Hornet Hustle 5K, #3

My son's school does a running event each year as a fundraiser for the PTO, so that the kids don't have to go door to door selling candy/magazines/christmas trees, etc....They have a 5K and 2 mile race, as well as a 1 mile fun run.   My son and I have done the 5K race the last couple of years.   2 years ago (when he was 8 yrs old) we ran together and finished in about 33 min.   Last year I had been battling injuries and not running so my son finished in 29 min and I was about 37 min.    This year, I was debating whether to even do the race because I only started running again about 2 weeks prior to the race, but in the end I decided to do it.  I finished in 35 min and my son improved on him time once again, finishing in 27:44.      He was the first grade school age finisher.

The course is a cross country course, with rolling hills and a uneven surfaces, which made it a bit trickier.   Also, there was a huge thunderstorm about an hour before the race (I thought they were going to call off the race) that created muddy surfaces and standing pools of water that you had to jump over in a few spots.
Thankfully the rain stopped falling long enough for us to get the race in, and then is started raining again.   It was a fun event.  The high school cross country team always does it together and they usually beat everyone else.   I was a little disappointed that they didn't have participant medals this year, as they have in the past.  Instead they gave out rubber bracelets.  I also thought they should have age group awards, which they didn't.

I have been running about 4-5 days a week for the last couple weeks, and so far my lower legs/feet feel okay.  I hope to continue running with hopes of shedding a few pounds and doing some more races in the future.

Run For Your Lives

Okay, so I have been a non-blogger for awhile now, mostly because life and work have been super crazy busy.   But, mostly prompted by a weight loss contest at work, I've started running again and I've lost 24 pounds in the last 2 months.   I have resigned myself to being a slow runner and having plenty of rest days for my body to recover.  Staying healthy is key, which can be tough because running is hard on the body.

A co-worker who has taken up running alerted me to a new 5K Race where you get chased by zombies called Run For Your Lives.   Looks fun.  Check out the video.

Hornet Hustle 5K

I am still alive. Barely.   I haven't run in a very long time, so I haven't felt the need to blog.  This is a running blog after all.  My last 5K was about a year ago and I haven't run much since.  First it was my lingering foot injury.   I've been to the podiatrist a couple times, wore some custom inserts for awhile, and did some stretching exercises twice a day.   When it seemed like my foot was feeling better, the "Midwest Heat Wave of 2011" kicked in, and I didn't feel like doing anything but staying inside with the AC cranked drinking lemonade.   So I didn't run.   And I've gotten out of shape.  And it showed in yesterday's 5K.

My son's school does a 5K and Fun Run as a fundraiser each year, and I tried to talk my 9 year old into doing the 2 mile or 1 mile, but he wanted to tackle the 5K again.  He totally killed it. sub 30 minute 5K on a cross country course with a few rolling hills.   I didn't see him after about a mile.  I was sucking wind, had to walk-run-walk-run the whole way, and finished about 7 minutes behind him.    He was the first kid from his school to finish.   I told him afterwards that I was proud of him and that it was official---he was faster than me now.

Yesterday was a gut check and a reminder to me that I need to get out there again and run, even if it means I'll be starting over.  Hopefully that means I'll be getting back in shape and blogging again soon.

Move That Bus!

Okay, not quite yet....but, the Extreme Makeover crew with Ty Pennington is in town to build a house for a well deserving family and my wife and I took the opportunity to serve together on the project.  We were actually the very first volunteer group.  There were 20-25 of us, and it was all very secretive and hush hush so they could surprise the family. We were told to check our email at a certain time and be ready to spring into action.  And we were.  The weather was great and we had a lot of fun.  

Behind us is where they are digging the basement for the house.   The recipient is Carl Hall, a former WSU baseball player who was paralyzed from the neck down last summer in a car accident.  He has a wife and 4 kids and from what I hear he's a great guy.   Our work was mostly prep work for all the other volunteers.  We set up the barricade fencing for the spectators, built flooring in the catering, volunteer, and VIP tents, and basically did whatever set up was needed.   They expect to have the house finished next weekend.  We are going to try to volunteer again and be there for the "reveal day."

Worth the Weight

This is the story of a guy I work with.  He went from 380 lbs down to 245 through gastric bypass and exercise.  It's pretty motivational, but kind of long (8 min.)....if you're strapped for time, go to the 4:50 to 6:50 mark and check out how he got into running and took his pant size from 56 down to 38.

Slowly Thawing Out

We got hit with the Midwest winter blast and have had wintery weather the last couple weeks--- lots of snow, ice, negative wind chills, and school cancellations.  

Of course, we didn't get hit quite as bad as our neighbors in Oklahoma, or Arkansas.  I heard that in Tulsa school was closed for two weeks.  And in NW Arkansas, they set a 100-yr old state record for snowfall in a 24 hr period (23 inches).  My company totally shut down there for 2 days, as did many other businesses.

All this cold stuff always puts a damper on my running (read: no running the last couple weeks).

But fortunately, the weather finally broke over the weekend and we've climbed into the 50's.  The snow is melting.  Woo-hoo.

I got out for a 3 miler last night and it felt great.  I have lost 12 lbs in the last 5 weeks (even WITH all the valentines candy!) and it sounds weird but I could feel it in my running, I felt lighter and stronger.   Still, I have decided that my body is old enough now that it needs extra rest days between runs, so I'm going to try to be smart about that and not overdue it.

Here is a pic of the snowman my boys made over the weekend, after it warmed up and the snow packed really good.

PS--Big win for K-State Monday night.  Thank you to KU for possibly saving our season.

Giveaway Winner! And Some Purple Hot Chocolate.

Thanks to all who entered my $45 CSN Giveaway.    The lucky winner is....................

Miss Zippy!

Congrats!  I will email you with your winning code shortly.

A co-worker gave me some purple hot chocolate for Christmas.  With the wintery weather upon us, we tried it last night.   For the record, it didn't taste as cool as it looked....

pic is kind of dark, can't see the purple-ness