Five things Friday.

1. Lightening running and all, I'm full-on into Boilermaker training. It actually started with my recovery run an hour after my PR race at the Freihofer's Run for Women on Saturday. I'm kinda psyched to be training for a longer race again.

2. For this race I'm adding in more cross training than I did for the FRW. Since I focused on distance for the half marathon and then speed for the FRW, I think that continuing to maintain those bases and adding in the cross-training will help me best prepare for the Boilermaker. I've had a few sessions with Jillian and her Shred and my butt has been kicked!

3. I recently started writing book reviews for the BlogHer Book Club and I have a few that are up, including this one for Jean Kwok's Girl in Translation and this one for Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches. No, the books aren't about running but they have been interesting and being part of this program has given me the opportunity to learn about and read books that I otherwise wouldn't have picked up. If you're interested in either book, go check out my reviews!

4. I am once again having daydreams of training for another marathon. And once again plugging race times into that oh-so-addictive McMillan calculator. Must stop . . .

5. We're catching a break from the really hot weather of earlier this week. The weekend should be really nice, which is good because I have an easy run on the schedule for this evening and then an 8-miler either Saturday or Sunday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

~ Felice

Lightning run.

When you're a runner, the weather matters. You need to know what's coming to best prepare for your runs and races -- what to wear, how much to drink, when to run (or not), etc., etc.

Yesterday, I should have paid a little more attention.

It was hot. And humid. And then there were storms. And, of course, one big ol' storm rolled in right when Owen got home, my regular running time. So, instead of heading out for a run I made a quick dinner and we ate early and I figured I would run after putting the baby to bed.

Which is what I did. But before heading out, I checked the radar and it appeared to me that I had an approximately 30-40 minute window before another storm would roll in. So out I went.

I made it about a mile in to my run when the sky went black, I heard thunder and started to see some lightning.

Yeah, I turned right around and ran as fast as I could, fingers crossed that I could out-run the lightning. So, what had started out as an easy run on the schedule turned into a little less than 2 miles of speed work. Fast speed work. Fast, uphill speed work.

And still, I got pelted by sheets of rain and some hail.

I really need to fix my treadmill. Sigh.

In other news, I had a little playdate party for Conal's birthday on Monday. It was a lot of fun. I kept going with the Dinosaur Train theme, per his request. I pretty much called upon every ounce of creativity that I have for the decorations and the cake. Since I'm more of less lacking in the creativity department, I was pleased with the results. Here's some of my handiwork:

Dinosaur Train characters welcomed the kids.

Dinosaur Train cake!

Yay for 4!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day, everyone!

~ Felice

Feelin' all right: Freihofer's Run for Women 5K race report.

Ladies, let me give you some advice: Do not fear post-baby running. It rocks. Here's my post of proof.

On Saturday, on a course that is known to be a tough one for setting PRs, I ran an awesome race. I ran my fastest 5K ever. Ever.


People, my baby is not yet 8 months old. I just turned 41. And I ran my fastest 5K. Ever.

I was a ball of nerves before the race but, fortunately, I was riding with friends and we had planned to get to the race early.

Me, Bridget, Janis before we left for the race.

Good thing because the race, the Freihofer's Run for Women, had a record number of registrants this year -- almost 5,000. It's the area's biggest race and it draws many elite runners and thousands of locals who want to be part of a big, all-women event.

Hope, me, Bridget, Janis, Kara, before the start of the race.

In other words, it is crowded. But, we got there in plenty of time and I was able to hit the bathrooms a few times before lining up in my section. I had some big goals for the race so I tried to stay focused at the start. I told myself over and over that I could do it, that I had trained well, that the day was perfect for a PR run. I planned to run 7:25 for the first mile, hang on and then speed up as much as possible for the last quarter mile.

The 5K starts uphill so the first quarter mile or so is usually slow going. I did a good bit of weaving through the crowd and I found that I really couldn't get a good breathing rhythm for much of the first kilometer. It was just off and I worried that I was going to have a crappy race.

Right around the first kilometer mark, though, there was a band. Now, let me remind you of something. Last week, on my birthday actually, I wrote a little bit about a song that my college lacrosse team used to listen to on our way to games. Feelin' All Right. You know the song. Well, hey, the band was playing that song. So, as I made the turn from Madison Avenue into Washington Park, I heard it. Feelin' All Right.

At the time, I was feeling anything but. I was desperate to get my breathing pattern right and it was making me feel all discombobulated. But when I heard that song, it all changed. I was feeling all right! I took it as a sign that this would be a good day and even did something incredibly uncharacteristic, something I never do in races: I gave the band a triple, high-in-the-air fist pump. Who am I?


Right afterward, I passed the 1K mark, exactly on pace.

I knew it was my day.

As I ran through the park, my breathing was good, my legs felt great and I knew that I just had to keep my mind in the game. If I could stay focused, I could break 23 minutes.

At mile 1, I was ahead of pace.

I took a cup of water at the water station and geared up for the hills on the south side of the park. They're not bad, really, except when you're gunning for a PR. I took them on and ran strong and before I knew it I was out of the park, heading up another hill on South Lake Ave (I think). There was a woman cheering loudly there and I wanted to give her a high 5 but I couldn't get to her so I mustered a "thanks!" and kept going.

At mile 2, I was still ahead of pace.

But I had 1.1 miles to go. And for just about that whole distance, I told myself "you can do anything for 8 minutes," "you can do anything for 7 minutes," "6 minutes left," "5 minutes left," and on and on. I didn't want to do it but I had to count down for pretty much the whole last mile.

Once I saw the sign for 400 meters to go, I tried to really pick it up. I didn't have much left in the tank but I used what I had and I ran strong to the finish. My A goal for this race was 22:59 or better. I ran 22:51.

I am still super happy.

Post-race, I was super sweaty:

Shweaty runnah.

Here are my stats:

Mile 1 -- 7:15

Mile 2 -- 7:24

Mile 3 -- 7:17

last .1 -- 6:16 pace

Official (net) time: 22:51

Age group (40-44) place: 16/550 

Overall place: 202/4142

So, really. Have a baby. Get older. No worries. If I can do it and run a PR, well, forget it. Anyone can.

Have a great week, everyone!

~ Felice

Bengay Cold Therapy winners!

Thanks for entering my Bengay Cold Therapy giveaway. I used random.org to pick the two winners and they are . . .


J from Morning Runner

and

AmyLauren from I've got a couple dents in my fender, got a couple rips in my jeans

Congrats to both of you! Send me an email at felicehalf at yahoo dot com with your mailing addresses and I'll get you hooked up with your Bengay!

~ Felice