10k on the 10th Cavepeople Unite: Virtual Club Run Race Results

Bloggy friends have united for a 3rd virtual race and the results are finally in. By most accounts, the race was a success.

There have still been some minor complaints about inappropriate (donuts and coffee) or non-existent race support. We are sorry for any inconvenience the run-your-own-route-at-whatever-time-you-like format has caused. There was also substantially less (maybe no) bribing attempts of the race director this time around. I guess we'll all have to live with the consequences.

Interestingly, I've never had more people fighting over last place and excited to be doing so. Perhaps you'll learn the subtleties of bribery next time? :D

Thanks to everyone who participated and thought about your friends out there running. Thanks also to everyone who said they wouldn't have run if not for this race. There were also many Cavepeople who ran with their club, celebrated positivity and just embraced the Cavishness. To you I say, BRAVO and rock on.

Speaking of rocks, some hairy dude is working on a batch of rocks for medals. Please don't anyone hold your breath.

And to all our friends who could not participate, be it injury recovery, taper time, race recovery time, whatever, please keep the club handy and know that we were thinking of you!! I'm sure there will be a next time.

We had some great pictures and inspiring reports, with many PR's to boot. Hope you enjoy a sampling of the pictures and the results with reports linked. Two lucky folks are actually getting a real prize compliments of Brianna K. Grant!! She has given me 2 copies of We Are Girls Who Love to Run. I've given these to Pokey and Lisa - Slow and Steady for their determination and grit and celebration of running. Please email me your addresses, Lucky Ladies. And big big thanks to Brianna - her book would make a great gift!

40:44 (6:34) The Running Laminator - It's a celebration !! A Legend in Loincloth

40:44 (6:34) Reid at Life Strides - Never fails with the cute pics and ran it again with a stroller! Another Legend in Loincloth

Nice race, fellas!! :D



42:08 (6:47) Nitmos - Problem with my aid stations? Fred's Favorite
47:27 (7:39) Bob's Random Thoughts While Runninginclude nice outlined merits of the race. Thanks, Bob!! :D

48:00 (7:44) Tom from Runner's Lounge just went out for a leisurely spin around the Drake Bulldog

49:42 (8:00) Shoreturtle has nice scenery and is head BAM BAM BOY

51:09 (8:15) sRod got to run fast with the Laminator

51:27 (8:16) Brian is Running to Endurance and tuning up for 50 !!

52:43 (8:30) Vanilla at Half Fast - PR, you call that half fast?? We already knew he was a BAD BOY :D

53:34 (8:38) RazzDoodle - Wife made him do it
54:08 (8:43) Kevin at 5ks and Cabernets - he called us a REVOLUTION!!

54:54 (8:51) Slow Sam played some pony tail games

54:58 (8:51) Aaron Runs Again and only engineers analyze that much!

55:04 (8:52) DC Spinster, Peter, ran this with his 10k training club

56:32 (9:07) akshaye - head rowser
58:14 (9:23) Zach at Knightburns hopped in at the last second
59:00 (9:30) Kevin has a unique reporting style using the letter H
1:01:50 (9:58) Topher may need some coaching on choosing routes
1:03:08 (10:11) Rob Dares to run a 10 mile race and cut us a split - nice racing!!

1:10:15 (11:19) Chad in AZ Desert ran double the miles - very DELIBERATE
1:10:29 (11:21) Eric is the Marathoner in Training who did this race three times!!

1:16:00 (12:15) William from gain health! is a new participant from Thailand!

1:23:15 (13:25) Randy at Papa Bear's MANIAC Marathon Training

1:25:00 (13:42) Scott Keeps Running on his way to Iceland

49:54 (8:02) Marcy is fast and funny and she's our Leading Lady of the Loincloth - Lord help us if there are pictures forthcoming :D

Nice running, Chica! :D

52:07 (8:24) Jamie wasn't to busy to run - First WHEEL

54:34 (8:38) Renae was so anxious she ran with us in April AND May

54:36 (8:48) Meghan has been working up her mileage

54:36 (8:48) Velma has a crimefighting blog but took the time to run with us

55:20 (8:55) Kristina is cracking open the introvert

56:15 (9:04) Amanda's the leading Bedrock Blazer
56:50 (9:10) Nikemom does it all including spin class before a race

58:00 (9:21) Eat Drink Run Woman Betsy tried to DNF at 6.19 but Cavegirl dragged her in

58:23 (9:25) Karen at Working it Out... is an adorable late entrant - welcome!

58:42 (9:42) Jess was an early entrant and proud of her new age group

59:00 (9:29) Jenny got Tonya Harding'ed with a club - investigating Marcy :D

59:11 (9:33) Audrey experimented and it payed off with a PR - Very Ferral Feline
59:35 (9:37) Shelley BEDROCKED this run - You go girl.

59:45 (9:38) Kaeti's been renovating and she was inspired to run her first 10k - YEAH!

1:00:08 (9:41) Laura was taunting us all as she did this run THREE times!

1:00:10 (9:42) Donna the RunnerMom gave us another PR!!

1:03:28 (10:14) Prehistoric Patty is not old, but sage and experienced. She is the only one to give herself a name!!

1:04:52 (10:27) Don't Forget to Water the Chia Runner - and stitch her up when necessary. ewww, so sorry.

1:06:00 (10:38) RunningNan fooled herself into 6.2 - She's Pebble's favorite pacer. (let me be clear - prehistoric means positively CAVEY and NOT OLD)

1:07:04 (10:49) Laura's new kicks are making her speedy

1:07:23 (10:53) Runnin Ragged - thanks us for getting her out there!! YEAH.

1:10:55 (11:26) Nancy, the original Cavegirl, gets a PR!!

1:11:48 (11:34) Lisa used the club. Her face is getting so skinny :D

1:12:34 (11:42) Nat worked out all week with the club. AWESOME.
1:14:29 (12:00) Lily on the Road has some great pics

1:15:57 (12:15) Vivalicious had a new PR despite hurdles in the road!

1:19:00 (12:44) Eileen's the Running Knitter and Cavegirl with a Club - congrats on the new PR!!
1:19:00 (12:44) Vickie's also carrying a big girl Club - she did 25K!! CONGRATS.

1:20:00 (12:54) Em included us in her HM
Amy at Runner's Lounge didn't keep track but ran pretty fast. She loved the drizzly conditions.
1:27:54 Lisa - Slow and Steady worked hard and enjoyed the moment
DAL Pokey claimed DAL with a big smile :D

Michelle J made it to 5 miles - YOU ROCK!!
25:17 Andrew smashed his 5k PR - WAY TO GO!!
25:42 Greg's speedwork is paying off in 5k PR - CONGRATS!!
Cranky ran a very real 10 mile race - Nice Going!

Great photo by
Laurel - thanks!!

Please email me if I have overlooked anyone. I checked posts to my blog but not my entire blogroll. I'll be happy to update if there are more results. Updated 5/13/08.

THANKS, EVERYONE for a GREAT RACE!! :D

Announcing 10k on the 10th

It finally came to me what we need for our club. A virtual race of course. For those of you struggling with motivation and needing a carrot, get your club out, start beating on the bad attitude and the negative self-talk, and get this bad boy on your calendar.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Thanks, everyone, for all your support. I am feeling quite a bit better. The truth is, it wasn't about running at all, it was about personal stuff. I think I may have confused some of you on that. I wish I could be as positive and die hard, never give up even after failure, on the personal stuff, like I am on the running. For some reason, the metaphorical club and beating back bad thoughts with it has worked well for me on the running stuff, but really, I just like being a runner (yes, I actually said that I am a runner!) and love to talk about it, love the sense of accomplishment and like to share it (stalk) with all of you. Many times I have run because of all of you, you keep me going.

The club we have built and all your support and encouragement mean a lot to me. Several of you mentioned wanting to be "in my club," or "going clubbing." It was cracking me up, and I really appreciate your support, especially on non-running related personal junk. Maybe we should start some sort of virtual official club? Any ideas? Cave People Unite?

Anyway, I'm working on the positivity and better attitude on the personal stuff, but I can get pretty down. I've at least hit the bottom and am started back up the other side. The first good sign is when I start joking about it.

You can turn painful situations around through laughter.

If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.

--Bill Cosby

I found this website http://www.despair.com/ after someone used it in a recent seminar (please don't think I was googling "despair" -- it wasn't quite that bad!) It's a take on those motivational posters. Here are a couple that made me chuckle.

I hope you are laughing and not thinking I am being a downer. :D

The truth is, failure is just information on what doesn't work. I look at my bad runs like this all the time - it was bad, oh well, what can I learn? Pick yourself up with a bit more information and try again. And as a friend told me when I really needed to hear it, "there is always hope." Thanks, friend. And thanks to ALL of you!

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Now, regarding the running, I'm not exactly sure what is going on. I did a 5 miler last Saturday and while it beat me up in the snow, I was fine. After 5 on Wednesday, however, I am the sorest I have been in months. Any thoughts? I ran pretty slow, not sure why I am "race sore". I was hoping to do a 10k neighborhood race on Sunday, but now I'm not too sure...

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

This reminds me. I think someone asked me about that 6 word meme. Me in 6 words? Holy cow. I found this somewhere and decided to steal it for my own. It pretty much sums me up.

Some Hits. Some Runs. Some Errors.

Looking for a bigger club

Thanks for everyone's rockin support of my Tri. Part of me is still in the clouds. I didn't have too much problem recovering (does that mean I didn't push enough?) After the tri, I did a whirlwind tour on both sides of the family. I ran on Saturday in Glen Ellyn -- 5 miles with my SIL -- yes, after the snow storm in Chicagoland. It was possibly the worst run of my life. At least 5 inches of thick crusty snow on a trail. I had to go SO slow, the numbers were in the 14's, people, and mainly because of it beating me up physically, the cardiovascular was fine. At least I have that. My SIL ran out and backs (from me) and did 6 to my 5 but at least I did some miles. It was also gorgeous to see the heavy snow over everything.


I'm back from the whirlwind tour, but I haven't caught up on blogs and I've been really blue. Running and work are great. Some personal things seem to be a mess right now. When I started this blog, I was hoping for the positivity and energizer bunni-ness of my running attitude to spill over into my personal life. I mean really, someone who runs in the 14's (okay, okay, I did do 3 miles in the 10's, but still, I'm PAINFULLY slow) HAS to remain positive or they would quit. How is it that I continue to spring back from bad runs, back of the back of the pack races, stupid mistakes, being passed by the only other runner on the course? How do I keep coming back for more with a big energizer bunny spirit and lipstick smile?



Well, it's my club (my attitude), of course. I know this. Apparently, this does not yet translate so easily to the rest of my life like I had hoped. I'm working on it. Had a great chat with a friend today and also took Anthony Robbins out for a run with me. No one speaks to me like Anthony. Tears came for awhile after mile 2 but I straightened up. This was really hard emotionally and physically.

5.3 miles ~ 1:07 ~ 12:40 pace


I think I need a bigger club...

Things you might (?) be interested in...

Well, I liked Cornucopia of Crap better, but when I googled it, someone had already used it.

1~
A few people have asked how I got 10+ hours of 80's rockin' hits on my little iPod shuffle. Well, the short answer is have a nerdy hubby who does this stuff for me. I had him write up this explanation so I could share this tidbit with other interested bloggers who are getting tired of the same old tunes. This is his explanation:

I used iTunes to convert the songs to AAC format at a lower bit rate. This made the files smaller with little or no loss of quality. With the smaller files, more songs fit onto the iPod.

This works because the compression quality of the AAC format is better than the compression quality of the MP3 format. Therefore, a 160 bit-rate MP3 sounds roughly equivalent to a 128 bit-rate AAC, but the AAC file is smaller.

If you understand that, YOU too, might also be a nerd. That's okay, though, I obviously married one. I have always maintained that you get the coolest techie stuff when you marry a nerd. :D I love you, Curtis!!

2~
Bondi Bands are my new favorite running thingy. I discovered these cute headbands while visiting Runninmomma, Michelle's, website. I thought they were adorable (of course she is young and cute and appears to have NO wrinkles whatsoever!) She sells Bondi Bands and directed me where to purchase them. Of course, I bought 5 !!

Some of you remember my Running With My Club post where I was beating down all the uglies with my club and I posted a pic of a cavewoman in a cute little leopard print thang. I have been looking for gear ever since. As luck would have it, Bondi Bands has an orange and black wild animal print! I took a pic of me with it on, will try to insert it later.

3~
Oh yes, my run. When the Bondi Bands arrived and I saw the leopard print headband, I decided my next fiver was going to be FUN. I put on my orange tank top (it was only 55 degrees but fashion comes first!) and mixed up some orange gatoraide and threw in some orange sports beans for good measure. I felt positively strong and...well, coordinated!!

5miles ~ 1:01 (new PR) ~ 12:11 pace ~ the last 1/2 mile, I got another side stitch so I didn't quite get to finish it out like I wanted.

Beating on Hattie

Thanks everyone, for all the support you've shown me through my last post. You are certainly helping me believe and live the words that I wrote! I am just taking a day or two at a time, seeing what each day brings, and planning accordingly.

Yesterday I covered 6 miles. It was pretty ugly and hot and I still didn't have any energy. I was definitely still feeling like a phony (what happened to the girl that did 14 not too long ago?) I don't think there was much improvement over the last 4 in my conditioning, other than the simple fact that it was longer. The best part was that I made the Gatorade really, really cold!!

After a couple of hot, yucky miles, I took a hit of Gatorade. I kept drinking and thinking how awesome it tasted. I drank a ton! It tasted so good, I swear, I could not stop. Maybe if it tastes that good and you can't stop, you are dehydrated??!! I walked most of mile 4 but did get myself together enough to jog again. I was pretty sure Hattie still had a hold of me, but at least I could laugh at myself about the sudden Gatorade addiction.

Then today, I headed out for more punishment. The first mile was....different. Not fast, but steady, and I had energy. Maybe that b*tch, Hattie, is loosening her grip. I did 4.35 UNINTERUPTED MILES. Well, until my husband interupted, but in a nice way -- he found me near the end and had some ice cold Powerade. That'll work. I flexed my muscles for him as he pulled up - not quite Maria Sharapova (yes, we are all disappointed that isn't actually me in the picture) -- but this is huge. I finally had the energy to get my club out and deal Hattie a blow up side the head. She hasn't gone down yet, but she's weaving and seeing double.... I think maybe I could be on the way back. That is WHERE I AM TODAY.

I started thinking, maybe slogging through these ugly runs when I didn't have much energy will actually making me STRONGER?? Also, I think it may have been good for me to get some shorter runs in while adjusting to the orthotics. Tomorrow I plan to rest and hope to do a longer run on Saturday, a true shoe test that I have been wanting to do for a week now. Looking forward to it...

CAVE PEOPLE UNITE

Hmm, maybe we do need a club for cave people. No dues, just carry an imaginery club and vow to beat back the little negative voice in your head. Ask for help when you need it, share stories, celebrate each other's success....etc. (sound familiar??)

What could we call ourselves?

I SO need a leopard skin running outfit, now. Anyone seen one?

Running With My Club

3 miles in the books ~ 33:47 ~ 11:15 pace.

10:57 ~ this is techinically in the TEN's!!

11:06

11:41

Decided to go out and see if I could pick up the pace. Feeling really good after the weekend and it's only 3 miles. I suprised myself with a pretty good stride (well compared to my usual shuffle) and the first mile split made me really happy. (That reminds me of my two year old who seems to announce all his emotions right now, "I'm happy, Mom!")

I left the iPod home and just let the thoughts flow. It was absolutely amazing to me the negative things that just come to you. I have been working on and reading lots about these negative scripts that run through my head, about running and other things too.

"Marathon? What in the world were we thinking?" "IF I finish, I will surely be LAST." "Wonder if anyone will come cheer for us, I will probably look like death and either fall apart or collapse if I see anyone." "I will never make 10 this weekend." blah, blah, blah.

I actually felt like I had a club and every one that popped up, I beat down. It became almost comical as I imagined myself beating down the uglies.... I countered with: the health benefits, the fact that I haven't missed a run in weeks, the fact that my BP was 98/60, the fact that I ran 8 miles, the fact that I just ran a mile in the TEN's. I had to trail off some, but I didn't care. It felt like a decent clip and more importantly, it was a great run mentally. I was super winded but recovered quickly and had a mile walk home.

Two notes to friends ~ Patty, I tried high-fiving an innocent and unsuspecting old man walker. I startled the crap out of him when I yelled, "high five" in a total tribute to you and positivity and silliness. He understood about a step too late and we both said, "ooooohhh". He did think I was silly and actually felt bad for not obliging. I still thought it was pretty funny. I think I will try an earlier warning and maybe a younger subject next time! :)

Brian ~ Thanks so much for saying the "impressive" part was the steady pacing. No one has ever called my pace or pacing or anything related to my running "impressive". Clearly you still need hydration, man. Just kidding. I REALLY appreciated this!

Good Running and POSITIVE SCRIPTS - or at least go out armed with a club!! :)