Runners took over the streets of downtown Ann Arbor yesterday during the Firecracker 5K. I got a 5K PR woo hoo! My time was 20:11.3, a 6:30/mile pace, which put me first in my age group and fifth overall for women.
The top 5 neurochemicals released during exercise, taken from the book The Athlete’s Way -
1. Endocannabinoid: The bliss molecule. Directly linked to pleasure and has anti-inflammatory properties.
2. Dopamine: The reward molecule. Drives people to set goals and achieve them.
3. Epinephrine (Adrenaline): The energy molecule. Allows people to perform superhuman feats and improves mood.
4. Serotonin: The confidence molecule. One of the least understood neurotransmitters. Good for mental health.
5. Endorphin: The painkiller molecule. Gram for gram, three times more powerful than morphine.
No wonder it feels good to get out there and break a sweat!
First race of the year! This race took place downtown Ann Arbor with 1,500+ people. It’s great that all sorts of runners showed up, but with so many people I wish they had lined by speed. Slower people in front makes for some tricky maneuvering. There were lots of great hats and headbands in the crowd. I saw a Vibram FiveFingers runner, too!
Results: 22:39.5, 7:18 split. 12/954 women, 85/1597 overall. Third place in my age group woo hoo!
I fixed something! I put needled and thread to my torn Vibram FiveFingers and violà:
VFF Stitched
Not the prettiest piece of work, but it keeps the rocks out. Feet are as sensitive as hands and can feel those little peddles rolling around in the sole.
From a couple of weeks ago, my bull riding costume for Halloween:
Bull Riders at Work
Sarah (on the right) discovered the costume at Party City. I wasn’t going to dress up this year but that costume is so great.
Last but not least, a sampling of pleasing piggy pictures:
Upper left corner: Flashbang Fatbottom kept trying to move the pigloos into the carrot cube.
Benito loves his dandelion greens!
Flashbang barely fits in the tent. Later he tried chewing the lace around the enterance off.
After around 450 miles of pavement running, my Vibram FiveFingers have taken a beating! Here’s the current list of damages:
Hole in VFF
The neopene rubber has completely worn away on the ball of my right foot. It’s very thin around the hole as well, although my left foot’s rubber sole is fine. I plan on adding some pads called Sure Foot. It’s what skaters add to the bottoms of their shoes so they don’t get ripped up by the street when braking.
Mesh tearing
This picture is a few days old and the mesh tear has gotten a little bigger. I plan on taking needle and thread to it to see if that’ll hold it.
You can see the duct tape wrapped around the strap to prevent the eyelet from chewing through the strap. The duct tape was worn through and needed to be replaced.
I picked up some Injinji NuWool socks to help keep my tootsies warm while running. They’re a little expensive – $16 per pair – but so very nice and warm. I noticed that my two smaller toes barely fill the sock. Do I have super small toes, I wonder?
This is how far my toes go. Look at all that room!
I’m still looking for a cold weather solution to Vibram FiveFingers, because as much fun as these shoes are, they won’t cut it in the snow.
I’ve been looking forward to the Big House Big Heart run for a month! The 10K course loops through Ann Arbor’s central campus and finishes through Michigan Stadium’s tunnel and on 50 yard line. The 10K, 5k, and 1 mile had more than 10,000 people combined.
I agreed with a woman that I overheard while looping around the first time – loops aren’t fun. They make the run seem longer, for whatever reason. There was a volunteer standing at the 2 mile/5 mile sign saying “almost done!” when we were doing the first loop. Someone laughingly said that she was trying to mess with us. On the second loop, that same woman said that we had less than a mile left on the second loop, when we had 1.2 miles to go. That was the only bump in the course – every turn had volunteers and the miles were well marked. For the literal bumps in the road – the speed bumps – volunteers called out that they were coming up to make sure no one was tripped up. Overall the course was very well done!
While tootling around the course, I heard a woman yelling at a volunteer who watching a road block to make sure cars didn’t get onto the course. “I’m trapped in here! The city didn’t tell me about this. You can’t do this!” Bad on the city if they didn’t tell her, but sheesh, don’t yell at the volunteer. They can’t let you out onto a course with thousands of runners.
I had a running buddy around mile 3.5 until around the 6 mile mark. Sometimes he would pick up the pace and sometimes I did. We both benefited, it was nice!
I ended up with a new personal record of 44:22.3, a 7:08 pace. That’s 1:36 improvement, hooray! I was third in my age division, women: 16/706, overall: 101/1336. The side stitch showed up around mile 4, and again at the very end, preventing my end sprint. I need to figure out how to stop those stitches from putting a cramp into my speed!
I’m also in a random person race picture!
Back in August, the straps on my Vibram FiveFingers ripped through and had to be replaced. It’s been about a month, so these straps seem to last around 250 miles. A couple of days ago I noticed the straps on my current VFF were getting worn through so I busted out the duct tape.
Outside of VFF eyelet
Inside of VFF eyelet
The inside of the shoe strap was noticeably more worn, but I figured I should wrap up both eyelets to keep the friction away from cutting through either strap, especially since I’m racing this Sunday!
The race is the Big House Big Heart race in Ann Arbor. There will be 10,000 people! Wow! That’s a total for the 5K and the 10k races, of which I’m doing the latter. The biggest race I’ve ever done was 2,500 people so there’s a good chance this’ll be my biggest race yet. The finish line is on the 50 yard of Michigan Stadium with the finishers being projected on the big screen. I’m awfully excited about it!
Benito plots in the background.
Some interesting info I picked up while flipping through the February 2009 copy of Runner’s World -
Costas Karageorghis studies the connection between music and exercise. “[Music] reduces the perception of effort by clocking fatigue messages to the brain, and it can elevate positive mood.” Karageorphis has found that runners who listen to songs with a tempo that matches their stride rate their endurance by 15 precent. [page 22]
Researchers at the Brunel School of of Sport and Education in England found that treadmill runners who listened to high-energy tracks, such as Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, exhibited 15 percent more endurance and felt more positive about the hard efforts. [page 27]
Interesting! I run with music on most of daily runs. If it’s an easy run, I’ll listen to a podcast, either Idle Thumbs or NPR’s Car Talk.
Benito’s getting big! Flashbang’s zooming around in the background.
The piggy Benito is no longer allowed to play with Edgeworth. A few days ago I noticed a fleck of what I thought was bedding in Edgeworth’s coat, only to discover it was a bit of a scab and Benito had clawed poor fat Edgeworth. Now the piggy arena is split so that Benito is unable to get at the popover piggy. I checked up on Edgeworth’s rump this evening and it’s healing, but still not a pretty sight.
Split Piggy Arena
Not sure what to do with about the cage situation. I’m thinking about expanding it, but at the very least Edgeworth is safe and is getting fresh basil directly from the plant. He really likes that.
This morning I did a 11 mile run sponsored by the running store Tortoise and Hare. Before the race I met another person who was also wearing Vibram FiveFingers! Turns out he runs barefoot, too. We were both stumped as to what to do when winter comes around as the FiveFingers are not meant for cold weather. I have to figure out what to do about that fairly soon, but for the moment I’m enjoying the lovely weather.
Saturday was a trip out to Westland and Hines Park for a 10K run called Run Like The Wind. I was impressed of how well the race director ran things. The man was literally running from place to place to keep things running smoothly. I overhead him telling the people at the finish line “not to be dainty” when ripping off the bottom tag of the bib. (That bottom tag keeps the order of whom finished before whom.)
It was a combined road race of 5K and 10K runners, with the 5K runners tootling down the road until they hit the 1.55 mile mark and turned around. The 10Kers kept going until they hit the 3.1 mark before turned back down the road. I don’t know what it was – maybe the heat, it heated up surprisingly quickly – but it felt like an awfully long race. I was ready to turn around at the 1.55 mark with the 5K runners. Happily the last three miles were much faster than the first three.
I finished with a 10K personal best of 45:58 with a 7:25 mile split. Pretty happy with those results! I finished second in my age division and fifth overall for women.
Biker: What's that soun-OH!
That’s the lead biker to guide the 10Kers to their turn around point.
5K and 10K runners
It was a good turnout! I’m in the middle with the pink shorts and pink top.
Here I come!
The 10K runners were well spread out in my time group. There are two people behind me in that shot.
Coming in for the Finish!
Hooray I'm done! Now to eat post-race bananas!