My new toy...

So after a year plus of contemplating it, I finally did it... I bought a Garmin.  Why did it take me so long to take the plunge?  Well, real talk Garmins are not cheap and I'm a teacher without a ton of disposable income.  I spent the past several months stalking the prices of Garmins hoping to catch a sale somewhere.  Christmas time came and the Forerunner 10 and 15 went on sale,  but my beloved Forerunner 220, that I had my heart set on, on did not.  I wondered to myself if I would be okay with purchasing the 10 or the 15, but honestly, even though it was half the price I felt like if I was already spending that much money shouldn't it be something I really wanted as opposed to something I settled for?  Also the 220 has a much better battery life and can be set for intervals.  Even though I have no intention on running a marathon any time soon, this was important to consider.  If I ever decide to take the plunge to run the full 26.2 I didn't want to also have to upgrade my watch.

One day, just a few weeks ago, I was shopping at my favorite local running store, Charm City Run.  Low and behold that day's purchase pushed me over the limit to earn a $25 loyalty reward.  As I looked longingly over at the Garmins I took this as a sign.  Even if it didn't go on sale, I was getting $25 off.  Thankfully I shared this train of thought with my roomie and the employee at the store shared with me eight glorious words "there's a $25 rebate on that model."  Between my reward and the rebate I'd be saving $50 in total.  That's a saving of 20%!  Better than any price I've seen yet.  I was sold, I didn't have the money at that moment but I'd be back very soon to pick up my Shamrock 5k packet and I'd make my move then.

The day for packet pick up came and I could not wait to walk out with my Garmin.  And then... sadness... that location had sold out of the model I coveted. Heartbreak.  Luckily, Charm City Run has several locations and they'd be able to transfer in my watch.  It would just take a few days.

Finally the day came to pick up my watch, I swear guys, it was like Christmas.  Unfortunately the weather and my schedule would not let me use it right away and I had to wait a whole week to take it out for a spin.

I couldn't resist taking this beauty out for a quick spin any longer

Let me just tell you, I've only run once with this toy and I LOVE it.  It responds much faster than my RunKeeper app and it's easier for me to turn it on/off which gives me more accurate data (I'm a science teacher, I love data).  I also love the real time pace.  I'm going to need to train myself to not check it as often because it's so easy I want to do it all the time.  The only thing I wish it could do would be to set a run for a certain time instead of distance.  I'm use to running by time (for example, I'll run for 30 minutes and see how far I get that day) so this will take some adjustments.  If anyone knows how to set the 220 to alert me when I've hit a certain amount of time running, I'd greatly appreciate it :)

I can't wait to play more with my Garmin and to learn more about all the cool things it can do!

Kelly Shamrock 5k Race Recap

On Sunday March 15, 2015 I ran the Kelly Shamrock 5k in Baltimore.  It was a little bit of a chilly morning but after it rained all day Saturday I was glad it was at least dry out.  One of my favorite parts of this race is it's 1:15pm start time.  It's so nice to have a race morning where I can "sleep in" and eat breakfast at home instead of racing out the door before the sun's up with a bagel in hand.  We had a bit of an issue parking due to road closures but made it to the start line with just 5 minutes to spare.

Before we knew it, we were off.  Since I had run this race last year I knew what to expect for the first half-mile but it's still a little overwhelming.  The first part of the course is straight downhill, which sounds great, but not when you have 5000 runners all starting at the same time.  To me, it feels a little like the running of the bulls.  Plus, the street is not the most even surface to run on.  Even though the sidewalks are filled with parade spectators I barely even look up at them because I'm too focused on the road directly in front of me and not falling. 

Mile 1 passed easily.  I could feel that I was running a good pace but I run races blind to time, unless they have clocks at the mile markers.  I was feeling good!  Mile 2 is a different story though.  Mile 2 is where you hit the hills.  Overall, this is one of the flatter courses in Baltimore (Baltimore is a very hilly city, something I did not notice until I started running).   However,  there are no true flat areas of Baltimore so you will have to deal with hills no matter what. The hills are not major hills, especially to what you could encounter just a block away, but there are several extended climbs.  Luckily the hills overall are not that steep.  Just long, slow climbs.  I was still trucking pretty well through mile 2, but my legs and my body were starting to get tired.  There was a girl yelling out times as we passed the mile 2 mile marker, I couldn't hear her very well but I knew at least that she called out a "16" as I passed her.  Now I knew why my legs were getting so tired, I was running under an 8:30 pace.  Super excited about this, I kept pushing.  Maybe a PR was not out of reach... However, after conquering what I knew what the last hill fatigue set in.  I realized that I could not longer hold onto the pace that I had been running.  I backed off a bit until I was running a pace that was challenging but maintainable.  I had less than a mile to go, I could do this!

The finish line is around a corner so unless you notice the mile 3 marker you're approaching the finish blind.  One of my running friends was disappointed in this because she wanted to take a longer sprint to the finish but didn't because she had no idea where the finish line was.  As I rounded the corner I could see the clock at the finish, 25:30-something.  I pushed myself to sprint as fast as I could, determined to finish before the clock read 26:00.  I crossed the line at 25:58 and I was so excited!  I knew my chip time would faster than the clock time so I just had to wait for my official results. 

Next up, finish line party!  We had a great time.  This year, my roommate and I opted to participate in the Brooks VIP party.  We really enjoyed the experience.  The VIP party included a lunch of sandwiches and salads and no waiting for beer (you received 2 tickets for drinks at the door)!  What an upgrade from the long beer lines and chips, bananas, and granola bars downstairs.  We found a seat, ate our lunch, and enjoyed the cover band before heading downstairs to meet up with friends.

While we were up in VIP we were able to check our official results:
Gun Time: 25:58.7
Chip Time: 25:39.7
Pace: 8:16/m

WHAAAAAAAT???

I have not run that fast since 2013!  For some reason last year I could not get under an 8:30 pace.  This race clocks in at my 3rd fastest 5k. 

To say that I'm super excited for this racing reason would be an understatement.  I've got some big PR dreams this year and this race has built my confidence up.

Overall, it was a great day and with great friends!  Can't wait to run it again next year.

<3 Tara