For our 5K, today Erin and I ran the Womens Distance Festival 5K (Abby sat it out due to plantar fascia issues). Erin was determined to get to the turnaround without any walk breaks…then to the 2-mile mark…then I told her to dig deep because I knew she could run the whole thing.
She got second in her AG and a faster time than the winner of the next AG… I’m excited for her to see this kind of progress so she can start seeing herself accomplishing these things. All this evening she kept saying to me, “I can’t believe people can run that distance nonstop!” I reminded her that she literally just did.
I drove out to Dryden this morning for the Women’s Distance Festival 5K. The race website was the first place I had learned about the women’s 5000m not being in the Olympics until 1996. That is wild…I was alive in 1996! (To be precise I was four.)
It was a beautiful day but a touch windy off the lake. I ran decently especially since I also raced a 5K last weekend at CHES, but was not quite happy with my time - I ran 45 seconds slower than CHES despite an extra rest day and a much flatter course. The disadvantage of a women’s only field was that I ran alone and with no one in view for nearly the entire race after the first mile. The advantage was that the walkers were all very excited to see the lead several women coming back after the turnaround! I loved the cowbells in the home stretch too 
I enjoyed an easy and breezy Lakefront Loop 5K during my lunch break today. My broken down Dad Bod™ is slowly coming back around to old form, evidenced by holding a decent-for-me pace for the 5K without feeling like I was working too hard.
PSA: We got functioning water fountains on this course now. One next to the Challenge sign, and another by the Allan Treman bathrooms and park office building (inside the little alleyway thing with a roof over it).
To answer @ruth-sproul’s question about the construction work on 13A. They’re not building a sidewalk. Even better, they’ve start construction on a pedestrian bridge over the inlet at that spot. The trail will then go down the inlet’s east side all the way to Buttermilk Falls as an expansion of the Black Diamond Trail. When finished, the BDT be about 10 miles and connect upper Taughannock with lower Buttermilk.
I didn’t know when or where I would fit in a run today. My legs are adjusting to/recovering from a lot of elevation gain this past week. A short, flat course seemed like a smart choice, and the Lakefront Loops fit the bill.
My brain did a lot of churning on this run. My legs are tired, I have a sore foot, I’m just not feeling it, I’ve gained too much weight, I am slow, how do I prep for my upcoming races, what should I do when the races are done, I’m afraid to back off of running, I like the mental benefits it provides me, what other activities do I enjoy, etc, etc, etc ….
So it seems I have a hip injury that may prevent me from running the challenge routes this year, so I’m going to walk/hike them all instead (I hope!). Today I had some wonderful company for the lakefront loop course - say hello to Aoife (tan dog), Holly (black dog), and Vivi (human on the right). Holly got a perfectly timed kiss in for the photo 
After a several year hiatus the May Day 5K is back in Trumansburg (in June!). This is a special race for me with many fond memories of my family participating.
I had no idea how this race would go for me. I haven’t been running due to an injury. I told myself I would see how I felt and walk if necessary. My foot hurt, but it felt okay, especially when I took it easy. I allowed myself to push it the last couple of tenths for a 3rd place finish in my age group!
We had quite the family event this morning down at the Peter DeMott Peace Trot at Cass Park. Jamie and I ran the 5K along with my sister who was pushing her son Oliver. Shannon and Mariah ran the 1 mile fun run with their 11 year old cousin, Neela. Our nephew Finn also ran the 1 mile fun run, winning for that distance! My brother Sean and my brother-in-law Shami flanked my 94 year old mother as she walked the 1 mile fun run. My mother won the prize for fastest in her age group 
clocking in at just under 30 minutes. Also super fun to run with @JesseKoennecke and @KimJ. Jesse and I ran together for a while and Kim and I were twins wearing our Challenge shirts.
I ran this one pushing my kids (age 3) in their Bob double jogging stroller. It was only second stroller run of the year and I’m definitely out of practice with it. Not to mention each kid now weighs around 40 pounds and I had to keep stopping to meet their demands for snack time. (The 2021 Challenge was so much easier — they only weighed around 20 pounds and didn’t need as much attention while running!) Afterward we had a good time at the Cass playground and both boys showed me they can hang on monkey bars without help.
This one was sitting on my watch for a while…oops! I remember it being a nice evening, warm but not too hot, though quite buggy by the water. I had planned on running negative splits each mile and then finishing strong, but a 7:36 third mile took it out of me and I had to fall back real hard for the last 200m. I think this was actually right before the wildfire smoke was really bad, so in hindsight I wonder if that’s why my lungs were burning afterwards…I just assumed it was my out-of-shape-ness, like usual! 
For today’s run I raced the last mile against Zeus’s thunderbolts and won by a hair, albeit soaking wet. If my legs weren’t tired from big mileage over the weekend I might have finished without looking like I swam across the inlet. By the time I got out of the shower the storm had already passed.
Bonus pic of part of the course as sent from the office where I work.
Same route as yesterday, but this time without the lightning and humidity. Today’s the day for animal sightings, I guess. After spotting a large snail, trailside deer, and a wild turkey this morning at Six Mile Creek, I ran past two baby racoons wondering around lost by the Waterfront Trail. I felt bad for them and didn’t think much about how nasty an adult racoon can be when you get between it and a tantalizing trashcan. I also had to swerve into the road on 89 near the electrical box turnaround while getting chased and hissed at by an angry mother goose. Later on the Allan Treman gravel path a deer remained unfazed when I passed within two feet of it. Sorry, no pics. I don’t usually run with my phone.
Two 5Ks, One By Sea
While we were away in Vancouver and Alaska last week, we completed two 5Ks, one running and one power walking.
The first was a Parkrun at Central Park in Burnaby (Vancouver area), the morning of embarking on our cruise ship to Alaska. We met a veteran Parkrunner on the Metro, who had completed 90 something total Parkruns over the years. We chatted with various people pre-race and were amazed that the park was a lovely wooded area. After the run, someone brought cake for one of the local runners who had completed his 50th Parkrun. However, we couldn’t stay very long, as we had to book it back to our hotel, shower, gather our stuff, and head down to the cruise ship pier to catch our ship (the rest of our group was already boarding).
Me and @Dave_K at the Parkrun finish line
GPS track for the Parkrun
Scenery in Central Park, Burnaby
Alaska cruise group sailing out of Vancouver
The second 5K was on the ship itself. Holland America sponsored a 5K on our last sea day called “On Deck for a Cause: Alaska Parks.” This year, the donations went to Alaska Geographic, which is a nonprofit education partner of Alaska’s parks, forests, refuges, and conservation lands. We joined various other cruise ship guests on the Promenade deck to walk a little over 9 laps (3 laps/mile). The staff member continued to emphasize that this was a non-competitive event. However, we certainly had no plans to walk it slowly. We power walked our way around the ship, mostly sticking with a pair of women who had a lunch reservation to make (and therefore wanted to complete the walk as quickly as possible). They also helped us keep track of laps. We couldn’t rely on GPS, which thought we walked 3:24min/mi and a total of 16.7 miles (instead of 3.1 mi). The GPS track just looks like a straight line, as the ship was moving quite quickly (see my Sweet 1600 post for a neat spiral pattern).
Me, Dave, and his sister Laura (showing the back of our commemorative shirts)
During our walk, courtesy of Dave’s Aunt Cathy, who was cheering us on
Sign on the Promenade Deck
We walked so far and fast!
The lunchtime Lakefront Loop is becoming a daily routine. It’s 0.35 miles from my building to the electrical box turnaround where I start recording the 5k split. I’ll run the course to finish at the electric box, then another 0.35 and back to work. The 137 AQI seemed okay enough for running today — no smoke smell or orange tinted skies like last time.
Ran the Right to Run 5k this morning with @DamianClemons. 
Here’s a pic of the most wonderful bridge. 
