50K done. Perfect weather (43 at the start, about 50 at the finish), nice trails. Finished in 5:34 I think. Was beautiful out there. Pretty tired now, will do RR later. Pic at the finish with Karnel's leaf:

Karen - way to go, what beautiful weather conditions and scenery!

Lisa - I LOVED your pictures this morning, so pretty.  Sorry you were feeling a little punky, but great job!!

The 5K, today, went well.  I took first female, but it was a very small field.  I got a $10 gift card to Starbucks, so I’m only down $10.  Honestly, it was one of the most difficult 5K’s that I have done.  (I do one on the beach that is really hard, too). 

The race started late.  The course was incomprehensible.  The RD tried to explain it to me, but it was bewildering.  Fortunately, it was a fundraiser for a high school track team, so they were out on the course pointing the way.

We started on wet grass.  We stayed on the grass just long enough for my feet to get wet.   Then, we did about .5 mile looping on a cement path and, then, continued on a trail. The trail was one big hill of hard packed dirt. It wasn’t super-scenic, but there was a view of the park and a little of the surrounding suburbs.   The path was so difficult that it seemed like I was barely moving.  By the end, my feet were numb from being cold and wet, my asthma was kicking in, and side stiches were kicking my ass.  At some point in the race, I passed two guys that looked familiar, but who weren’t running the race.  As the finishers came in, we all a bit shell shocked.  No one had expected the course to be as challenging as it was.

 The race started at 9:00, and there was a kid’s race a 10:00.  I had a kid’s basketball party to go to at 11:00, so I thought I would have plenty of time.  The RD told me that she wouldn’t do awards until after the kid’s mile.  So, I went home, showered and made arrangements to meet my kids and DH at the pizza place.  I got race back to the venue at 10:30.  At 11:15, there still were no awards.  I didn’t get out of there until 11:30.

All in all, the race was good, but the bit on the grass should be reworked.  Also, they have got to find a way to speed up the process.

When I got to the basketball, pizza party, one of the parents was one of the guys that I passed during the  race.  Evidently, before, I got to the party he told my husband and everyone else that I was crazy fast.  That was fun, but completely untrue.  My time was 25:00.  For such a hard course, that isn’t bad, but far from amazing.  It was a good 5K.  It isn't often to find a trail 5K.

Lisa:  We have amazing views and amazing trails steps from my house, but it is all private property.  You can be sited by the sheriffs.  Property is held by ranching families, real estate development companies or corporations that drill for natural gas and oil.   Just recently, a real estate company seeded property to the county and the trails that I used to hike illegally or now being made into public trails.

LC:  It sounds like a good day.

Lisa:  Great Job!

Well...after reading everyone's mileage and RRs and looking at the pics, I really feel like a slug, but still don't feel motivated to run.  I know I will snap out of it.

Lisa....hope you are feeling better today after that race in the bitter cold, pictures were beautiful!  Good job.

Karen....I saw your post on FB before I came here.  Wow, great time for a 50K, took me longer to do my marathon.

Interesting about the heart rates and beats.  Everyone once and a while I feel , what I believe to be, a missed heartbeat, but it happens so rarely that I don't even think about it.  I like the pacemaker explanation.

Linda...sounds like quite a 5K!

Off to Cleveland today with DD and GD...going to see the Les Mis at Playhouse square, saw the movie and the show in NYC a few years ago, but GD has not seen it live and has always wanted to....I got us tickets for a Christmas gift.  Cheesecake Factory afterwards!   I really, really should run this morning in anticipation for all those calories!

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Ginny

Good morning!  I did a golf course loop and took pics I'll post later.  I only do that occ so it requires  thinking-not ready for that yet.

It was upper 40's, but felt colder.  I never took off my jacket or sleeves.  A front is coming in and there were some pretty strong gusts, but it was still pretty. I don't know if the 5k will be a go-it's at 3 and they are predicting rain/storms later.

Karen, nice pic!  Congrats on the race! I loved the cactus in the background-confused me for a minute until I remembered  you're traveling.

Linda, first woman!  Way to go!  Sounds like a nice, but hard race.

Carol, I am still having arrythmias, but now I find them because I'm checking my pulse more often rather than just when I start sucking air unexpectantly.  They are just PAC's or PVC's, rather than runs.  I've only had one scary episode lately that I think was an arrythmia.. A week or two after the stress test, I had a near syncopal episode-staggered a few feet then fell. Brief and surreal. No one was around and I was dressed very lightly.   I'm being more careful now and running where others are  (or will be) around now-races, gym, a park in town, etc. Trigger is exercise.

Ginny, enjoy Les Mis!

Julie, we used to have the same rules about running during events at our skating rink and gym.   Walking is nice, but it takes forever to get in the miles.

Have a great day!

Ginny - Sounds like a great day!!!

Linda - Great job on the 5k!  Sounds DIFFICULT!!!

LCruns -  I haven't been on RW for a while, sorry to hear about thelearnedfoot's recurrance of cancer - wasn't it a type of Lymphoma?  Today's run wasn't as cold as last Sunday's here!

Camille - That is scarey about the near-syncopal episode!  Does yours get worse with exercise?

Julie - That is odd that during an event you have to walk....Glad you still got your miles in!

Did 12.5 today.  Was cold for the first couple miles, after that was more comfortable.....not near as cold as last week.  Felt like a long 12 miles today.....

Carol

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I did 4 slow easy miles today with minimal coughing and just a little rib pain so I’m happy about that. Other good news is that I got a RoadID today using a gift card from volunteering at a race. I rarely run with any ID and I know that’s not a good thing so I’ll give RoadID a try.

Interesting discussion on heart issues. Definitely something to get checked out and stay on top of. That’s a kind of an important piece of equipment…

Also funny to see the range of running conditions that we deal with… from LC and Lisa/MMR running with frosty eyelashes (-3 degrees? Really?!?) to Demaris cooking in 80+ temps. It’s 50s and sunny here so I’ve got nothing to complain about in that department. Love seeing the pics of everyone’s runs!

Marjorie, nice 33 mile weekend!  Hoping my weekly mileage gets close to that soon.

Camille and Julie D, good for you for getting walks in if running wasn’t in the cards.

Carol, hope you enjoyed your chilling out Saturday. Nice 12.5 today.

Karen, great job on the 50K! And I love that big ol' cactus in your pic. Did I tell you that I’m probably switching to the GO! HM instead of the full? Just won’t be ready for a full since I haven’t been running.

Linda, a big WOOHOO on the AG win! Must be especially satisfying given the challenging course.

Ginny, have a great time in Cleveland at the show (and Cheesecake Factory!).

I'm finishing up laundry then off to the grocery store.  Hoping to get more running in this week!