Rock N Roll – Dallas

Major success:  1:48:30 PR by 5 minutes. A Nicole time if you will.

I went down to the race bright and early.  I know traffic gets bad and this race you start and finish at different spots.  So you park at the finish line and get shuttled to the start.  I like to get down there early to avoid any issues because parking can be a pain.  It was a beautiful morning, so you didn’t have to worry about getting cold waiting outside if you get to the start super early.

I lined up in the corral and saw that the 1:45 pace group was right ahead of me.  At the start of the race I stayed with them for 2 miles and quickly realized that was dumb.  I have run one half marathon under 1:55, what the heck am I doing with the 1:45 pace group?  My legs were tired/tight from all the moving the past two days and the temperature was climbing.  After 2 miles I slowly backed off and found a pace that was challenging, but do-able for awhile.  I wanted to hold that pace for the first half of the race and then just fight to the end with whatever I could.  I was worried about the heat and how it would affect me.  The first part of the course there is ample shade you can run in.  The last third of the race got extremely hot.  I was feeling strong past the 10K point.  At that point my plan was to keep pushing until I crapped out whether it was because of my legs or because of the heat.  By mile 8, I knew I could coast and still get a PR, but I also saw sub 1:50 in my reach.  I wanted to get to sub 1:50 sometime this year, before the Goofy Challenge.  By mile 10 I could run an 8:50 pace the rest of way in and be sub 1:50.  I was running about an 8:15 pace.  I made myself slow down several times just to be sure. 

Once I got to Fair Park, just past mile 12 I stopped holding back and just ran.  I felt good, finished strong, and was extremely proud of that run.

I was also impressed with the race directors and medical staff and how they handled the heat.  I think the water stations, cooling stations, and medical stations that put out ice were fantastic.  It was a warm morning and I think they handled it well.

**Side note - last night for work we went out to eat at 560, which is a Wolfgang Punk restaurant that is at the top of Reunion Tower.  The restaurant rotates and you get an entire view of Dallas.  It was fun to show the out of town guests everything.  You could even  see Jerry-world way out in the distances.  Funny part was when you got up to use the restroom and you walked out, your table had moved on you.

House!

Two things to note: (1) I am officially a home owner.  (2) My father is a moving machine.

Being a home owner means – having a kitchen with a basting brush.  When my parents were down earlier this year mom was cooking a ham and she asked if I had a basting brush.  I told her I had a paint brush.  Now I have a basting brush (and several new kitchen things).  I also have a lawn mower, weed whacker, and weed killer.  Tons of new toys!

Dad came down Wednesday night, the walk thru was Thursday morning, and I closed Friday morning.  I had a lot of things already packed in boxes, so dad loaded all of those up Thursday night.  After closing we took the first load straight over to the house.  I think we did 4 trips the first day.  All the little boxes and stuff, and even most of my furniture went over to the new house.  Next we did the bed frames and box springs.  We left the top mattresses at the apartment to sleep and watch TV.  There is not much left at my apartment.  A bunch of little things that might end up getting thrown away.

We did most of the big moving on Friday, and then some stuff Saturday morning.  After that, I stayed at the house and started putting things away and dad went back to the apartment to cut apart the couch.  I got the kitchen stuff put away, bathroom stuff, and my closet all set up.  Now it is more getting the spare rooms and the junk stuff put away.  One of the first things on my list is a bookcase.  I have tons of books, scrapbooks, and photo albums that need a home.

Also, fit in a trip to Best Buy to pick out a new TV!  I officially have a flat screen TV.  46” LCD – thank you Dad!  We saved the bottom of my older entertainment center and a TV stand until I find a new one.  The cable is getting set up today (Monday morning).

The next week/weekend will just be organizing and finding spots for things.  I think I am currently on over-load with all the house maintenance information I have.  I will be making a binder with notes for myself.

It is fun to be Irish

St Patty’s Day Weekend –

Saturday morning got up bright and early to make my way down to Lower Greenville for the St Patty’s Day 5K.  It has been a really long time since I have run a 5K and I forget just how short they are.  During longer races I spend the first 1-2 miles getting out of the crowd and settling into a rhythm.  That is a problem in a 5K; by the time I get into a rhythm after 2 miles, it is time to push it to the finish.  I definitely still cannot pace myself in a 5K.  I was all over the board with my pace.  Ended up with a 23:41 (7:38 pace), which is a new PR.  I was impressed I got a PR – it was pretty humid that morning and lots of bobbing and weaving around people that started way ahead of where they should have.

Statistics:

339 (tied for 338 – ironically that is what I placed at the Trinity River 10K) out of 5035

15 (tied for 14) out of 822 in my age group ß Impressed with this stat!

The overall female winner was 16:31 (5:20 pace).  I have never seen a girl run that time.  Amazing.

Then I headed down to the Black Eyed Pea where all the volleyball peeps hang out for the parade.  Drank some drinks, watched the parade, caught some beads and just hung out.  Called it a day and made it home by 4.  The weather was great, everyone had a good time and no one got out of control.

So far I have ran 5 races this year, each on being a PR at various distances.  I’m not expecting that tradition to continue this coming weekend because I have a half, and I am not quite in half marathon shape, but I am still expecting to do pretty good.  Depending on the weather, hoping to be under 2 hours.  Combine the not being confident about the distance with moving all weekend, Sunday could be a rough day.  I am hoping to knock out most of the moving/manual labor on Friday, so I can do the easy stuff on Saturday and hopefully rest a bit.  Unlikely, but one can hope.  Now it is just time to pack, pack, pack so most of it is done before my dad gets here (Wednesday).

Finally Friday –

Yay for Friday and yay for it being St. Patty’s Day weekend!  Tomorrow I am running the Dash Down Greenville 5K.  Greenville is where the St Patty’s Day party/parade is.  I have wanted to do this race for several years, but it never worked out.    I had been doing a 15K up north just to get more distance in for the upcoming half marathons.  I am finally to the point where I can get the mid-distance and longer runs in on my own and don’t need the races for motivation.  This is definitely just being run as a fun race, I am not going for any time and just want to enjoy all the crazies.  Plan is to run the 5K, meet up with other friends who are running, get our free beer, then head over to the Champagne Volleyball parade watching party and catch some beads.

Rest of the weekend will consist of packing and organizing.  Dad will be down here Wednesday to start the closing/moving process.  Walk thru is at 9AM on Thursday and closing is at 9AM on Friday.  Hoping to move about 90% of my stuff this weekend.  Shouldn’t be a problem as I really don’t have that much stuff and I am getting rid of a lot of things.  I’m ready to get rid of a bunch of the stuff.  I generally don’t replace things until they break or until I have to, but this is giving me the opportunity to get rid of stuff I don’t need.  Example – my old stereo.  There is nothing wrong with it; I just haven’t turned it on in probably 4 years.  Question:  Why is it sitting on my entertainment center?  Answer:  Because it doesn’t really bother me and I have nothing else to put there.  Yeah, time to go.

Volleyball started up last night and it felt good to get back out there.  My butt is a little bit sore today from the squatting, but it will get used to it.  I am playing on two teams this year, one is Open BB – which I have played a few times, but it is up a level than I normally play.  It is a lot more competitive play.  I am playing with 3 guys I know fairly well, and have played some pickup games with.  It is going to take me a week or two to get used to how they play and move on the court, but I think I am going to enjoy it.  Also playing on Nats Gnats which has been my normal team for the past few years.  Nat was sick this week and we just played with three.  Ended the night 5-1 so a pretty successful first night back in the sand. 

The new wait staff at Yucatan is terrible and the management still sucks, but what can you do.  The only thing I am really mad about is they are no longer putting water coolers out.  Basically they want you to buy the bottled water.  You can’t bring in your own bottle.  I generally bought one water and then just kept refilling it from the water cooler.  They are going to have some problems when it is July/August and people start passing out from dehydration/heat exhaustion (esp if they don't have more people working and it takes over 20 minutes to get a bottle of water).  Good news is one of the old Yucatan bartenders works at a bar just over a mile from my house!  Got a new hang out already!

BRENT ANDREW STARK

The Fritz clan now has a boy!

At 7:30PM on 3/12/12, Brent Andrew Stark came into the world weighing 7lb 1oz and is 20 inches long.  Everyone is doing great.  Once things started moving along yesterday, I was getting constant updates.  My two favorites from mom:

‘I miss you pacing the hall with dad’ – this one made me cry

‘Standing with my ear at the door’ – this one made me laugh because I totally remember her doing this last time and the picture in my head made me laugh.

I was shopping at the time, because I needed something to do and this way I could pace without being too noticeable.  I did however have to walk out of Babies R Us several times because I was crying.  I had picked out a boy outfit and a girl outfit and was waiting to hear which one to buy.  Then I got a picture text and started crying, so I walked out.  Calmed down, went back in and looked at more boy stuff, then my dad called, and I started crying, so I walked out.  The workers there think I am nuts!

When he was first born, he didn’t have a name.  I hadn’t talked to my sister yet, and I sent her a text saying congrats and to call me whenever she felt up to it.  Obviously she had other priorities at the moment plus she hadn’t eaten all day.  She called around 10:30, I asked how her and baby were, and she says baby has a name.  Brent Andrew!  I was the first person they told (tear – again).  She called mom and mom sent out a mass email with more pictures.

Stacey was watching Kyla and they were doing the Baby Brother dance J.  Kyla and my grandparents are going up there this morning to meet Brent.

PS – I am calling him Little BA (Brent Andrew or Bad A$$ - you pick)

Half Marathon Season -

All of a sudden I realized that I have my first half marathon of 2012 is in two weeks and that I haven’t been doing enough long runs.  In early February I was happy with the distances I was getting in and my times especially the Hot Chocolate run.  I figured I could easily build off that and be in great shape for my halfs.  Well, RNR – Dallas snuck up on me a little quicker than anticipated.  I decided that this weekend I need to get in a 10-12 miler, no excuses.  Well Mother Nature decided to help Texas out and give us some more rain.  I really can’t complain about that because we need it, but still, come on!  It rained all day Friday and Saturday.  I generally take Friday off, and decided to enjoy a rainy Saturday on the couch.  So, come Sunday it is still raining off and on, but I HAVE to get this run in.  It seems like the rain has stopped, but the sky is still gray, but I decide to risk it.  I get about 2 miles into my run, and dang it, it starts raining pretty good.  I finish my loop at 3.5 miles and say screw it, I have a gym membership for a reason.  Put on some dry clothes and head to the gym.  Just in time for the Florida St vs UNC - AAC Championship game to start.  I am a Duke fan, so I support just about anyone playing UNC, and Florida State has done some great things this year that I was already mostly on their bandwagon.  So I pounded out another 7.5 miles on the treadmill while watching the first half of the game and Florida State take control (woo hoo!).

Felt good to get in 11 miles and gives me a bit more confidence that I won’t struggle too much during the half.  I knew regardless that I could complete it in a decent time.  The question was just how painful it would be.  I definitely want to be under 2 hours for it and would love to be under 1:55.  We shall see!

Two side notes:

1.      My sister is in the hospital ready to have this baby.  She went in at 7:30AM to be induced and I will hopefully have a new niece of nephew today (or tomorrow)!

2.      Chase bank is driving me nuts for this stupid loan.  I bank with Chase and have had no problems with them.  My accounts are simple and I pay all of my bills (in full) and on time.  No problems what-so-ever.  They are making me jump through so many unnecessary hoops that I want to pull my hair out!  I have a great credit score, no debt, and they can see how much money I have in my accounts.  I like the loan officer at the bank, she is very nice, very knowledgeable, and is easy to work with.  The processor on the other hand is not my favorite.  Quite frankly she is a major pain in the ass.  Here is a direct line from the email I sent today: ‘I feel like I am having to jump through a lot of unnecessary hoops…’ No response yet, so we shall see.  It is absolutely ridiculous.  This is not my first time buying a house – I have been through this process before.  I was fresh out of college, made a third less money and didn’t have nearly this many issues.  I cannot wait for this to be over!

Three Things Thursday –

I am not really sure where this title comes from, but I see several bloggers do ‘Three Things Thursday’ so I decided to be cool and do it as well.

1.       Rain rain go away – volleyball was supposed to start today!

Stupid rain - It is that time of the year when volleyball starts up and running goes into full swing.  As much as we need the rain, it couldn’t have waited one more day!  I’m excited to get back out in the sand.  By November I will be burnt out on it, but for now, bring it on.  I am playing on two different teams on Thursday nights – Nat’s Nats of course and then a new one.  On the new team - I have played with all these guys before just random pickup games, but never for a full season.  It is a different division so I will be playing against new people as well.  Should add some variety.  I wanted to start playing Queen of the Court, but right now it is only on Tuesdays and I am not willing to give up my Tuesdays at the gym.  Last summer they added a Queen of the Court on Wednesdays, so if that starts up again I will have to consider.

2.      Jelly Bean Virtual Run

I signed up for a virtual race today.  It is a pretty neat concept and just a fun way to add a little motivation to your training.  Basically, one of the bloggers runs it.  You sign up online (free), pick a distance or multiple distances (5K, 10K, half), you run that distance sometime during the week of April 1 – 8, and submit your distance and time.  WINNERS ARE NOT BASED OFF TIMES – so there is no point in cheating nor do you have to take a picture of your watch or treadmill display or whatever.  Basically you get points for: completing the distance, sending in a picture, if you did it wearing a costume, if you recruit a friend to do it to, etc.  Then you name is entered in a drawing.  I’m not sure if you get one entry per point or how it works, but basically you get entries into a drawing for prizes.  Just a little something extra to a run I was already going to do anyways. 

3.      Still no baby

My sister is at her due date and nothing.  She had an appointment today and everything is good, but no progress.  Glowbug is apparently just happy where he/she is at. 

One of my March goals was to make more lunches and not rely so heavily on frozen meals. 

My current thought process is to cook dinner on Sunday and making enough for lunch for two days.  First up this weekend were kabobs – kind of - without the stick.  I only have a small George Forman grill which is great for cooking up a burger or a chicken breast, not so great for kabobs.  Basically I just grilled the ‘ingredients’ one at a time.  First threw all the peppers on there, next the pineapple, then the cherry tomatoes then the beef.  Split it up into containers for two days of lunch and ate the rest for dinner.  Had that for lunch Monday and today (Wednesday).  Yesterday I had a business breakfast (omelet) and a business lunch (grilled salmon).  So even if I have frozen lunches the last two days, I am doing better.

Trying to think of things to cook for next week…probably something with chicken...

Weekending –

Several things have gone right these last few days:

·        I was able to defer my jury summons with no questions asked.  I just picked a date in June and at that point I will tell them I no longer live in Dallas County

·        I passed my AU 65 exam with flying colors.  I either studied way more than I thought, am smarter than I give myself credit, or am an excellent guesser.  Basically as soon as you submit the exam they tell you pass or fail.  Later they send you a breakdown with an excellent, good or pass.  I got an excellent and there was only 2 chapters out of 13 that I didn’t do excellent on…whew.  Now I have my $$ to sign up for the Goofy Challenge.

·        Ran an excellent 10K on Saturday morning.  Race recap below!

Saturday morning was a 10K race celebrating the opening of a new bridge in Dallas; even though the open was actually delayed three weeks.  It is quite a cool looking bridge.  I got up ridiculously early to get downtown.  All the highways are under construction, and they were expecting over 3000 runners so I knew it was going to be a pain.  I went super early, had no problems and got great parking.  I also go to use the port-a-potty before there was a line.  It was a perfect morning for a run.  Cool temps, the sun was out, a slight breeze to cool you down, but not slow you down.  Running just based off feel for the first several miles.  Most of the time I was in the low 8’s for my pace, at one point I looked down and I was running at a 7:44 pace.  Definitely needed to slow down just a bit.  We crossed over the bridge within the first 0.25 miles and then back over it at Mile 6.  Getting up the incline on the way back was a challenge, but at least I was able to push through it.  On the bridge everyone was stopping to take pictures and running looking up at the bridge instead of in front of them.  It caused a few minor ‘accidents’ but nothing a little bobbing and weaving couldn’t fix.

Finished with a PR 50:47!!!!  In January I ran a 10K which I considered an unofficial PR, because the timing system was broken, so I went off my watch.  And that was 53 minutes.  This one is way better, and it’s official.

After the run it was time to enjoy the day with a beer.  This is one of the races that being a member of the DRC give you a discount.  It was $15 for the 10K, a shirt, and they gave you free beer.  Not a bad deal at all.

March Goals –

Run 85 miles:  I want to keep my legs well rested, so I am keeping this number pretty low even though it is spring racing season.  I have three races scheduled for this month: Trinity River Levee Run 10K; St Patty’s Day Dash Down Greenville 5K; and the RNR – Dallas half.

RNR – Dallas: Under a 1:55.  My last three halfs have all been under 2 hours, so as long as I hit that I will be happy with that time as my first half of the year.  I have only been under 1:55 once (RNR – Chicago), so I am going to see if I can do it again!

Only eat frozen lunches 3 times a week:  They are a staple in my weekly diet.  Not because I think they are healthy (calorie wise they are, but that is about it), but because they are convenient.  I pack tons of snacks for the day, so why can’t I pack a lunch as well?  My eating has been a lot healthier and now I am going to try and get away from (some) processed foods.

House update:  Everything on my end is pretty much put together.  Insurance and all that fun adult type stuff.  Underwriter gave a conditional approval with a couple things needing to get clarified.  Nothing I am concerned about.

February Recap:

February Goals –

Run 80 miles – Check – Ran exactly 80 miles.  I thought for sure I wasn’t going to reach this goal until I busted out an unplanned, yet fantastic 7 miler Monday night.  That with the help of leap year gave me just enough time to get there.

PR at the Hot Chocolate 15K – Check – Completely killed this race and completely exceeded any expectation that I had.  6 minute PR

Increase my long run to 12 miles preparing for my half marathons this spring – Nope, only got up to 10 miles.  Oh well.  I have had some quality mid-distance runs that I feel pretty good about.

Try either a second spin class or the Cycle Power & Strength class – Check – went to the Thursday night spin class.  It had the pros and cons; I still like the Tuesday night instructor the best, but will go some Thursdays as well.

Study, study, study – AU 65 – Check(ish).  I have been doing a bit of studying for this test.  It is tomorrow, so at that point I will know if I did enough.

Not too bad of a month.  I felt completely overwhelmed most of the month and didn’t have much time to chill out.  Trying to finalize most of the house stuff and being in Arizona for a week.  It was a bit too much at times.  I think I only saw friends twice (and once was after the Hot Chocolate race).

Now it is time to try and postpone jury duty - which just happens to be the week of closing and the week before the audit at work.  Can you say stressed to the max?