Claremont Sunrise Rotary Turkey Trot 5K Race Recap

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!

I ran a 5K with my whole family yesterday!
It was the first time my kids ran a 5K and it was the fist race that my husband did!
A historical day!

 

We met with Sandy and Megan! 

 

 

The boys were REALLY excited to run their first 5K.  I told Bill he did not have to stay with us and that he could do his thing if he wanted.  I told the boys that they needed to listen to me and walk when I say walk.  They always go out too fast when they run kids race and I knew they would crash before mile 2 if I let them do whatever they want!! We lined up at the back of the pack and waited for the start.

 

Sandy's husband was there and he was so nice and took pictures of us!

Here we are at the start!

 

The boys did really good. I think they could have done even better. Walk less.  But for a  first 5K I think it was good.  They had a great time and they did not complain once!

 

The weather was perfect ..although I wanted and I was happy to stay with my kids...it was hard to resist going ahead :) Bill stayed close to us for maybe 2 miles and then he went ahead for the downhill finish.

 

 

He did 36:53.. (I know he can do better than that with a little training)

 

We came in about 3 minutes after him.

 

So Fun!

The kids were a little tired after that but still smiling!

 

 



This was my third time doing this race and I think from now on it will be one for the family!

We made the mandatory stop to Starbukcs after the race and I ran into my PT there!  She advised me to come in and see her...its been a while...I guess I should..

 

We had no plans with other people for Thanksgiving so we went to the movies...the boys went to see FREE BIRDS with Bill and I went to see Dallas Buyer's Club.  This movie is excellent.  It is not a feel good movie that is for sure but Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto are fantastic in it.  They better be nominated for the Oscars.

 

Did you go shopping?

I did not get out of my house.

I stayed in my pjs and did all the shopping online!

 

My GERD is not better.  This sucks big time.  I ran a 6 miler on Tuesday and I am planning on running both Saturday and Sunday...hopefully Sunday I can do at least 8 miles.

 

Tomorrow we are going to the LA KINGS game!

It is to celebrate my kids excellent report cards and all the awards they received last week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My real age is.....

41.1 years old!

Real age: almost 45 actually...tic toc tic toc ...it's coming....

Well thank you.

I prefer the 26 some 6th grader said I was when I was working last week...but 41.1 after taking a detailed test is ok too.

Did you take that test?

What was your age?

Of course this is just a bunch of numbers and info mashed up but it gives an idea.

What makes me older?

1. Cholesterol that is too low.  Recommandation: drinking wine!!!! I would love to but I can't because I have stupid GERD.

2. Avoid smoking area.  I do that already.  That part of the test is where I should have answered differently I think.  It asked if I was ever exposed to second hand smoking... As a child I was because my parents were both smokers but that was over 30 yrs ago now....

I have has a rough couple of days.

A GERD relapse.  Full blown gastritis and I don't know why.

The only thing that can explain it is stress.

I did not cheat on my crazy diet.

It is so frustrating.

I cannot sleep..the burning and the pain is pretty bad.

3 nights awake...

That led to no long run yesterday...I did just 3 lame miles.

I feel so weak because I am not eating much or sleeping.

Not much food is going down... Oeasophagus is pretty irritated so it hurts to eat.

This, my friends SUCKS so bad.

But many people are worst than me I know this.

I am back on meds and drinking the ACV ...that part worries me because for me it means weight loss.

Anyway I hope it will calm down soon.

At least I got a 6 miler in on Thursday.

Turkey trot for the whole family is coming up!

I am doing it with my kids!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

I am thankful for a lot of things

My family

That I have a great husband 

2 Wonderful boys

That my parents are still with me and that they will be here in a month

That I am here!

That my kids are healthy

That they love love love school

Bragging portion:

First trimester awards: Will: principal honor roll (straigh As, only 4 kids in his crazy demanding class got this), achievement award (science and mats), Eagle reader (highest this trimester) and perfect score in state test award. Needs more hands!!

Jonathan: math fact champ (1 out of 7 in his grade), achievement award in Reading and science and honor reader award (highest in his grade and only one who got this one)

That they have great teachers

For my old Maggie who is the sweetest dog on the planet..she IS.

That Bill is working

That I have great friends 

That I have a part time job....and that I am getting some calls for it!

For books

That my boys love books as much as I do..maybe even more

For coffee ( my only real vice)

For running

Christmas shopping is done. Done. Done. Done. ( me no liking shopping)

That someone invented Claritin D and Halls.

To NUUN for great running adventure in Vegas

Running friends.

That you are reading this and continue to follow my journey

That other than GERD I am pretty healthy

That my kids still want to hang out with me...hope this will not change any time soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Take a bite of pie for me!!

Cheers!

Ragnar Las Vegas with team NUUN-PRO COMPRESSION part deux

Cannot believe one week ago I was in Vegas and Ragnar Relay had already started...heck I think I was actually running at this time...!

This is my second post on Ragnar Vegas...First one is here and where you can read about my fantastic teammates...seriously they were all so great and nice and funny...and well we were a perfect match I think...!  See our brand new Pro Compression socks..made special just for this race!! I love them!

So OK the weekend...

I flew to Vegas with Sandy...we live in the same town and we booked the same flights.  It was nice to have a good friend to travel with.  We got there in the early evening and met the others at the Luxor where we were staying (that's the pyramid hotel on the strip).  We met Vanessa and went  looking for something rare and impossible to find in Vegas...reasonably priced water....!  We met with Brennan and Hyla from Van 2 and I am glad I had a chance to chat with them that night because during the relay we did not see Van 2 a lot.  We saw them at the main exchanges but that was super quick and most of the time not everyone was present... Here we were 11 out of 12...with one on the course..this was taken early Saturday morning..before 6:45 am because we are still wearing our reflective vests....

Friday morning we left for Mt. Charleston and the start of this 187 miles relay. I could feel my ears pop as we kept going all the way up to 8500 ft high!  I was hoping to see some snow and I got my wish! There it was nice white snow !!!

 

 

We went to register and get our race shirt and listen to the security rules speech and then we did some van decorating before it was Nicole's time to start this thing. 

 

We had a late start at 12:30...only one other start time was after us and that meant that we had long stretches where we were isolated on the course.  I wish we had started a little earlier for that reason.  I was alone for 90% of all my 3 legs.  My first leg was 4.7 miles on the 95 freeway!  It was flat with a mild head wind.  It was a little crazy to be running ON the freeway.  This was a leg with no van support.  There were some orange cones and barrels and we were told to run as close to the shoulder as possible...well yes of course.... one truck hit one of the barrels when I was running...that was scary...I was glad this leg was in the daylight!! It went OK...felt a little pain in the knee nothing too bad ...stomach...hmmm one incident.

 

 

 

 

We had dinner after everyone had ran their first leg and this time was better than at HTC because we went somewhere I could find something to eat!  The vibe in our van was upbeat and positive the whole time.  No drama, no problems, all happy and having a good time. 

My second leg was at night and was my shortest one at 2.85 miles.  I had to stop several times at stop lights.  It is the rule and I am a rule follower.  One guy went on a red light in front of me and the race volunteer blew the whistle at him and made him comeback.  The leg started with a 1.25 mile hill.  Another leg with no van support and where I was alone almost the whole time.  Instructions for this leg said "runners are highly encouraged to carry leg map"  so I did.  It turned out the directions had changed a little so I followed the signs on the course.

 

 After the van exchange we parked and tried to get some sleep.  I slept maybe one hour.  I was so cold and I had really bad muscles cramps in my legs.  I tried to rest even if I was not sleeping...I listen to the snoring concert that was going in the van :) ha ha!!

Saturday morning I made a bad decision and I had coffee...black coffee...I cannot drink black coffee but I had a bad headache and I thought coffee would fix that so I had a small cup. My headache got better but I started having bad heartburn and I knew I would pay for this choice and boy did I....
I got worried about my last and longest run.
The sun was out and I was hoping there would be shade on the course.
No shade. All full sun.

This leg ended up being longer than it was supposed to be: 5.4 miles total.
It was difficult for me.
I puked 3 times and I was in pain..every time I would start running my stomach would cramp...it sucked.  I felt sooo bad that I had to walk so much but I did not have a choice it was walk or stop.  I walk run and It was hot and I was alone..again no van support because the majority of this leg was on a trail.  I kept texting my team to let them know what was going on so they knew when to expect me.  My body was not happy but my spirit was not down at all except from worrying about taking so long to finish.

Last few steps:

And then this:

But I got over it:

 

 

 

After that it was all about supporting my teammates and enjoying this fantastic experience!

 

After Vanessa was done with her final leg we headed to the finish line and waited for van 2 so that we could all cross the finish line together!

 

 And finally runner 12 was in sight and we got to finish all 12 of us together!
I stole that pic from Hyla's blog, I am assuming her husband (who was van 2's driver) took it.

I truly had the best time and I am very thankful for this fantastic opportunity.

Thank you NUUN and PRO COMPRESSION!

My fitness is still not back and my stupid stomach got reminded that I still like to run and it needs to get used to it.  It is frustrating to come back from injury but I am thankful I was able to do this and that my team was so supportive.   I did not win the speed contest but I was the queen of puking on the course and at the end of my legs! What else is new....

Now a little something for you: 2 great offers from our team sponsors:

Nuun

Code: ragnarvegas

Good for: 20% order

Expires: 12/31/13

 

Pro Compression

Code: nuunpc

Good for: 40% off + free shipping

Expires: 12/31/13

RAGNAR LAS VEGAS with NUUN and PRO COMPRESSION!! Part 1: The players and their quotes.

The famous line goes like this..."What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas..."...well not always....

Once again I had the unbelievable opportunity to run for team NUUN.  This time it was actually team NUUN/PRO COMPRESSION.

Sandy, Hyla, Zoe, Vanessa, Nicole, Me, Kelsey, Jenny, Sara,

Matt (yep we had one guy on the team!), Bri and Brennan.

I am very grateful that I had this chance!

I am a very proud NUUN ambassador!

Ok so Vegas...
This was my first RAGNAR and relay number 2 for me.
I was in van 1, runner 4.

I had the best teammates in my van it was a HTC 2012 reunion with one awesome addition to the gang!

Zoe, Nicole, Sandy, Vanessa, Kelsey and me

Here are the Van 1 runners in order that they ran up and down this course!

1. Nicole aka super new mom... super sweet and funny...badass runner (see pic below) ..Hello leg 1.... most notable line of the weekend "We are so going to be last".... thank God she was so wrong...!

2. Kelsey The ultimate southern girl!  So fun and positive! I love her accent Y'all! Most  notable line...well Kelsey wins that part....but I cannot say the best ones without her permission so I will say  these... "Running is fun!" "This is the nicest hotel I have ever been to" "I don't want this to end"  "Holla for a dolla y'all" !!

3. Sandy She was our new addition and what an addition she was.  I invited her to join our team when we went on the hunt for runners for the team.  I am so glad she said yes! She is the nicest woman.  Remember she walked a whole half marathon with me back in May?... She is so nice and so so fast.  Notable line "I will take this one easy...not going to be fast"...Right ....I was running after her and for one of the leg I was so concerned with making it to the exchange on time and not having the time to hit the porta potty that we drove to the exchange right after she took off...sorry Sandy...it really is only because you are so darn fast and awesome! Too fast for me to take a decent picture..see proof

4. That was me.  Notable Quotes: "Don't touch the Shi!!!!!t" "Did not puke on this leg!"

 

 

5. Zoe.  Zoe was our awesome van driver and captain!  She was fantastic.  She had really tough legs to run and still managed to be up beat and never ever said she was too tired to drive.  She would come back from running her legs and Nicole would ask if she could drive in her place and every time she said "No I am ok!".  Notable lines also cannot be repeated here... I will go with "Shut up Siri" "No Siri I will NOT make a U-turn here!" "Look out for the wild life people!"

 

 

6. Vanessa Last but not least..Vanessa!  She was also in my van for Hood to Coast and it is official: I cannot run a relay without this wonderful gal.  She is the sweetest person I know.  It is impossible to not like her.  She is so caring, always wanting to make sure everyone is OK.  I was supposed to be runner 6.  A few weeks before the relay Ragnar changed the legs and runner 6 was given a really really really HARD 10 miler.  10 freaking miles.  I went in MAJOR panic mode and I asked Vanessa to change runner position with me and she, being the nicest girl ever, said yes.  Who says yes to that? Vanessa!  So she had THE hardest leg of all 36 legs to run.  10 hard hilly DARK miles.  Yep it was her night leg.  She killed it and never complained once.  Notable quote: on the phone talking to her husband after that really dark leg where the battery of her knuckle lamp went dead and she had called him from the road to let him know the situation:  "I am alive"

 

 

 

I will stop here for this post....more to come....! 

 

Ragnar week and 2 offers for you!

It's RAGNAR week!

I am excited and also a little nervous!

Leaving on Thursday evening for Las Vegas with Sandy (boston bound brunette).

Our starting time is 12:30 pm Friday and we will run until Saturday evening!

200 miles total!

I am in Van 1 with several of my HTC teammates!

Nicole, Zoe, Kelsey, Vanessa, Sandy and me!

I am runner 4.

These are my legs

One with no van support and this time..I am not taking any chances I am bringing my phone.

For my last one the handbook says "strongly advice to bring the course map with you" so I will put a mini map in my pocket for that just in case.

I did not run a lot since my half marathon.  I worked every day last week and I also wanted to rest my knee.  Yesterday I had to cut my long run short because one of my boys was sick and needed me.

I did 5 miles this morning and it went ok.  I am working the day I am leaving so I will run tomorrow for sure and see how the knee is Wednesday.  If I run Wednesday it while be the 5th day in a row and I am not supposed to do that.

I need to start packing.   This is giving me a headache. The night will be cold that's for sure but during the day it could be warm....layers is key I think!

I am hoping for no rain and no wind!

If you follow me on Instagram you know Saturday I took my boys to their first NHL game!  We went to Staples center to see the LA KINGS.  It was awesome!  They love hockey like good Canadian kids!

They got to see themselves on the big screen ..that was really cool!

We were seating behind the goal! They got to see their favorite Jonathan Quick twice!

They lost ...(thanks to Carrie Underwood's husband...) but we had a blast!

Ok now two offers for you!!

Because I am running Ragnar on team NUUN-Pro Compression I have 2 coupons for you!

1. NUUN: 20% off your order with coupon ragnarvegas good until 12-31-13.

2. Pro Compression: 40% off and FREE shipping with coupon nuunpc good until 12-31-13.