Tanger Outlet 5K

This past Saturday, I completed the Tanger Outlet Family 5K in Myrtle Beach, SC.  This was no ordinary 5K for me this time.  This 5K had extra special meaning as this was my wife's first ever 5K.  I was looking forward to this race for a while and I was going to stay with her the entire race to help her make it through.

She was nervous and excited as the day arrived, but she definitely had one major item taken care of....her wardrobe for the race.  I just have to highlight the brand names she was wearing for the race.

Shoes - Saucony
Socks - Under Armour
Compression Pants - Nike
Running Skirt - Reebok
Shirt - Adidas

She definitely made sure she had the major brands represented. 

Here is a picture of us prior to the race.

There were 2 goals for the race.  The first was to simply finish the race and the second was to break the 45 minute mark.  She knew both were attainable and we were going to do it.  As the race started, we began with a comfortable jog and took it easy.  We would take walk breaks as needed and the run some more.  We had a good walk/run pattern going throughout the race.  The 5K course was 3 laps around the outlet shops.  As we passed by the finish area completing lap 1, we were making great time as being just under 14 minutes.  She knew the 45 minute finish could be attained.  Then after we passed the finish area, we heard clapping as the first person finished the race.  This guy was flying to finish that fast. 

After our second lap we were still making great time.  We were on pace to finish in less than 45 minutes.  I kept reassuring her that she could do it and as we rounded the final corner she was off to the races.  She left me in the dust on her way to the finish line!

Here she is crossing the finish line.  Her official time was 41:54!  She blew the 45:00 minute goal out of the water.  I was so proud of her.

A little tired after the race but I knew she felt great.  Way to go honey!

The Eagle has Landed!

On Sunday I had the opportuinity to play a round of golf at Thistle Golf Club in Sunset Beach, NC.  Lately, I do not get out on the golf course, so I was looking forward to the chance to play a round.  It had been many years since I had played at Thistle.  If you have not played there, I highly recommend it.  Great looking clubhouse and great course conditions. 

My day did not start out the best right off of the first tee on the MacKay course.  This is a par 4 with water down the left.  I hit my drive right and my second shot had the ball about a foot above my feet.  When you have this scenario, you are going to hit a hook on the shot.  It didn't help that I aided the hook by pulling it and as Bill Murray said in Caddyshack, it went right into "the lumber yard" (water for those who may be wondering what the lumber yard reference is).   Before you know it, a nice 7 was added to the card.  Nice way to start a round with a triple bogey.  I followed that up with a bogey on the next.  It was time to regroup and I started to get it back together and pared a few holes.

We came to the 7th hole which is a dogleg left par 5.  I hit a good drive down the corner on the left.  Played a 200-yard layup shot and had 110 to the hole.  For me that is an in-between yardage for  PW or SW.  I decided to playe a choked-down PW.  I put a good swing on the shot and it was tracking right at the flag.

The ball hit 6-inches from the hole, popped up and dropped staight in for an eagle 3! 

It was awesome to be able to see the ball drop into the hole and not where the bottom of the flag was blocked from a hill. 

In this first picture you can see how close the ball landed to the hole as I am repairing the pitch mark.

In this picture I am picking the ball out of the hole.

I proceeded to follow-up this eagle with a birdie on the next hole.  So, I made up for the 3 shots I lost on the first hole with this eagle and birdie.

Just goes to show that you always need to continue "digging".  Even when you have a bad hole, keep a positive attitude and put it behind you.  It is just one hole and you have plenty of chances to make it up.

Brooks Glycerin 8

After building the miles it was time to replace my Brooks Glycerin 7's. I have been running in the Glycerin 7 shoe for the past year. I do not log a ton of miles and I have gone through two pairs. After researching, I decided to stick with the Glycerin model.

I am running a 5K on Saturday, so that will be a good test. So far, the shoes feel great and I can already feel the added cushion in the heal from the Brooks DNA. Looking forward to that feel in a race.

Tomorrow it is off to the Tanger Outlets on Highway 501. This is the 2nd annual Tanger Outlet Family 5K fun run in Myrtle Beach. I will post about the race over the weekend. You can't beat a 5K at the beach. Since it is at an outlet mall, maybe I can look for some deals while running.

Good luck to all running races this weekend.

First Day of School...Part 2

Well, today starts the first day of school for the traditional calendar schools. It was obvious that was the case as I drove in to work this morning. Before I was even 1/2 mile from my home, I had already passed two school buses and kids waiting on the corner for the bus.
The traffic was also busier than normal today. That should get better as time passes, but it definitely caused for a slower commute in to the office.
 
This is not only the first day of school for the kids, it is also the first day for my wife.  She teaches math at a local high school.  As all teachers know, they love the break during the summer and I am sure she did not want to go in this morning.  I bet the snooze button was a popular choice of teachers around the country this morning.  Just 5 more minutes.....
 
I still go back to the lines from Finding Nemo.  They are so appropriate for the first day of school.  Ready to learn and get some knowledge.  As Mr. Ray sang...
 
"Oh let's name the zones, the zones, the zones.
Let's name the zones of the open sea.
There's epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathyal,abyssopelagic
All the rest are too deep for you and me to see"
 
"Oh, let's name the species, the species, the species
Let's name the species that live in the sea
There's porifera, coelenterata, hydrozoa, scyphozoa, anthozoa, ctenophora,bryozoas, three! Gastropoda, arthropoda, echinoderma, and some fish like you and me. Come on, sing with me. Oh...!

Just the girls this time. Oh, seaweed is cool. Seaweed is fun. It makes it's food with the rays of the sun...
"Oh, knowledge exploring is oh so lyrical, when you think thoughts that are empirical."

Come on, sing with me! There's porifera, coelentera, hydrozoa, scyphozoa, anthozoa,
ctenophora, bryozoas, three!

"Oh, seaweed is cool. Seaweed is fun. It makes it's food with the rays of the sun"

Have a great first day of school everyone!
 

First Day of School

Ready to learn and get some knowledge.  I can't help think about that line from Finding Nemo as my oldest starts 1st grade today.  She woke up this morning eager and ready for school.  She could not wait to get to school and start 1st grade with her friends. 

As I acted like Marlin from the movie yesterday and today, I could just hear my daughter responding just like Nemo by saying, "daaaaaaadddddddd." 

It is wonderful to see how excited she is to start school.  Even though that means the end of summer, she is ready for school.  Last week we took her to school so she could find out who her teacher is and who would be in her class.  She was really excited to see several of her classmates from kindergarten would be with her.  I am sure that will make things easier on her to having that familiarty. 

As she left the house today, she had about 800 pounds of books in her back pack.  OK, maybe it was only a few pounds, but I am sure my daughter would say it weighed a lot more.  I was waiting for her to fall backwards on to the floor, but that did not happen.

So as 1st grade begins, my daughter is ready to learn and get some knowledge.  At least she did not ask for 5 more minutes like Nemo did.

CHA Supershow

Most of my posts have revolved around running.  This is one of those posts that has absolutely nothing to do with running. 

While in Chicago I attended the CHA Supershow with my wife.  CHA stands for the Craft and Hobby Association.  This was a huge craft show in Rosemont, IL.  I don't even know if huge is the right word to describe this show.  There were 12 aisles of crafts.

My wife is a huge scrapbooker and this was right up her alley.  After I went to the RnR Chicago Expo at McCormick Place, I met back up with my wife at the show. She had met a new friend as part of the Cricut Circle and was walking around the show with her.  Wait, let me clarify....she was not walking around the show, she was only on the first aisle 1 hour in to the show opening.   I met up with her on aisle 100 at the Provocraft booth. 

I could not believe how many people were at the Provocraft booth.  It was all about the Cricut Imagine as it was unveiled during the show.  In addition to the Imagine, Provocraft also had the Cricut Cake, Cuttlebug and Yudu on display.  Why do I know so much about these Cricut products you ask?  My wife loves these products and I support her.  Plus they are pretty cool. You have to like a machine that can cut out cool items to make a cake.  Maybe one day they will make a Cricut Wood.  As a guy who likes to work on a scroll saw, that is the next best thing.  I hope Provocraft sees this comment (LOL).

Here are a few pictures from the Provocraft booth.  Now, when it was time for a drawing for some great prizes, look out.  The booth was packed with everyone hoping they would win a cartridge or maybe a Cricut Cake.  I was hoping I would win a prize to give to my wife, but no luck.  I tried!

I took some pictures as we walked around the floor.  I never knew there were so many companies out there.

One of the neat moments for me was having the opportunity to meet Robyn (My Pink Stamper).  I felt like I already knew Robyn from all of the videos I watched with my wife on her blog.  My wife had the opportunity to meet her earlier in the day and when we went by her booth, she introduced me to Robyn and Karlee (Karle Krafts).  Plus, Robyn is a runner so we were able to talk about running.  I think if Robyn knew the RnR Chicago Half marathon was on Sunday, she would have entered that race.  Maybe next time Robyn.  Great to meet you Robyn and Karlee. 

Throughout the day I joined my wife in making various crafts.  Whether it was cards or 12 x 12 scrapbook pages.  It was interesting to see the reactions when a man sat down at a table to make some crafts.  One booth in particular had to get a picture of me making a card.  Here is the picture taken at the Paper Crafts Magazine booth.

Overall, this was a great experience.  I really enjoyed spending the day at the show.  Would I go again?  Yes! 

Thanks for a great time Leigh!

Rock N Roll Chicago

On Sunday, I completed my 7th half marathon at RnR Chicago.  This was my first Rock n Roll series race and this was a great event.  I also set a new PR by finishing in 2:21.

Over 25,000 runners took part in this race.  Great race, great course, great city!

This first picture was prior to entering corral 18 at 6:00 am.  The race started at 6:30 am and I did not cross the starting line until 7:00am.  What was really neat about this wave start was each and every corral started separately.  When it was time for my corral to start, I was at the front and it felt like you were an elite runner being at the front with no one in front of you.

As I passed the Willis Tower (formerly know as the Sears Tower), the crowds began to increase.  As I arrived at the Art Institute at mile 5, the crowds were really thick as we made our way on to Michigan Avenue.  It was at this point as my wife was able to catch a few pictures as I passed by.

 

Once I reached Columbus Street and the finish line was in sight, I kicked it in a bit.  I look at the following picture and the word "determined" comes to mind.  My goal was a 2:20 finish but with .4 of a mile remaining as we rounded the Shedd Acquirium, the pace slowed and I knew 2:20 was not going to happen.

After finishing there are photo stops to have your picture taken with your finishers medal.  While getting this taken by ASI, my wife was able to get a good photo.

After finishing the race, I took the time to get one last picture with the Chicago skyline.