Zenaida Arroyo

Yes I know it sounds silly.   Today was the Y-Me 5K race and it was such a gorgeous day today.  It was at 8am and I got downtown at about 7:15.  I did not realize how much further north the starting line was so I then started walking a little bit faster since I still had to go to the bathroom and drop off my gear.

I did not wait long in line.  I was behind a lady that was running in the Vibram FiveFingers and we just started talking about them.  She was raving about them which got me motivated to start training in mine.  Anyway, the port-a-potties were pink!  So cute and definitely clean.  They were the ones that you had to press down a lever/handle with your foot to flush.

I dropped off my gear and made my way to the starting line.  If you read my post from last week you know that from now on I am determined to get as close as possible to the starting line.  There were so many people!  The race was divided into two components: 1.) 5K runners (pink bibs) and 2.) 1 or 3 mile walkers (white bibs).  There were even signs to let people know that the pink bibs go first.  Of course the walkers were at the front of the line.  I was NOT happy about this.  I did point it out to a few girls with white bibs telling them that since they were walkers they had to move back to the end of the line.  One of the girls told me that they were meeting their friends up front.  I let it go.  I mean, I told myself “Come on it is Mother’s Day”.  I then proceeded to move up as close as possible.  Well, the gun went off and we started walking.  We kept on walking and I realized that I was STILL behind a lot of runners.  I then wasted energy zigzagging through people to get away from them.  I finally did and was among runners and a few walkers.

I was not off to a good start.  Somehow my Garmin watch was not working.  I turned it on as I waited in line and waited for the satellite to find my location.  It was not working so I turned it off and turned it back on.  Whew, finally it worked.  Well, I was wrong!!!!  As I was running I noticed that the pace numbers were changing but not the time nor the distance.  Ugh!  Well, I just turned it off and kept on running.  

The water station was a little bit after 1.5 miles.  At least that is what it seemed like.  I grabbed one cup of water and chugged it down.  I grabbed another one but I was so thirsty and also breathing very fast so can just imagine what happened.  Oh my goodness!  In all of my races that had never happened.  I guess I shouldn’t say that I almost choked but instead I did choke.  I was coughing like crazy.  My eyes were watery and people were looking at me but did not ask if I was OK.  “That is OK people.  Keep on running.  I don’t want you to miss your PR”.  🙁 

The rest of the race was not too bad.  There were a few more inclines but I tried to run through most of them.  I dislike inclines very much.  I don’t know what my official finish time is but I am estimating around 32:30 or so.  Not bad considering that the incident at the water station.

Next race is the Magellan Chicago Spring Half Marathon and 10K.  Originally I was signed up for the half marathon but changed it to the 10K.  That is OK.  I don’t think I am ready for another half marathon after last week’s disastrous race.  I have a few weeks to mentally prepare for the 13.1 Chicago on June 4.  I am going to rock that one!!!

Yay!  A great race today but the weather was OK.  It was not cold nor hot but it was a little bit windy.  My goal was to beat 32:03 and I am so happy to say that I finished the race in 31:19.  Yep!  Not only did I do better than last year but I set a new PR.  I am beaming!!  Let’s hope I can repeat it tomorrow in a half marathon.  The time to beat is 2:20.  I remember from last year that the course was FLAT.  For real.  It was a really nice course with enough room to pass the walkers.  🙂

I told myself that from now on I will begin a race as close as possible to the start line.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am not really fast that deserves to be right at the front.  However, I am much faster than the walkers.  I am in no way trying to put the walkers beneath me but I am just saying that they are slower and most of them take up the running path and are in my way.  We know what the running etiquette is “If you are going to walk, move over to the right”.  Also, walkers should be BEHIND the runners.  Anyway, I spent the first few minutes passing up the walkers and weaving my way through the path and stopped when I finally caught up with a group that was running at a decent pace. 

Around halfway through the race there was a water station and not only was there water but there was also beer!  Yeah!  I got a cup of better and the volunteer so kindly reminded me that it was beer and not water.  Still I gladly took it from him.  It tasted so good.  I don’t LOVE beer but I can drink it once in a while.  Plus, it was so cold so it hit the spot at the right moment.

I hope tomorrow goes well.  Looking forward to it.

It was a great day for a race yesterday.  However, I must confess that I almost did not make it to the race because I was just so tired.  I like going to races in which I can take the train versus driving and paying a hefty parking fee.  The 10K portion of the race was at 9:15 so I got to the park around 8:50.  I found the Fleet Feet tent, dropped off my bag and made my way to the bathroom.  Luckily there wasn’t a long line since walkers and runners were already lining up to for the race.  The first portion of the race was for the walkers followed by the 5K runners.

There weren’t a lot of 10K runners which was kind of nice because the start line was not crowded.  I got off to a good start and my splits for the first 3 miles are: 1-10:27; 2-10:39; 3-10:32.  I don’t know what my times were for the next 3 miles because somehow my Garmin got screwed up.  I can tell you that my finish time was 1:06.  The finish time for my last 10K in September was 1:04.  Ugh!!!  Definitely NOT happy about that.  What is wrong with me?!?!?!?  I am frustrated and cannot figure it out.  I am worried because I have a race on Saturday (5K) and Sunday (Half Marathon) and let me tell you that I did real good last year.

I am glad I made it to the race yesterday.  It was a beautiful day to be downtown and as always it felt good to run.  🙂

Marathon training is right around the corner.  Yikes!  Looking forward to it but nervous about it too.

I did this race on Saturday, April 16 and finished in 1:49.  I am somewhat happy with my time.  You see last year I finished this race in 1:47:57.  My last two races I have finished in about 1 minute slower compared to last year.  What is going on?  My goal for each race is to always improve on last year’s time but so far I have done two races and it is not looking good.

Let’s go back to Sunday’s race.  I almost did not make it because it was raining.  Ugh, I am not a fan of running in the rain, especially if it is cold.  I got to the race early because I got an email letting me know that the parking lot was not going to be open but instead to look for street parking and/or parking at other lots.  I wanted to get a good spot so I would not have to walk too much hence getting there early.  I waited in my car hoping that the rain would go away.  It finally did but it was mostly drizzly and that was fine with me.  I got out to go to the bathroom (loved it no line at all) and got some coffee.  I was so cold so I went back to my car to warm up for a little bit.  I left again about 7:45 and I went to the bathroom again, stretched, and waited in line.

The race began and I made my way.  As usual I started off too fast and paid for it later on.  I still do not know how to stay on pace.  I took my first break after 2 miles and then began running again.  I took a break every 2 miles or so but I think I need to stop doing that if I want to improve on my time.  🙂  The weather was great.  It was not pouring and not windy at all.  It was a good course with no incline and enough space/room to pass other runners.  I did not pass a lot of runners but at least I had the option of doing so if needed.  Last year I ran a race that was so crowded that it was difficult to pass anyone at all!!  Anyway, at the end of the race there was beer but there was a long line and I did not want to wait for it.  I did get bottles of Muscle Milk (love it!!) and FRS Health Energy Drink.  I had a good time at this race and will definitely do it again next year but next time it will be less than 1:47:57!!!!

My next race is the Wrigley Start Early Run 10K on Saturday.  This year is the first time I do this so I am looking forward to it.  I hope the weather cooperates since we have been having some crappy weather here in Chicago.