Another Long Run

This morning I joined the Galloway group in Raleigh again for another long run. There was a chance of rain, but it ended up being great weather--overcast skies, a slight breeze, and occasional spits of rain.

I was glad to see my Junior League friend, Susan, and her husband there. She ended up trying the 13-minute pace group with me and had a strong run. I'd glad she decided to sign up too!

We ended up going at least 5.6 miles, which is what my Garmin said. (I waited until we started running before I got my watch going. We walked a few tenths of a mile beforehand to warm up.) Total time for me was 1:19:37! I know--moving forward for more than an hour in a run/walk/run pattern sounds like a long time (especially for me!), but the time went by very quickly! Yay!

Jingle Bell Run 5K Race Report

This morning I ran in the Jingle Bell Run 5K in Raleigh, NC. It was a beautiful morning, but chilly! I wore a new pair of leggings, and a new longsleeve Duke t-shirt as well, so I felt comfortable. I got there early so I could be sure to get a decent parking space, and to walk around my old stomping grounds a bit. The race started and ended at St. Mary's School, where I graduated from high school! Much looks the same from the outside, but there have been some changes as well. I took my camera with me this morning and took some pictures. The picture on the left is one of the main buildings on campus. It's a pretty school.

There were some festive costumes out for the Jingle Bell Run! Although this picture is blurry, and I was on the wrong side of these people (the people in the boxes and the Santa), here's a sampling of what I saw outside the registration area!

The goodie bags for this race included a pedometer and some Burt's Bees Lip Balm (yay!), as well as a long sleeve t-shirt and bells for our shoes, a cute idea! They suggested we put the bells on the opposite shoe from the timing chip, and since one shoe already had my spare car key, I decided to go with just one bell, and that was plenty. :)

After I put my camera back in the car, I ran into not one, but two people I knew who were running as well! That's a first for me since I've started running again, so I was thrilled! I knew that someone on staff at the Rice Diet, who was going to try to make it with a friend of hers, and she did..ran into her in the restroom, of all places. (She was faster than I was, but yelled out to me whenever she passed me at turn-arounds! That was encouraging!) As I was leaving the registration area, I ran into a friend from the Junior League, whose blog I enjoy reading. I learned pretty recently that she's a runner too, but I didn't think to ask her if she was running this one. Of all the hundreds of people there, it was a treat to run into her without expecting to see her! I got to meet her hubby and a couple of their friends as well. (Wish I'd still had my camera!)

Near starting time, I went to the back of the pack, as usual. Lo and behold, my Junior League friend spotted me and encouraged me to come start the race with them. It was nice to have company for the pre-starting time stretching and chatting. As it turned out, S. (Jr. League buddy) and I were running in the same ballpark, as we ran mostly on Hillsborough Street, down to part of the Capitol area, then down to NC State and the Bell Tower, then back to St. Mary's School. She pulled out ahead of me at first, and I gradually caught up with and passed her. Then she caught up with me, and we pushed each other to the finish line! The official times haven't been posted, but we were right together at the end. It was a lot of fun having someone to run with, very serendipitous, since we hadn't traveled to Raleigh together, or even planned to meet and run together. We both had a really good race, finishing around 38 minutes! Turns out it was a PR for both of us!

My foot and knee aches and pains were pretty minor in this race, and for that I'm glad. The pf wasn't really a factor as I'd expected, since it was sore early yesterday morning. I spent some time massaging and icing it, as well as doing the ibuprofin thing. My right foot burned a little from the falling arches issue, and I felt some tendonitis on the right of my right knee, but it wasn't too bad. (I took at hot bath and some more ibuprofin when I got home, so I'm feeling much better!)

I feel relieved and happy to finally break 40 minutes! Now I'm looking to break the 35 minute mark, and branch out into longer races. There's a 4-miler in Durham I'm thinking about in February that's a good possibility! 10Ks, here I come!

When I know my official time, I'll post an update!

More sleep

I got some more sleep last night, but not quite enough. I had a Junior League meeting last night and didn't get home til nearly 10. Not much time to unwind before crawling into bed.

I did do 45 minutes on the elliptical machine this morning.

Hour-long workout and snacking opportunities

This morning I got back to an hour on the elliptical machine! It felt good, and I was surprised, since I had a Junior League meeting last night and didn't get to bed til nearly midnight (so I was tired!).

Okay, okay, so it wasn't totally the meeting's fault that I was up late. The Duke-UNC basketball game didn't start until 9:00, and the game was on TV, so I stayed up watching it. Duke was ahead for most of the game, so I was psyched to watch a Duke win, but they let it slip away, and Carolina stayed the course. Bummer.

By the way, survived the eating table at the Junior League meeting, and I even took one of my favorite things, homemade pimento cheese (and crackers to put it on). I did have three pieces of celery (no pimento cheese on them, either!), but no harm done when I got on the scales this morning. (Big surprise!) I did more socializing with a glass of water in my hand. I couldn't compliment anyone on how good their dish tasted, but I was able to find other things to talk about! :-)

I felt like snacking during the basketball game on TV (old habit) and after the loss (to feel better), but passed. This morning I felt better for skipping the late night snacking.