Novant Health 15k recap

I was conflicted about going to this race, I'm not gonna lie. It was a one hour drive away and the hubs didn't want to come with me. He picked up my bib and tee, so I had a little more time,  it I had never been to the Lake Norman area, so I knew that I would need to leave early anyway.

I sucked it up and, after hitting snooze once, got dressed and in the car to make the drive. Which was a straight shoot into NC and no problems at all. 

 

I parked, walked around a bit, grabbed my friend Robert's bib and tee since he couldn't make it, and then hit the potty for the first time. Nicki and Kristin arrived and we hung out until it was time to go. It was chilly so we had sweatshirts on at first, but we ditched them right before the race started. I stretched my legs and hips and we lined up at the back, but not before we took a pre race selfie with Lissa, who lined up more towards the front.

Nicki wanted to a 30 second run, one minute walk, and that was fine with me. I'm all about staying healthy enough to finish NYC and with my leg feeling so tight all the time, my time goal has changed to a finish without dying goal.

The weather was perfect and the course was beautiful and very well marked. The volunteers were amazing and they kept us hydrated and safe from cars who weren't obeying the signs or the cones. 

It was a hilly course and soon we were walking a lot more. Nicki tapped out at mile 6 or so, and we started mostly walking, which was fine with me. There were a couple people behind us right up until the end, and we were clinging to that knowledge. We were having fun and moving forward, and that was all that mattered. 

As we hit mile nine, Lissa messaged me and said that there was a truck at the finish and to be careful when we turned the final corner. A truck? Really?

The guy behind us rallied and passed us at mile nine. I turned back as we rounded the bend and told the girl behind us that we were almost there. She sprinted the last little bit and beat us to the finish. 

It was just the three of us, and I brought up the rear.

Check out the truck on the left. They are breaking down the finish. I should mention that no time limit was posted. For real. I'm so mad. This is the third race in the series that we have had issues. We got food this time, and water, which wasn't available when we finished the last two. The photographer was packing up until Lissa called him out. No one seemed to care that they still had runners on the course.

I seriously doubt that I will be doing this series next year. Run For Your Life has seriously let me down. 

 

 

 

 

Flat Mama Friday .... on Saturday #momsanity #ifgirlsrantheworld

Tomorrow morning is the Novant Health 15k, in Lake Norman, and I wanted to wear pink for 2 reasons.

1st, in October we wear pink for Breast Cancer.

2nd, these will be my first official miles for If Girls Ran the World.

Good reasons, I think.

Luckily my new Momsanity tank came this week and I've been dying to take it on a test drive!

Are you racing this weekend??

 

 

Thursday Training Update

Holy heck!! 38 days until the NYC marathon? That's insane. Totally nuts. I am finalizing travel plans, watching videos, reading blogs, and trying not to panic. Especially with this whole IT Band issue going on.

Ok, let's get down to training.

Thursday I ran 3 miles and I was feeling pretty good. It normally takes my leg about two miles to loosen up, but this was a good day. It was also rainy and cool which was nice.

 

Friday was a rest day and I mostly just ran around like a chicken doing errands.

Saturday was long run day. With everything going crazy in Charlotte, which is where my group meets, the hubs wasn't too keen on me running with them. Then I somehow I managed to oversleep and ended up running at home. I ran 11 miles and it didn't suck too much. I was stiff at first and my underarm got a little chafed in the last mile but I survived.

 

 

Sunday the hubs and I went on a trail hike with the pups that was a nice change of pace.

 

Monday I attempted a run but it was not happening. One mile run and one walked home on the trail. Ugh. Time to look into a compression band.

Tuesday I sat on the couch all day. For real. Pity party time.

Wednesday I did PiYo core on my new squishy fat yoga mat. It felt amazing and my Compression band came so I can try running with it on Thursday. Score!

I have been looking up stretches and exercises for my IT Band so hopefully next week's update is better!!

International Day of the Girl Charlotte Group Run with If Girls Ran the World

Whew!! That was a mouthful.

It's almost time to start counting your miles for If Girls Ran the World, and part of the kickoff is International Day of the Girl. We start counting our miles on October 1, and on October 11 we are gathering together as Girls and running some miles as a group. As a Mentor, I have joined in the fun and am organizing a group run at the Piper Glen Greenway in Charlotte. 

I hope you will throw on some pink if you have it, and meet me at the Greenway at 7:00 am on October 11. We will run or walk a few miles together in the beauty of the Greenway and then celebrate afterwards at Starbucks. Win Win, don't you think?

If you don't have any pink, that's ok! Wear whatever makes you comfortable. This is all about being supportive and loving to each other!!

So, who wants to join me? Email me at kprytherch@gmail.com if I will see you there!

 

 

 

 

Just Call Me Queen.... of Denial

Forty days.

I've been writing about my training and I've been mostly sticking to my plan, but I haven't quite admitted where I'm really at in my training right now.

At the Carowinds Run and Ride I tweaked my knee. I'm pretty sure it's my IT Band. It's frightening and annoying. It's stiff and tight and painful for the first two miles of any run and then it usually loosens up. Except when it doesn't or when something else starts to ache and I walk home instead of finishing. I've managed to finish almost every run, and I will finish the NYC marathon. It won't be under 6:30, that's for sure.

It's hard for me to type this, the equivalent of saying it out loud.

It's not real until you say it out loud. Or type it.

Ya know?

I have canceled my Mainly Marathon trip, which makes Marathon Maniac and Double Agent out of the question as well.

These things happen, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. 

All of the woulda, shoulda, coulda things start going through your head. I should have followed a Higdon plan. There are too many run days on this plan. I should never have stopped doing PiYo every day. I should have stretched more. I could have planned this better. 

And on and on it goes.

I just felt the need to face it today. 

I will be on the couch today, resting my leg and wallowing. 

But I will finish the NYC marathon, and it will likely be an ugly finish. And I'm okay with that.

 

Friday Training Update

Where does the time go? I feel like I can barely keep up these days. I don't know why I am having such a hard time, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day.

So here is my update for last week's training. Tomorrow is the week 10 long run and the marathon is less than 45 days away. I will think about that another day. Oh my heck.

Thursday I was going to do my long run, since I was running Hit the Brixx on Saturday. My IT band was giving me a little trouble, and I ended up quitting after a mile or so, and walked back. I have since learned how to roll and stretch it do that running isn't a problem. I did some piyo when I get back to stretch everything out.

Friday I did some more PiYo, and we walked the dogs. Super exciting day.

Saturday was the Hit the Brixx 10k. I ran shorter intervals with these crazy characters and we played Pokemon Go, and it was awesome. I discovered that after mile 2, the tightness mostly God away and I can run pain free. Good to know! I keep rolling and stretching and my leg is at about 80% now, which has me so relieved.

Sunday I attempted the long run again, but I just couldn't get into it, and I only did two miles. Life goes on, and I won't let one bad week freak me out. Much.

Monday was four miles at regular pace and it was a good run! Rolling definitely helps. 

On Tuesday I did 6 tempo miles. Well, OK, I did six miles. I survived. The end. I was at a 13 minute mile, which is just fine by me. 

Tomorrow is my long run, in Charlotte, which freaks me out considering the way things are going there the last few days. I miss my buddies, and I'm mostly looking forward to it. I get an extra half hour in bed, thanks to curfew, so it's not all bad. 

I will leave you with the race photos from Bushnell Photography, at the Carowinds Run and Ride. I KNEW they would be awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hit the Brixx 10k, Pokémon Go Style

Today I finally took a drive into Charlotte for a race! I've been all around the outskirts of the city but never really in it. I parked in a lot just outside the expo area, and only had to pay $5. You could park for free in a garage right in the middle of everything but then you might have to  fight traffic to get out. Totally worth  $5 to me!

I picked up my bib and tee, and stowed the tee back in my car and then headed back to find my friends. I really love the process that Run For Your Life uses, they don't pre label them, they assign you the next number when you walk up. It's such a quick process!

It didn't take me long  to find my crazy friends. They make all of my Charlotte races so much fun!

I also found Sandra, a fellow Running Buddy Ambassador. She's sporting the Buddy Clips on her bib instead of pins. I really need to order these things!

She was also wearing Skirt Sports so I had to take a pic!

The race began at 7:45, right on time. The 5k started at 9, so it was just the 10k runners on the course. At first, we were last and the cop car was right behind us, but we slowly passed quite a lot of runners. This was also about the time that Robert reminded me to turn on Pokémon Go. 

It got very silly, very quickly. We were running, and then trying to catch Pokémon on our walk breaks. I also managed to hatch some eggs and catch some new Pokémon which was exciting. I ended up with 3 new ones! It's the little things.

All went well until the last mile. The 5k had started and they were running right at us. We already knew that we were expected to get up onto the sidewalk and we were ok with that. Apparently, no one told the 5k runners because they were on the sidewalk too and they were nasty. One man said "in America, we pass on the right" when we "got in his way". Ummmmmmmmmmmm git off the sidewalk dude, we are at mile 5. You're at mile .5 and you are in the wrong place. 

Kristin and I ended up sprinting to the finish, that pic is after this one, and was taken by this awesome lady, Lissa. She PR'D today and finished under an hour! Whoa! She stayed so she could watch me finish, and then we all went and had post race food together.

Brixx had free pizza and pasta for the runners! Yummmmm

Kristin beat me to the finish! She snuck up behind me, that stinker!

Overall a great race, but the director definitely needs to inform the 5k runners about the sidewalk thing!

Week 9 of marathon training is almost over! Holy heck!

Did you race this weekend?