Ra Ra Ra Race Recap

My goals for this spring season were both of the following: to race freqently and well, and to PR in any event I attempted shorter than a marathon. The idea behind all of this is that if I can go into next fall as a low or sub 15 minute 5k runner, rather than the 15:26 guy that I've been, I might have sufficient speed to run a faster marathon, which for me means something more like 2:25-2:28. Now let's leave aside the questionable logic implied there (there are plenty of women with faster marathon PR's than me who I could take 9 times out of 10 in a 5k), those were my goals, and I just wanted to get fast, fit, and tough, and race like the gritty SOB that I imagine myself to be.

I've already accomplished part of my goal: I've notched PR's in the 5k and 10k, and I've raced 12 times since starting this “season” in December. Numbers 11 and 12 of that total came yesterday.

Part one of my double came at the Castle Hills Fiesta 5k, which was what I would generously term a “small” race. More accurately, there were about 50 people at the race.

Really wasn't joking about the 50 people thing

It was old school, which is just fine with me – cover whatever distance faster than everyone else, anything else is secondary. I ran 15:48 for first, roughly a minute and thirty seconds ahead of 2^nd. Was the course accurate? No idea. I just ran pretty damn close to all out until I got to the finish line. I look at it as the best training you can do – there isn't much that's more specific to racing a fast 5k than racing a 5k. And if I can continue to find awesome race directors who will let me in for free, I will happily substitute these semi-time-trials for workouts.

This pretty much sums up the race

Race #2 was the Fiesta Fandango 2.6 mile run. Why 2.6 miles? The race just follows the parade route for the Fiesta Flambeau parade, part of Fiesta, which is a pretty damn big deal here in San Antonio. The race went off at 6:40pm, with the parade to follow at 7 pm, and the crowds gathered in bleachers along the downtown streets having been there for several hours already. Which is to say, man those people were drunk, rowdy, and loud.

I struggled mightily to keep up with one younger guy for the first half mile, but thankfully was able to gap him not long after. Once I got a few seconds on him, I was so overcome with relief that my legs (which up to that point had felt shit-tacular) were holding up, I decided to savor the moment, and the crazy crowds, and goof around a little bit.

It was really awesome to be in a race and not feel stressed out about competing all the way to the finish – I just picked it up when I felt capable of doing so, slowed down when I felt taxed, and waved to the onlookers along the way. My final time was 12:45, which if the course distance is to be believed is 4:54 pace, or 15:14 5k pace. I have some doubts that I ran that fast, but again this was old school – just get to the finish before everyone else, and that I got done. All in all, a successful day, and it gives me the confidence to go after my 5k PR at Rice this Saturday, assuming I haven't procrastinated so much that I can't get in to the race. I don't know if it will work out, but I do know that when this fall rolls around I will have the confidence to attempt to take more than a few minutes off of my marathon best.

2 Months Until People Realize I Can't Dance!

Well it's actually a little less than than two months, but life's been a little hectic. Things are slowly getting checked off the list thanks in large part to all the help I'm getting from some amazing people.

*Some of the items are only half way crossed off because they aren't quite done

Wedding To Do List…

Invitations to the wedding

Invitations to the engagement party

Dress Alterations

Dress Shoes

Wedding Cake

Marrying Man

Wedding Favors

Flower Bouquets

Registry

Book Honeymoon

Plan for the rehearsal lunch

Formal wear for the guys

Update Wedding Website

Wedding night hotel room

DIY Photobooth

Marriage Contract

Jer’s Ring

Get my rings resized

Guest Book

Music

SlideShow

Food at Reception

Drink list

Ring Bearer/Flower Girl Items

Garter

I was also finally able to send off bridesmaid dresses awhile ago. I hope all my lovely ladies like 'em!

Jer's been amazing through this whole process. He always seems to know the right thing to say or the right mood to be in when I'm just about to go over the edge. He's helped to make so many decisions where I'm stuck in the middle. He also did an AMAZING job of picking out where to go on our honeymoon too! 

 Drum roll please............

EXCELLENCE Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic!

Take a peak!



Doesn't it take your breath away?



The honeymoon picking was all Jer and I couldn't be more excited!! He was also Mr. Fabulous when it came to trying on his tux as well as the groomsmen attire (so we could see if it was the right color choice).



Contrary to what you're thinking he's never done professional modeling

 

I was a little under dressed

So here's to hoping that we're able to cross more items off the list before we're down to a mere 30 days!

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my soon-to-be brother Karl! 21, woo hoo!!

↓ in Iron = ↓ in Performance

Last Wednesday I finally went to see Dr. Karrh. For awhile now I've noticed an extra level of difficulty in my workouts and even on easy runs. I thought it was weird because my mileage hasn't been very high either. So two things came to mind, either my asthma meds needed some adjustment (since I was have a VERY difficult time breathing during workouts) or my iron level was low.

So at 4:00PM on Wednesday I got 2 1/2 tubes filled with my lovely blood and waited. Luckily Dr. Karrh works faster than any doctor I know and called me the very next morning at 10:00AM with results! Now that's fast. He checked three different things...my hemoglobin level, my ferritin level, and my thyroid level. Hemoglobin was 14, normal, and my thyroid level was normal too. However, my ferritin level was 8! Crazy low. So he put me on prescription iron supplements and told me it'd take about 2 weeks for them to really take effect.

This was honestly the best diagnosis I could've asked for. Iron deficiency is one of the easiest things to fix instead of attemping to get a new cocktail of asthma meds or whatever else could've been wrong with me. It explains so much with how training has been going and racing.

So how could I have possibly been so iron deficient? No, I am not a vegetarian..I LOVE MEAT, I EAT MEAT, and I CRAVE MEAT. Well here are some things I've learned over the past week that prohibited my iron absorption.

1. Ground Beef is not a good source of iron since it's so well cooked. Unfortunate because I have lots of meals with ground beef. LAME!

2. Caffeine inhibits iron absorption. So all those meals that I wanted some delicious Dr.Pepper to wash down all that good wholesome iron with was no bueno. Also my consumption of coffee has increased over the past year. Having a cup a day in the morning, either with my second breakfast or right after turned out to be a bad idea too.

3. Calcium and iron cancel each other out. So keeping those two separated is important. Having queso at a lot of great restaurants right before eating my amazing steak or chicken was not a good idea.

4. Iron is best absorbed with orange juice (rich in vitamin-c), but obviously avoid the oj with calcium.

I wish I would've known these things prior to my iron level taking a toll on my running performance, but I found out the hard way. Luckily it was soon enough before my hemoglobin levels dropped too much leading to anemia or to me developing a serious injury.

This whole process has gotten me really excited about the future. I wasn't terribly pleased with my recent race performances, but the fact that I still hit the times I did with a seriously low ferritin level lets me know that I'm in great shape and will hopefully get back on track before the weather really starts heating up!