I Think Your Clock Is Broken

I think I've mentioned before that I'm "training" for the Crescent City Classic which is April 7.  I started training in the middle of January with a program on NikePlus.com.  This is all old news to you loyal readers - but below is a groundbreaking update.

Over the past 10 weeks, I've been following my Nike program as closely as possible (running their assigned mileage on assigned days).  But let's face it, I've missed a few workouts because who has time to run 8 miles on a Tuesday?  The gist of it is - weather and schedule permitting - I've been trying my darndest to train to run farther, while still walking when I feel tired and such.  A girl can only do so much.

Fast forward to last Sunday: Amanda and I did the St. Patty's Day 8k here in DC - which is the sister of the Jingle All the Way 8k we did last December.  And I surprised even myself!  Because little did I know that I can not only run farther now - I can run faster!  Check it: In December I ran the 5 mile race in 57:12 - Nothing to brag about.  Well you know what IS something to brag about?

This:

You want to focus on the two columns all the way to the right.

Net Time - 49:47

Avg Mile - 10:01

Excuse me Race Organizers, is your clock broken?  Or am I just whipping myself into that good of shape?  I'm going with the latter - because it's right there in writing on the Race Results website.  

That's over 7 minutes off my 8K time in just 2 months of training.  Watch out world.  Yours truly is now running a 10 minute mile.  I don't think I've ever run a 10 minute mile - especially for a prolonged distance.  In elementary school I could run 1 mile in 7 minutes - but then I'd start to walk.  What can I say? Old habits die hard.

So, New Orleans better get ready for this speed demon.  Who knows - I may even be leading the pack with the people trying to qualify for the Olympics or whatever.  I just hope their clock isn't broken either - because if I happen to go back to running a 12 or 13 minute mile, I'm filing a complaint.  

*Stay tuned for an upcoming post about race goals for Classic Weekend.

Jingle All The Way

On Sunday morning, in freezing temperatures, I ran the Jingle All the Way 8K.  I had run this race 3 years ago when it was the Jingle All the Way 10K in Potomac Park.  I'm not sure why they shortened it - but I'm not complaining.  There's plenty of complaining for later.

I have said multiple times that after running a half marathon with my mom in college (sans training) and a 10K with strep last year in New Orleans (below sea level and 90 degrees by 9 am) - that I just don't have the desire to run more than a 5K.  Ever.  Enter Amanda and the Jingle All the Way 8K - which she insisted was only 4 miles but is actually 4.9.  I was sucked in through trickery and the absence of the math skills necessary to convert kilometers to miles.  And though I was crabby before the race started - I'm glad I did it.  In all honesty, I'll most likely be running the Crescent City Classic, a 10K, with my aunt next April too - because that's what I do: I sign up for things and then complain about them.

The JATW race is a really fun DC event.  They hand out jingle bells to tie on your shoes (so you can jingle all the way...) and everyone wears Santa hats or some form of holiday attire, including - but not limited to - reindeer antlers, elf ears, Will Ferrell "Elf" costumes, and one girl dressed as a menorah.  FYI: I am anti-dressing-up for races.  I just don't get wearing tutus to run and I'm still trying to wrap my head around "running skirts."  I digress...

But this year, I put the bells on my shoes.  Humbug.

And I have to admit Amanda's hat was pretty dern cute, and I'm sure it kept her very warm.

Other holiday running attire at the starting line

The worst part about the race was the course.  Maybe I'm the only person who thought so - but it was tracked in a way that you could almost always see people running the opposite direction towards you, and what you assumed was the finish.  What I'm trying to explain is that I thought I was "almost done" the entire time.  In actuality, there were just so many loops and turnarounds that someone may be running towards you, but not even be close to the finish!  There were also only 2 mile markers (mile 2 and mile 4) and seriously - as a testament to how terrible I am with the concepts of distance and time - when I saw the mile 2 marker I was shocked because I thought we had to be at at least mile 4.  

I don't know why this is "Stop the Silence" 8K but this WAS the course from JATW.  And see what I mean? FOUR turnarounds!  And we ran all over the freaking place from the White House, to Union Station, back over to the House Rayburn Building, around past Federal Center metro, up Independence to the Air and Space Museum, turn around AGAIN and on and on.  Then they kill you with the last leg of Pennsylvania having that weird snake around on 12th.  

I get it - I'm a whiner.  

The course was "flat and fast" but STILL - talk about the running tour of NW DC.  

The JATW was a typical run/walk.  I ran the first 2.5 miles - ran/walked a little in the middle - and from mile 4, finished strong running.  My total time was 57:04 - which I'm not disappointed with, as I'll never be one of those people who runs a 7 min mile.  Hell, I'll probably never even be one of those people who can run a 10 minute mile.  But actually, Amanda's watch tracked the race as being 5.1 miles and not 4.9 - so I may have been a little speedier than I thought.  

If you'd like to learn more - the Jingle All The Way is part of a DC series which I definitely plan on completing at some point.  St. Patty's is next.  Being that it's an 8K as well - maybe I'll shoot to beat this weekend's time.  But, eh...who's counting, most likely I'll register with Amanda and then complain about it until the finish line.

Pssss - how pretty is DC during the holidays?