Lisa Piper's Blog

3rd 5K and I'm Diggin' It!

2010-04-12T19:37:00.001-07:00

Good news, Good news, I solved my petrified muscle problem. What? Yes, I did!

Solution? I got up extra early and did a 30 minute Bob Harper workout which warmed up my muscles, even though I had to drive 1.5 hours to my 5K. AND, I bought some new 2150 Asics shoes that I love, love, love.

Result? Great walk/run.... mostlyl walk. I beat my score from 2 weeks ago by 15 minutes. I did not hurt and I promise I did my best.

Twelve of us went to the centennial 5K for Murray Calloway Hospital. I think there were like 350 walker/runners. It was a 5 and 10K. I liked it a lot. We even had four people go with us to take pics and cheer us on. Made me feel like a gazillion pounds of greatness.

What the 5K people did great? Hmmm...well, the shirts were neato and blue. Liked that. The bags didn't really have any goodies in them. They could have just handed us the shirt and said, "Run like the wind, lady!" When we got there, there was water, coffee, fruits and stuff for before run snackage. Liked that. And, the bananas were cold...yes! (Ate one after.)

The start? Well, once again, I heard nothing that the annoucer was saying. I saw later on the video that they prayed and I missed it....I was giggling or doing somehing juvenile I am sure. (I've seen the video.) No one seemed to know which way we were going, so we were lined up in the road...some one way, some another. hahaha.

The bullhorn or whatever that was sounded and off we went. I was faster than the speed of sloth this time. My goal? Well...it was to be the first of the last. You know I made a goal to do one of these things per month. Febrary I came in 180 of 180. In March, I came in 4th from last. And in April...I came in a lot faster. Not great, but was not completely last. :)

Good:

Snacks

Free SWAG from census people

H20 and other beferages

Good looking bibs

Fast registration check in

Live band!

Good line up at the end of people saying yay.

Signage! Much much better than the last 5K when I had NO IDEA of where to go at times. There were signs where they needed to be...even I could follow.

Intersection care: At the last 5K, not every intersection or (going across the street in traffic) had traffic people or cops, but this one did a very good job. I could tell that that the authorities worked well and seem to enjoy the 5K.

Handy dandy parking.

Could hear the loundspeaker when awards given away. Nice.

Great medals....and lots of divisions.

Lastly, Very nice route.

Not my favorite stuff:

When finishing the race, it was difficult to know where to go...ha. There was a line with orange tape , but 10K people went one way and 5K another and no signs there....and sometimes people or kids were standing in front of the finish coral...where to go? Help!

The Murray race in Feb spoiled me to nice happy people yelling, "You can do it!" I love that. :) Maybe I'm just needy. ha.

Perhaps I missed the directions at the start, but I just felt sometimes knowing what to do was a bit of a problemo.

Women pushing strollers should not be faster than me. I know this isnt the organizer's fault, but this just isn't right. I so should be faster.

There were no maps of where we were going that I saw, however, like I said, the signs were good.

Not all of the race times were announced with the awards..I just like to hear those.

Not nuts about the website, again, the one done by run4another had a great website with good information...liked that.

Overall a great day with awesome weather. I'd do this 5K again.

As for my books: Well, I had some super awesome news today concerning some photos for my cover, but I can't divulge that information as of yet because it's TOP SECRET! ha. Joanne's almost finished with her edit. I'll go through her notes and hand it off to Paul and then viola, press and marketing time. yeah.

Bitter Sweet Victory

2010-03-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

I did it again. 5K. Owensboro. ShamRockNRun for abused kids at Kentucky Weslyan.

I've had a really grouchy week. People that know me would probably say I am not a grouchy moody woman. However, this week, I wanted to just scream at people. Somehow that poor attitude spilled over and I did not work out like I should have and I had to pay the Piper today. (pun intended)

So, I did the 5K unprepared, and once again, I felt the pain. I have not even been hurting doing like 4.5 miles on the treadmill, but today, ouch! Everyone passed me up then these three ladies stopped because they said they didn't want anyone to come in last alone. Later on, they stopped but I went on. Every time I tried to stop and stretch, my muscles turned into granite. owwiee. Yes, I stretched before, but obviously, not enough.

Then, this woman who was pushing a stroller stopped in front of me and I nearly fell.

Bad attitude? Do you think I've still got it? Phooey. Thought I got rid of it.

My friend, Pam, got 1st place in her division and my friend, Heather, did really great. The next 5K is April 10th. I so want to beg out. Why in the world did I ever say I wanted to do one of these every month? I hated it today. I mean, I hated it. My feet even got numb. What is my problem? (other than being overweight and misbehaving)

I came in 4th from last but my time stunk just like my attitude. I did it 15 minutes slower than anything I have done in weeks. How did that happen? (the 3 that came in after me were the kind ladies who stopped for me, I feel really guilty about that...I feel awkward just blogging it)

So, I guess I'll sleep on it and see if I feel any better tomorrow.

I want to blog on the race so I can remember if I want to do this one again next year.

Positive: Shirts were great. Medals given out to winners in divisions. Good cause. Volunteers stood with signs and yelled out motivational catcalls. (ha) The track was flat. The volunteers were very focused on their mission to raise money for child abuse.

Negative: Started 30 minutes late and it was cold. No clear starting point. When they gave instructions at the beginning, no one but the front line could hear. The only thing I heard was, "our starting gun is broken." Not all intersections had traffic directors. That could have been because I was a part of the caboose...and there were several places we crossed the street. Goodie bags just had information in them...I expected a goodie. :) ha. When winners were called out, their times weren't called out, I don't even know how they timed it really...maybe a stopwatch. A lil bit disorganized, but they were trying. May have been the 1st race.

If I were a runner I would complain that the walkers made me wait. Since I am mostly a walker I say, "Thanks for waiting."

PS: My novel has been renamed due to input from a facebook group. It's now going to be "A Mile Below Paradise". Joanne Jones is editing it right now. When she's done, Paul will get it and then it will be ready to go to print. yay.

5K - I thought I might die.

2010-02-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

I got this wild idea in January to spend the rest of the year doing a 5K once every month. Never mind that I'm out of shape. I just know that if I don't set a goal, I won't move my self into gear.

So, today I did it. I came in last out of about 200 runner/walkers. Well, I should have come in last. My daughter decided to walk with me instead of run. She came in last ONLY because of my crazy impulsive side. I hurt pretty bad the entire 5K, but then at the home stretch the loud speakers started playing the theme from Rocky! Then, the crowd started to cheer. So, I stopped walking and went into a chubby woman jog. Then, I started lifting my hands into the air and then I clasped my fists over my right shoulder and then over my left. I couldn't help it. The moment overtook me. Thus, my daughter came in last. She said she didn't care, but I'm sorry about it. Of course she could have finished the thing in 30 minutes and it took me 57 minutes. Yeah, I had a little somethin' somethin'.

I have got to do better. I wrote a book on staying faithful and focused, so I am going by my own book and it's working out well. I've lost 9.5 pounds and exercising faithfully. 1 5K down, 10 more events to go. (hopefully I can do a couple of 1/2 marathons by the end of the year.)

I am going to rest tomorrow and back to Bob Harper's boot camp workout Monday and then treadmill and weights at the Y on Tuesday. ai yi yi yi

GOOD NEWS! GOOD NEWS! In the research arena, I have discovered some 1830's letters that has caused me to change a character in the novel that's coming out in July. I got to read his will and personal letters. Great find, however, I need to brush up on my ability to read old English script....man, I know it's English but I can hardly read it! Had to get an interpreter.

Lastly, I had a goal for March that I got a jumpstart on this month. I am trying to memorize Psalm 139. I've got 4 verses down... if I stop mixing them up...I think I can meet the goal.

PS: (Late Addition)
I want to make some notes about the different 5K's that we do, so we know which ones we want to do next year.

Today's 5K was Run4Another in Murray, Kentucky. Surprisingly, this was Murrayxa.com's first 5K they have ever hosted. They are affiliated with Christ Ambassadors. The proceeds went to Missions. Nearly 200 runners/walkers attended. In my opinion, the organization was great, I felt welcome and will definately do this one again. They did a great job!

Here's what they did well:

1. Great signage.
2. Big Start/Finish sign with electronic timer.
3. Police/Traffic Directors at intersections AND cheerleaders from Christ Ambassadors encouraged everyone. Great attitudes from police officers and volunteers.
4. Water station at 1.5 mile.
5. They had signs at 1 mile and the 2 mile marker
6. Easy registration. Sign in table for pre-registered and those registering late. Excellent job here. And, the tables were easy to find.
7. PA System was set up so runners could hear instructions
8. TShirt design A+.
9. Volunteers easy to spot.
10. One of my favorite things was the Rocky Theme Music playing on the homestretch.
11. Water, Bananas, Health bars offered at the end of the run.
12. $20 pre-registration fee and $25 regular fee.
13. Course was great.
14. Top 3 male and females got medals and photographs.
15. Several drawings were given out. The only thing I'd say to do different was pick a prize and announce the donator and hand out the prize instead of people picking.
16. Goodie Bags: Goodie bags had a water bottle, t-shirt (if pre-registered guarenteed), coupons, flyers of all sorts, and mine had a band aide kit donated from the hospital. My daughters had some other token.
17. I heard other runners say it was a great course and event. I did hear a couple of people say it may have been a short course. I don't know about that.
18. Photographs were taken and posted for runners to see. I liked that just because you can't really take your own picture and it's proof you did it.

I may have been at the end of the pack, and I know they had to wait on us walkers. HOWEVER, I was treated with just as much kindness as those wonderful fast footed people.