Fast is Relative: The 2013 Watermelon 5k RR

Just around mile 2.5 - realizing
I was about to PR

If you drink, don't drive - do the watermelon crawl . . .

-Tracy Byrd

This week's speed work was a local 5k called the Watermelon Run.  It is always on July 4th, is an untimed fun run where only the top 10 times are even posted, and is always sickeningly humid.  The race includes - of all things - a watermelon-eating contest.

I didn't sleep very well last night, it was almost 90% humidity, and I had only planned for a Fun Run to practice my speed and my new 5k strategy.  So imagine my surprise when 1)I ran into some of my favorite athletes, 2)the strategy worked - didn't blow up until about mile 2.5 when I usually blow up at mile 1.5 . . .and 3) I beat my best time by 10 seconds.

 . . . per mile. 

An unintentional 30-second PR at the 5k distance.


Afterwards, during breakfast with my friends, one of them said to me you are fast.  Of course, I don't think I'm fast, so I told her that.  Her response was
you're faster than me, so that makes you fast in my book.

It made me really think about how fast is relative. No matter how fast we get, there will always be someone faster.



Tired, hot and sweaty - but so happy

It also made me think of something I once said in this blog: no matter how fast I get, I never want to stop having fun.  I am certainly going to have my moment where a race didn't go as I would have liked and I didn't finish in the time I'd hoped, but I still think giggling is completely appropriate before, during, AND after any race.

The PR was a big confidence booster.  The past few weeks have been rough. Mom is midway through chemo and not feeling so hot. Arnie's tumor is coming back, so he is back on his second pill (2 pills a day, then 3 every other day).  I also have the other cat relocated to encourage her to eat (so far so good), so I am traipsing back and forth to see her too.  I also have follow-up doctor's appointments for all the tests of my own.  Just getting in 2/3 to 3/4 of my workouts has been hard.



Fast is relative

I may have mentioned that one of the frustrating things about being young and having health challenges is the lack of ability to feel young and free. I handle that pretty well most of the time, but with all the new stuff added in, I find myself feeling somewhat isolated. I can't see my friends as often as I want. Sometimes it's hard just to juggle school, work, and workouts.

Workouts - and races - are my escape.

Today's race was a much-needed break from the monotony of work, study, sleep, tend sickies.  I got to PR, I got out for breakfast, and I got to see some of my cycling/running friends.  I can't think of any better way to celebrate Independence Day than getting free of my own little world and out of my head.


All in all, it was a brilliant day.

Happy 4th of July!!

Float Like a Butterfly . . . .

On Sunday, I'm going to do something I've never done before.  

I'm going to run a marathon in costume.  

See these bad boys?  Purple is for global cancer awareness and the butterfly is for thyroid awareness in general.

So, I'm not going to RUN a marathon on Sunday, I'm going to FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY.

Today I did a 1.5-hour run, with some walking.  The legs are definitely feeling better.  It's hard to move fast, but I'm hoping with rest and ice and stretching and foam rolling this week I can pick up the pace in the next 7 days.

That's another lesson I've learned . . . . at least one training day per week should be dedicated to stretch, foam rolling, yoga, etc.

I have a lot to do this week - grades are due, a speech is due, math homework is due, research is due . . . yesterday I got totally hijacked for the 3rd weekend in a row by the B . . . he locked his keys in his car (which cannot be jimmied open) and he was 80 miles away.  So I lost an entire 5 hours of my day including travel, meeting, etc.

You just gotta keep on keepin' on!

90% to my goal!! check it out and donate http://main.acsevents.org/goto/megganann

On Challenges, Blind Faith, & Sore Legs

If there's one thing I've learned lately, it's that we all face our own set of challenges.  Some of them we choose and some are thrust upon us - not all involve negativity and hopelessness.  For example, sometimes our challenges bring us closer to those who have faced similar obstacles.  Other times, we create our own challenges because we need the stimulation, the motivation to move outside our comfort zone(s).

When I chose to do many of the things I'm involved with at the moment, many people very close to me told me they didn't think I could, would, or should do them.  And, while I'm a planner and had certainly outlined my steps clearly and pragmatically, I couldn't agree with ALL of their advice/warnings, because in life some things simply have no guarantees.

Regardless of what religion you are/aren't, sometimes you just have to act on Blind Faith.

But the other part of this is that you have to be ok with the idea that you may fail.  And, if you do, you also have to have some kind of faith - faith in your own ability to evaluate what may or may not have been in your control, and to move on.

I was never ok with that part.  Failure was one of my biggest fears.

And then I failed.  A BUNCH of times.  And you know what?

I survived.

Funny thing about failing. . . . it's really not all that scary.  I don't know why I was ever so afraid of it.  Now that I've done it a few times, I've built a sense of efficacy that I can overcome it again and again.  Now my faith isn't quite so blind.


In other news, my legs are still sore.  I hit the ice bath, the hot soak, AND the bicycle this weekend . . . got to get the legs loosened up in the next two weeks. They feel better than they have in a long time. The B thought the ice bath was insane.

Maybe it is . . . maybe running 26.2 miles will working 4.5 jobs and raising money for cancer awareness and
trying to get into a PhD program and recovering from cancer is insane.

But you know?  I have this kind of blind faith that I'll be ok.