The nation’s largest 10k, the Peachtree Road Race, is right around the corner! Typically the race is on a very hot, humid day which can mean trouble if you’re not properly hydrated. In this video I give you a few helpful tips on staying hydrated before the big event.

Well it was a fun race- I didn’t run as well as I probably should have, but I finished in 2nd overall and 1st Masters with a time of 17:10.  It was a good realization of how different a 5k race is from a 10k for an older runner. I did a good 3.5 mile warm up, but on a cold day I didn’t get as warm as I needed.  At a mile, I ran along with them and by about a mile  and a half I led the race up until the last 100 meters, when  I was outrun at the end by I think a 24 year old track girl.  But I had a great time at the race, my body felt pretty good and my feet felt great through the race.  After the race, I was asked to be the first athlete to go through the new Elite Athlete Lab opening in June of this year. I thought that was pretty cool, and will try to sneak in my flip camera to film it!

I think my next big race is the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th here in Atlanta. Its one I look forward to every year and am hoping to be in good enough shape to place well.

Here are some pictures taken from the Atlanta Women’s 5k

[View with PicLens]

Here is the Starting Line of the race

And the finish line

Before the Atlanta Women’s 5k on Saturday, I’ll take my workouts a little easier starting Thursday. I’m nervous for the race, this is my first race since the Bermuda 10k in January.  Today’s workout consists of a 3 mile warm up, then 4 fast quarters followed by a long warm-down. Tomorrow I’m hoping to get in 12 miles, then starting Thursday I’ll drop it down to 9 mile.

Thankfully the weather hit 70 today, so I didn’t pack my leg warmers for this morning. But for my morning run, it was a chilly 40 degrees, which presented a problem- If its below 50 degrees outside, you’re supposed to wear covers for your legs because you get microscopic tendon and muscular tears greater than you normally would because of the cold. Oops.

But I just finished 12 easy miles at Westminster, it was a blast. the weather was perfect, it feel great now that its finally warming up!  I’m hoping to run tomorrow with Jim at the river for another good run. Its so much harder for my legs to warm up when its cold, so when the weather is warmer, my warm ups are not so time intensive.

I’ve got the Atlanta Women’s 5k coming up this weekend. I’m really out of shape and don’t feel like I’ll be running at the top of my game. I think if I can stay close to runners the majority of the race, I should be able to beat them in the end. Either way, I’m hoping to win the Masters Division.

Today’s run: a 3 mile warm-up with Jim, then 16 quarters- we averaged :75 or :78 seconds per quarter.  We didn’t run on the track and I felt like I was on an obstacle course, I had to dodge a squirrel that ran in front of me.  I’m just glad its over…then I did a 5 mile warm-down for a total of 12 miles.  My legs felt pretty well.  I’m probably more in shape than I think I am- I feel a little sloppy because I’m in a worse shape now than I have been in a while.

Finished my run, stopped by the house to get Katie’s clothes then left the house and forgot to get some type carbohydrates to eat and now I’m in a dilemma… I could eat some of the Goldfish in the back of the car, or hold off eating until after Pilates. The risk of not eating enough carbohydrates within 15 minutes after a hard run is probably the biggest mistake athletes make, so I ate the goldfish.

If you don’t refill your body with carbs after a hard run, you’ll feel it the next day- your muscles will be soar and the microscopic rips and tears that went into them won’t be repaired, so you’re basically creating damage on top of damage by running again the next day. On top of that, your chance of injury increases exponentially… I’ve found myself eating donuts as a last resort, but I can’t stress enough how critical it is.

The big thing for working out for me, is resetting your metabolism and getting a metabolic rate high enough so you’re burning calories all the time, regardless of when you workout. Its no different for anyone who works out- you’ve got to refuel your body. I’m religious about doing my sports drinks before and after- I do the Ultragen or Gatorade endurance before, and I always do the Ultragen after.

But after a hard workout, any carbs are good carbs.. just grab them and eat them especially if they have salt. You can refuel and take in a little more salt. Remember if you’re working out over an hour, you’ll probably need additional salt- this helps make everything workout.

Daniel explains how he was awarded the ‘Pillar of Character’ at school, followed by an interesting explanation of what happens when you receive a conduct slip…

Madeline dressed up yesterday as a ‘sheep shaver’ from the Medieval Times for a school project, followed up with a banquet Saturday night. I brought up the idea of me dressing in a Medieval costume and helping out at the banquet…until my girls screamed for me not to embarrass them

My poor running partner- she was begging me to get there early today, and I really thought that might happen until Katie called telling me she left her P.E. Clothes at home… now I may have to run home and get those before I run, which I’ll have to cut short because I’ve got an 11am Apple class to help me understand how to work my Apple computer that I just got, which I’ll have to cut short because I’ve got my Pilates class which I absolutely won’t miss for anything.

I had my long run today, I don’t usually run it on Wednesdays, but Jim and I were there and we ran on a primarily flat surface…well…flatter than the hills which are extremely abrupt and steep.  My Garmin is much more effective when it’s clear outside. When it’s cloudy, the accuracy rates dropped to 42% and I just don’t trust what I was getting as readings- I am so headstrong about hitting my numbers that I ran until the Garmin said 14 miles, and that took well over 2 hours…everyone else thinks we hit 17 miles, but I refused to give in (which was somewhat ridiculous, I admit).

My friend Tuba who often runs with us went to the doctor and might have a stress fracture in her hip, so she’s on crutches and incredibly bummed. I’ve been encouraging her to get a bone stimulator immediately to help get that bone strong again.

I’ve been struggling with my hormone balance because of running so intensely while getting older.  It’s been really hard- I’ve put on weight, my metabolism has slowed, and I don’t feel ‘fit’. On the other hand, I’ve really enjoyed having extra time in my day- typically I only have from 10:30a-1pm of free time (if I don’t take an ice bath). With 3 kids, that’s just not enough time to get things done. I have an entire list of stuff that needs to be done now that we’re home, that one by one I’m trying to tackle in the midst of everything else.

I wonder if other moms have to run similar errands.. It seems never ending. My daughter’s shoes are too small so I’ve got to get her some new shoes, and drop her old ones off at Foot Solutions for the Soles4Souls program.  My kids lost the universal remote to our televisions in the house, which means none of our TV’s are working, a toilet broke while we were gone, we had a water drainage problem last year and have been fighting with the water company since last July….I’ve also got a box of pictures from our trip that I need to put in a scrapbook, I make a commitment to myself to keep up with this because if I throw pictures in a box, they’ll stay there for ever.  Where do I start?