Zulu 5K Run To Ride

(Max before the race!)

This Saturday, Max and I woke up at 6:30am, hopped on our bikes and rode to Zulu Headquarters for the Zulu Run to Ride 5K.  Yes, we are hardcore.

This race was the smallest one we've participated in yet. The crowd was about 1/3 what it was at Run, Forrest, Run 5K and about 1/2 what it was at Étouffée 5K two weekends ago.



The bike ride was really nice, and it was a great way to warm up our legs before the race. We'll definitely be doing that again when we run the Fat Boy 5K in two Sundays in City Park.

There was a rainbow-themed slip 'n' slide set up for the kids. I was tempted to go for it, but I didn't want to be wet before the race, and after the race I was pooped! Here's how the race went for me:

The race route was great for the first 1/2. Max took off from the starting line immediately and I only saw him again when he passed me at the turn around point. The race went along this channel that goes along the bottom edge of City Park. I  think it's called Bayou St. John or something? It was really pretty!

The problem was that by the second part of the race, the SUN was out in full force... my mile times went like this:

mile 1 (not too hot): 9:59/mile "I'm feeling good!"
mile 2 (sort of hot): 10:02/mile "I'm gonna finish in 31 minutes!"
mile 2.25 (hellishly hot): 10:17/mile "What happened? I want to die!"

The Zulu race was full of characters- as expected. There were lots of people in grass skirts and coconut bra tops (worn over their regular running gear). There were also a few familiar faces in the crowd! No, not NOLA buddies- just people we recognized from previous 5Ks.

Max crossed the finish line at 27:20, which is pretty freaking amazing.

We don't have a finish line picture of Max because he finished before me, so who could take a pic? (We need a spectator friend! Taking applications now, NOLA buddies!) Here he is after the race. The amazing thing about pic is that Max was really, really wiped afte the run. He really threw all of himself in to beating his PR, which he did. He was really, really exhausted and weakened by the run- and yet look at him! In this picture he's smiling!

(Best finishing photo ever! Thx Max!)

This isn't to say I wasn't totally wiped out from the race myself. As I said above, the heat took it's toll on me. I could see the finish line ahead of me, and I could see the clock ticking away... 31:40, 31:45, 31:48.... my goal of finishing in the 31st minute was so close. I was 100 feet from the finish line, but I couldn't go any faster without fear of puking/fainting/both, so I had to stay even-tempoed and ended up finishing with a time of 32:02.

(Max, put the camera down and take this from me!)

As soon as I crossed the line, I collapsed in to Max's arms. :-) He escorted me to a spot in a gas station where I could sit down. I was hot, tired, sun stroked, and so freaking happy, as seen in this picture here:

We went back to Zulu headquarters. I recovered pretty quickly, but Max was really feeling crappy because he was running an 8.7 min mile, which is a lot harder on the body than a 10:17 min mile, so I fetched him many Gatorades while I ate a free fudgesicle.  We still don't understand how people can finish a race at 9am and then start drinking free beer, but once again everyone seemed more than willing to drink up. We waited until Max and I felt steady again and then rode our bikes home.



We showered, and then I made us our favorite meal. Blueberry pancakes!!!!!!!!!!

We've ordered compression socks which are supposed to make us and our recover times faster... stay tuned for our results from the Fat Boy 5k this Sunday, 5/27, so see how they affect our times.

Peace out, runners!

Race Day tomorrow!

Can't wait to run in the Zulu Run-to-Ride 5K tomorrow! I took this morning off because I want my legs to be happy for the race.

Lately my shins have been killing me! But I think that pain comes from me kicking so much ass and running so much faster than I ever have before.

I'm staring down a 9 minute mile. I really, really want to run a mile in 9 minutes.

I want a 9 min mile to happen tomorrow at the race... but I'll settle for breaking my 5K PR of 33:20. What would make me really happy is a time of 31:00, which would mean that I stuck with a 10 min mile pace the entire race...

Baby steps.

2 miles @ 11:50 mph

Ran 2 miles this AM with Max and Lucy Dog. My leg muscles were so tight that it was hard to get moving, but by the last mile I was almost 100%. Glad I didn't opt to sleep in another hour instead.

I suppose it's because I upped my miles slightly, but I have been getting beaten down by my runs lately. They've lost that "yay" feeling and are back to feeling like "why?????"

The good news is that I have a 5K on Saturday that's keeping me motivated. If I beat my PR, I'll want to train hard for the next race on the 27th. If I don't beat my PR, I'll want to train hard for the next race on the 27th.

It's the motivation version of win-win. :)

3 miles @ WTF MPH

Did 3 miles before work today.

Am I the only one who wants to kill the Nike+ app sometimes? And I'm not even hating it because of the sucky GPS (I'm pretty sure that's NOLAs fault...?)

I'm mad at Nike+ app today because before my run, I purposefully went into settings and changed it so that clicking on my headphones would pause my workout (so I could eliminate the minutes from my workout where I'm just waiting for Lucy Dog to do her business) and yet BOOM, I go to pause the workout when Lucy needs to pee and TA-DA! no pause. So now my MPH are all fucked. I swear, I don't run an 11:30 mile anymore! I'm better than that!

I went to run 3 this AM to prep for the two 5Ks I have coming up, but now I have no way of knowing if I was going faster or not. Thanks, Nike.

I guess if I compare the Nike+ app to the Nike+ website it's a dream come true, though. For a company that loves Apple, they have the clunkiest Flash website of all time.

They keep promising a new, better, faster, smarter website...

Still waiting, guys!

ED NOTE: Turns out the reason it wasn't working is because I put my phone to sleep before I put it in my nike running shorts pockets. Still stupid.

5K Race Photos

Max pulled a Sherlock Holmes on me and found some pictures of us running in both of the 5Ks we've completed:

First up, our FIRST 5K! This was taken about 30 seconds in to the race. This is the worst part of the race- all the walkers and runners and joggers and strollers are all clumped together. This is the closest I'll ever come to being a fish. Upstream, baby. Upstream.

Max and I realized pretty quickly that we'd have to come up with a strategy to break away from the other fishies, so we spotted the Dad in yellow pushing a stroller and drafted behind him. Strollers cut a wide path, dontchaknow!

(In blue, behind the Dad in yellow)

(Don't mind us, we're just drafting... yes our dog can also draft!)

It's funny to have that memory of the race, and then see it here in a picture. What will them come up with next? Moving pictures????

(Me in blue, Lucy Dog in bandana, Max in black, in the shades)

Close up so you can see Max and Lucy! I love that Max looks like he's my secret service detail.

And from the start of our first race, cut to the finish of our most recent race:

(Here I am crossing the finish line with Max cheering me on!)

Here's the funny thing about this picture: You see that chick in turquoise just ahead of me? She had just run up behind me and literally jumped in front of me in the last moment before we crossed the finish line and are corralled by the ropes. In this picture, if you look closely, you can see me giving her the stink eye. She really almost tripped me!! See you next Tuesday!! ...um at the race.... next Tuesday... yeah.

But I didn't let it bother me too much (obviously) because my main man Max was there cheering me on. It's hard to stay mad at anyone when you've just crossed the finish line of a race and your boyfriend is there to cheer you on and steer you towards a dry spot in the grass where you can collapse.

Can't wait for a picture of me where both my feet are off the ground

5K Etouffee

(Heading to the race!)

Well Max and I ran in our 2nd ever 5K this Sunday. The second best thing to come out of the race (besides the fact that Max and I both set new PRs) is that I can now spell Etouffee. 

We planned on waking up at 6:30a and biking 5 miles to Audubon Park, where the race was held... Well hold on to your hats and glasses because THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Instead we just hopped in a cab and saved our legs for the 'race' thingamajig. (Fun fact, Spellcheck is totally fine with the way I spell thingamajig!) 

It was a great morning to race, as see here:

(Shoes tied? Check!)

(Lots of kids at this race.)

Max and I took pics of each other before the race started, but Max's photo had a weird shadow where his... crouch is so it has been redacted. Here's mine: 

(Pre-Race!)

We lined up for the race and got treated to the best/worst version of our National Anthem ever. The chick just started wrong and it kept getting worse. There were more than a few chuckles from the crowd.  It was awesome. 

(Our view of the starting line.)

Max and I started off together, but he broke away after the first mile and finished at 28:28, which was good enough to earn him 93rd in the men's division. Pretty awesome! I came in at a blistering (not literally) 33:20 which earned me the 75th place in the women's division. (There were 169 women and 177 men running the race.)

After the race, I felt weak but not as weak as I did after the 5K last week. The weirdest part was after the race my hands and fingers swelled up so much my ring was hurting me! I'm not worried, though.

(Victorious Max claims tree as sofa!)

(Victorious Val claims T-shirt as medal!)

We ended up walking 2.5 miles back towards our place before we couldn't take it anymore and called a cab. I was then in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day. I'm not sure why running 2 miles before work feels awesome, but running 3.1 miles on Sunday AM feels like I just worked in the coal mines... but it sure zapped my energy to do everything except eat 1,000,000,00 bowls of Red Berries. 

We had a blast, wished Lucy was with us, and decided we should run another one again ASAP! 

First 5K - Places, everyone....

I came in 185 out of 469 women! Yeehaw!! I'll take it! 


Max killed it, coming in 261 out of 421. There were a lot of fast dudes! I ran slower than Max but beat a higher percentage of women. 


What does this mean for the battle of the sexes? 


...I'll get back to you on that. 

My First Race - 5K, okay!

Max, Lucy and I ran in our first 5K race on Sunday, the Run, Forrest, Run Bubba Gump 5k. It was exhilarating! Here's how it went down:

The night before, I set out all my race clothes. 

(Two bras. Nike hasn't figured out a way to cease my jiggle with just one.)

(Flash! Reflective!)

Sign in started at 7a, race at 8:30a. The cool thing was that the race was in our neighborhood, so we didn't have to wake up too early on a Sunday. I woke up at 6:30a and hopped in the shower. I hadn't shaved my legs in a couple days, and if I was going to be seen in public in my running shorts I needed to get my gams looking good!

 After I got out of the shower, I got dressed and made Max and myself each a slice of dry wheat toast. Our nerves definitely got the better of our appetites! Max couldn't even finish his slice.

As Max, Lucy and I were walking to the race, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I had never been so excited to run in my life!

Ironically, signing in to the race was the easy part. We were all set by 7:15a. I forgot to take pictures of the race sign in booth, so use your imagination. It looked like a tent with a folding table under it. It was awesome.

The hard part about getting ready for the race was making Lucy do her 'business'.... yeah. Here's the thing about running with Lucy: she'll stick to my side or Max's side like a pro. She is great about weaving in and out of crowds. The one problem is she's basically a horse so if you don't make sure she goes #2 before the run, she will run and crap at the same time. The LAST thing we wanted was to be the people who let their dog crap on the route. Can you imagine?! Oy vey.

So Max and I walked Lucy around the block for 45 minutes damn waiting for that stubborn girl to go! I think she was aware that we were about to take part in something because normally her morning walks are about 15 minutes long. She never takes that long! It was kind of funny, looking back on it. Max and I wanted to go stretch and get warmed up, but the longer Lucy didn't go, the more frustrated we were getting. Finally, she did her dirty sinful business and we were able to get stretched and ready to go.

(Max and I just before the race started)

(I tried to get a nice picture of Max and Lucy before the race, but Pervy McHandsInHisPants ruined it!)

(Dude, you're so gonna become a meme...)