My football mentoring pays off!

It looks like my little stepbrother ... well actually "little" is a misnomer since he weighs like 230 pounds ... is going to get the chance to play for the Chicago Bears!! He wasn't picked in the official draft but is getting the chance to get on the team as a free agent - he'll be up there later this week where he'll have to show off his stuff. The buzz is that he shouldn't have any problems getting a spot with his talent.

He's come a long way from the days when he was just a wee lad and we'd run plays in the back yard - truth be told I taught him everything he knows about football. Hopefully he'll give me the appropriate props in his media interviews when he's a star. Though 10 years younger than I, he followed in my footsteps at Sacred Heart Griffin High School captivating the hearts and minds of all who knew him ... and also throwing illicit parties at our parents house (though just for the record I was the one who NEVER got caught!). He then played football at Southern Illinois - a third generation football legacy since my stepdad played there as well as J.T.'s maternal grandfather.

Of course if I were to be honest, I'd admit that anytime I've watched him play, my Mom and I just spend all of our time just trying to figure out which one he is "Is that him? Wait a minute how about over there?" I mean the problem with football is there are just so many people out there at once - makes it hard for a spectator. And in all honesty I know NOTHING about football and I think he's a fullback? or a running back? All I know is he's big and I think he tackles people, and there's something about rushing which is silly because don't most people try to rush and go fast regardless of the sport??

Well I expect some free Bears tickets that's for sure!

[edited to add: Sadly J.T. did not make the cut so he's seeking out professional football opportunities elsewhere]

Miles for Missions 5K

Man, I cleaned house at my 5K today!! Look at the trophies and the door prizes!!

Alright, so I was the only one in our running group to NOT get a trophy (hey the 30 - 39 year old women are FAST!) and I also didn't get a door prize, but they were kind enough to let me borrow their stuff for my picture :) Of course I'm not complaining because I did get a personal record of 30:32 and that's not too shabby!

So the race was the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church Miles for Missions 5K benefiting their mission work with Habitat for Humanity, Katrina Relief, and Arkansas Hospice. A few gals from the Hot Legs mentioned it on our listserv this week and I thought it was time to try this distance again. The race started at the church which is in the Hillcrest district of Little Rock which is a great older neighborhood with lots of character and tons of great shops. When I move back to Little Rock, I'm hoping to find an apartment in this area. The race was small, but the church volunteers were very enthusiastic which is always fun.

The course was an out and back traveling most of the way along Kavanaugh Blvd which is the business district. The out part was downhill which meant ... yes, we'll be climbing back up on the way back! My goal was to keep a 9:45 pace and in the beginning I was going more like 8:30 but it was hard to slow down. Of course after the turnaround when I started heading up hill, there was NO problem slowing down!! I did take a few walk breaks when my heart rate got ridiculously high on the uphills and I didn't stress about it, not to mention I've learned that I don't lose a lot on my pace by taking strategic breaks. I had enough left over to sprint the finish but I was frustrated to not break that 30 minute barrier. On the bright side, it was a PR and on a hilly course to boot, and I ended up averaging a 9:51 pace which isn't far off my target.

I'm not sure where I placed in my age group - will add that later, but I was pleased with how well I did. I'll probably never be the fastest, but when I finish that marathon I'm not gonna care about my 5K times anyway :)

edited to add official results:
Women: 16/52
Age Group 30 - 39: 5/10
Overall: 34/87

Flashback at the coffee shop

While standing in line at Starbucks this morning, I happened to get behind one of those super high maintenance sorts that has to have a Very.Specific.Drink. You know the type, they want non-fat, with whip, half caf, triple shots, spin it around three times and make a wish on the lid sort of orders. This led a flashback to a dark period in my life, a time when all hope was gone and despair threatened to invade my soul ... yes, my friends I was a Starbucks barista for five months in a land far away and a time long ago.

When I moved to Denver in January 2000, I thought I'd pick up a temporary job while searching for something permanent in the environmental health field. My third day there, I went to my local Starbucks for a coffee and saw a help wanted sign. I thought to myself, "hey a coffee shop! That'd be a fun job!" I filled out an application and the spunky manager who was my age hired me on the spot. The pay wasn't great but they did offer health care benefits to all of their staff which was a nice incentive, plus you got free drinks while working, a pound of coffee a week, and discounts when traveling to other Starbucks.

Now I've worked with the public before - I spent seven years working retail in school, so I'm not unfamiliar with the challenges of appeasing the consumer. However, I was in no way prepared for the complete insanity that people brought into that little shop on Colorado Blvd. I'd have to say that the women were the worst, they'd get out of their Mercedes SUVs in their high heeled boots and bark orders at me in the most demeaning way and demand remakes if it wasn't up to their standards. The unbelievable rudeness that I experienced day in and day out was truly astonishing. My favorite was the person who wanted me to gift wrap (!) a coffee mug she was purchasing during a busy weekend morning when we had a line on both sides of the counter extending out the door. I explained that we didn't gift wrap but I did have a starbucks bag with tissue paper which was in no way good enough for her. She berated me, demanded my full name so she could lodge a complaint and then eventually stormed off. I wanted to yell, "You want gift wrap then go to Nordstroms b@%*h!!!"

I eventually came to the conclusion that people have so much chaos in their lives and so few things they can control, that the one place they decided to exert their full ability to demand excellence was at the coffee shop counter over their $4 latte. This epiphany in no way made my life easier, but eventually I found a better "temporary" position using my experience as a pharmacy tech which also paid $5 more an hour. For some interesting tales from the dark side of retail visit this link

So for whatever reason, this morning I had a moment where I was transported back to that miserable period in my life. On my way to the car all I could think was that I'm sooo glad I'm a nurse because I'll never have to worry about finding work again.

Visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens

Today was a fun afternoon! A friend was off work for the afternoon, I didn't work until 7 p.m., it was 75 degrees and sunny outside - so it seemed like the perfect day for a road trip. We ended up heading to Hot Springs and visiting Garvan Gardens which is nestled along Lake Hamilton. The grounds are very well maintained with walking paths throughout which are either paved or nicely mulched. I'm pretty sure we were the only non-senior citizens visiting at the time as various groups of grey-haired sorts were either walking or taking the golf cart tour of the gardens. We even saw a small wedding that was taking place ... I'm guessing if they're getting married on a Friday afternoon that there's not going to be a raucous kegger for a reception.

After the Gardens, we headed back to Little Rock for some ColdStone Creamery. Ice cream is one of those things that I don't crave often, but every now and then it really hits the spot!! Now I'm at work and practically pinching myself to stay awake. I've had the hardest time sleeping during the days since I've started traveling and it's made the night shift more difficult to maintain. I used to be able to lay my head down any time of day and fall asleep, and now even if I do fall asleep - I'm lucky to stay that way.

This week has also been crap for training. I had a nice bike ride that I mentioned in my last post, but since then ... I just had a horribly slow run. After I get off work I'm heading to the Park to run with the Hot Legs - perhaps I can redeem myself.

Someone else in the family *really* got the running genes!!

I've mentioned my cousin Travis before in my blog - he's a few years younger than me and he started out doing tris and then got into ultrarunning a year ago. We raced together at my first sprint distance tri (he finished long before me), my first half marathon (he did the full), and the road bike I currently ride used to be his.

Anyway, he did his first 50 - yes FIFTY - mile race this past weekend. Not only was it 50 miles, but it was 50 miles on trails that had been rained on for most of the week. It's such an amazing accomplishment I almost can't wrap my head around it. You've gotta check out his race report here ..... WAY TO GO TRAV!!!

So now I'm thinking, perhaps the ability to be an endurance athlete runs in the Drake genes and maybe I just haven't tapped into my potential yet????? :)

Oh and since I mentioned the road bike I bought from Trav, I actually rode it outside yesterday for the first time since July!!!! It was on a paved trail well away from traffic so I didn't have to be scared, and honestly I forgot how much I enjoy the feeling of freedom on a bike. I'm clearly out of biking shape but I guess this officially marks the start of tri training 2007.

The past week: A recap

I'm starting to be a delinquent blogger again ... bad Jenn! Bad! ... and I realized that I haven't posted in the last week. So here's a quick recap:

Running: I'm still feeling great! Ran about 15 miles this week, including a few miles of technical single track in my new Brooks Cascadia trail runners! I forgot how much I love to run on trails, and it was muddy, wet and raining which for me is a perfect time to commune with the outdoors. I found a half marathon in Denver in early June so this week I'm going to start my training plan and rebuild my mileage - hopefully without any IT troubles :)

Move: I have my apartment all lined up for my assignment in Denver. I'm actually going to be across the street from my old office at the CO Dept of Health which means I can do lunch with some of my friends/old co-workers. The best part is that it's right next to the Cherry Creek Trail which is a paved path that goes from Confluence Park in downtown Denver out to the Cherry Creek Reservoir. It will be an excellent jumping off point for biking and running!! From friend Dee has promised (or threatened) that I will be included in their Sunday bike rides and will be quickly whipped into shape!

Social stuff: This past week I went to an interesting lecture at the Clinton School with my friend Erin. The speaker was an Anglican bishop who is from Rwanda and was there during the genocide. It was a very powerful discussion which definitely puts my pea-brained problems in perspective.

I also saw the movie Reign Over Me which was actually pretty good. Who knew that Adam Sandler could do serious acting?? Maybe he's our generation's Robin Williams.

There has also been a date or two over the course of the week (remember I'm going to be coy about it), and let's just say that things are progressing nicely in that area.

A haircut for Oakley

Poor Oakley's hair had gotten out of hand so I made an appointment with the local dog groomer for a long overdue haircut.
Here he is before ...

and after.

Now we're ready for summer!

Kicking some 10K butt!!

Even though I decided to forgo the St Louis Half Marathon next weekend, I thought it would be fun to test myself at the Capitol City Classic 10K today. I've never run a 10K, but I assumed that I'd be good to go given that I've been building my mileage with my training for St Louis. My plan was to shoot for an 11:30 min/mile pace, but to have no guilt in slowing down for walk breaks if my knee started to bother me.

First of all, it was damn cold this morning in Little Rock! Despite having had temps up to 80 degrees earlier in the week, at race time it was 35 degrees, overcast and breezy. Of course after wintering in Denver, I'm not afraid of a little cold - I was just sad that I couldn't wear my new purple and black running skirt that I ordered from www.runningskirts.com. As usual, I was running late this morning ... had a fun date last night that went well but as previously mentioned we'll keep that off the blog this time around :) So I spent too much time in the shower trying to wake up since I am NOT a morning person, then I was scrambling to get dressed, feed the dogs, and gulp down a few spoonfuls of oatmeal. I couldn't find my warm running hat - cause it would have made too much sense to look for it the night before - but luckily I found my Mizzou beenie to keep my head warm.

I got to the race site with less than 10 minutes to spare, I shot a Gu, used the port-a-potties and only had to stand around freezing for a few minutes before the race started. A sidenote, while I was waiting for the port-a-pottie, I made a comment to another gal that "I hope there are some slow people here today!" because looking around you could just tell that these were some seriously, fast runners. She was very nice and reassuring, "oh of course there are! I'm not planning on going very fast either." Turns out she's got a marathon coming up so she's taking it easy, which marathon I asked? Yeah BOSTON!
Don't even pretend you're slow to me, if you're a Boston qualifier!! (for those not in the know, qualifying for Boston is a pretty tough thing to do - basically it would only be in my dreams!)

The race started and I went out pretty fast - like a 10 minute/mile pace. I felt OK and my heart rate was fine, but I didn't want to use up too much too soon. After the first mile, I settled into a nice 11 min/mile pace and found several people around me who were running right around the same speed. I wasn't feeling cold, it was a nice flat course on the road, and we even passed a few horse farms and a cattle lot (Moo!). By the second mile, I had decided to just run the whole thing and only stop to walk for water (I learned last year that trying to drink while running only gets me a really wet shirt!). The first water stop was around the 2.5 mile mark, which is where the loop of the course joins the out and back portion. The really fast runners were already heading back to the finish ... see I told you this was a fast group of people! I probably walked for 15 seconds tops, then was back at it. The rest of the race was totally uneventful, I struggled at times to stay on pace because I kept wanting to go faster, and it wasn't until the 5 mile mark that I just decided to let go and see what I could do. I had enough left in me to sprint the last portion and that was the only time I even felt a twinge in my knee. I finished strong at 1:06:18 which corresponds to a 10:41/mile pace - which is SMOKIN' for Jenn!!

I grabbed some pizza, cookies and fruit, then headed home to the warmth of my apartment. I knew that I was in the back of the pack so it wasn't like there was an award waiting for me or anything :) In reviewing the data from my Polar running computer, it turns out that I actually got faster as the race went on which is awesome! Since this is my first 10K it's a personal record, but I'm positive that next time I can definitely go faster!!

Results
Race time = 1:06:18 (10:41 pace)
Age group place = 16 of 19 (yeah, I'm a back of the pack kindof gal!)
Overall place = 234 of 264

4.5 miles and NO PAIN!!!

I'm so psyched! I ran today and I'm guessing it's the combo of the new shoes and the massage, but I felt NO PAIN!

I hit the River Trail and instead of hanging out on the North Little Rock side like I normally do, I ran over the Big Dam Bridge to the Little Rock side for a few miles and back again. I only took walk breaks every 15 minutes and still managed to be fast (for me) doing 11:30 miles! I can't wait for my 10K this weekend - we'll see if I can manage a 12 minute or better pace and not aggravate anything. Woo Hoo!!!

An interesting trip to the massage therapist

Today I visited a massage therapist that was recommended by the Hot Legs. Not only have I been having this IT band/knee issue, but I've also developed the worse case of stiff neck in the past week. I had been warned that he had some unorthodox theories and also that he was intuitive and could just sense things. Let me tell you, it was a bizarre experience!!

After I showed up, he had me take my shoes off and just stand in a corner so he could see me. He immediately picked up on the problem with my right hip, made a comment almost under his breath about "troubles of the heart" and then proceeded to indicate that I had a problem with my head and neck that could be leading to migraines and problems with my neck. It was totally freaky!! Later on I asked him about how he could see that I had had romantic difficulties, and he basically indicated anyone could see it if they just looked and then later made a comment about men being "pricks." - ( I loved this guy!) He also made a comment about how when I run, I'm not gazelle like and I mostly "clomp along" which is so true - how I wish I had grace! Later on in the course of the treatment, he made a comment about how bad it must have hurt my left wrist when I fell and caught myself .... which is exactly what happened while hiking in Colorado 7 years ago. I mean seriously, this guy was like a massage psychic!!

After two hours, he had put everything back in place as best he could and I was more relaxed than I've been in a while. I can't wait to go running tomorrow and see how I feel! Also, earlier this week I visited the Sporty Runner up in Conway and got new shoes. I was wearing Asics but after trying on several pairs, I ended up in a pair of Saucony. I ran 4 miles in them yesterday and felt pretty good, so now with the new shoes, and the newly adjusted muscles - we'll see how it goes!

Training Derailed!

After doing some internet reading and consulting the Hot Legs, I've determined that my "knee" problem is actually an IT band problem - the same overuse injury that has been plaguing my ultrarunning cousin Travis. In laymen's terms, the iliotibial band is a muscle group that goes from the hip to the knee. When it rubs a lot at either connection point, the area swells and pain ensues. I first started noticing the pain when running downhill (there's a pretty steep half-mile downhill on my local running route) and now it's gotten to the point where my knee starts to ache after about 15 minutes of running. If I take frequent walk breaks, it's bearable - but I'm just worried about making things worse at this point since I'm going to do the Chicago Marathon come hell or high water.

So sadly, I've decided to cancel my planned half-marathon in St. Louis. I'm bummed because I was totally on track with my training and actually following my plan, but I think it's too much of a risk until I get this thing under control. I'm seeing a massage therapist this week who's highly recommended by the Hot Legs, going to the running shop for new shoes, decreasing my mileage, and incorporating some cross training. I didn't have any problems last summer when I did my first half mary, but at the time I was doing lots of strength training, biking and swimming so I think my body was just in better shape.

Maybe this is a good time to switch my focus to triathlon?? I can start concentrating on preparing for some sprints while ramping up my mileage slowly to prepare for my marathon training which will start in June.

In other "injury" news, a quick note on the dating minefield. Never fear - Jenn will not stay down! I decided that the best way to get over my first experience in being passively dumped is to just move on. Though I will likely not be repeating the mistake of reporting *too* much on my blog, I'll just say that two dates are in the works for this week. Practice makes perfect ... right?? :)