Thawing the Frosty Toes 5k

The Moyock Women's club out on coastal North Carolina puts on a 5k every year that is organized by Kelley's college roommate. We're still good friends and love getting together with them. The first time they ran the event it was held in February, very cold and rained the entire time. I ended up finishing in 3rd place overall that year, and it was the roommate's first 5k.

For 2018 they moved it back to March, which should have warmed up some. Spoiler alert: it didn't. 31* at the start and windy. And by windy I mean 51 mph gusts, it was crazy! But this time we also talked the kids into running, so it was their first 5k ever. So proud of my family!

The family before the start

There were only 52 people running this race. I did not start at the front, but within the first 30 seconds the crowd settled in and the order was set. There was a high school kid who jumped into the lead, then a couple of 11 year olds (inc Amy's kid Jake, who I think has a crush on my Evil Genius), then me. Eventually I got passed by a 34 year old guy, but Jake couldn't keep up with me. The first time I looked down at the Garmin my pace was 6:18, and that sounded insane. Had to slow it down by the first turn.

I finished the first mile in 7:18, and honestly I never expected to see a 7:xx mile again. At this weight, and this age, I'm not getting faster anymore. I haven't even knocked out any 8:00 miles in training this year. So that was quite a surprise.

At the halfway point there was a water station setup, I got a cup and headed back. It felt like the wind was in my face the entire time, but the wind was significantly worse on the way back. Maybe that contributed to my 7:18 first mile?

The second mile took 7:58, and again I was quite shocked. I actually told Jake to get in my draft when the winds picked up, but he still couldn't hang. The course ended up only registering 2.8 miles on my garmin, and I finished in 22:47 - good enough for 4th place overall and winning my 40-49 age group. I got beaten by a 19 yr old, the 34 yr old took 2nd, and the original 11 year old beat me by 5 seconds (I let the kid have it). Jake finished 5th in 23:16

Ella ended up in 24th place overall, finished in 41:18 good enough for 3rd in her age group.

Snowman running in with Ella finishing

Hanging with Jake after the finish line

Kelley ended up hanging with Lena the entire time. Lena ended up taking it in the photo finish, getting 32nd place overall in 44:52, and Kelley got 33rd place in 44:53. They had a blast!

Finish strong!

Everybody was happy to be done and had a great time at the race. Turns out they only gave out awards to the age group and overall winners, so I got a cup for winning my age group.

with my age group award!

Once again this was a fun race and a great time hanging with friends. I'm quite pleased with my performance and the way my family raced. We had a blast hanging out with Amy and her family too. Her husband Neal even went out to dinner with me and Kelley to an all-you-can-eat sushi & hibachi place! That may have been Kelley's favorite part of the weekend.

Under the weather at the worst time

I know it's my own dumbass fault for not getting a flu shot this year. Next year I will get one. But it seems like every year when I get the shot, I get sick and the years when I don't get the shot I don't get sick at all. Kelley and the kids all got the shot.

I got a cold.

At least it wasn't the flu. I did actually go to the doctor after a few days for a flu test that came back negative. But I will own totally turning into a man-baby when I get sick. it's not pretty. This one has lasted a week, so far. I can work from home, and if I don't actually have the mental capacity to complete my job then I can take some time off without an issue. But this time I was able to just stay home at the new built-in desk for a week and that was it. Tomorrow I head back into the office.

It started as a head cold, then dropped into chest congestion which broke into productive coughing. The kids are tracked out right now, they don't go back to school until tomorrow. So with one quarter left in the school year, they got to laugh at me a lot. It was really disgusting. We've had a lot of family time over this track out. I didn't expect getting sick to add to that.

The timing sucks. Of course there is no running while I'm out sick, or swimming. My first marathon in a year and a half is only 2 weeks away. Next sunday is Easter, then the following is the Trap Pond 50k. I'm going to step down to the marathon distance instead of the 50k if I can, but I really want to get this state (Delaware) done. There were only three 20 mile runs in my training plan and I had to build back up to marathon shape anyway. Training has been frustrating at best. 2 weeks ago I missed a 20 to drop the kids off at my parents house for track out. This weekend being sick I missed another 20. Anytime I stay outside for longer than about 5 minutes my lungs catch on fire. That's not ideal.

So from here - I was able to work outside most of the afternoon today without issue. Tomorrow I'm back in the office. Going to try and hit plenty of after-work running, maybe stretch the normal taper 12 mile long run into a 15 or something. The single 20 miler that I was able to complete felt amazing and was a blast. But that's not usually enough for a clean, comfortable marathon.

February Didn't Suck!

Most of the time in NC, February is the only month that gets uncomfortably cold. It bothers Kelley, but I'm usually ok with it. Especially now that we've got more insulation in the house so it's not as cold inside. But this year, we finished off the kitchen remodel project, 50k training is in full swing, I got to build some boat frames, everything turned out ok.

Swim: 20,150 yards, 6 practices
Bike: 16 miles, 1 ride
Run: 90.6 miles, 11 runs
Strength: 0
Yoga: 1

Swimming could have been more consistent. Work got very busy and kept breaking up my noon practice times, but my time in the pool was focused on quality. Once I actually still went to practice even though I got there 30 minutes late for a 75 minute practice. The marathon training plan was in full swing, I only missed one run on Thursday the 1st. The long runs are going really well, the 19 miler was really hard but the following 20 miler was great - and actually faster than the 19 was. I've got 2 more 20's planned before tapering for the big race on April 8. I need to start running a 4th day every week, not sure that only 3 days a week and 3 20 mile runs will really get me prepared for the 50k.

We didn't have any out of town trips and there wasn't a whole lot of pictures from family time. My mom did come up to visit for a few days, which was wonderful though. But the pictures are more about projects and fun stuff for me rather than the whole family.

I started working on concreting a patio

Got some white oak for my boat frames

That white oak needs to dry before getting planed clean

Look ma, I'm a lumberjack!

Finished off the desk

Hallway is done!

Desk & Cabinet are done

Crown molding & door framing is done!

Really opened up that kitchen space

Still have to make a couple of drawers

Finished off the new cabinets! Done!

We are so glad to finally call this kitchen remodel done. It turned out great, and really added some value to the house. And we love the new space, layout, and all of that new cabinet space!

Cool kids all hang reading glasses from the rear view mirror

An old picture from college that mom left when she came up! I was a baby

Back around 1995? When my hair was starting to grow out long

Pruned the muscadine vines hard this year

That oak came through the planer pretty clean! Check out those shavings on the floor

Cut up some 8/4 into strips to form the stem

I love a clean shop

Shaved the beard back into this mustache. Kelley couldn't stop laughing

Built a boat frame!!

Getting some zen kitty on the porch

My little hottie, yes I wore shorts in February

Finished putting some deck skirting up

Got all of the boat frames finished off!

So I got to make a lot of progress on a lot of projects and did a bunch of running. The family didn't kick me out for this, so we're all ok. I can't wait to see how March is going to turn out! Hint: we get some good family time since the kids track out. I really should post more often, there was some fun stuff that went down...