Red fuzz

I just got back from doing the North Texas Great Santa Run. It wasn't a timed race, but my garmin time (by the time I got the long santa suit sleeve rolled up and hit stop) was 37:32. Lots and lots of santas there, cute dogs dressed as reindeer, good music, good weather, if a bit cold at 34 degrees. I'm glad for the extra layer the red santa suit gave me, but I'm going to be finding red fuzz around the house for a while. And that's after I was given a once over by The Aussie with a vacuum cleaner and a once over with the sticky roller we use to get dog hair off of our clothes.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

It's 6:45 am and the intrepid runner leaves the house, spouse asleep, a couple of doggies at the door, wanting walks and wondering why they're being left behind. The fog was very thick as I drove to the race location in Frisco. I'm not familiar with the area and visibility was awful. Today, I am thankful for having a GPS in the car, even if her voice is annoying and I call her "bitch" quite frequently.

This was my first time running a Turkey Trot. I missed running one 2 years ago (when I first started to do C25K) because I rolled my ankle while running with the dogs a couple of weeks before. Little did I know it would be 6 months before I'd be able to run again at all.

The course was nice and flat and included a loop around Pizza Hut Park. I had the chance to look around the area beforehand. There are definitely some shops and restaurants that I'll want to come back and visit. The turnout was great, and I'd guess there were quite a few hundred people. Lots of people, lots of dogs, lots of babies in strollers, lots of kids running too.

The link to the results isn't working for me, but my Garmin put me at 36:35 for 3.17 miles. Any finish is a good finish!

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones.

My second 5K

What a great day! I did my second 5K tonight. Thank you to The Aussie for heading to Plano with me and sitting around while I played. Tonight's race was the Firefly Run, benefitting Children's Medical Center in Dallas. It was a night race, with participants wearing LEDs. I finished in 36:21:43. A five+ minute improvement over my first 5K in May. I was hoping for a sub 35 since my training runs have been going well, but stupid me forgot to bring her iPod. So I'm actually quite pleased that I did as well as I did with NO music.

This was the inaugural year for the Firefly Run. Some things, like starting 15 minutes late, could be better. But what was great? There was toilet paper in the port-a-potty.

It's the little things that count. :)

I Did It!!

Actually, we did it. It takes more than just me to get my butt to a 5K race at 7 in the morning. The Aussie, who is not a morning person by anyone's stretch of the imagination, was a sport. He said he'd go and offer support, and he certainly did! The weather was warm, humid and breezy. The sun kept peeking out, but, thankfully, it was in for most of the race. I couldn't imagin running a 5K in typical Dallas summer heat. It's still hot at 5am...

The race, Run For The Retrievers, was a benefit for DFWLabRescue. There were dogs everywhere. Talk about fantastic! Anyone who knows me, knows I love my dogs, and any dog rescue group should be commended Here's me and Nicci (@Nicci_NiftyEats). We met up and the registration pavillion shortly after 7am.

And we're off. That's me in the middle, behind the red shirts. The race announcer said that there were over 350 people registered for the event. I don't know if that was 5K as well as 1 mile fun run participants, but either way, for an innaugural race, it was a great turn out.

Lol! I'm smiling now... Remember, I've been sick since last Friday and haven't run a step all week.

Me crossing the finish line

My chip time was 41:02:70 and I came in 205th, placing 18th in my age group. Not too shabby for my first official 5K, and I did it before my 45th birthday! And it was great meeting Nicci in person. I love tweetups!

Me and Nicci after the race

And I would like to give a special shout out to "Alison." I didn't see her after the race, but she became my angel coach just before mile marker 1. I wouldn't have done as well without her support and pushing me to "keep going to the bridge" or "keep going to we get around the bend."