Ok, so about that race...

There are a few things I wanted to share...

• I actually planned not to go. As a matter of fact, the night before I headed off to bed early because I was exhausted from a pretty stressful week at work. I didn't set the alarm and I didn't plan a "race outfit" (which in my mind is half the fun of racing).
  
  
• At 6am my eyes were wide open and it was completely dark out. Was it my alarm? Did I have a trip down guilty lane and set it up in a last minute after a few glasses of wine?. Nope. The noise was coming from the other side of the bed. No, it wasn't a bear...it was my dear husband snoozing snoring away.
  
  
• I thought about the race...but I said to myself , "come on...you already planned NOT to go...just go back to sleep and pretend this perfectly timed wake-up call never happened". It was too late....I was up. I knew this race, being small, had the potential to give me something I wanted: an award.
  
  
• Without thinking about it too much, I was up and quickly put together an outfit, which I thought was perfect for the occasion. Gave a kiss to my husband and before going back to sleep he said "go get 'em baby!".
  

I drove down and made it just in time. I forgot the camera, but it was a beautiful morning and the race took place in a nice little neighborhood. I felt great but kept looking around...for being a small race, these people sure looked serious. Everyone was stretching, wearing serious running clothes, etc.

I decided t start the race towards the start line..so what if people passed me?...maybe it would stress me out and make me faster. It worked. The race started and I was running like I was being chased by a Grizzly bear/ People were still passing me, which only made me want t go faster.

After a little while I settled into a nice pace, which I knew was faster than my regular pace...but I felt good and was going at it while I could. After about mile 2, this woman in her 70s passed right by me. I was like "wwwwhat?"...I don't think so lady!...yeah, you!..are you calling me slow??. So I picked up the pace and passed her. Then she passed me again, then I passed her (and on and on....you get the point). Then a guy in his 70s joined the fun. Great, I was racing against the two *awesomest* senior runners in the race (and the couple of teenagers a few meters away).

So, yeah. I owe my pace to the Senior runners (who are a true inspiration!!) and I also learned a valuable lesson. No matter how fast and great you think you are, nobody is going to be cheering for you at the finish line if you come right next to the 12 year old boy and the 73 year old lady. I was so happy when I heard the "crowds" (ok, it was like 20 people tops), but then I quickly realized they weren't cheering for me.

The guy in his 70s came up to me after the race and told me I was "Dynamite" and he said I was very fast...HA!...Seriously? God Bless him....but we all know who's Dynamite!

I stuck around for the awards after finding out I came in second in my age group. While I waited I talked and joked around with a really nice couple. The guy is part of the board for the Running Club I joined, and he definitely motivated me to get out there soon and meet the other runners during the group runs.

So that's my story for my first 6K race and instant PR!

Valentine's Day 6K Race!

Loop around the Lake Race!

I actually woke up and did it. Will write more later, but came in 2nd in my age group at 29'46''! (7'59 mins/mile)

Instant personal record since it was a 6K...Sweeeet!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!
xoxo

Addition: Yeah...so let me come clean. There were only 8 women in my age group, but who's counting right?...2nd place is 2nd place!...so I'll take it and celebrate like it's 1999!!!. I am also making a mental note to always make time to go to small races!

RIP Old Nike Sensor...

That's right, in the middle of my run on Friday, my Sensor died. I don't think you know what a big disappointment that is unless you are a runner and don't think your runs count unless they are actually measured.

I was doing a ~4 mile loop and at about mile 2, the voice in my ear phones said something about the activity 'stopping'. What do you mean stopping?? I'm still putting one foot in front of the other, I'm still breathing heavy, still swinging my arms like a mad woman (yep, apparently I'm an arm swinger while running and it's not cute!)...this does *not* feel like stopping. I took my shoe off, spoke to the sensor in a nice voice "come on, come on!", reset my Ipod and tried again. Nothing. I finished the run, but not happy about it (also realizing the pace for that run was messed up since I kept running for a bit after the painful death of the sensor)...and of course I wasn't getting back out there until I got a new sensor.

So I went to get a new sensor and asked the guy why mine died so quickly. He said it's good for about 1,000 hours of running. Well, I didn't run 1,000 hours!!!...but I did keep it in my shoe to go to the gym classes, to walk to the doggie, to run at airports, etc...so there you have it. Lesson learned: take the sensor out of the shoe when you are not running.

I set out to run with my new sensor last night (which according to the manual did not need to be re-calibrated). What do you know, it told me my pace was in the 8s!! (8'46'' to be exact)...which I thought was crazy because my old sensor was constantly telling me I ran in the 9s. During my two races I have averaged 8'36'' and 8'26''. I thought for sure my race time chip was defective or they had miscalculated the distance...but I wasn't going to say that out loud! (hehe) .

Because I'm still in denial, I decided to use mapmyrun and backtrack to my average pace. The total distance of my loop was 5.83 miles and the time was 52'03''. Using the pace calculator it shows my pace was 8'55''...so ok, it wasn't 8'46'' as the Ipod said, but it was 8'55'!!!. What in the world?? All this time I truly thought I was a 9-ish runner (and very happy with that!) and thought my two races had been flukes. So this new sensor is definitely giving me stats more consistent to the results I see in the races.



So goodbye old sensor, I won't miss ya! I will try to calibrate this new more carefully....although it's not too far off (it marked 5.93 total distance rather than 5.8). I'm still in shock!

I am also happy to report my sister is becoming a runalholic too! woohoo! one down!

Also wanted to share that my friend Nani featured me as one of her POSITIVO stories, ahh, my 15 minutes of fame ;)

Under 58 minutes...

* Before the update I just wanted to let you all know I am running the 5K Race for the Cure, to support my sister's friend, Daniela. Please visit the link on the right and support our team (Tati is our team Captain!). You can sponsor us and/or come join us. Come on, a little bit can make a big difference and we want to show Daniela that she's not alone in this fight!. What better way to start the year than by giving to an important cause while getting fit in the mean time!!. Papi, gracias por tu apoyo :))) te quiero! *


Ok, now to the update you all have been waiting for...yeah, yeah, I know nobody was waiting, but humor me :)

Under 58 minutes...

Is my goal for the 10K race next weekend!. Today, I had my long practice run...while I won't tell you it was *easy*, I will tell you I felt ok throughout...a little tired right around Mile 5, but decided to drop the pace a little bit to catch my breath. I finished strong (or so I thought)...completing 6.33 miles (my farthest run yet..and I had Lance Armstrong on my Nike+ to remind me about that fact!). My average pace was 9'35'' mins/mile...not too shabby :)

The last time I ran over 6 miles, was October 24th. That day I ran 6.23 miles and my average pace 10'13'' min/mile...so I shaved 38 seconds per mile in under 2 months. This may not sound like a lot, but it is!!

That long run in October, was when I decided to go to the Doctor for the foot pain and found out about the Neuroma...shortly thereafter, I started the alcohol treatments which has definitely slowed down my training (since I am down for two whole days every two weeks!)...but it has been all worth it!.

Why under 58 minutes?...well, I used a handy little Calculator and decided that I *think* I could average 9'20'' min/miles on race day. I didn't have a method for estimating this, and I'm sure serious runners are probably laughing at my estimates and less than scientific method for selecting a goal, but it just seemed like a good number to me...so we will go with that!

That's 15 secs less per mile, which is 93 seconds less for the 10K (1.55 minutes less than my time today). Again, seems like a little goal, but it really isn't. I'll be thrilled is I can achieve that goal!.

After the run it was time to get dinner ready. The husband asked for "Beef Tostadas" for dinner and even though I was tired, I couldn't say no because he never has any requests when it comes to dinner (and some days I need some help with ideas!), so when he does have a request, I simply can't resist. Let me tell you, I enjoyed them so much too!. They were Delicious!!...of course I had to have fresh salsa and guacomole as add-ons (yummm!). While we were eating I told Alejandro one day I will take him to best tostada place ever. If you are from Caracas you know what I'm talking about...Santa Ana Tostadas!....ahh, so good. Now, I am ready for a warm shower and then going right back to my vampire stories! (I'm almost at the end of the book! sniff, sniff!).

I leave you with my graph from Nike for today's run..Not sure if you can tell (you can click it to see a bigger picture), but I slowed down to about 9'49'' and then sprinted a bit at the end, pretending I was finishing the race..hehe, my head just works in funny ways! (the top there is about 6'59'')

I'm here to brag...

Because well, it's my blog, so I can! ;))

Click, click!!! (I promise it is safe to click!) ---> Bragging

So yeahhh, I did it!!. To celebrate my new Milestone, the big 1-0-0, I gave my Nike-mini a mini make-over...she's also sporting a brand new shining "#1" Tag on her shirt, so she can brag all over town (ok, all over this blog, but whatever).

I simply can't believe I have RAN all those miles!. I started at a pace of 11.5 or so, now I'm in the 9s. My average run (according to the Nike+ site) is 3.5 miles long. That's just, my regular, good ol', average run!...WOW!!. I just can't believe it. That's the thing I love the most about running, you really see the improvement when you stick to it. I've also noticed that a good strength/toning routine for the legs really helps with the pace and overall feel when you run.

This week it was tough, due to a cold...but I went running yesterday and had a GREAT run! 4.5 miles, averaging 9.38 mins per mile!. Tomorrow is the day I practice the 10K distance (which is just a little over 6 miles)...exactly one week before the race, so wish me luck! :)

On another note, I've become a vampire fanatic along with all the other teenagers in the country. I know I'm not the only one in her twenties (...*thirties*..cough, cough) that has fallen in the spell....so I'm not ashamed, well, maybe a little, but hey...how can I, a simple human, not fall for the dazzling effects of these vampires! ;)

Coming soon, pictures of our Christmas decorated house!! :)

...Back on the road and giving in...

..To the Twilight obsession!.
For those of you that don't know, there is a craze about a book series about vampires. I know what you are thinking and I feel the same way....vampires??. Everyone that reads it gets obsessed with the series and loves the book, so in between flights, I thought, why not...stopped at the airport bookstore and decided to buy a copy.

Plus I had ran out of reading material...and not really into the current book I have.

On my first flight I was consumed by my Runners magazine (always the highlight of my trips!)...and I almost finished my gossip magazine (a must have for travelling!). So I have my book, still doubting I will actually like it..but hey, I also thought I would not like running and here I am, day dreaming about being outside running!.

This weekend I was able to get out there and ran about 3.5 miles at about 9.4. Still in the 9s!! wooo-hooo!. I can't wait for my overall pace to drop to the 9s too. Another important milestone is also getting near...I'm close to logging 100 miles total!!!

This morning, I did my boot camp bright and early and plan on running twice during my trip. It's always hard during business trips but I will find a way. This weekend I'm definitely planning on doing a 6 mile run...it's no longer an option with only two weekends before the race.

Ok, off to get on the vampire wagon!.