Running on Empty

So the third and final Spring into Shape Series run was held just two days after my sister left town. Having family in Australia meant that for the previous three weeks, I had not run. At all. Well, unless you count running through the airport to catch a plane. But more about that in a later post. Anyway, the fact that I had done ZERO training, coupled with the fact that they changed the course route because of flooding on the original one down by the Yarra River (and we now had to do laps around the Tan at the Botanic Gardens which has an even bigger uphill climb than the original course's hill), meant that I wasn't trying to set any personal records on this run. So I had fun with the photographers again!

I think this karate kick one is my personal favorite. Awesome. So, here are my official (slow) results:

12.7km Races-Sept/Oct/Nov

#1: Time 1:10:10, 29/90 in age group
#2: Time 1:08:16, 20/114 in age group
#3: Time 1:11:39, 44/86 in age group (possibly only a 12km race for the last one-not measured exactly with course change)

So I guess when I train normally, I end up in the upper third of my age group; when I train kind of hard, I end up in the upper 20th percentile; and when I don't train at all, well, I guess at least I'm still faster than half of the gals aged 30-39 out there!

Side note: I think it's "cheating" when people don't run for the entire race. There were SO many people walking up the big hill. Then they had energy to pass me on the downhills or straightaways. Not fair. I say you have to run the whole thing, or it doesn't count! Okay, maybe it's alright to stop for a second to take a gulp of water, because it's really hard to drink while running. I'll get off my soapbox now before I make too many enemies. Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately. Tomorrow's post will be called, "Why I Hate Tiger Airways!" Something to look forward to...

I Entertain Photographers!

This has nothing to do with Australia, but there's not much else going on this week. I'm quite sure most of you dealing with the now-turning-chilly weather back in the States don't want to hear about me enjoying an afternoon spent reading a book in my bathing suit on the beach across the street in Monday's 80 degree weather. So I'll write about something else! 

When I'm in a running race and I see the photographers snapping away so that they can sell their shots later online, I know I will never buy them, so I entertain myself (and the photographers) by doing ridiculous things for the camera. I leap in the air, stick out my tongue, wave my arms and legs, do a "Newsies jump" (Google that if you don't know what it is!), get really close to the lens, etc. The photographers are always excited to have something interesting to focus on rather than boring runner after runner, so they often laugh and take extra pictures of me. Zack has a cool feature on his computer where he can copy the pictures from the website and we don't have to pay for them, so I thought I'd share a few choice ones with my lovely readers.  Enjoy!