Thanks & Planks courtesy of shrinkingjeans.net

30 days of Thanks & Planks.  I'm doing this, how about you? Come join the fun!

10K PR and so close to breaking 1 hour

Well- the title says it all.Ran the MEC Race #7 series which was back at North Glenmore Park
A familiar course, where I ran the half-marathon in July.

I signed up for the 10K as I didn't want to be down in the dumps for another week or so after not hitting my race goal, like I was after Melissa's.
I went into this race, wanting to beat my 10K time of 1:08 from MEC Race #2.  But it would be nice to beat my PR time of 1:03 set at the Rock the House Marathon in Sept '12.  Even better would be to break the 1 hour  barrier.
I was conscious of not going out too fast, but keeping a good pace because obviously you have to be running at a 6 min/km pace (9.65 minutes per mile).  Thankful to have latched onto 2 runners who were going at a good clip and just let them pull me along.  Thanked them at the end of the race too.
Caution- serious runner ahead-that's me in the red shirt on the right (photo credit- MEC-flickr site):

 121 1:01:08.66  1047 Melanie PAULSON            59/132  F    1:00:51.89  6:06

PR- oh yeah:

I'm thrilled with my effort and my finish of 121 out of 232 runners, 59th female to finish.

Now to figure out what's next.  Winter is fast approaching.  My running has dropped way off- I ran 2 weeks ago and then this race.  I imagine I would I blasted the 1h time, if I had trained a bit more. Hmph.

There is another MEC run in November , so maybe that's next? We'll see what the weather brings.

Thanks MEC for making racing fun & affordable!

Signs of fall

A morning without any kids in the house means:

-Sleeping in

-Breakfast at Lazy loaf & Kettle

-Dog walk along the Bow

Fall colors

Knitting

Football

Pumpkin Cookies - from Totally Cookies Cookbook by Helene Siegel & Karen Gillingham

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf- more like a cake; recipe courtesy of Carrots 'n' Cake

Why 7 minutes means so much

So I ran in the Melissa's Road Race 22K this past weekend.  I enjoyed the race.  The temps were perfect.  I ran well for the first 15K and then just self destructed.  It was a PR time for me at this distance 2:22:32 and my 3rd Half-Marathon this year.  I should be proud, so why do I feel so disappointed?
I wanted to hit a time of 2:15.  Not a rocket fast pace for so many of the running blogs I read, but a goal none the less for this former overweight pseudo runner.
When I run a race, my two goals are not to be last and to finish the race.  I always have a time in my head that I'd like to run, but usually don't share that time with anyone, in case I don't meet it.  But maybe if

Now the next big question, do I keep training and run another half on Oct. 19th, MEC-Calgary Race Seven? Or do I try to PR at a shorter distance?