  The joke is that we were so lazy in college that we would order pizza rather than walk to the dining hall (which couldn’t have been a full block walk).  Now we voluntarily go out and run ten miles.

I was really hoping to finally make this the race where I finally break 1:50 for a ten mile race.  Yes.  I’m slow.  At the beginning of the year, this was a feasible goal, but after getting sick in March and getting thrown off my training schedule, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.  A PR was definitely a possibility though.

The course itself is gorgeous.  It starts and finishes near the Washington Monument and, of course, passes tons of cherry trees.  It’s a relatively flat course, and it’s always a fun race.  It’s not a huge race, but it’s a good group of people.  The course is well-staffed, and there’s always someone offering beer somewhere along the course.  This year it was beer and Oreos.  Deeeelicious. Not that I ate any.

I knew that I was the slowest of my group of friends and fully intended to finish last, which was okay by me.  I even figured I would be in the last corral.  But I was wrong!  My time from last year bumped me into the second to last corral.  A green bib at last!  I was so excited.  So we got to start together, and then promptly lost each other.  As I ran, I was checking my watch.  For the first few miles, I thought that maybe my 1:50 goal was in reach.  But as I settled into my pace, I realized it just wasn’t going to happen.  I was going to be close, but it wasn’t really doable.  That was solidified when I got stopped up at a water stop around mile 6.  I wasn’t even getting water, there was just an unusual collision of people and some girl slipped in front of me.  She was okay, but it was all a time delay.

By the last mile, I just kept chanting in my head “One more mile, less than 12 minutes to go” (knowing that my pace was closer to an 11 minute mile at that point).  And I kept counting down.  Six minutes.  Five minutes.  Three minutes.  I can do anything for three minutes.  And then it was done.

Final time?  1:51:32.  Only 92 seconds over my goal.  And a new PR!  Averaged an 11:10 pace.  Last year it was an 11:17 pace, so I’m improving.  I’ve got two more ten milers this year (one in a week!) but I think the Cherry Blossom course is going to be where I finally hit that goal, thanks to the lack of hills.  Maybe next year!

And now for the details that those of you thinking of running this race want to know.  Transportation to the race?  Easy.  Metro opens early.  Course amenities?  Water and Gatorade, pretty standard fare.  Post-race amenities?  Water, bananas, and muffins.  Again, pretty standard fare.  This year, they also offered the option to purchase a finisher’s medal (purchased when you register).  I didn’t purchase one, but I saw people wearing them and they were pretty.  The expo is small, but nice.  Good number of vendors and they do what they can to keep the lines moving.  It does get crowded picking up your number.  Not much swag involved in this race packet.  A t-shirt (that’s always horribly brightly colored) with the option of upgrading to a technical t-shirt.  Info about other races.  Nothing exciting.

All in all, I’m happy with how this race turned out.  I was nervous, knowing how slow I am and how fast my friends are, but it seemed like everyone was happy to wait for the slow runners to finish.  And that’s always nice.

I did notice that all my treadmill training has really helped me pick up my speed, but I’m no longer as comfortable on my normal hilly running route. I was getting good at modifying my pace to account for the hills, but now I find myself in or near HR Zone 5 and having to walk a bit (under a minute each time though).

I’m also trying to swim more as part of my crosstraining. I don’t use the gym as much during the summer months, so using the pool helps make me feel like I’m using my membership a little bit.

This week’s goal is to get back to regular strength training and start the hundred pushup and two hundred situp challenges.

Not too long until my half marathon.  Less than 50 days.  Unfortunately, as of Tuesday, my knee’s been a bit twingy, so I’m going to have to step back the mileage.  Down from 9 this weekend to 6.  It’s my own fault – I haven’t been doing enough strength exercise, due to the above mentioned busy.  Clearly, I should be doing more balanced workouts.  I’m hoping the relative rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, and strength work will do it.  I took a bit too much time off from running and stepped up my mileage too quickly.  I may just drop back to the Hal Higdon novice plan, which would mean not completing more than 10 or 11 miles before the race, but I’d rather be able to finish the race in no pain than be in pain just to get a good finishing time or worse, not being able to finish at all.

I’m planning to sign up for the Disneyland half marathon this fall.  It seems strange to sign up for a second race at that distance before I’ve even run one, but it would mean a third medal (for running a half marathon at both U.S. Disney parks), plus it’s the 5th anniversary of the Disneyland half, so it’s kind of a big deal.   Plus, committing to a race will keep me running through the summer heat.

Just about every weekend, I go out for a longer run.  I run in an area where I pass people of all ages, shapes, and sizes, doing all sorts of things – walking, running (both of these often with strollers or dogs or both), roller blading, biking, horseback riding, etc.  There are people of all skill levels out, and I’m often impressed by the huge packs of cyclists in their matching jerseys speeding along the road.  Personally, I would be afraid of crashing.  I don’t do well with speed outside of a car.

Today I went out for a 9 mile run, my last long run before next weekend’s 10 mile race.  Around mile 7, I passed a group of runners stretching.  And one of them had to comment.  “That chick is way too fat to run,” he said, and the others laughed.

Well first off, I was clearly running, so obviously, I’m not too fat to do it.

I’m not built like a runner.  I never will be.  I’m okay with that.  I also will never be fast.  It’s a combination of my build and my weight and a host of other factors, I’m sure, but I’m ok with not being fast.  I’m not out to win any races, and unless I’m still running in my 80’s, I have no chance of ever winning anything.

A quick glance around a popular running path will show you that runners come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are faster than others.  But they’re all out there doing something great.  I have friends who are significantly heavier than I am who could kick my ass in a race.  I have other friends who are significantly lighter than I am who couldn’t make it through half of the training run that I did today. I have runner friends who literally weigh twice what I weigh, but you know what?  They still run.

But what’s the point of making a crack at a runner who isn’t tiny and lithe?  What good does that do anyone?  I know some elites who think that allowing slow people in a race belittles the sport.  Why?  Does it make you any slower?  As long as people line up to start a race properly (fast people in the front, slow in the back), those slow people have no effect on you.  In fact, I’ve been in races where the course loops back on itself to finish where it started, which means that at some point, those leaders are going to pass the back of the packers.  And what happens then?  All those people in the back start clapping and cheering.  Because hey, that guy’s in the front, and look, there’s the lead woman.  Look at what they’re doing.  Sure, those of us at the back of the pack have no hope of ever being them, but that doesn’t mean we’re not impressed by what they’re doing.

This guy’s not going to make me stop running.  I hope he slipped in the mud and fell on his face today though.  But for a new runner, for someone just getting started and struggling to get through every workout, this might end their running career.  I’m not saying that everyone has to be nice.  Just be civil.

I’m having trouble grasping the fact that it’s September.  (And that I’ve lived here for two years – yikes.)  I’m not sure where the summer went.  Especially August. 

Oh wait.  August was the month of crazy.  My sister came to visit, and we went to museums and IKEA and ate more food than two girls should eat.  The following weekend was the celebrated Merellowicz wedding, which was probably the cutest wedding I’ve ever been to.  Sorry, other brides.  Amy’s happy bouncing during the service trumps all.  A few days after that, my parents arrived for touristing, restauranting, and football watching (Go Irish!).

And that brings us to now.  September should hopefully be a quiet month.  A lazy month.  A month of detoxing from the eating that occurred in the preceeding month.  I’m running the Army Ten Miler the first weekend of October, so I guess September will be a month of much running.  Thankfully, the weather is finally cooling off.  I don’t know how people in tropical climates manage to become runners.  They must be crazy.  Or maybe they run with portable air conditioners.  The added weight increases the benefits of the workout, after all.

I think this means I have a problem.

I spent about two hours yesterday putting together a tentative running schedule to get me through the winter and spring racing season.  Yes, I said winter and spring.  I know it’s only July 3.  I told you.  I have a problem.  Of course, I also have a big race in March that I’m really excited about.  I have this tendency to run races, then take a whole month off – so I’m hoping that creating a detailed schedule will mean that I will stick to it and not be screwed and end up with an over-use injury.  Again.

So I’m ramping up slowly.  I’m probably putting in a 6 miler this weekend, and I would like to make my base Sunday run at least 6 miles, hopefully a bit more.  It doesn’t seem like much to runners, but it seems like a lot to me!  I’ve got a good 5 mile loop that I love, so I need to figure out a good way to extend that.

I’m exciting, right?

Of course, I’m also watching swimming and gymnastics and diving, sports I always love watching.

Which reminds me – has anyone heard anything about Rhythmic Gymnastics this year?  I feel like we used to see that on tv at least occasionally.  Does the sport even still exist?

I am also a little concerned with how China trains their athletes.  It sounds like kids are shipped off to training camps by the government and don’t get to see their parents.  I was saddened to hear that a number of athletes didn’t even have their parents at the games because they couldn’t afford to be there.

In non-Olympics talk, I’m almost done going back through my beginner running program.  Going back to a beginner program after being sick for so long was definitely the right plan.  It’s amazing how much I’ve progressed and how much easier it feels now.  I was really struggling when I first started back up.

Randomly, I think I bruised my thumbs assembling shelves the other day.  I think I should call in sick for a week so I can heal.  My job would totally go for that.

I recorded the opening ceremonies on my DVR, and I’m in the process of watching it. I just didn’t have a 4 hour chunk of time to sit and watch the whole thing. So far, I’m really impressed. China really likes having large groups of people doing things in unison, don’t they. I can’t imagine the rehearsals for an event like that. I’m also a little bit horrified at the money that had to be spent for that event and can’t help but think of all the other things that money could have been spent on. I’m sure that people are still struggling after the earthquake, for example.

On another sporting note, I’m still running. I finally feel like I’m getting back in shape. Coming back after 2+ months off was a real struggle at first. Running for five minutes made me feel like I was going to collapse. I’m still following my beginner’s training plan, but in the past week, it’s gotten a lot easier to make progress. I think I just had to get my body used to the running motion again. I’m going to continue to take it incredibly slow, with walk/run patterns, so that I don’t end up sick or injured again, but it’s nice to be able to run again. No 10 milers in my near future though.

I’m disappointed that I’m getting back into running as the days are getting shorter though! I’m going to have to figure out a solid alternative to running outside once winter comes. At least for the weekdays. While living in STL, I didn’t mind running before the sun came up. I was one of probably 30 people out, and things were very well lit. I can run on the sidewalk along a fairly major road here, and there are a lot of cars out, but it just doesn’t feel safe, and I think I should go with my instincts on that one.

I guess that means back to the treadmill. Which feels like a hamster wheel sometimes. If only it looked like one too.

By the way, how did you get to sing in the choir at the Capitol Fourth?  Can you share your background in music?  You’re also a runner!  When do you find the time?  What is your favorite type of music and who is your favorite artist?  These are things we’d love to know about you.

I actually got to sing in the choir at A Capitol Fourth almost by accident.  The choir that performs is officially the Choral Arts Society of Washington.  Of which I am not a member.  Because they don’t have enough members available every year to perform in A Capitol Fourth (it’s summer, people are busy, spending time with family, etc), they put out the call to other local choral groups, including the group that I am in, the Cathedral Choral Society.  A few weeks back, I got an e-mail through our listserv asking if anyone wanted to sing on the Capitol grounds for the Fourth of July.  I honestly didn’t know that this meant A Capitol Fourth – I really didn’t know what it involved.  But we were given a person to contact for more information.  So I did, and I secured myself a spot, and then I realized what I had volunteered for.  Dumb luck, I guess!  I’m definitely watching closely for the call for volunteers next year!

I actually ended up in CCS almost by accident as well.  I was telling a co-worker that I missed singing, and she told me she had a friend in CCS and sent me the address to the website.  Just so happened that auditions were coming up in a week, so I auditioned and I was in.  I actually only sang one concert with CCS this season – I auditioned in January and sang the March concert, then was out of town for the May concert.  But I’ve reauditioned and am planning to participate next season.  Singing in the National Cathedral is incredible!

My background in music… I think I sang my first solo in church when I was in kindergarden or first grade.  It was a Thanksgiving song and I still remember some of the words.  I sang all through school, performing in choirs at school, cantoring at church, performing in musicals both in school and with community groups.  In college, I pretty much ditched voice for band.  I could sing anywhere at anytime, but getting the chance to play my French Horn was much more rare.  I still took voice lessons and gave a senior recital, but never bothered to major or minor in music.  I didn’t want something I loved to become a chore.  I’ve sung a few weddings as well, though not since I moved to D.C.

Other than voice, as I mentioned, I play the French Horn, though not much lately.  Played from 4th grade through college though.  I started piano lessons in kindergarden and took lessons for years, but it’s definitely not one of my talents.

I don’t know what my favorite type of music is.  I like a lot of different kinds of music, and it kind of all depends on my mood.  But I really like a good melody, especially if it’s something I can sing along to.  But it can be a slow ballad, an upbeat pop song, or the chorus to a rap.  Doesn’t matter.  I also really like orchestral music with a lot of brass.  I loved getting to sit right behind the orchestra (and right behind the horns!) while they played John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare last week.  It was so good that it gave me chills.

Favorite artist?  It probably all goes back to James Taylor, to be honest.  I was sort of raised on his music and you really can’t go wrong with his stuff.

According to iTunes, lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Kate Voegele, Girlyman, Hem, Vienna Teng, Michael Buble, LeAnn Rimes and Timbaland.  Yes, that’s a weird “and,” I know.  But TH fans, I did just buy his album from the iTunes store and so far, I’m really liking what I hear!

When do I find the time to run?  Well, looking at my training log, the answer is “I don’t.”  But really, it’s not so hard to set aside 30 to 45 minutes after work to get in a workout at least three times a week, sometimes more depending on what’s going on that week.  I’d like to get back to working out before work, but 5:15 is just so early!  I try to put in a chunk of time on the weekends as well.

Thanks for the questions, Kris!  I really enjoyed answering them!