Lost Dog 5k #4!

So I got back from my conference early Friday morning and then proceeded to sleep for the rest of the day. Then I got up, did NOT go to yoga like I was supposed to (bad me) and went to go do my LD 5k.

RunKeeper Result

Distance: 5k
Duration: 33:12
Avg. Pace: 10:31

Race was hot and muggy, but I still think Zoe and I did a fairly good job. I came in 9th of 21 overall - not a bad score anyways.

Long Run #2 and Lost Dog 5k #3

Wait a minute, you may ask, where's the race report from the LD Race #3?

Here it is....

Long Story Short - Rained out. Not heartbroken about it or anything because I think I needed an extra day off. Not that it did any good....

Long Run #2

Yesh, I got like 7 more of these don't I?

RunKeeper Result

Distance: 7.00 miles
Duration: 1:28:48
Avg. Pace: 12:41
Avg. Speed: 4.73
Elevation: 113ft
Avg. Heart Rate: 162
Peak Heart Rate: 186
Weather: Breezy and Hot - last mile was intense :P

I knew this run would be rough because A) I started an hour later than previous B) My boo spent the night and so I didn't get to bed on time C) It was hot, sunny, and not raining

I hate half a balance bar this morning, and half a cup of coffee, which were not digesting easy for me. So I opted for some yogurt too and downed almost 20 oz of water.

The first .75 miles I must have slept through because I don't even remember getting that far.Knees started to hurt around that time, but I kept going. Took basically the same route I had taken last time, though I didn't take as many detours so it was a little farther. Knees started to really kill me around mile 2, so I stopped and stretched for a minute, letting them shake out a little bit.

Hopped back on it and kept going, all the way to 3.5 miles. Stopped again in the shade and stretched. Felt my second wind and then turned to go home. I took a small detour by the water, but I did stop to grab some water (and didn't turn off run keeper, so there's at least half a minute  of me standing around). Headed back the same way and felt the sun starting to beat on me, which slowed me down.

Like I said above, the last mile was rough, and I even allowed myself to walk some of it because the sun was really starting to bear down (it was around 10AM at this point).

But the bottom line is that I did my full mileage today, and even though it was bad, I am still proud of myself.

Now, we'll see how I feel on the plane tonight. :P

I also decided that the next long run that I do I'm going to go south on the GW parkway, so I can actually practice on the route I will be taking.

My old friend...the bag of frozen corn

Tonight was the Lost Dog 5K#2 race. We'll get to specifics in a hot second, but I would like to take a moment to state that my old friend, Mr Frozen Bag of Corn, has re-appeared.

Knees began to tweak a bit during the race today - might need new shoes (can't remember when I bought these) or most likely new inserts.

So for now I am icing as a precaution. Hopefully Sunday's run will be less painful as I will be resting all day tomorrow.

On to happier things :)

LOST DOG RACE #2!

Zoe and I got there late because Mommy took a nap and then watched Stephen Colbert and then said, "oh snap!" and Route 7 is teh awfulz. But we got there before the race started anyways, so that was good.

First mile was pretty decent, I think we ran it under 11 minutes (full pace thingy once Pacers gets it uploaded). They moved the race 600M south on the trail in order to give us more room to race, and the race actually went a lot better.

I had a smoothie on the way to the race this time (and a Panera brownie around 4pm) but didn't drink as much water. Felt it, but pushed through anyways. I'm learning that when I want to quit, I have to keep going. Then, when I want to quit again, I keep going. The third time in succession that I want to quit, I can walk. That's how I ended up running 5 miles yesterday at 10:30.

I think my finish time tonight was around 33:30, which is a full minute and a half better than last week's. I'm happy with it - Zoe still didn't win for her size group. Sad :(

That's all for now, and here's hoping my knees can rest up during rest day tomorrow.

/W

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Here's the official results

104  16/28     119 Whitney   25 F 33:28.9 (GUN) 33:01.2 (NET) 10:38 (PACE)
105            329 Zoe          D 33:29.7 (GUN) 33:01.8 (NET) 10:38 (PACE)

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Here are some pictures:

Lost Dog 5k #1

Miss Priss (Zoe)

(So I'm a few days late on this post....)

Ever since I rescued Miss Priss in Feb 2009, I've been a little nutso about animal rescue. Yeah, I've turned into that person who will give you the evil eye if your dog is not spayed or neutered (for serious people, just do it. there are plenty of dogs out there who need homes, we don't need your litter of puppies too).

I digress.

So, Zo-bo came from Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation, and therefore, they are my "charity of choice." Every Sunday, from 1-4, I hang out with some pooches in need of good homes. It's a great way to spend an afternoon, if you have nothing else to do.

I digress again.

So, I had been going a couple of weeks, running with Pacers Running Stores on Tuesday, volunteering with Lost Dog on Sundays, happy to have my two organizations separate.

Until I saw this:

Lost Dog 5k Series

FOR SERIOUS? ANIMAL RESCUE AND RUNNING? SIGN ME UP!

So we had the first one last Friday, and Zoe and I were so ready! Well, I was ready, Zoe....has not been running with Mommy as much because it's been so hot (seriously, the DC metro region has been slammed recently). But realizing that we sort of had a 5k coming up, Mommy started dragging Zoe out with her late at night to run.

Race Report
We got there super early because I'm my mother's daughter. LDCRF was doing a cool thing called "Rent-A-Mutt" where we had 10 of our own dogs available for runners who either did not have their own dogs, and they went like hotcakes before the set up had even finished! Dogs of all different sizes and shapes were there - and everyone was happy to be out with their pooches.

The only problem seemed to be that the race was held on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail - which they did not get the permits to shut down the trail.So we had to deal with some obnoxious bikers (one who used colorful language. I proceeded to scream back at him that he was a tool). But the weather was mercifully beautiful, and with Zoe strapped around my race, we were off!

There were only 250 runners in the race, and, looking around, I heard lots of people say things like, "I haven't been training" or "It's so hot!" So I was all, "Hey, maybe I'll actually get a decent place in this race!"

Final Stretch!

Psh, fat chance.

I was so excited about all of the excitement that I forgot to eat close enough to the race. So before we even started, I was hungry. And Zoe was totally more interested in smelling everything on the side of the street. So I had a 18 pound dead weight for a lot of the race, and was hungry.

Off to a good start. /sarcasm

We did the first mile pretty easy, and the trail was pretty. Towards the end was a rather large hill, and somebody lying to us that water was right around the corner (it was, just not RIGHT around the corner). Zoe with her bottle nose drank straight out of the cup, and I was actually feeling fairly hydrated - just HUNGRY.

We looped around and came back, and I started to feel the pangs in my stomach turn into light-headedness (damn physiology). I was running with one of Lost Dog's Foster Moms (of which I am one, just not right now), and she started to pull ahead of me by a while.

Perhaps the most annoying thing were these two girls. So I am slow and steady running, running, running, and these girls would run, then walk, then when I either just passed them or was about to pass them, they'd put on a burst of speed and start running for a minute. Then repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

Look, I'm sorry my dog is 18lbs and faster than you. Just let me freaking pass you.

ANYWAYS, we made it to the end, and got some good pictures! Not to mention I looked hott in my Lost Dog "Ask Me About My Fosters" Shirt (no picture of that yet - will post when I find it).

So here are our results:

135        329 Zoe         D 35:06.8 (GUN) 34:26.7 (NET) 11:06 (PACE) 
136  19/34 119 Whitney  25 F 35:06.4 (GUN) 34:26.7 (NET) 11:06 (PACE)

RunKeeper

I'm not  super thrilled with 11:06, but I'm not horribly upset by it, considering I was hungers and Zoe was more interested in sniftering. 

Besides, I have 3 more races to improve - and dang it, we will get that medal !

Zoe and Me Before the Race