12.22

Shirt: Express
Pants: VS
Shoes: Nine West
Necklace: Lia Sophia

I worked.  I only had to work a half day based on how much vacation I had left for the year.  Almost nobody was at work.  The parking lot was so empty.

I went running.
I made fudge with Dave.
I made cookies and did laundry too late at night.

When the UPS guy came, Poly peeped out the window until he was out of sight.  She is too cute.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:00:40 AM - I'm just sitting here reading things on my computer and I get lightheaded. I guess it is bedtime.
12:04:39 AM - Dave might not appreciate that I set 4 alarms for tomorrow all before he will be waking up.
06:50:28 AM - Oh I dad such a good sleep thank to Vicodin.
07:26:34 AM - @mikecherepko the 4 alarms I set were actually 4 different times but all on my iphone.
02:58:38 PM - My umbrella is missing from my backpack. And I need it!
06:47:57 PM - Poly was chilling with us then disappeared to go get her ponytail holder chain. She brought it down. She's cute.
07:43:50 PM - What are people proud of in their life? Little things? Big things?
08:37:42 PM - Vicodin days it may cause drowsiness. It ain't kidding.
08:55:10 PM - @katy_rose1 oh boy. I need reminded too.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

12.21

 I telecommuted so I took a lot of pictures of Poly.

Dave and I went to the track and did a little workout. I ran while he walked.  It was pretty interesting. I set some goals. I did some sort of ladder but not really.   It was so warm. I had to remove my light jacket and just run in a tank top. Who knew it'd be so warm in late December.   After our track workout, we ate dinner. Then I went to Body Pump.

12.20

Sweater: Express
Cami: Express
Pants: VS (new)
Shoes: Nine West
Necklace: Lia Sophia

I was at work without Dave. He was already on vacation for the rest of the year.

I bought cheese and fruit for lunch. It said it came with crakcers and it did not. Also that wasn't pepper jack cheese. At least I can see instead of listening to what it said.  I kind of didn't like the strawberry taste on my cheese.  I did like that I had my own crackers at my desk and crackers didn't waste room in my little container.  It was a very good lunch.  It did take me about 3 hours to eat it though.

After work Dave and I went to Carino's then to Ikea to buy my mom her Christmas present.  There was a ton of traffic.

After we got home, I made and wrote some Christmas cards.  I stayed up past 2am working on them to get them done so they can be mailed.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

07:16:08 AM - Poly and I were both sleeping in bed. I finally sit up. Poly sits up besides me. We both yawn. She's cute.
11:48:57 AM - I just heard poly meow. I shout to her that I'm here (since telecommuting) and she came running
04:56:55 PM - All these people are running in shorts. I'm not that hardcore. I have on lots of layers.
07:28:28 PM - Does Vicodin make you loopy?
11:30:53 PM - It is too easy to be sucked into working when you didn't shut down your work computer.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

6 miles (1.10.12)

It wasn't that cold today, but I bundled up. I was cold. I can't find my normal gloves. I lose things. I need to learn where I put things. (Read that in a tone like my dad has said to me all my life.)  Jen and I met after work.  We started in daylight but we would be finishing in the dark so that was another reason I layered up.

I did my normal .25 splits on my Garmin and Jen used some interval feature on her watch for a 4 minute then a 1 minute interval.   We actually didn't keep the 4:1 the entire time.  Around 3.5 we changed it 3:1 using my iphone app. We weren't sure about adjusting it on her watch so it still has the 4 and the 1.  We had no idea how we would get data so we didn't mess with anything. It gave interesting data at 4 and 1 and it was fun to see how that was broken down.  She said she'd figure out the distances we walked and ran when we switched to 3:1 but I don't really care about that. If we do intervals I count the total miles. If I'd run 5 miles then walk 1 mile and quit then I wouldn't count that last mile. If walking is in the middle, then I count it.  I just made up this rule but I like it.


Today was one of our best runs together. On December 23, we ran 4.5 miles with the slowest mile being 10:26 and our mile was worse here but this was a full 1.5 miles further so  I think it's better. Plus that time the slowest split was 2:56.  This time we were more consistent with each .25.   Our 4th mile was faster than 3rd and 5th because I stopped the timer when Jen stopped to tie her shoe and that shoe tying time gave us a little breather so we could run faster.

This run really got me wanting to run more.  Yesterday's Body Pump got me wanting to go to Body Pump more.  Saturday's race really got me wanting to race more.  I'd say this is a good week so far.

Today was my longest run since the marathon!

Do you ever change your Garmin settings to do intervals?

Jen's total time is less than mine because she reset it at one point or paused it or both.  Also you can tell when she stopped to tie her shoe because of the moving time of 13 seconds during the 16th split.

Jen says she runs a lot faster with me. I push her.  She even runs about the same pace with me as in races.  I felt the same way when I ran with Kelly.  I haven't run with her since before the Great Race.  Maybe we'll run together again once Summer hits.  I wonder if I'll find other running buddies.  I used to run with Christina but we haven't run together in many months. I used to love our runs. I liked talking and catching up and that was pretty much the only time we had to do that.

Lately all my runs over 2 miles have been with Jen (besides the 1 with Callie I still have to write about but she wrote about it.)  All my shorter runs have been on treadmills.  I need to run on my own outside.  This mild winter is spoiling me like cray. 

Happy running!

12.19

My alarm went off and I didn't want to wake up.  My backup alarm went off and I still didn't want to wake up.  About 20 minutes later (so an hour after my first alarm), I got up.  Then Dave and I headed to the gym.   After the gym it was time to pack up.  It always takes so long to pack up a hotel room to leave. It always takes longer than I think.  Does packing up to leave a hotel room take you a long time?

We left a little after 10 to head home.   Dave drove at first and I drove the last 2/3.  We went to my parents' house to pick up Poly and we hung out there for a little over an hour.  We left there at 4 to try to have our entire drive in the daylight for little Poly. She didn't like the drive as much this weekend as she seemed to the last time.

Once we got home, we unpacked a bit, cleaned up a bit, and then watched the X Factor.

Then Dave went upstairs while I watched The Biggest Loser Finally (well most of it) before we started watching the Steeler game.

At least after we got home this time, Poly didn't hide under the cedar chest.  She did stay under the Christmas tree for the longest time though.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

09:42:26 AM - When I give people leftovers and they tell me about how they ate them, it makes me so happy. Getting the containers back also does.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:28:41 AM - I just did half the big dishes. I'll be happy about that tomorrow.
09:46:40 AM - What I'm still up to. I need to get out of bed. http://t.co/EqcnCjCd
10:09:47 AM - Daily picture for yesterday http://t.co/7vttzaya
11:23:45 AM - This winter is so mild. I am getting spoiled.
06:05:09 PM - Oh this Steeler game is awful.
08:07:48 PM - First play. This is crap. 80 yards!
10:46:09 PM - I got 3 medals and 2 trophies in 2011 for races. I got 5 medals and 1 trophy in 2010.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Resolution Run 5k

I ran the Resolution 5k again this year. I ran it this year with Jen and 2 years ago I ran it with Callie.  The weather was so much better this time around.

I ran in a tank, long sleeve shirt, pants, and compression socks.  It was too many layers. When I ran with Callie, it was so cold and windy. This time around, I owned more running gear to choose from to wear too.

We got there pretty early. I remembered issues with parking and didn't want to deal with that.

Before the race I decided to change my pace on the watch since it lets you have a pace. You have to click a button to view if you are ahead or behind your pace. I haven't figured out if there is a way to get it to yell at you if you are behind.   I changed it to 8:45 pace and told Jen I was making it extra fast.

I was ready when the race started this time, but I feel like there were so many more people at the start that it would be hard to not be ready.  There was no official start bar and it seemed like people just kind of lined up.  There were 184 finishers this year and 169 2 years ago and yet it seemed like there were way more people there this time around.  Maybe some people walked it and didn't get timed or something.

I didn't start up  near the front even though I like to. I think the lack of start bar just had me stand wherever.  I ran way around to the right to get in front of a bunch of people at the start.  My first .25 mi split was 1:46. I saw that and slowed down a bit. I can't keep that pace throughout and if I held it much longer I'd just die and go really slow at the end.  Maybe some day I can make that my goal! (yea right)

The foot bridge and little path that the course took was icy. I had to slow down to cross it. I was a bit concerned I'd fall.  There is about 20 feet (or more) of path that isn't the wood bridge and that was almost all ice.  At least that was the only portion we were warned about being icy.  Two years ago almost the entire course was.

After I finished my first mile in under 8 minutes, I thought that was similar to other 5ks that I've done in the past.  I thought to myself how I better not burn myself out.  I've done it before and never kept it up.

The fifth split (so mile 1 - 1.25) had a 2 minute split. I thought maybe I can keep this up. I need to keep pushing. I decided to start finding someone ahead of me to chase them down and try to catch up and pass them.  

I got to the turn around spot at 12:23 and kept thinking back to if I've done half that before and then just ran a really slow 2nd half.  I knew I had to keep it up and think of it as a race and not a training run. I tend to just run at a race instead of really push myself to make it a race.

1.62 into it, I saw Jen heading to the turnaround. We cheered each other on.

I found a few more people to catch up to. They were only 10 - 20 feet ahead of me when I decided to chase them down.  It didn't take that long to catch up.  I also kept telling myself to keep it up that this isn't a training run. I also kept reminding myself that Callie said I can run faster. I tend to just get in the groove of moving my legs and not actually trying to run fast. I was trying to try. I had to keep reminding myself though.

A little over 2 miles in, I saw this lady in black tights with pink on them and pink sleeves. I decided I'd try to pass her. She was getting pretty far ahead.  She really gave me a run for my money. I had to keep at it.   I lost ground on her  at the foot bridge about 2.75 into it because the middle path was the least icy but there was a guy ahead of me that was forcing me to slow up.  A few steps after the foot bridge, I almost gave up catching her and visibly noticed I slowed up. Then I thought that was the wrong mentality and I can still TRY to catch her.

I ran and ran. Then with about .1 left I really pushed it. I didn't think I had any left for a kick but kicked it faster so apparently I did.  I passed her up with about 3 feet left before the finish line!  This was the first time I picked a person to chase down and had it take so long. I still have yet to not catch someone I go for. I think I know how to pick the slow ones.

I looked at my clock the last 50 yards or so and looked at my watch afterwards and still didn't believe the time.  A new PERSONAL RECORD!  Not just by a few seconds either  My last PR was only 4 seconds better than the previous one. This one was by over a minute.  My old PR was 25:55. This race seemed short on my garmin but even if you extrapolate it, it would have been a PR by 49 seconds. Still very impressive to me. It is hard to improve a 5k time.

After I finished, I went to my bag and got my camera to wait for Jen to finish. I took some pictures of her coming in.  She got a pretty good time for her too. Good race all around.

After we were both done, we went to the car to get our phones and Jen's camera. We hung out in the Rose Barn waiting for results. We had some snacks. We took some pictures. (The upper right picture is our photo before the race. All other pictures are after the race.)  I wore my compression stockings.  Jen took a picture of me texting Dave telling him that I checked the results and I came in 3rd place in my age group.   The results were taped to the window.  The official results are online now overall and by age group.

First place overall for females was in my age group but since she placed overall it doesn't count in my age group so then it benefited me and I got a medal.

Jen got some pictures of me getting my award.  I was surprised they started with the females and went up in age group so the overall winners had to wait the longest.  It was obvious that after some winners got their awards they left (me included) so then less people are around to cheer for the overall winners.

Me sporting my new medal!

Jen and I considered running more but I said I better get home to start preparing for my party. (Remind me not to run a race the day I'm having a party with 15 people.)

The garmin doesn't seem to have good speed or elevation when I start so one of the 2 is always messed up.  You can' really tell the differences in my speed throughout the race because of the 40 min mile at the start!  The other little spike is the halfway point and that makes sense.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

10:21:18 AM - 5k PR. Yay x 10. 24:32 according to my garmin. Will get official time soon
02:24:35 PM - to analyze running data or to clean or to cook. Party starts in 2.5 hours. Oh or to shower. eek
04:52:47 PM - Parsley potatoes were a failure. Ugh

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

12.13

Another day, another outfit I put together myself and was concerned it looked silly.
Pants: VS (new)
Cardigan: Limited
Shirt: Express (2003)
Necklace: Lia Sophia
Shoes: Nine West

These new pants are a bit long. I wore them with the tall shoes I have. I'd like them an inch shorter so they could go with more shoes. Too bad lengths only came in 2" increments.  These are the same style as my red pants. My red pants and gray pants are both from VS but the gray are a half inch shorter and I can wear them with more shoes. I couldn't find the gray ones again though. They are a year older so maybe they changed something or maybe the gray ones shrunk. We'll see if these shrink when I finally wash them.   If they don't shrink, should I hem them?  The current hem is like 2 inches or something so going up 1 inch may be trouble.

Ahh my hair is too long.

I wore this vest 1 other time. Both times I'm enjoying my outfit. Perhaps I should wear it more often since I like it. Maybe I can even come up with another way to style it. White button down?  Or something that isn't a button down?  How would you style this vest? 

Stuff happened. I have no idea what. It was almost a month ago. This is why you shouldn't get behind on posting. I would have skipped posting it, but I liked the outfit.

Twitter 1/6

09:30:21 AM - This year I received 23 Christmas cards. 8 had pictures (either a picture insert or the picture card thing). Pictures are the best.
05:06:59 PM - http://t.co/YBXXvdNa I liked this post.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

12.12

Scarf: F21
Sweater: Loft (I think)
Pants: VS
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Earrings: Target

I remember being really pleased that I wore this scarf with the sweater. The green is in one of the stripes so it should be obvious but it wasn't to me.  I was a little concerned because I didn't know if gray matched. I might still be concerned.

I worked. I ran with Jen. I walked with her. It was cold. I pigged out when I got home. Then I got under many covers and was still cold. Dave covered me more. I napped for 1.5 hours that way. I hadn't even showered yet.  After running in the cold a hot shower right away is recommended.  Don't do what I did.  I did get warmed up a lot more after Poly cuddled up on me.  She napped when I napped.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

08:29:18 AM - I wore this hat twice and the ball fell off :( http://t.co/Ip7G5Y56
06:36:44 PM - I can't find my running notebook. Sigh
06:42:33 PM - @whoatemyblog @bhamtrackclub oh. Well I ran a marathon in 2011 and only ran 530 miles
08:15:35 PM - If you had a big pimple on your cheek would you pop it?
09:03:52 PM - if you aren't making meatballs with garlic, you might as well make cereal (I love youtube)
10:23:35 PM - @FierceFabFit I popped it. Got some puss. Didn't do peroxide. How does that help?

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

12.18

Jeans & Shirt: Express
Cardigan: F21
Shoes (not shown): Famous Footwear
I forgot to take my picture until I was halfway into my PJs.

The day started very delayed. We can never get a move on it. We just waste the day away. We went to the gym and I actually ran 2.5 miles. Then I did abs. Running went by pretty quickly since I did intervals. We picked up cheesesteaks for lunch and Wawa. Then it was off to visit Dave's mom. We hung out there for a bit. They really loved our gifts, after that went to Dave's dad's old house to see how they fixed it all up. It was very interesting to see. Then it was off for more family visiting. After a few fore hours we headed to Pat's for a late dinner. Then it was Wawa and back to our hotel. We only bought food at Wawa to eat in the morning before the gym. Otherwise known as the not passing out food. At the hotel, I blogged and then time for bed.

Many things went wrong during the day but the one that makes me the maddest is the belt on my coat getting stuck in the car door and the bucking cracking in a few pieces.

At one point we saw a pickup truck pulling a car. It was crazy. The car was held on with rope and only rope.

Also that picture in the middle isn't of the traffic light but of the leg lamp.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

07:35:45 PM - uh o. I forgot I need a Christmas tree bag.
10:59:55 PM - I still never called the dentist. I must like to torture myself.
11:09:23 PM - You think I can run 700 miles in 2012? I had ~530 in 2011 and had 2 months of injury.
11:10:06 PM - @TheNewChrissy how many miles did you run in 2011?
11:19:36 PM - @whoatemyblog @bhamtrackclub 1200 is a lot of miles. Why is the goal so high?

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

January Workout Goals

December didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped even with making some goals easier knowing all the holidays would happen.

1. Complete 19 cardio workouts (running, exercise bike, or elliptical)  (December = 18, met, November = 18, met)
2. Complete 13 core workouts (December = 12, met; November = 12, not met) 
3. Frequency: Run 14 times. (December = 10, met, November = 12, met with 15) 
4. Distance: Run 60 total miles (0, 8, 12, 15, 20, 5) (December = 40, November = 65, met) - Goal created without comparing it to my training plan. [Wait a second. I'm loony for increasing it by 50%]
5. Workout with Dave 10 times. (December = 12, but with all other activities it is hard to also workout with Dave, November = 8, met) 
6. Lift weights 5 times on my own. (December = 5, not met; November = 4, met with 5) 
7. Perform yoga/BodyFlow 2 times. (December = 2, met; November = 3, not met) - I hate this goal. I know yoga is good though.
8. Attend Body Pump 3 times. (December = 3, not met; November = 4, not met)
9. Have 2 double workout days (morning + evening, lunch + evening, etc) [New]
10. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 2 times [New]

Now I'm not satisfied with my how I accomplished my goals from the previous month each month and then I go and make the goals harder.  I'm not sure if that's supposed to be how it works or not. My goals leave no wiggle room if I get sick. That's what makes it rough. Even if I feel slightly sick and want to take 2 days off working out to rest.

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have another photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post.
2. Create a new running file with more information on Summary tabs in excel for 2012.

12.4

We cooked a real breakfast.  I did a little more decorating. It was so much warmer outside. I didn't even need a jacket of any sort. I should have waited. My hands were freezing the day before when I was trying to do things outside.

We made a practice Burrito Bake. Since it's a new recipe I wanted to try it once before serving it to company. It was pretty good. It even had refried beans.  But I wouldn't want to eat a lot of it. There was too much ground meat for my liking. I think it'd be better if it was chicken.

I did some baking. I ran out of eggs so I had to stop. I was also tired so it worked out.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:18:53 AM - I stay up far too late. Gym bag packed for tomorrow. Hope it doesn't snow too much.
09:58:01 AM - It feels like my mouth is shrinking and pushing on my teeth. They hurt. I think it's really just that I'm cold so they are hurting.
07:44:41 PM - Watching MSNBC. Iowa talk.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

12.3

Way back on December 3, we did some decorating.

Notice that I draped the greenery too low for tall people. Oh well.

12.2

These red socks have got to be my favorite. I love the outfits I wear with them. I have other socks but they don't go up enough so then these remain my favorite.
Boots: Mudd from Famous Footwear
Socks: Target
Tights: Target
Skirt: Express
Sweater: VS
Necklace: Lia Sophia
Earrings: Target

The key part of the day was the menu planning and I already blogged about that.

I like cookbooks with pictures. If a recipe doesn't have a picture, I ignore it.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:08:05 AM - I stayed up entirely too late.
12:15:31 AM - I hate my dentist more and more each day.
08:46:38 PM - just planned a menu for a party using 6 cookbooks.
10:49:35 PM - I cleaned up the main floor a bit tonight. Now it isn't a total wreck.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

North Park Run (1.2.12)

I ran with Jen after work. We actually left a little early so we could run in the daylight. We were supposed to get hit with 3-6 inches of snow too so we wanted to get started early.  We decided we'd stay on the back half of the lake and double back since it is safer there.  We got about 1.6 miles from the car and it was icy.  We tried to go a little further but it wasn't good so we turned back early. We figured we could just double back again if necessary. Well then it started snowing like crazy while the wind was blowing. The snow hurt our face.  So then we were glad we turned back early.  Not only did we end up turning around early but we took the little shortcut road on the way back.  Once we got near the car we decided to loop around the lot a bit to get up to 3 miles. Then I said it's a shame to run 3 miles and not run a 5k split so then we went a little further.   We walked the little bit back to the car. It turned out I hit lap instead of stop so my watch went a few extra minutes at the end. At least I had the lap time so I didn't have to count the rest of the standing around.

The wind chill was 9 degrees or something when we started.  It was pretty cold.  After a half mile or so we warmed up and it wasn't so bad. 

We ran the entire first mile (plus a little) then started doing the 3:1 intervals. We walked extra around the ice and ran extra at the end.

Since I knew we weren't sticking around at the end I got out my phone and took a few pictures of Jen. Then she ran again and got some of me. They are all blurry. The iphone doesn't take the best pictures.  The snow and our movement contributed to them not being the best but it still is nice that we got them.

I feel so accomplished for going out in bad weather and running a bit.  I wanted to run 6 miles and I ran only about half that and I feel so accomplished. Usually I run much closer to my desired distance and then feel demotivated and like I'm a slacker. I guess it was the weather.... or the company... or both that helped me out today.

12.16 - To Philly

Shirt: F21
Jeans: Express
Belt: Kohl's
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Necklace: Lia Sophia

I woke up around 7 and started working.  I had some stuff I wanted to get done before vacation and I didn't want to use a full day of vacation even though I had non-work-related stuff to get done too.  There just isn't enough time in the day.

I stopped working at 10:45 to make 4 gift card holders. Those were very time consuming, but cute.  I thought I needed 3 and figured I'd make a bonus one.  Most of the time is spent coming up with a design so I figured I'd make another. Coloring in Santa was too time consuming.  I kept getting behind schedule. Dave wanted to leave in 30 min and I told him there was no possible way that would happen.   I hadn't even started packing yet.   So Dave was wasting time for me and I told him he could go to the basement and get a suitcase or pack up the cookies to help get ready. He did not do that.  He could have also packed up Poly's stuff to get ready to go.  He packs his clothes and thinks he is done then wonders why it takes forever for me to be ready.  On all TV shows they always make it out like the woman takes so long to get ready and the guy is ready in minutes, but they don't show that it is because the woman is getting all the stuff together that either one of the people could get ready.

We hadn't even decided for sure if we were taking Poly to my parents or if we were leaving her at home for the 3 days.  My mom claimed we never asked her about watching Poly but she knew we would be to her house on our way to Philly so why would we stop by if we weren't dropping her off?  She even saved stuffed peppers for us to eat.

We drove to my parents and ate the peppers and set Poly up.  I think we left there around 2 but am not sure.

I only took 1 nap. It was near Bedford.  Dave got me coffe and I drank the entire thing.  That hasn't stopped me before though.  (After the rest stop we stopped at the next one was 28 miles later, then the following one was 78 miles after that!) At the following one I almost wanted to stop but Dave told me I'd be good.   We were playing Sporcle on the iPad so it kept me lively and awake.  We were also playing a modified version of the alphabet game that I used to play back in the day with Ashley and her dad on our way to Keystone.

We got to Dave's dad's around 7:15.  We ate dinner from Pat's. I had a pepperoni cheesesteak. Boy was it good.   We hung out there until a little after 10 then headed to our hotel.

We got back and were tired. We just used our computers for a little then went to sleep.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

05:21:31 AM - I'm too old to be up this late.
10:30:51 AM - That water was too cold to brush my teeth. Super sensitive now. Also. Taking a nap before I have to drive. I live too far away.
02:08:30 PM - Well someone just honked and waved at me. Wish I knew who he was.
02:29:08 PM - Well well well. 2.28 miles from the car or 2.32 and it is storming. And got cold. Ugh.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Harmony 5k (12.31.11)

I ran the Harmony 5k with 2 friends on New Year's Eve.  The official results are posted (and they were tricky to find).  The age group results are always interesting to look at.

Overall Female OVERALL Winners

    Place    Name                    City              Age   Overall       Time      Pace
       1    Callie Bradley          Oak Creek  CO       28       16     19:10.80    6:11/M
       2    Lauren McKinney         Cranberry Twp  PA   19       24     19:44.40    6:22/M
       3    Katie Lutz              Cranberry Twp.  PA  14       27     19:52.90    6:25/M

Female 25 to 29

    Place    Name                    City              Age   Overall       Time      Pace
       1    VIRGINIA BURGER         PITTSBURGH  PA      27       66     22:10.00    7:09/M
       2    Kelly Irving            Woodbourne  NY      29       79     22:29.30    7:15/M
       3    Lauren J. Bradford      Pittsburgh  PA      29      106     23:24.50    7:33/M
       4    Leigh Anne Shubert      Cranberry Twp.  PA  25      142     24:59.60    8:04/M
       5    Sara Brunazzi           Boston  PA          27      146     25:05.50    8:05/M
       6    CRYSTAL HUFFMAN                             27      181     26:04.10    8:25/M
       7    Colleen McCloskey       Valencia  PA        28      183     26:09.90    8:26/M
       8    Robyn Stewart           Evans  City  PA     28      213     27:15.70    8:47/M

I think the top 4 in each age group got a medal.

My garmin said the race was less than a 5k. My time was also better than I thought.  

There were a few stressful things. I got stuck in the back at the start and it was 15 seconds before I got to cross the start area. It was another .25 or so before I could get around anyway. The first .05 or .1 were even just walking.  I couldn't get through.   There was a clock about a half mile into the race and they had a fire going to keep the volunteers warm but I didn't like smelling that smoke.  With about .5 mi left in the race a van pulled onto the course from a side road right in front of me and I couldn't speed up enough and I had to smell the lovely exhaust. The finish line was about 15 yards after turning a bend so I was expecting it.  Parking was also a mess.

Even with all those stressful things it was good because I had friends there to talk to before or after.

The awards and door prices took entirely too long though. Mainly the door prizes.

Callie getting her medal

They announced all the male winners and then all the female ones. They should have done the female overall winners prior to doing every single age group for all of the men. Also I don't think they should have read all the times for every winner either. It just all took too long. Plus it was just a guy shouting all this versus someone with a microphone or something.


I saw Callie prior to the turnaround point but I did not see Jen after it.  She saw Callie too and didn't see me. We were both spending time looking for each other. Perhaps that search made the time go quicker.  With a little more than a mile left I started picking people in front of me to chase down and pass. I passed everyone I sought out to pass. Some I took longer to pass than others but still I got them. 
Right near the end Callie was there cheering me on. Then after I finished, I joined her and we waited and cheered on Jen. Callie and I went for a cooldown run after this.  We ran a little over a mile. 

The course was a little hilly. When I was running it like a training run (during the first half) I got annoyed.  Then I realized I had to quit thinking like that and races can be hilly and then it didn't bother me.  The 2nd half of the race felt like it was more downhill than uphill too.

12.25

I woke up at 8 when I went to turn over but Dave said hi to me. He was trying to sleep on the other couch with Poly. The couch wasn't long enough for just Dave but he even let her hog up the third cushion. Too bad in sleepy state I just took one picture zoomed in on Poly. We were the only ones up for a good 45 minutes. I suggested working out in tht time but Dave didnt go for it. He was exhausted. He had issues falling asleep then when Timmy went to bed he woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. We were also up late doing presents so we didn't even try to go to sleep until 2am.

Dave's sleep

Then around 9:30, I was cold and put on an afghan. Next thing I know, I was asleep with Poly for almost an hour and a half.

At 1 people started showing up. Some people were late. Those people left first too (3:30). I always get annoyed that you spend more time cooking than people spend visiting. At least I wasn't the one cooking. I did spend many hours making desserts that barely anyone ate. My parents didn't even want to serve our apple cake.

Right when people were leaving we (term used loosely) sang happy Birthday to my brother. At least some people stuck around.

I had a 2nd meal and then started packing to head home.

We had considered staying a 2nd night but after not having a good time sleeping at all the first night we had to head home. We got home around 7 and Dave was already asleep in the couch before I carried the first load of stuff in from the car. He napped a bit while I put stuff away. I ran upstairs and made a blog post. Then we went up to bed and watched some funny TV shows. (Parking Wars) I did kenken while watching than. I read some blog posts. I went to sleep around 10:30.