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Racing has become a very important part of my life. It takes a lot of dedication and a lot of focus but results in a real sense of accomplishment and puts me in great shape. Sharing this information helps keep my mind in the game and lets you read about my experiences :)
~Kris



Monday, September 28, 2009

Firefighter 5k, clay pigeons, ink and football

So this weekend brought some fun and different experiences. We started off with a 5k race in Plymouth for the Firefighters 5k. Mark's friend Steve also came to run as he is quickly becoming addicted to the sport :) Since Ironman, as I have mentioned, I have become focused on my 5k speed for the rest of the season. As the race started and I quickly was passed by what seemed like a hundred people, I tried to find a comfortably hard pace to start with. What I didn't know is that this entire course was rolling hills.

Mile 1 there was a guy calling out times. 7:41. Yikes that was impressive. Granted my HR was running in the low 180s which was a little high but I had a quick discussion with my body as I tried to recover down the hill. "So you're only going to recover to 178 off that hill huh? Well fine then, let's see how long we can keep THIS up"

Mile 2 my heart rate was up around 190 and not letting up but I felt like I was still holding a pretty good pace. I was following this kid who couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 years old most of the race and by this point the little bugger was getting away from me and the other guy I was trying to pace pulled over to walk for a minute so I just tried to keep pushing up the hills and getting in a slight recovery downhill.

Mile 3 was just after a long hill but on it's way downward to the finishing shoot. I turned on the turbos as much as I had left and crossed the line at 24:06 (damn those 6 seconds!!)

My legs were really shaky and the heart rate monitor was flashing 200! 200! so I decided to jog around the parking lot to cool down a little slower.

All in all I was happy with the race. I was hoping to break the sub 8 min/mile and that actually came out to be 7:45. Small victories :) Mark had a fantastic race pacing at 6:46 and Steve paced just over 10:00 which for his first few months of running is pretty awesome on a course like that.

Next goal.... 7:30 min/mile at the Monster 5k.



After the run we had to clean up quick and head down to the MN Horse and Hunt Club in Prior Lake for the Miracles of Mitch Foundation Shoot for a Miracle fundraiser. Mark and I offered to volunteer since they needed a few extra hands. Little did we know we were going to be manning shooting stations, flinging clay pigeons all afternoon. Crazy different ( especially for my city boy <3>

Unfortunately we couldn't stick around for the dinner since we needed to be up in Maple Grove for my 6pm tattoo appointment. Yes everyone, I finally settled on getting one after MUCH deliberation with myself. Here is me looking very relaxed but actually gritting my teeth and trying not to fling choice words around the room. Tattoos hurt....end of story!




But in the end I was SUPER happy with my design. Especially since it was pointed out that this design has the bike on top of a "hill" which is very fitting for Madison. The focus of my tattoo I wanted on the triathlon part more than the M-dot and this works perfectly for me. Left ankle.

Sunday we went down to the Vikings game. We ended up switching seats and it actually worked out VERY well since we were in perfect view of the Favre to Lewis pass. Wow what a moment that was! Here's a few game pics. This first one is of the Marine Corp Silent Drill Team. Being a previous marching band color guard member, I love getting to see these guys. Very cool!

And here we are about 15 seconds after the amazing game winning pass from Favre to Lewis. I don't know what was better, the pass or the catch, but the star aligned for that play!
This week we have to hit the track tonight, easy on Wednesday, pace on Thursday and easy on Friday. Then it is TC Marathon weekend. I am definitely looking forward to running the 10-mile with Mark. We didn't know each other last year when we both ran the full TC Marathon and were in very different places than we are now in terms of relationships and emotional stability so I know I am looking forward to celebrating as we cross the line together this year and get our 10-mile medals to pair with our marathon medals <3

2 comments:

Marc said...

Love the ink! Very nice design!!!

Jim said...

KRIS! What a great post. Sorry I'm only getting to it now. A sub 8:00/mile pace is a HUGE accomplishment. Congratulations. At this point in the game I feel you will definitely give me a run for my money. Literally. Actually, I think you can outpace me if that's how you're running. Much congratulations!

And the tattoo? L-O-V-E it! I am SO keeping a copy of that so I can show a tattoo guy and say, "DO THIS!".

Congratulations Kris. Well earned and much deserved!