Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Two 5k's on New Years Day

I didn't want to start off 2008 like all of the others -- hungover. So I signed up for the First Run in downtown Portland. It started at midnight and was only a 5k. I had also commited to swimming a 5k at my gym on New Year's morning. Here are my race reports...

Race: First Run
Location: Portland, OR (downtown)
Distance: 5k (3.1 miles)
Time: 00:32:45 (pace = 10:32min/mi) -- a smokin' PR for me!!!

Pre-Race: I had read in a reminder email that there would be a prize for the best costume. I looked at last years photos and didn't see anyone in costume, so I asked Nadine (who had done it a couple of years ago). Her reply: "oh yeah, there are TONS of people dressed up. Yeah, yeah, you'll see lots of crazy stuff." I was super excited, so I pulled out my hot pink tutu, matching wig, and pink/black bustier and headed to downtown Portland. My super sweet boyfriend, Ken, came with me (I couldn't talk him into running it thought) and tried to convince me that everyone on the Max train was staring at me because they thought I was pretty. We showed up at the World Trade Center around 10:30pm and the place was already packed. Yet, not a single person was in costume!

Warm Up: Sat at the WTC and shivered and answered questions about why I was wearing a tutu.
Run: It took me over two minutes to reach the starting line, but it was a chip timed event so my finish time is accurate. After crossing the line it took awhile to get past the walkers and slower (than me) runners. After about a mile it cleared out and I could run my normal pace. My HR was pretty high, but I didn't feel like I was working too hard. It must have been the "pink tutu" power. The best part was all of the drunk people on their way home giving me props for my outfit.

What would
I do differently?: Not forget my matching pink ruffled panties. They probably would have knocked another minute or so off my time. :-)
Warm Down: Waited for the Max, drove, home, crawled into bed.

Event Comments: Super fun way to ring in the new year! The only bummer was that I was cold and couldn't really enjoy the activities before the race and had no interest in staying afterwards.

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Race: Sharky Swim
Location: Lacamas Swim & Sport, Camas, WA
Distance: 5k (3.1 miles)
Time: 1:40:00 (pace = 2min/100m)

Pre-Race: Stumbled out of bed after only a few hours of sleep (I did the midnight 5k run to ring in the new year), shoved a PB&J english muffin down the hatch, and headed to the gym. Ken came to count laps. What a guy!!!

Event Warmup: Nothing -- I didn't want to waste a lick of energy. I really was scared that I wouldn't be able to complete the distance.

Swim: We had 4 people in our lane and kept a pretty good rythm. We would each pull 100m and then fall to the back of the line. The pace was a bit slower than I would have liked, but when it was over I felt like I could swim another 5000m.

What would I do differently?: Other than have our group keep a faster pace? Nothing. But I loved the ladies I swam with, so it was great.


Warm Down: Ate a ton of food, drank a couple of mimosas, and took a long nap.

Event Comments: 5000m in the pool gets a bit dull. But this was a great New Year's activity and served its purpose of keeping me from the party scene.