Racing for What Again?

I've been a little late reporting on Saturday's race, so I'm going to pour it out now. While I would love to say I've been recovering from the race the past few days, that would be a complete and total lie :) I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out with family and my God children. I brought down the house on the Connect (is it with a K?). It's funny because my B.F.F. actually practices in the hopes of beating me one day ( I don't own an Xbox) but it will never happen. One time we had a dance battle and she was doing really well, then her boyfriend dimed her out and mentioned how she practiced the same dance over and over again for the past week. I have a little secret though..... my baby sister (Curl Meets World) teaches my older sister and I all of the latest dance moves whenever she comes into down. That's right. I know how to Dougie, Jerk, do the Boot, Lean wit' it and Superman (just to name a couple). So Whenever My B.F.F. sets up these dance offs, I kill it. I'm sure we both look ridiculous but at the end of the day my scores just have to be higher than hers. Kind of like when running from a bear, you don't have to be FloJo, you just have to be faster than the guy next to you hahahahahaha.

The Race:
Distance: 10K
Difficulty: Hills (meh)
Time: 58:03
Place in Age Group: 5th
(Apparently all the runners slept in)

Back on topic. So Friday night I spent the night over my sister C.M.'s  house in preparation for the race or just to catch up on our shows. The Jury is still out :) I guess it was pretty fruitful because we ended up doing Yoga at 1:00 AM and I totally stretched out my poor neglected muscles. While I'm sure some of you have heard me diss Yoga.... it... felt..... amazing! I hate stretching and it's a great way to trick myself into doing something I despise. I'm not saying I'm going to join a sweat Yoga class any time soon, but I'm definitely thinking about picking up a 20 minute DVD. I think we only got about 4 hours of sleep that night and man I really didn't want to get out of bed!

Either way we got up and made it to the race just as the the horn blew. The race really didn't seem that bad at first. The first mile went by really fast (some idiot thought it would be cool to run the first mile at a 7:30 pace) and my music really had me going. I spent the majority of the time trying to swerve around people and possibly lip-syncing to One Republic. After the first mile we ran into neighborhood hills facing directly into the sun. I mean typically it wouldn't really bother me but...... the race organizers neglected to put up mile markers! How insane is it to have no idea where you are exactly and how far you have left? I felt like I was just repeating the same damn mile over and over again. Elementary school, house with blue shutters, Minivan, house with green shutters, barking Pomeranian. Over and over again,people!

I definitely had a mini-battle with another racer, too. You know when you're both running and kind of leap frogging each other. Did I mention it was a middle-aged, sweaty man that apparently lost his shirt along the course. Nothing like catching a sweaty man-boob and nipple in your peripheral vision. It was absurd! Every time I thought I had left him in the dust, his nipple would slip up on me like a horrible remake of Jaws or something!Ultimately I did out run him but the damage to my retinas is probably permanent. By time I made it to the last half mile, I was totally ready to get it over with. I even did that thing where I find this pint up energy to sprint the last leg of the run. I always feel so stupid! It's like I'm reliving my days as a sprinter. How crazy do I look crossing the finish line like I just finished a 100-meter dash. I'm surprised I didn't start jumping imaginary hurdles. Well  anyway, I totally ended up with some chaffing (I bet FloJo's thighs don't rub raw.....) and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a result of my magical sprint. All and all the race was OK, but I was a little disappointed with my time. I'm a person who likes to see instant results so it's crazy knowing that it's going to take time to get my body into gear with distances. I'm signing up for a 4th of July race so hopefully I'll see some improvement. Well I should probably go do something productive with my day like clean or stand over my husband's shoulder while he cooks (:P).

Stay Classy :)

Dirty Liars

So the other day I was reading a running magazine looking for suggestions on extending my runs. Of course I find what I'm looking for, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear (eat a pint of cookies and cream ice cream  to build leg strength and extend endurance). They suggested running twice a day at smaller distances but a longer distance overall. So instead of running  four miles, do two in the morning and another three at night. I definitely gave the article side eye after I read it, but figured I couldn't discount it before I ever even tried it. What if breaking up my runs is the missing link between me and an Iron Man competition or something? Back to reality now. Since my day already went to crap I figured what else could possibly go wrong? I might as well try the method for kicks and giggles. My first run was in DC and my second was around my neighborhood. I definitely think the authors are dirty liar faces but I guess I'm going to try to keep it up for the next week or two just to see if it makes a difference. I definitely feel like I should be faster, probably because everyone in DC runs and they do it so effortlessly.
 Person A:"Hey Amy, did you drive in today?"
Person B:"No, I decided to jog the 15 miles in for some light exercise"
Me: "*cough*  dirty hooker *cough*"

*On a side note: My shorts were awesome! I ran without having to extract them from my upper thigh every two minutes and I didn't hear any sound. You know, the *vik, *vik, *vik sound windbreaker material makes when its rubbed together...... much like corduroy :)

 Here are the stats
Distance: 3.1 Miles
Time: 26:17
Difficulty: Relaxing
Course: Four Scores
MVP Song :  Dr. Dre ft Eminem and Skylar Grey "I Need a Doctor"

I forgot my lunch today so I figured I might as well run during lunch to stave off the hunger pangs. I ran from work, to the Lincoln Monument, around the Reflecting Pool (which is completely drained) and back around my building. It was a pretty decent run. The only crappy part is trying not get ran over by a taxi driver when dashing into traffic or getting stuck at the light. I have a pace to maintain people! Oh and let me not forget you have to play dodge the tourist. I don't know how many times I had to hip swivel around a grown adult or a pack of bratty middle-schoolers. I considered slapping a phone out of a girls hand (she was texting while walking) but figured I should probably avoid getting arrested during work hours. Other than aforementioned headaches, it was a pretty good run. I got to stare at myself in the reflection of the building windows so that's always a plus. I looked official...... even if  I was running at the pace of a senior citizen. I even found the DC War Monument...... you know the dilapidated one hidden behind weeds and a chain link fence over by the Lincoln. At least its staying true to the city's reputation ;P

Pre-run

Stylin' Locker Room

Run Deux
Distance: 2.8 Miles
Time: 25:02
Difficulty: I'm Still Wheezing
Course: 'Hood Run
MVP Song : Lupe Fiasco ft Skylar Grey "Words I Never Said"

 I had an hour to kill when I got home so I laced the sneaks back up and decided to do some interval training. As I mentioned earlier, there are a ton of inclines in my neighbor hood and they vary in degree and distance. Apparently I was riding out a high and decided that would be great to try.  My legs are now completely jello and I had to deal with annoying neighborhood kids that have nothing better to do than yell at you as you run by. Don't they have braincells to waste on huffing or XBox? Whatevs.  The run was a beast but the playlist I made on the metro definitely helped me get through. I think the next time  I split my runs up I will try to do two flats or intervals first. Either way, I finished both runs and I guess it wasn't the worst thing to happen today.

Pre-duex

Fake Enthusiasm

Post-duex

Real Under the Boob Sweat

Stay Classy :)