This photo was taken 2 weeks before (27:12 min) by David Colby Young - Photographer.

I went to the WBCS 5K starting line with a lot of can-do attitude and the firm intention to push myself this time. My goal was to finish the race in 26:08 minutes, which means running a constant pace of 8:25 min/mile.

In fact, I had made a little "cushion" and set my Garmin 305 to "kick my butt" when I would run under 8:15 min/mile pace - which happened a few times along the course - but I didn't expect I would end up running an average pace of 7:50 min/mile (7.7 mph) and finishing in 24:40 minutes! LOL

My previous best time on the same course was 26:30 minutes, on the second race of the series and before I hurt my knee. Last week I made it in 27:48 minutes. Although it was more a relaxed chit-chatting run with friends than a race, I still have improved my time by 3:08 minutes this week!

Today's time was my best time in the series (so far) but also my best time ever! And my first sub-25 as well!

I guess slowing down during my training runs (easy and long runs who often tend to be tempo runs) and doing that hillwork/speedwork with the Ladies running group yesterday provided my legs some benefits.

Besides, being behind the finish line of that 5-miler last weekend and seeing competitive runners really pushing themselves until the very end of the race also brought me some motivation.

And... I like running in the rain!

This weekend, kids were invited to a birthday party in a very cool pizza place.  The whole restaurant was 50s theme decorated. A real museum! Even the restrooms door was in the spirit!

Another French girl... Lady Liberty!

I went to pick up my package the day before the race and I was delighted to see that I was in the 500 first persons to sign up for the race; as so I got a pair of New Balance 1062 Running shoes, and I also got a New Balance High-Tech shirt for being one of the first 800 to sign up!  

In my package was also my bib number and my ChampionChip timing device, a little plastic disc to tie to one of my shoe lace. It was the first time I had to use one of those and I was not sure how and on which foot I was supposed to put it on... I decided to temporary go for the left foot and to look around me to see what other participants did when I would be at the race... Once there, I saw that some people had put it on their left shoe and others on their right shoe.  So I went and asked at the registration table, just to make sure, and I was told that wearing the disc on my left foot would take me to be in the first three finishers while having it on my right foot would not make me win... HA! HA! Humor was obviously in the spirit of the day! LOL

For once, Kids also had a package to pick prior the race, and they both had a T-shirt and a whole day free pass to the YMCA!

Now how though that 10K race was!!! I was told it was hilly, but I certainly didn't expect that many up and down steep hills all along the way! A real roller coaster! LOL

My goals were running all the way (no walking no matter what) and finishing within 60:00 minutes maximum.

Well... DONE and DONE!
I finished 519th out of 918 participants -- 22/48 in my age group.

My official time (chip time) was 54:03 minutes -- avg pace 8:42 min/mile
8:36 min/mile according to my Garmin (7 mph - max speed 10 mph).

Avg heart rate 96% - high 105%!!!
I didn't know one's heart rate could go over 100% (?!!)

Elevation Gain (ft) +469 / -461
And for the first time in a race, I was faster running downhill than uphill!
That is another proof that training on a treadmill is not enough!

It was nice to get to run my first 10K race with one of the Ladies of my new running group. Well, I started the race with her but I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to keep up with her very long. She was obviously going too fast for me and I was advised to start that race slow, so I decided to let her go and to run my own race, in order to pass the finish line... alive!  

Now, because I started the race too fast, every following lap could only be slower than the previous one... I was getting tired and to make it even less funny, every hill on the course was hiding another one... However, at the beginning of the last mile - with the help of a Clif Shot Block and a few sips of water - I felt like I was able to speed up a bit and then to sprint to the finish line!  eh eh

Mile 1 -- 7:50 min - avg speed 7.6 mph - Max 9.7 mph
Mile 2 -- 8:28 min - avg speed 7.1 mph - Max 8.6 mph
Mile 3 -- 8:36 min - avg speed 7.0 mph - Max 8.1 mph
Mile 4 -- 9:00 min - avg speed 6.7 mph - Max 8.7 mph
Mile 5 -- 9:01 min - avg speed 6.7 mph - Max 9.3 mph
Mile 6 -- 8:47 min - avg speed 6.8 mph - Max 7.6 mph
Mile .28 -- 2:18 min - avg speed 10.0 mph - Max 10 mph

As I was approaching the finish line, I saw Mister Tricotine and I heard my little ones cheering for me, little Sweeties!  Always carries me on to the end!

After the race, snacks and refreshements were offered to participants and I got a few, but I didn't have time for a cool down race as I would have liked to. I could only stretch my legs for as long as I could before the start of the Family Fun Race. Later on, as my kids went to our car with their Daddy to change from sweaty clothes to dry ones, I went to get a well deserved leg massage hoping that it would ease the pain in my left hip flexor - I started feeling uncomfortable around mile 5...

The Family Fun Run was one mile long and my little ones ran like little champions. They were not the fastest but none of them quit running and walked! I am so proud of them! ♥ At the finish line, they got a keepsake bracelet of the race and a popsicle.

After racing my little family and I attended the 4th of July parade (I was filmed and appeared on the news in the evening! eh eh) and we went for a Mediterranean lunch before going back home and relaxing until the evening fireworks.

It was a really fun active family day, and I am looking forward to the next one!

If I have no trouble with my "500 miles in 2008" running challenge - I only have 80 miles to go at this point - I am afraid I am not doing so well with the "2008 pushups in 2008" challenge I have taken with the Road Runners Spark Team at the beginning of the year...

The truth is, I do not like doing pushups so much; especially since I am only able to perform the so called "girl pushups" (on the knees that is)...

It hasn't always been that way though. A few years back, during my law enforcement years, I was able to do 23 regular pushups in a row, and in less than two minutes. A few motherwood years later, I have been told (Fitness Analysis with a Personal Trainer) that my upper body muscle strengh is barely ranked as "fair"... Yikes!

So, when I read Blaine Moore's blog about Steve Speirs' "Hundred Pushups in 6 weeks", I thought that program was perfect for me and I decided to take the challenge!   

Initial Test: I was barely able to complete 3 regular pushups (and I am not sure I even went low enough) so that put me in the second column of the program.

Week 1 Day 1: I tried to complete Regular Pushups but I couldn't...   So I did Assisted Pushups all along the 5 levels.  Steve says it is allowed.  I hope I will be able to upgrade as soon as my muscles get stronger though.

Are you ready to take the challenge?

Weather was perfect for running; foggy and cool (59.4 degrees F average), and I was thrilled to be able to meet with my Sparky Friends Tika and Lori.

As always before my races - and when it is possible - my little ones run the Kids Fun Run. They didn't get a medal this time but they were happy with a bag of goodies, a "Official Runner" Certificate and a T-shirt of the events.

The first part of the race was downhill and the finish line was at the top of a hill, which made the final sprint quite painful, but it was certainly not the right moment for whining or/and slowing down, was it? LOL

Photos by PRO-PIX - Race Photographer Randall M. Smith

Here, I just have passed the Finish Line, and I am separating the bottom of my bib (no chip time). Then, after a short cool down jog and walk on a side road, I am joined by my little "Fan Club".  

My official time was 25:21 minutes (official avg pace 8:11 min/mile = 7.33 mph or 11.8 km/heure for my family in France and those who understand Metric system better). Not a new PR, but good enough for me to be awarded with my first medal ever, for finishing 3rd in my age group.

A beautiful and very special medal that I am pleased was my first ever!

After the race, a very well appreciated warm breakfast was served to all participants and their families, and the Memorial Ceremony to Cpt Scott Cash brought tears into eyes of many of us.

That was a great race and I certainly will run it again!  

On Mother's Day this year, my little one gave me a Shoe Plants. At school, he painted one of his old shoes and planted random flower seeds in it. It was his first Mother's Day project which makes his present to me even more special.

This is how tall and pretty those tiny seeds he planted for me have become. I am not sure what they all are but I believe the tallest one is a Sunflower.