I didn't do enough training (to say the least) in preparation for the Road Runner Akron Marathon on Sept 24th. I figured I was only running 7.9 miles - I'd be fine. And surprisingly enough, I was! Yay! I didn't beat any records to be sure, but I managed to finish in a respectable amount of time (for me - 01:28:28 - 11:20 pace) and I wasn't in too much pain at the end. I even ended up walking part of the way home from the stadium after the run. Nice, eh?
I love this picture:
That was taken at about mile 7.5 (of the 7.9). I was feeling pretty good and look - both of my feet are off the ground at the same time! I finally have a pic where I look like I'm actually running! Woot!
After the race:
(L to R: Sara, me, TK & Brandi - not shown, Jesse)
I felt so good after the race that I added a few more races to my schedule. The next one was the YMCA Jack O Lantern Jog on Oct 8th. A simple jog through Glendale Cemetery. Ugh - HILLS! I really wasn't prepared for it and my time showed as much. :34:43 - 11:19 pace. On the upside, Miss P won the costume contest!
See me in my stupid costume?
Yeah, I ditched the hat pretty quickly into the race. I suck.
The very next day I ran the Towpath 10K. My first 10K. My first time running two races in one weekend. Surprisingly enough, I did much better with my time on that. My goal was to finish in under 1:10:00 - and I did! I hit 1:04:59 - 10:29 pace. How's that work? Woot! Got some good pictures, too!
It was still dark when we started:
Serious runner:
Still going strong at the finish:
The next run was the following weekend. Another 5K. I hoped to at least beat my pathetic time of the previous week. I was running with Sara (from the RRAM Relay team). Just like last year, she passed me at mile 1 and managed to beat me again. This year, however, it was only by a little bit. (Not like last year, where she beat me by 8 minutes). I was determined not to let this one get away, so I hauled tushie to bring it in at a PR. And I did! :31:28 - 9:56 pace. Woot! Finally over the 10:00 pace hump!
(Don't let the pic fool you - it was at :31:28 when my chip crossed! Honest!)
And just because I'm a glutton for punishment, I decided to run another 5K the following weekend. Now I really have a goal to chase - a sub-:30 5K. Do you think I can do it?
Oh hell yeah. Bring it on...
No pics from this race (the Knights of Columbus / St Sebastian Running in the Park 5K 10/21/11), but I ran it down in :29:31 - 9:33 pace! Woot!
Next races on the schedule: Gennesaret Home Run for the Homeless on Thanksgiving (4-miler through Glendale Cemetery) and the Reindeer Run 5K in Lakewood on Dec 3rd.
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And now, what you've been waiting for, Halloween Costumes!
Miss P decided that she wanted to be Jessie from Toy Story this year. Why not something fun - oh no, she decided to do something mainstream. Oh well. I modified a pair of her jeans, drafted the shirt, hat and belt, and spent way too much time braiding yarn for the hair.
She's happy with it, though.
I'm pretty proud of the belt:
... and since the hubby is going to be home for the first time (ever) on Halloween, I had to make him a costume. He's a film camera buff. Loves older cameras and was pretty sad when Kodak finally gave up the ghost and stopped making Kodachrome. He hoarded that film. And then the last facility that processed it finally stopped. So over the course of a year, I think he shot over 100 rolls of Kodachrome (give you the nice bright colors...).
I decided that to pay homage to his love of Kodachrome I would make him a costume that would be a good tribute. Of course, I had no idea how I was going to do it (there was math involved!)...
The neck base is a hula hoop. I took a piece of foam core and cut it to be the same size as the hula hoop, taped it to hoop and cut a hole for the head (hula hoop side up). That sits freely on his shoulders. The fabric is a separate piece that drapes over it. I cut the white to be bigger than the hula hoop (to account for seaming), cut a hole for the head and then made a neck piece (film spindle) out of jersey. (everything else is fleece).
The rest is just a simple rectangle. The black was cut just a little too big so I could pleat it to attach the "film" (which is just a piece of super-stiff interfacing covered with beige faux suede / black acetate lining).
Everything was done to scale. It's a 30:1 scale of a vintage Kodachrome II canister. The letters were all done on graph paper, drawn by hand then I used a tracing wheel to copy them to the fleece. My hands were pretty cramped after cutting them all out. (And that's why there's not ALL the detail on there that there should be).
The bottom has boning to keep it's shape. (I would've preferred to use another hula hoop, but I don't know where it wandered off to...)
I haven't made a costume for me. *wah-wah*
I might try to whip something up tonight...
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