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Fiesta Bowl 5k Race Recap

December 4, 2012 · by Ari ·

Okay friends, grab a cup of coffe, and settle in because this is a very long recap considering it was such a short race. 😉

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early at 5am, and quickly turned into my chipper race morning self. Every time I’m excited for a race I start dancing around the house singing “Good morning, good morning! It’s time to run ______! Good morning, good morning to you and you and you and you!” This girl has witnessed it first hand. I promise it’s cute, kind of.

By 5:45, Steve and I were out the door to meet everyone at Jason’s house, and by 6:15 we were on our way to the race to get registered. I’m a notoriously late registerer. Wow, I didn’t get the red squiggly line–apparently “registerer” is actually a word, and not just one I made up. Sweet. Okay, before I continue with what was an amazing race for me, here are a few gripes about the race itself

The volunteers seemed like they were given no information. We were told to stand in about 4 different looooong lines to register before finding the right place, and this table had no line. It was kind of annoying.
There was a total lack of information about the 5k. When I looked online, it said the race started at 7:30. Maybe I didn’t look in the right place–totally possible–but I saw nothing saying there were different start times, and all announcements were about the half marathon (which, I get it, is a bigger deal). I had to find out from an other runner what time my race actually started.
There weren’t nearly enough porta potties. I almost missed the start waiting in line on round 2 (yes, I go about every 5 minutes before a race).

Okay, back to the good. Complaining over. We rushed over to the start line and just barely made it in time. I told my friends I was going to try to find a good spot, and weaved in between the crowd to find a place near the front of the middle, if that makes sense. Actually, start lines freak me out when there are no corrals. WHERE DO I STAND???? IN THE BACK??? HOW SLOW AM I???? I have made the mistake of starting too far back before. I remember at the Iron Girl, Nicole looked to the side and saw a woman with white hair and a walker, and she was like “Really? You think we’re going to run her pace?” Suffice it to say, I have no idea where I fit in a starting line. I asked a lady next to me what her pace was, and she said she was aiming for 28-30 minutes, and that sounded like I was at least in the right ball park. I told her my goal was to break 27 minutes, and she said she was going to try to keep me in her sight lines. That made me feel cool! I don’t know how she did, but I hope she had an awesome race!

SIDEBAR: As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been having a lot of stomach issues when it comes to running. I used to only eat before long runs, but since marathon training got more intense, I started waking up really hungry in the morning, and so I’ve started eating a granola bar before I go, and a lot of times before a race, I’ll still have peanut butter toast, even if it’s a short race, since I’m usually up a couple of hours before hand. This time, I went on an empty stomach, and just took a gu 15 minutes before. It was the best my stomach has felt during a race in a long time. More on this in an other post…

Okay, back to the start. It was CROWDED. I’ve been trying to avoid weaving so that I don’t end up running extra miles, but there were some slooooowww people in front of me, and I knew I needed my own space to get in my groove, so I weaved around, and the next thing I knew, we were at a start line. I was so confused. So is THIS the start? Did I just run that last .14 miles fast for nothing??? Don’t judge me. I tried to start my watch over, but was too focused to actually think about how to do that, so I ended up hitting the lap reset. Turns out our original location was the start, and that had been the half marathon start. Very confusing for this little ol’ brain.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was actually capable of in this race. I just knew my PR was 27:16, and I wanted to break 27 minutes. I had pacing ideas that ended up getting thrown out almost immediately, while I tried to run what felt “fast” and “sustainable”. I feel like for me a 5k is kind of determined by how I feel at mile 1. Usually after the first mile, I’ve run a pace that I can only keep up for the one mile, I feel exhausted, and running 2 more sounds more impossible than running 10. This time, my watch beeped at mile 1, and I felt good. It wasn’t easy, but I felt good enough to make it my goal to negative split the next two.

0-.14 (cause my laps are wonky): 8:20

.14-1.14: 8:25

In mile 2 there were some small rolling hills. And by “hills” I mean what you would probably consider more like a speed bump, but it felt like a hill to me! I continued to feel strong even on the “uphills”–but okay I SWEAR it really did have some rollers!–and tried to let myself relax into the downhills. When my watch beeped off for mile 2, I was starting to feel pretty tired, but only a mile left! 1 mile always seems attainable!

Mile 2.14: 8:25–Not a negative split, but I always seem to positive split the crap out of 5ks and I was THRILLED to have 2 identically paced miles, especially since 8:25 was faster than I thought I’d be able to run this thing in.

The last mile was hard, as it always is in any race. I wanted to walk on the uphills. I wanted to slow down. I argued a lot in my brain about how I couldn’t keep it up, and my brain’s favorite argument “If you don’t take a walking break now, you’ll have nothing left for the finish.” This is a big fat dirty lie, and it gets me *almost* every time, but today I was like “Ummm F you, you dirty liar. I can, it’s just gonna hurt, and that’s okay.” I also think my lap reset mishap helped me here. Something about knowing that when I got to the end of mile 3, it would actually be the end of the race instead of the usual having .1-.2 left to go (which feels like an eternity at that point) helped me stay positive. I don’t know. My head responds well to mind games.

At the end of mile 3, I saw Steve waiting for me and I had a huge dopey grin on my face.I waved ridiculously, and pointed to my garmin to tell him “I’M GONNA MEET MY GOAL!!!!!”

Garmin stalking. Shocker. But at least both legs are off the ground! Note: The clock started when the half marathoners started 5 minutes before us.

“I’VE GOT THIS!!!!!”

Steve yelled at me to quit talking about how I was about to PR, and go freaking sprint to the end. I was reallllly tired at this point, and my “sprint” was pretty pathetic, but I did my best to finish strong.

Mile 3.14: 8:22 <–NEGATIVE SPLIT!!!!

The rest: 7:30

I couldn’t believe it. I’ve PRed a few times recently, but this was the first time in a looooong time that I had a goal and I really felt like I crushed it. 30 seconds may not seem like a big difference, but in a 5k, at least for me, it really is. My garmin had me at an average pace of 8:23 which is so far beyond what I thought I was capable of! As soon as I crossed the finish line, I wanted to puke (totally normal), but I grabbed some water, and quickly felt better, and I rushed back over to Steve to tell him my finish time!

Before I knew it, we saw Jason and Matt coming up pretty quickly.

I jumped in with them, and tried to say all the perfect motivational things Coach Susan says at the end of a race. Then I told them to sprint to the end, and they took me pretty seriously because before I knew it, I couldn’t keep up with those long legs, and I ducked off to the side. They ended up finishing in about 29 minutes which is a PR for Jason, and it was Matt’s very first race!! They did awesome!!

As soon as I ducked off, I went back to find Bethany. I jogged a little bit down the way and waited for her on the corner before where Steve and the boys were waiting. I jumped back in with her, and tried to be all motivational again, then we turned the last corner, and I told her to sprint to the finish. As soon as got got to the gates on the sidelines, I ducked out, and went back to see the guys.

GET IT GIRL!!

Umm, can we just talk about how GREAT you look????

Bethany finished in 37 minutes for a 2 minute 5k PR!! Rock star!

PRs for everyone!!!

As soon as we were done, we scooted out pretty quickly. We wanted to be able to grab breakfast, and it was my first day of tech rehearsal, so even though I wanted to see my teammates and friends that did the half marathon (and one in particular that crushed it with some ridiculous kind of 20 minute PR--WHAT??), we didn’t hang around.

In the car, I started trying to look up our chip times. When I found mine, I only really looked at the finish time, and jokingly complained about how it said 26:31, and I had been all excited about not just coming in under 27 minutes, but under 26:30. I’m silly like that. I looked up everyone else’s chip times, and went on with my morning. A couple hours later I was like “Hmmm, I wonder what my finish place is.” I always have kind of an unwritten goal to be in the top half. I know I’m not speedy, but I do want to be better than average. So I went back to look, and I was shocked and confused.

Okay, so either that’s a typo, or there were only, like, 2 people in my division, right?

Then I started crying. I asked Steve no less then 20 times “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN????” You see, I never expected to place in anything. I did one 5k where I came in 4th out of 12, and I remember feeling over the moon. It just didn’t seem possible to me. Then I went back and read about the awards–turns out I get one? My friend Michele placed 2nd in her age group, and GOT A MEDAL!!!! I mean, I have lots of race medals, but I never dreamed I would get one for coming in 2nd. I know 61 isn’t a HUGE division, but I never dreamed my times would be the slightest bit competitive. I think I’m still in shock.

I honestly can’t believe the way my life and my running has changed since Coach Susan came into my life. I know none of my recent PRs would have been possible without her wisdom, support, and guidance, and I just feel so unbelievably grateful.

In college, I did lots of vocal competitions, and never placed above honorable mention. It always seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I always fell short as a performer, and that sense of constant discouragement is what led me to change my focus to directing and choreography which I LOVE, and in a lot of ways love more than performing. I just can’t believe that I would ever place in anything. I remember telling my friend Diane when we worked together in Idaho that I had never won an award. Seriously. Never. At the end of the summer, she made me an IRT award, and it was so sweet. I still have it. I am not the person who wins or places in things. I am the person with that works really hard, and is noted for my work ethic, but always a step behind. Always seeming to just fall short.

I know for some people getting 2nd place in their division of a small, local race wouldn’t be totally life changing, but for me, it kinda is. It’s a day I will never forget, and something I will feel proud of for the rest of my life. It also taught me something else–I’ve been running for just over a year, and look how far I’ve come. There is nothing that is unattainable. With hard work, I can be a better, stronger runner than I ever dreamed of. I can also be a better stronger person. We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for, so do me and yourself a favor:

Dream big.

Be The One Run 5K Race Recap

July 16, 2012 · by Ari ·

I was about to start talking about how my 2 month accidental racing hiatus seemed so unimaginably long, and how I never want that again, and I need to race all the time. Then I was like “Whoa, self. That’s a little overdramatic. And weird. You’ve been at theatre camp for too long.” And then I also thought about how weird it is that I even like racing at all. I guess maybe one day I will be done feeling surprised by the fact that I maybe actually enjoy running. Until then, I like surprises 😉

Anyway, Tali and I arrived super early, only to discover it was a super small race, and we probably could have slept in more. Also, it was raining. A lot. We were both pretty stoked though, so we got our bibs, stopped at the Starbucks, and checked out the stands at the pre-race expo. Also, we took lots of pictures in the car while we hid out from the rain.

“Look at me. Running my first 5k. SO HARDCORE!!!”

OH MY GOSH RUNNING!!! We’re so excited!!!

Hey world. We’re running. These are our shoes.

The Be The One Run raises money for bone marrow transplants. There were a lot of people there obviously running for someone they knew, which always makes me emotional a little bit. One guy had a shirt that said “Mom :)” and I thought it was so sweet. I love being at races that are for a good cause, and seeing the people running for friends and family.

Just before we started, we met up with Liane and Karisa, gave them our swag bags, and headed out to the start. I couldn’t believe how close to the starting line I was. I was a little worried that I was about to get trampled by speed demons, but I weaved through a few people, then quickly found my own space, where I was definitely going out too fast. I lost Tali pretty quickly, but kept her in close sight throughout the first mile, which I ran probably too fast in 8:20. Then I positive split crap out of the rest of the race. That’s how you’re supposed to do it right? I ran mile 2 in 8:40. I had high hopes of averaging around 8:30 for the race, but after mile 2, I just got more and more tired. The last mile seemed like an eternity, and I just wanted to be done.

I ended up finishing in 27:16 according to Garmi, 27:14 official time.

8:40 pace. PR. Exciting right?

Umm, let me just tell you that Tali finished her first ever 5k, after only really running with me for like 3 weeks, in 25:33, and placed 3rd in our division!! What??? Girl is crazy! I finished 7th out of 35, which is actually great for me, and I PRed, and 8:40 is speedy for me, but I have this head problem where I only see how I want to do better. I ended the race feeling more frustrated than proud, and that is stupid. In the end, a PR is a PR, and I had a good race, and I will break 27 minutes soon.

Super proud of Tali, and tons of congrats to her for running such an awesome race!!!

Firefly Run 5K Race Recap

April 18, 2012 · by Ari ·

Saturday evening I had the opportunity to participate in my first night race!

Heather, Emily, Nicole, Me, Bethany & Jason

Decked out in glow gear. We take night racing very seriously.

Steve, Jason, Bethany and I arrived pretty early so that Jason could register. We quickly met up with Nicole, Emily and Stacey, and hung out for a bit before lining up for the race.

Jason, Bethany and I started towards the back. It was Bethany’s first race, and we had all three planned to run it together. Usually, I’m a big jerk and I ditch my friends at races (or if I race with Nicole, I tell her to just leave me because I will never make it at her pace haha), but I really wanted to run Bethany’s first race with her, and I was excited about the idea of running with my two best friends.

When we started running, I was amazed at how nice it was to be able to look around and enjoy my surroundings. The only thing I usually see during the race is the face of little Garmi. And she’s cute, but Phoenix at night kind of is too. The weather was perfect, and it just felt amazing to be running through the city at night!

The race was an out and back route, so shortly after mile 1, we saw Nicole and Stacey racing back. We all shouted and waved at each other. I was ridiculously energetic, and I kept trying to talk to Jason and Bethany, but they were not feeling as chatty as me haha. Emily and Heather were pretty close to us for the majority of the race as well.

At mile 2, I could tell Bethany was getting tired, but she turned it up a little bit and surprised Jason and me. I started thinking at that point

10 years ago, who would have thought that we would be here?

10 years ago I was near the end of my “first round” of weight loss. I was ridiculously unhealthy, and in a very bad place in my life. We had all been through an impossibly tough and life changing situation together, and the three of us were doing the best we could to get by. Sometimes I can’t believe we’ve made it to this point in our lives–not running a 5k, but maintained our friendship through thick and thin, grown and changed so much as human beings, and found even deeper love and appreciation of our friendships.

I began to get a little ~~lot~~ sentimental, and started to wish that our whole group could be together, but mostly, I was just happy to have these 2 amazing friends in my life, and to be accomplishing goals together. We’ve always been really different. Neither of them are into theatre, and we’re all just really different, so it was awesome to be going after something together.

Bethany kicked some serious ass, didn’t stop once, and ran the fastest she’s run in this stage of her life. I couldn’t be more proud of her!

Before we finished, Steve caught Stacey busting through the finish line with a rockin’ PR!!

You PR that shit, Stacey!!

Then at the very end, Jason picked it up a little and finished a few seconds before Bethany and me.

So serious!

Shortly after, Bethany rocked it out and pulled out a sub 9 pace for the last stretch. I finished with the biggest grin on my face.

Running is fun!!

WHEEEEE!!! I love running!!!! Usually at the end of a race I hate running. This was a pleasant change 😉

After the race, we headed over to Papago Brewing Company for food and drinks, where we met up with Nacho.

And Miriam and Scott who were visiting from Indiana.

Jason and Nacho had been to Papago Brewing Company before, finding it after we had all been huge fans of their brews at various other restaurants. The beer selection was ridiculous, and the food was incredible! Almost everyone ordered pizza.

Everything I tasted was delicious, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this place! I was worried it was going to be a little stuffy since it’s in Scottsdale, but it was definitely beer people atmosphere if that makes sense. I absolutely loved it and will definitely be back in the future!

Final funny note: I mentioned to Steve that he didn’t get a single picture of Nicole after the race began and he commented “She ran by so fast at the end, the camera couldn’t focus on her!” Nice job, Speedy Gonzales. 😉

South Mountain Classic 5K Race Recap

March 25, 2012 · by Ari ·

All in all, I still feel pretty torn about feeling good and blech about this race. Jason and Nacho got to South Mountain early and had plenty of time to kill waiting for the race to begin. As it got closer to the start time, I did a quick and easy jog around the area to try to get my legs warmed up. This race was super small with no bells and whistles. When it was time to begin, some man just yelled at us to come up to the start, then the horn went off and we began. The very beginning started with a slight down hill, so I took off pretty quick at first, but almost right away my legs were not feeling super fresh. Hey, who would have thought basically taking a month off from long runs and speed training, then running 10 miles and doing a race the next morning would leave you with heavy legs? The human body really is shocking.

My goal was to run the first mile at around a 9 min pace, mile #2 around 8:45 and mile #3 with whatever I had left. Well, that slight downhill was really short lived and before I knew it, we were heading uphill up until the turn around. I will say this, that it was kind of like what I imagine Whiskey Row will be like, so I feel like it was good from a training standpoint.

Mile 1– 9:07
Mile 2– 9:01

Not what I was hoping for, but I hoped I could make up for it with the last mile being mostly downhill. I got to mile 3 and felt like I still might have a chance at a PR. I had kicked it into gear, and although I wanted to stop about a trillion times, I didn’t walk (with the exception of like 2 seconds to not choke on my water). No way in hell after making it through an entire half marathon with no walking breaks, I was taking one at a 5K. Even though my lungs were burning and I kind of wanted to die.

Mile 3– 8:37

I was doing the math in my head and I knew if I kept it up, it wouldn’t be a huge PR, but it would still be a PR. Well then I got to 3.1 and I still could barely even see the finish line. I almost completely just gave up and walked. I was exhausted, it was already feeling hot out (the high yesterday was 91!!!!), my legs felt tired, and I felt super lame knowing I wasn’t going to beat my time. I struggled through and finished in 28:05.

Okay, so here’s what’s annoying….My 5K PR is 27:56 which is an average pace of 8:59. Well, according to my garmin, my average pace for this race was 8:52. I know I should just be excited that my pace was faster and not focus on the difference in course length and it not officially being a pr and blah blah blah, but the thing is, I’ve really been enjoying my “I just started running 6 months ago and I PR in every race I do!!” that’s been going on. There are not a ton of fun things about being a new runner. Everything is hard. You feel like a turtle compared to others. You have to spend money on running clothes, and you don’t understand any of the terms that the fancy runners use! But lots of PRs is the fun part, in addition to the new challenges you get to face on almost every run.

So, yes, I am a tad disappointed. However, I’m not a total moron, and I get the fact that I ran faster than before, and I think that’s awesome. This was also the first time that other runners have come up to me after a race and mention that they thought I did well!! A couple of people that I was near on the course, came up to me after and said that they had seen me and I was doing awesome! YAY!!! I also got some extra push from Nacho who was back and forth with me during most of the first half. Unfortunately, he tried to speed up to pass me near the end, and hurt his knee 🙁 After I saw Nacho finish, I jogged back to find Jason and run with him to the finish line. I knew with the hills and the heat, he might need some motivation towards the end. I found him pretty quickly and ran with him until just before the finish line. He finished with an average pace of 10:53 which is amazing!!! I’m ridiculously proud of him!

After the race we went to The Farm at South Mountain for some breakfast.

In the middle of one of the biggest cities in the US, we have this beautiful green and rural farm with lots of restaurants and beautiful outside dining.

I discovered the editing options on iphoto--fun!!!

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast outside, then walked around. It was almost like a farmers’ market with several independent local businesses set up with stands, and tons of interesting items for sale!

There was a man and this was in his green house. It was humid inside there and he had lots of cacti for sale. It was cool, but I liked the bread man better. Obviously.

Look Nicole!!! Baby saguaro???

And we got to see real chickens!!!

Hello chickens. I hope the eggs I ate came from you. That would be sweet. Sorry, I know that's like I ate your children, or something. I hope you don't mind...

Rooster!!!

I absolutely loved eating and walking around at The Farm. In addition to their breakfast restaurant, there is also a bakery, and a super romantic looking dinner restaurant that I would love to try as well.

Skirt Chaser 5k Race Recap

February 12, 2012 · by Ari ·

About a week ago, Jason and Nacho mentioned to me that they were going to be running the Skirt Chaser 5k this weekend, and of course, I promptly invited myself to join them 🙂 I’ve been really wanted to do an other 5k since my last one was in November and I really wanted a PR! The problem? Well that course was short! I finished and my garmin said 3.02! That was super awesome at the time, but it makes trying to come in better scary! Also, the Skirt Chaser started at 2pm with a weather forecast of 80 degrees. Yikes! I figured I would go for a PR, and at the very least it would be a fun race with awesome people.

After I discovered that Carolyn was going to be in town for it, I got her to sign up as well. You see, if I’m doing a race, I want every single friend I have to sign up for it too. Some might call that pushy, but I like to think of myself as highly motivating 😉

Before the race, I met up with Jason and Nacho at REI to look for some new shoes. Okay, so ~~perhaps~~ I know buying new shoes right before a race is not super smart, but I had been REALLY needing them, and so did Jason, so it just kind of happened to work out that way. Jason, Nacho and I all ended up picking pairs of Brooks. I got the Brooks Ravenna and so far, I am in so much love!

Cute, and supportive! Yes!

The Nikes I’d been sporting were a neutral shoe, which the people at Road Runner that analyzed my running suggested I needed for my “medium arch”. Well, that was the first time anyone has ever referred to my arch as medium. My feet are almost flat, and because of that I have a lot of problems with pronating. My physical therapist has been on me to get new shoes for a while, so I used some birthday money to finally get it done.

Steve, Jason, Nacho and I arrived at the race really early because I still needed to register (I have a procrastination problem), and found some shade to hang under while we waited for the rest of the group.

Soon after, Carolyn arrived and then a big group of Jason’s work friends arrived as well.

Cool things about this race?

You get a skirt!!! See my cute new purple skirt? Way better than a shirt!
You get 2 beer tickets, and a food ticket! Okay, for $60, honestly you better get some clothes and some beer!
The girls start 3 minutes before the guys and whoever crosses the finish line first is considered the winner.
It was a girl.

When it got close to starting time, Carolyn and I made our way towards the middle/front area of the start. As soon as the race started, I darted around people trying to find my own space, and unfortunately lost Carolyn right away. I had this super awesome race strategy to do run the first mile at around 9:10-9:15, and the rest of the race sub 9. Then the race started down hill, and I turned into stupid racing Ari and ran as fast as I could, and was already breathing heavy a quarter mile in. I looked down at my garmin at one point in that first downhill section and it said my pace was 6 something! Ummm, too fast! Cannot maintain AT ALL!

We had barely gotten to the bottom of the first downhill, when we were going back up again. My pace slowed to about 9:30, but I was still pushing soooo hard. I realized pretty quickly that the entire 3.1 miles was going to be up and down and got even more worried about my ability to PR. Seriously, afternoon race, 80 degrees AND HILLS?! What are you trying to do to me here?!

I finished the first mile in 8:34. Awesome, right? Well, it would be if that was something I could maintain for 3 hilly miles. Mile to was in the 9:20s, then mile 3 was slightly better at 9:11. By the middle of mile 3, I had almost given up on the idea of a PR and just wanted to still finish under 30 minutes, but once I got closer to the finish line, I looked down at my garmin and was surprised to realize this whole PR business was actually still doable. I kicked it into gear, ran the last tenth of a mile at about a 6:20 pace (basically my sprint), and finished with a PR of 27:56!!

Not a huge difference from 28:04 which was my official time for the Undy, but considering the hills, heat, and extra tenth of a mile, it was actually a pretty big difference!

"Look!! I'm running!!!"

Nacho

Carolyn

Jason & Aaron

After the race, we all got our free beers and hung out for a while drinking, and listening to the band.

The weather felt perfect once we weren’t running in it! This was definitely a super fun race. Pretty pricey, and not very good in the cheer leading department, but I still had a really good time!

Undy 5,000 Race Recap

November 19, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hello friends! So in an act of craziness I planned my long run the day before a race this week. I don’t usually run consecutive days in a row, and I have never run the day after a long run, but unfortunately, the universe doesn’t always revolve around the schedule I would like to have. What’s up with that? Get it together universe. Anyway, I woke up today for the first time ever with my legs feeling sore from my run. I mean, my legs have been sore plenty of times. From bodyworks, squats, lunges, etc, but never from running. I was super stiff when I woke up this morning, but figured the run was just for fun and it would be nice to loosen my legs up a little.

Nicole got to our house around 7:30 and we headed out to the race. My only other race to compare it to was the Komen, and I definitely liked that this one was less crowded and legitimately timed. We got there pretty early so we took some pictures in our awesome outfits.

Super hero undies give us super speed powers! That is the goal, anyway.

"I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR!!!!" Or something like that.

We also tried to take jumping pictures, but I ended up with an awful double chin, so that is definitely not getting posted. Sorry Nicole, I’m kind of vain 😉 Also, there was a man wearing the EXACT same outfit as me. Seriously, same undies with tight black pants underneath, same shirt, and green shoes. It was pretty crazy. We shared a moment and I wanted to ask him to take a picture with me, but sometimes I’m actually shy and easily embarrassed.

I loved looking at all the fun (and some terrible) outfit choices and group names/slogans before the race began. All the underwear just gave it a really fun feel. Finally after shivering in the ~~freezing cold~~ Arizona winter, it was time to start. Unlike the Komen, once we passed the starting line, we were able to get our own space and find a good pace immediately. After just the first half mile, I realized how heavy and tired my legs felt. Yikes. I started to feel nervous about being able to finish the race and 3 miles is a short run for me these days!

The volunteer cheerleaders were pretty lame, I have to say, especially at the beginning. We ran by and they gave a half hearted clap and maybe a “yeah.” I was a little disappointed, but to be honest, I’m not used to a personal cheering squad so it’s not something I think too much about in terms of a race. I have a lot of really cool real life cheer leaders that tell me how awesome I am after. Mostly Steve, but also others 😉

Anyway, by the third mile I was sure that I was nuts for doing this after yesterday’s run and I was not feeling warmed up and good, I was feeling slow and like I weighed a million pounds and like finishing an other mile would be an impossible feat. Somehow though, we were still keeping up a pretty good pace and I was so grateful to have Nicole to push me to keep my pace up, and to both of our surprise, we ended with new PRs!!

Don't I look awesome here? I mean, most flattering picture ever.

And here I'm trying to decide the most strategic place to collapse and never get up.

I felt pretty exhausted for a good minute afterwards, but then I was back to normal and really glad I did it! Again, with only one race under my belt, the PR isn’t the HUGEST deal, but it was like a 3 minute difference, so it makes me happy. After the race, we had brunch at St Francis in our undies. It was also awesome. Then I got half way in the pool and called it an ice bath. It was pretty miserable, but I feel better. Then I foam rolled and stretched for what felt like an eternity. These after run necessities are almost as time consuming as the running itself! I definitely regretted not doing all of these things yesterday, so today I tried to make up for it 😉

Susan G Komen Race for the Cure Recap!

October 10, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hello friends! It has been a super crazy weekend and the business just keeps coming.

Now for my very first ever RACE RECAP!!! Sunday morning Steve and I woke up bright and early at 5:45 to get ready and head out for the race. I’d hardly slept because I was so excited/nervous/anxious to participate in my first race. We met Jason at his house and then headed into downtown Phoenix where thousands of people had gathered to participate in this event. It was pretty inspiring how many people had devoted their early Sunday morning to be there. When we arrived, we met up with Nacho and wandered around a little checking out the different booths.

Those super cute pink shorts were purchased special on Saturday for the race. I wanted to be festively pink from head to toe from the occasion. Even my socks were pink, but you can’t see them in this picture 🙂

Steve wandered off to play photographer while Jason, Nacho and I got ready for the race. As we were getting ready, the breast cancer survivors lined up for their run which began shortly before ours. As soon as I saw them lining up I got unexpectedly emotional. Something about seeing people who have survived something so big out there running–it just hit something and we all know I’m a big emotional basket case anyway. After they took off, I pulled it together and got ready to begin myself.

Of course today of all days Pandora decided to totally suck. I couldn’t get my application to load on my phone and from then on my music was intermittent to non existent. Boo. Anyway, they counted us off and I immediately became annoyed by the crowd of people in front of me keeping my pace to a slow crawl. I have a patience problem. I’m aware of it. I’m working on it, but it’s not getting better fast enough.

Finally after about 5 minutes, the crowd thinned out enough for me to find my own pace. This is where I made my big mistake. I wanted to make up time, plus my adrenaline was kicking. Add that to being a super competitive person (I have a hard time when children beat me in board games), and you get the big mistake of starting off too fast for your own good. Of course later that day I read on an other blog how starting off too fast in the beginning is the fastest way to kill your time. I started running at an 8:50-9:00 pace, which considering my fastest pace for a similar distance was 9:40, was way too fast for my running fitness level.

A little after the 2 mile mark, it really started to hit me. I got a big cramp in my side (who gets cramps?!) and my tummy started to really bug me. Finally, I gave in to my body and took a few walking breaks. I was so upset because I really wanted to run the whole thing, but I had just worn myself out too quickly and knew I was going to have to walk a little if I wanted to keep going. Finally, I turned a corner and could see the finish line. I got so excited, and I wanted to make up for the lost time in my walking breaks, so I began sprinting towards it. Unfortunately, it was further away than it looked. So deceiving, that finish line! Meanwhile, I’m running at a 7:40 pace (yes, I do check my Garmin pretty religiously–it’s new and shiny!), and feeling like I’m about to die, but you canNOT stop, walk, or slow down once the finish line is in sight–isn’t that some sort of unwritten rule? Well it was in my brain, so I chugged along, and once I finally crossed that finish line, my stomach pains came full force and I wanted to collapse on the ground. It felt so much harder than I imagined it would considering I have run this distance and longer! But I definitely learned a valuable lesson about pacing myself. If anyone had told me to slow down at the beginning of the race, there is no way I would have listened. I just needed to experience it myself.

I REALLY wanted to finish in under 30 minutes. Well my friends, that didn’t happen. Not even close. But, even with my lame-o walking breaks, I still managed to finish with an average pace of 9:58 which isn’t too bad for my very first race.

As I caught my breath, I went to meet Steve, but we had location difficulties and I ended up waiting by myself until Jason and Nacho came up to meet me. Of course, as I was sitting there alone, I became a much less than perfect wife and got super grumpy with Steve because I wanted to see him the second I crossed the finish line. I really wanted to share the moment with him, but it ended up that by the time I saw Jason and Nacho, it almost didn’t feel real anymore. I expected to feel this huge sense of accomplishment, but all I could think about how I didn’t meet my goals and how if a 5K was this hard, how am I ever going to run a half marathon in January?! So unproductive, I know! Who finishes their first race and can’t enjoy it?! My attitude needs a serious adjustment, otherwise it’s just going to make things harder! Does anyone else have a really hard time feeling accomplished and not focusing on what could have been better?

After a while, we finally met up with Steve and headed to brunch at St Francis! As soon as I looked at the brunch menu, I immediately wanted to order everything on it, as well as a cocktail at 10am. Is that bad? 🙂 Well, I did not ending ordering a drink, and tried to order mindfully because we had plans later that evening to take a cooking class (more on that awesomeness to come!) To start, we got an order of the fingerling potatoes to share.

Jason and Steve won best menu selection with their skillet of red wine marinated pot roast and eggs. I had a bite. It was pretty much like heaven in your mouth.

I ordered an egg white omelet with goat cheese, and marinated mushrooms and onions. It was the perfect balance of healthy and delicious, and they gave me so many mushroom! Yum!

I even had one of the pieces of bread with some delicious raspberry jam. It may have been my favorite part of the whole meal. Wait, actually my favorite part was my one bite of Steve’s food. Must recreate somehow.

After we finished eating, we posed for some post race photos.I decided that even though it was a non competitive race, we were the winners and should pose as such. And because I finished first, I was in first place and needed to stand higher up in the middle. Obviously.

You can see my pink socks in this one! ^^^

I absolutely love these guys and I am so glad I got to experience my first race with them! When Jason and I were talking he said “I just never would have believed it if anyone would have told me I would be doing this with you.” Sometimes it’s easy to forget where you came from. The first time I attempted to run on a treadmill, I quit after 10 seconds. “I can’t do it.” I said to my friend Mandie. Convinced I was right. Convinced that it wasn’t an excuse.

My personal running mantra that I always repeat to myself when things get tough is “I can do anything.” To me, that sums everything up. I never thought I could lose 70 lbs. When my entire life revolved around food and counting my calories, I never thought I would find balance between who I was before and who I had become. I never thought I would reach my goal of participating in a race–any race. And I certainly never thought I would announce to the world that I was training for a half marathon. I also never thought I would be able to learn how to dance or sing, or be good enough to get my BFA. But every single goal I have put my mind to in life, I have achieved. I can do anything.

The first time I wrote this post, I pressed published and it all disappeared. I freaked out a little, cried, and then went to write round two. But the first time, I didn’t get to the part where I reflected where I came from, and as someone who believes everything happens for a reason, maybe I needed to start over so that I could give myself a little credit, and remind myself that I.Can.Do.Anything. You know what? So can you.

Thanks for reading, everyone. This one is pretty important to me 🙂

A new PR for me!!!

September 11, 2011 · by Ari ·

Good morning everyone!!! It is the most beautiful morning we’ve had here in Phoenix in quite some time and I couldn’t be happier! Finally the weather is good enough for a beautiful morning run. Let me preface with the fact that I hardly ever run and when I do, it is almost always on a treadmill and I have never gone outside and even measured my distance, but today was different, because….

I have an announcement to make!!!

I have decided to run my First.Race.Ever. The Susan Komen Race for the Cure. I didn’t want to announce until I was certain I could do it and wouldn’t back out. Running has been incredibly hard on my body in the past due to my very short achilles tendins, and has caused a lot of pain, but it is something I can and WILL push through because I have dreams of one day completing a marathon. Starting small.

I have only ever run 3.1 miles ONE TIME in my life. It was on the treadmill and I remember when I was done I wanted to cry. I went from not being able to run a full minute to running a legitimate race distance. I felt so proud. I did it that day in about 37 minutes. Not fast, but I am not speedy and I’m okay with that.

This morning I got up early, realized my window to take advantage of 75 degree temperature was small, and got my booty out the door to see how I did in the great out doors. I not only met my goal of making the 5k (I wasn’t sure I’d be able to outside since the one time was inside and almost a year ago), but I made a new PR that I’ve only been dreaming of–29:59!!!!! Just barely, but under 30 minutes!!!! I kind of wanted to cry–again.

The first mile flew by and I started to wonder why I wasn’t going for a longer race! Mile 2 still felt good, but I started to wonder when the end would come. Mile 3 I just wanted to be done haha. It was getting warmer out, I was tired, and I remembered why I am doing a 5k to start haha. The good news? My run ended me perfectly at Starbucks for water and iced coffee!