The Weekend Update

Saturday started out my birthday with a great yoga class in Wisconsin at the Yoga One studio in Cedarburg. I was a little unsure of how I would do with my left arm in class, but I also knew that I wasn't going to be ashamed or embarrassed if I couldn't do everything. I definitely noticed after about 5 minutes that keeping my elbow straight for such a long time was making it a little bit sore. And once we started the vinyasas, I definitely noticed that putting lots of body weight on my straight arm wasn't the best.

I did the best I could and hung in there for most of the class. I couldn't do a couple of things and I chose not to do some other poses (like crow, for instance), but I was really glad that I went. Overall, I felt a lot better after class, even if I did leave with a sore elbow. It reminded me that I wish I was going more in my regular life and that perhaps after the NYC Triathlon training is done and over with, maybe I should incorporate more yoga in my life. I'll have no excuse not to!
The rest of Saturday was spent eating and shopping and getting a mani/pedi and eating some more. Not the worst way to spend a birthday! We got to bed at a reasonable time on Saturday night because there was a very big race to race on Sunday morning! Drew's sister, Kara, had mentioned a few months ago that she wanted to start running. I had e-mailed her some tips and things and she had started a run/walk plan. I suggested that she might enjoy having a goal in mind and I found the Dennis Krzykowski Memorial 5K which was taking place on July 4, when I knew we'd be in town. I thought it would be fun for all of us to run together.

It ended up that Kara's friend, Mara, and our friend, Eric, also decided to do the race, so there was a team of 5 of us participating. Drew's parents came out to cheer for us. Kara had come up with the great team name of "Mom's French Toast Brigade". Drew's mom makes the best French toast and we were all looking forward to breakfast after the race! Drew's mom is also an expert seamstress and made all of us some very fancy shirts to wear with our team name:


Drew & I pre-race:


We all walked over to the race start together to pick our packets and t-shirts and pinned our numbers on:


Pretty soon, it was time for the race to start. I figured that I'd carry my camera along with us for the race. Kara kept saying over and over again that this was a "fun run", so I thought that it'd be pretty fun to have some photos during the race! Here we are starting out:


And then Drew took the camera so that I could be in a shot:


These were both taken in the first mile. There were water stations at both the first and second mile marker, which was nice. I actually didn't look at my watch when we got to the first mile marker, so I don't know how long it was taking us, but I will say that I was having fun, so maybe that was the point!

Drew also took this video of us running towards him on our way to the first mile marker:



Somewhere between the first and second miles, we split off into two groups. Eric needed a bit of a walking break, so Kara, Mara and I ended up running ahead of Drew and Eric. We ended up running all the way to the second mile marker, but from there we ended up taking two short walking breaks along the way. The course itself was actually pretty challenging. There were definitely some good-sized hills that we had to run up, but it seemed to me like we never really got to run down any hills. I'm convinced that race directors do this on purpose.

It was pretty hot the whole time we were running and I was a sweaty mess after not too long. Luckily, a couple of really nice people had their sprinklers out so that runners could run through them if they chose. I definitely made that choice the two times it was an option! Funnily enough, one of the people who had their sprinkler out for the racers was an overweight man who was standing there smoking a cigarette while watching all the runners come by. To each his own, I suppose.

After Kara, Mara and I crossed the finish line, I had a couple sips of water and then ran back to look for Drew and Eric. I was able to snap this photo as they were heading towards the finish line:


I was so proud of Kara for saying that she wanted to start running then actually waking up early to go running before work and then doing and finishing the race! It even seemed to me that she sort-of likes running and that she might stick with it now that the race is over. I'm hoping that we can make this race a 4th of July tradition as I really did have fun!

Here's our whole group post race (this is a test -- these pictures are actually different. How many differences can you see?)


I thought that this was a great way to start the 4th of July and of course, after showering and cleaning ourselves up, we all had a wonderful breakfast of French Toast! I can't find any "official" results on the internet quite yet and I'm not really sure they'll ever appear, so I'll be fine going with my watch time! Drew and Eric finished a couple of minutes after the girls. I hope that everyone had as much fun as I did during the "fun run!"

Running
Time: 34:39
Distance: 3.10 miles
Pace: 11:10/mile
Calories: 338
Maximum HR: 191 (90%)
Average HR: 175 (83%)