6.2 Miles of Cold, Wind, and FUN!!!

Race Recap: 11/2/2014 Biggest Loser 10K

Waking up at 5am is new to me, but I knew I needed to eat before trying to run my first 10k. This will be the first time that I would try to run this distance. I had everything ready to go. I packed my clothes the night before and made myself a peanut butter sandwich on an English muffin. As I hate my breakfast, I was starting to get nervous and doubt myself that I could do this. It was cold and windy and I knew I would be fine once I started running. Courtney picked me up and we headed to Six Flags Great Adventure. Walking from the car to the big blue tents, I started to get excited. Then, you see this long line to pick up bibs and it was for the 5k. The 10k line was like 3 people deep which then made me think I was crazy. Then, it was time to get my costume on and wait for the start time. We got dressed and headed to the starting line, after taking some pictures of course.

The wind was blowing as the national anthem was sung by the biggest losers own Dan Evans. The race was starting and the excitement came over me.

The first mile seemed like forever because it was a lot of dodging people and trying to find a comfortable groove of a run/walk ratio. Shortly before mile 2 was a water stop and Courtney was behind me. The course was a lot of mud, rocks, and leaves when we weren’t in the theme park. I got to mile 3 and realized that I could not see Courtney anymore and that this was now up to me to motivate myself (which was always really hard.) The 10k course was a double loop so when we got back to the start/ finish line, we had to do the course over again. At this point, my anxiety kicked in that I had 3 more miles to go. I walked a bit to catch my breath and started to focus on my intervals. I have learned that taking a 30 second break to breath and walk is the best thing I can do to keep myself strong.

At this point, not many people were on the second loop because there were not that many people doing the 10k. I felt like I can focus and really clear my head. I had this moment when I didn’t hear my music anymore and I talked to myself a lot.

I had a goal to finish in 1:15 because I wanted to make sure I was under a 15 min mile. Needless to say, my math was WAY off and I have no clue why I messed that up. As my runkeeper app told me that I was at 1 hour, I didn’t think I was going to make my goal so I decided to have some fun. I started dancing and singing and asking siri to play all of my favorite songs. The course took us through the back of the park and at one point, a dozen or so baboons were staring at us running. I crossed the finish line and got a high 5 from Pam Geil from the Biggest Loser and then I didn't want to fall. 

I received my cool medal and all I had to do was wait for Courtney now. I felt myself getting emotional because I felt strong at the end but nothing was as emotional as when I saw Courtney rounding the corner to the finish. I was SO happy for her. We stood in line for pictures and then I saw my time. I finished in 1:18 with an average pace of 12:37 per mile. I did what I set out to do and did better than expected. I now feel confident that with the proper training and dedication, I can do anything.

 XoXo

ToniAnn
@MrsT9 on Instagram

A 10K Through Pictures.

Last Sunday I forced myself to get out of bed at 6:00 AM to get dressed and out of the house to run/walk my first timed race, the Biggest Loser Run/Walk at Great Adventure.

Grumpy Courtney.

Originally I planned on dressing like She-Ra, however the temperature dropped overnight and Sunday turned out to be the coldest day we've had yet this season. She-Ra went out the door and instead I ended up looking a little more Bag Lady Rocky, but that's actually pretty fitting.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

Then I went and picked up ToniAnn, who was dressed like Rainbow Bright and utterly adorable and not grumpy. Not grumpy at all. We arrived and took the obligatory "We are Here!" picture.

We are here!

Then we stood in the cold. That wasn't so fun. Then the race started. That wasn't so fun either, if we are being honest, which I've pledged to always be during this journey. However, it wasn't fun while I was walking/jogging at 10K..so let's keep some perspective. While it pains me to share these, if there aren't pics, it didn't happen, right?!

Ummm...

I really thought...

I was going to magically look amazing while running.

So, that was me running. As you can see, I was yucking it up there out on the course! Just a super positive runner...in my grumpy hat...and huffy face.

However.... I finished!!!!!!!!!!!

So shiny!

When I hit the 5K mark, I saw my time was around 49 minutes. I won't lie, I felt kind of disappointed. I really wanted to be at 45 minutes. That got me down for a bit and then I realized I didn't start exactly when the clock went off, so maybe I had a few minute grace period. My final race time was 1:36. That's not too bad when you consider I haven't really started training hard and this is my starting point. I submitted it to RunDisney and they put me at finishing the 1/2 marathon at 3:31. Also disappointing as the max time is 3:30. However, I need to shake that thinking off.

Vision quests aren't easy. There are hurdles. And I plan to stomp on those mothereffin' hurdles.

More honesty..I have no idea who these people are.
I don't watch the show. Super nice though!

A Tale of Two Color Runs

Reality is setting in. I’m signed up for the Biggest Loser 10K at Six Flags Great Adventure on November 2^nd. The goal is to try to get a time so that ToniAnn and I can get into an earlier corral for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I know ToniAnn can do it, but I’m not sure about myself. 

Anyone else ever get in a funk? Yeah, I’d probably tell you to snap out of it because you are so fabulous..so maybe I should listen to myself!

However, I've had a few more races under my belt since the last time we chatted. 

In September I walked/jogged the Central NJ Color Run. I did this with ToniAnn and our friend Lora. I had no intentions of jogging at all, in fact my Taurean stubbornness pretty much dictated that I would not, so don’t even try me. This is Her Royal Whineness at her best!  Yet, ToniAnn and her Fierceness could not be stopped..and as she jogged around me…not necessarily taunting me per say…her fierceness kind of swept over me and I ended up jogging way more than I ever thought I could have. Yes…could have.

Colors of success!

Meanwhile, I just did my second Color Run in Atlantic City this past weekend. It was windy, rainy, cold and just terrible. TERRIBLE! But…I did it. I did not take any shortcuts. I even jogged a little, but in those conditions it was more about finishing than excelling. And you know what…that’s okay.

You don’t wake up one day and suddenly you are a runner. It takes time, it takes overcoming hurdles..and sometimes the biggest hurdles are your own doubts.

I haven’t failed at anything I've tried yet on this journey…so I guess I have no actual reason to feel like I can’t make something happen in three weeks at Great Adventure. So there!