Tag Archives: NaBloPoMo 2008

new fake personal record!

November 5, 2008UncategorizedNaBloPoMo 2008, running amuckLauren @ mostly i run

I run a lot of races. Lots of 5- and 10Ks, a handful of 5- and 10-milers and a couple half marathons per year would be normal for me.

I’m not a particularly fast runner. I usually place somewhere in the middle of the pack unless the field is really fast. Then I may wind up closer to the back. Occasionally I can place in my age group in smaller races, but I’m usually just out there competing with myself.

Runners like to call their best times their “personal records,” or PRs. It feels great to beat your best time!

On record, though, my 5K PR has been 27:19 since May 2005. But that course was too short. Most of the runners knew it right away, because the times were too fast. My Garmin confirmed it. A 5K is supposed to be 3.1 miles. I clocked this one at 3.01.

My next best race time, from February 2006, is 27:58. The distance checked out for this one.

I believe these are my only “official” sub-28-minute 5K times. I’ve surely had faster training runs (and actually, I ran a 27:40 on the treadmill last night), but I don’t really count those.

I ran a local 5K on Sunday, and started out with a great pace. I hit the first mile under 9 minutes. I kept it up for the second, and was feeling great.

I was tipped off that there could be a problem on the way back. There was also a one-mile fun run using the same course, with a half-mile turnaround. So when I hit that mark, I knew there was a half mile to the finish line. And the numbers weren’t right.

Maybe we were doing a loop somewhere near the end that the one-mile runners were not?

Nope. The course was off. I did see something on the clock at the finish line that I’ve never seen before: 25:55.

I don’t know how fast my third mile was, seeing how we never made it that far. My Garmin clocked 2.92. The iPod was a bit more generous with 2.97. Still really short.

So my new fake 5K PR is a time that I’ll probably never actually be able to run.

If the course was long enough and I kept that pace, I could have done something in the 27:30 range. If I picked it up, maybe I could have achieved my fake 2005 PR time.

I think all of my PRs are from my earlier running years, 2005-early 2006. Due to some foot and knee problems, I got custom orthotic inserts made in the summer of 2006. I feel like I’ve been slower ever since.

While I am a little disappointed that I can’t count Sunday’s 5K as my new PR, I am still thrilled to have had such a good run. It’s great to know I’ve picked my speed back up.

Maybe I can start setting some new PRs!

running skirt review: skirtsports “rollergirl”

November 4, 2008running skirtsNaBloPoMo 2008Lauren @ mostly i run

In the spring of 2007, I bought my first running skirt. It has since become an obsession. In the past year and a half, I have acquired quite a collection.

This past spring and summer, I sported skirts instead of shorts. I started photographing them months ago with plans of this skirt review series. I figure it’s about time to get started, now that I’m just about ready to pack them away for the winter!

First up is the RollerGirl skirt, by SkirtSports. The version I have (in three colors!) is last season’s; it appears the current RollerGirl is more of a “lifestyle” skirt than an athletic one. (Though, the version I have is still available through Sierra Trading Post.)

Anyway, I like this skirt. It’s got a bit of an A-line cut, which is more flattering than some of the tighter-fitting skirts. The skirt is a breathable mesh fabric, and the undershorts have a bit more coverage than the briefs in their traditional skirts. They call them “GirlShorties.”

I like the fit of the waistband on these skirts, though with this brand, I’ve learned I have to size up. Check the size charts on SkirtSports’ web site and go with your largest measurement. I’m a curvy girl and have to order to fit my hip measurement. This means I’m ordering a size which doesn’t really make me happy, but it certainly looks better when I’m not squeezing into a tiny skirt!

It’s comfortable to run in these skirts, and there are pockets in the undershorts. The downside is you kind of have to flash people to get stuff in or out of the pockets.

For example, sometimes we run at the Naval Academy and need to bring ID. My license fits perfectly in the pocket, but I have to flip up my skirt to get it out. I’m sure the guards don’t mind!

This would bother me with the lower-cut brief, but I feel pretty covered with the “GirlShorties.”

For the most part, they stay put when running. Except for some reason, they ride up a bit on the yellow/pink skirt. But only on the right side.

The back of the skirt says “TRIKS” (skirt backwards), which used to be their logo. But it seems they’ve moved away from that in favor of a little skirt icon.

These skirts are a great addition to my collection. I’m also a big fan of this brand. Sign up for their newsletter for deals, and check their outlet store and Sierra Trading Post for bargains!

noblocleanmo

November 3, 2008UncategorizedNaBloPoMo 2008, NoBloCleanMoLauren @ mostly i run

Anybody who was here last year may remember a little project I did which I named NaBloCleanMo. Basically, I was sick of the state of disaster in my house and vowed to work daily to fix it during the month of November.

This made my NaBloPoMo posts quite time consuming. I had to take a “before” shot, clean up the mess, take the “after” shot, upload the photos, and write about it. On the nights where I didn’t get home until after 10 p.m., it was a bit difficult and stressful to fit it in!

Lately, I just feel like I’ve been so busy. So I decided there would be no organized NaBloCleanMo this year. My house certainly needs it, but I don’t want to stress too much about it.

However, I have started making small attempts to attack the messes.

Last night before settling into the couch with a book (that I most definitely will not finish before my book club meeting on Friday), I did a quick clean-up in our half bathroom. I cleaned the toilet, put away my stuff on the counter (this is my powder room in the morning!), and wiped down the counter and sink.

Tonight, I vacuumed up a gang of dust bunnies that were threatening to take over the living room.

I’m hoping, once again, that I can change my sloppy habits. I’ll be reporting back frequently. Maybe not daily, but hopefully often enough to make a difference!

weekly winners: downs park

November 2, 2008UncategorizedNaBloPoMo 2008, weekly winnersLauren @ mostly i run

October 26 – November 1, 2008

I ran a 5-mile race yesterday that was held at Downs Park in Pasadena, MD. I’ve been there before, and I knew there were some beautiful water views, so I packed my camera.

Apparently I missed the sun coming up by about 10 minutes, but it was still pretty low when I got there. After the run, I took some shots of the trees. The colors were beautiful!

And yes, a couple of these shots are very similar. I couldn’t decide!

Visit more Weekly Winners at SarcasticMom.com!

halloween through the years

November 1, 2008Uncategorizedhalloween, NaBloPoMo 2008Lauren @ mostly i run

As far as I can remember, I never had a store-bought Halloween costume as a kid.

The closest thing was a bat hood/cape that my mom sewed out of a printed fabric designed for that purpose. I think it glowed in the dark. (Our photo was printed in a local paper. I cropped out my brother and a couple friends.)

One of my favorites was Ms. Pac-Man in 1982. I won a trophy at a costume contest with this one. I tried to create it a few years ago but it wasn’t the same. I’m no longer smaller than a piece of poster board!

My love of creating my own costumes started senior year in college. I decided I would be Supergirl. All I had at the start was a pair of blue tights.

I found a long-sleeve shirt that matched the tights at a thrift shop. I also found a cheap pair of boots there, which I spray painted red. A cut-off pair of red leggings, some fabric for a cape, and the lucky find of printed Superman fabric at Wal-Mart was all it took.

Supergirl returned for a post-college Halloween party, and ran a 5K years later — with the boots traded for red fabric assembled around my running shoes.

Another great costume — that I can’t find any photos of! — was a Gypsy fortune-teller booth. I wore a painted box that I lined with white battery-powered Christmas lights. I wore a scarves, a flowing skirt and Gypsy-inspired top. I had a crystal ball and handed out fortunes.

For Halloween of 2003, I became Space Ghost.

White pajama pants and a white turtleneck were the base. The cape had been one of the scarves from the Gypsy outfit. Felt, Velcro and old black T-shirts finished off the costume.

I wore Space Ghost to a couple of parties that year. A few years later, it also returned for the Halloween race.

Last year I wound up wearing a box again. This costume was created for the Halloween 5K, but surely will come back again another time.

This year for that 5K, I knew I needed a good idea to follow up the refrigerator.

This is what I came up with:

I don’t really know how to sew, yet this came out pretty good. The potato is some micro-fiber fabric I found in the sale section of the fabric shop — $5.00 for two yards. It was pretty thin, though. At first I was thinking of backing it with cardboard, until I realized I had enough fabric to double up on both sides.

I cut it in half and made a potato shape. I used spray adhesive to hold batting in place on one side of the fabric, then folded the top half over and sewed it shut.

I figured out where my arm and head holes would be, and attached the two halves. Felt and Velcro made up the rest. Of course I needed interchangeable parts!

The race was on Sunday. I had a good pace, and I won the costume contest. I also wore it to work on Wednesday for our Halloween lunch and costume contest. They said we’d know by Halloween morning, but I’m still waiting for the voting results!

So now that Halloween is over, I think I need to start preparing to defend my title next year.

Any ideas?