The Gobble Wobble & a Giveaway winner(s)

Real quick recap:
I ran the Gobble Wobble 5K on Thanksgiving morning. It was a nice brisk cold morning and I was surprised that soo many people ran it. Over 600!! Its the first 5K I've done with that many people.

Only picture of me in the race that I found...

I came in 50th overall, 6th in my age group with a new 5K PR of 20:53. Finally under the 21min mark!!... I can't believe it! Though I struggled through the race. Even though I PR'ed, it did not feel like a real smooth race for me. It was one of those races where I couldn't wait for it to end.

------

OK..... Now for the winner. This is how the winner got picked:

ME (yelling out to anyone in my house): Pick a number from 1 to 7!

Daughter answers: 1!

So there you go. The winner of the Recovery and Injury Prevention Giveaway is Jeff from Detroit Runner!!! But that's not all..... Jeff I want you pick a number from 2 to 7. I have 2 extra SoftHeat items that I will send to this person.

Jeff and the person he picked, email me your info: projectpc at gmail dott com

Congrats!!!

Wednesday ramblings....Boston time waived entry?

Ran a good 5 miles today... good because I finished them, but they were tough. It was busy at work today and really didn't eat well or warm up well before the run. Half way through the run I felt it. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to stop and just walk the rest of the way. But I didn't.... I toughed it out. I finished the 5 miles running. That  to me, no matter how slow I ran it, was a good run.
-

I'm taking a vacation day on Wednesday. I work about 40mins away from home and the commute home from work on the day before Thanksgiving is a total nightmare here in MA. I did it the first year I worked for this company and it took me 3 hrs to get home..... never again! The only down side is that I have to work on Friday. It sucks, but at least it "should" be a quite day.
-

On Thanksgiving morning I'm doing the Gobble Wobble race. As I posted before, it's being paid for by my work..... thats the only reason I'm doing it it. I was running that day anyways, why not make it a race.
-

I mentioned before that I joined a running club. I just realized today that they give out TIME-WAIVED BOSTON MARATHON ENTRY BIBS to members who volunteer throughout the year at certain events. I'm late to qualify for one this year, but I plan to volunteer at whatever race possible this year coming up so I can get myself a spot for the 2013 Boston Marathon. This would be awesome,... a dream come true, if I can make it happen. I know that I could never qualify, especially now with the tougher time restrictions. So this could be my only way in!! This will require a lot of work on my part, but I'm willing to make it happen. I will keep you posted on how that works out.
-

Don't forget about my giveaway. Only 7 people entered....your chances are real good to win!!!


Song of the run today:

I love old school house music....

Saturday's post

11 awesome miles on the books today!! Awesome because these 11 miles felt real easy today. The temperature was a brisk 32 degrees when I walk out the door at 7am this morning, the music on my iPod was on shuffle and every song that came on was perfect for my run!
I was up at 5am this morning. I couldn't really sleep so I laid in bed watching the news for about an hour before I forced myself out of bed. This must be signs of getting older.... 5am on a Saturday just ain't right! I got up made coffee and a granola breakfast to fuel myself for this run. I think that right there made a big difference in the outcome of my run today. Plus, I made sure to take my water and a packet of Jelly Belly Sport Beans to give me that extra boost. I was ready to own this run today!
-

My Sister-in-Law (Facebook Page) is a self employed professional photographer and I asked her the other day if she would be willing to take some pictures of me running. Not free of course.... I will exchange her services for my computer services. She is really good at what she does and I want to try try to get her a gig with the running group I just joined. With all the races they put together, she could be looking at making some good extra cash doing race shots. With all the race photography companies out there, it doesn't hurt to have another one. I'll post some of the pics once I get them done.

---

Another plug for my giveaway...... One week left for it. I think I'll have some extra stuff that I might even have a second prize for this giveaway. I'll post more details as soon as I know better.

Have a great weekend all!

This is my run

Love this commercial....

I have never seen this commercial on TV. Though I hardly watch TV. Someone sent it to me via Facebook. I thought it was pretty cool. Makes me want to get out there and run every time I see it!
( I just realized I could post videos from Youtube..... I'm a slower learner :(  )


---------
6 Miles done today during lunch. It was a good strong 6 miles. If I had more time I could have easily done 3 or 4 more. Hopefully I feel that good on Saturday when I push for long run. :)

Song of the run that really got me going today: Foo Fighters - All My Life


------

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway! Only 7 people entered so far. Their chances look great!!! You still have time. It ends next Friday.

I see you running all the time

"I see you running all the time"... that's usually the start of conversations when I run into people I haven't talked to in a while or even people I just met. I live in a small town (Webster, Ma) where you might not know everybody personally, but you might know of him\her or at the very least know them by sight.
I work about right outside Boston. About an hour away from home. A new guy started here not too long ago and he mentioned to me that he just moved to Webster. I was like "hey, I live in Webster too!".... and he was "yeah, I know. I see you running all the time." O_o .... Honestly, it kinda weirded me out. But then it lead to a good conversation about running. The guy just started running himself and was asking for tips. Who would of thought, someone asking me for tips...huh?

I'm posting from working at the moment. I'm actually waiting for some software installs to finish up. I'ts like watching paint dry..... but it's a rare quiet moment. I'll take it!

6 Miles on the books today. Beautiful 60 degree day today. Song of the run today:  Rihanna - We Found Love 

In case you missed it, I'm doing a giveaway: Here. As of this moment only 4 people have entered. Their chances look good!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy...plus my first Giveaway

This week so far I have only gone out for a run on Tuesday. A good 6 mile run. Work has been crazy. I had to do some traveling to one of our other offices in Danbury, CT. I've worked some long days. Luckily I have today, Veteran's Day, off. I'll be going for a quick run as soon as I shake off the cob webs. I also need to do some catch up on the blogs that I follow.

----

OK... I have been trying to get a good Giveaway together for a while now.... and I think I finally have something worth while to give away. I call this:

"The Recovery and Injury Prevention Giveaway"!

What you have here are products that were giving to me as gifts that I will pass along to a lucky follower. I have a couple of friends that work for this company. They know that I'm a runner and always have aches and pains so they bring me stuff all the time. Trust me I have a closet full of these.

I honestly love these products. The hot\cold pads have been a life saver when it comes to knee pains after a long run. I have one of the portable ones at work that I use after my runs during lunch. The wellness wraps (bottom middle two) are new products and are ones you have really have to try. They have beads in them instead of the normal gel that most hot\cold pads have. I use the one that wraps around the neck for when I get neck cricks. It honestly feels like someone is giving you a nice warm hug. :)

Anyways, these are gifts that where given to me that I will pass along to you. I was not required to give any kind of review on these. The comments I made above are my own personal opinion.

*To enter this giveaway I only ask that you are a follower and leave me a comment telling me so. That's it! I will run this giveaway until the 25th. The day after Thanksgiving and announce the winner on the 26th.

Good luck every one!

*** No purchase necessary, void where prohibited.... yada, yada, yada.....

5K x 3 & Joined a running group

This morning I went up to Worcester to run the CMS 5K. Due to some traffic on the highway, I got there 5 mins before it started. I paid the $4 and ran up to the starting line while strapping my iPod on to my arm. There was a good crowd today, about 35 people. This is real low key race. I came in 5th. There is a time keeper, but I forgot to check with him before I left. So I dont know what my time was. It will be posted online in a few days so I'll find out then.
While there, I decided to join the CMS running group. I have been coming to this 5K on and off for about 3yrs, but never bothered joining the group. I really need to start getting out there and meeting more runners. I figured this would be the perfect way. So officially today I am a Central Mass Strider :)

I wanted to make today my long day. So after the race, I ran the 5K course 2 more times. 3 years ago, this feat would have been unthinkable. I'm thrilled that today this is possible. I thought about doing one more lap and making it a 12+ mile run, but time was against me. I had a computer service call for noontime and I needed to get home to shower up. So a 9+ was good.

-

Last week I fixed a laptop for a lady at work. I don't normally do this for co-workers, but I felt bad for her so I helped her out. She wanted to give me money for helping her out, but I turned it down. I did it as a favor. I was cool with that. But Friday morning there was a "thank you" card with a $100 Gift card to Dick's Sporting Good sitting on my desk. 

It was from her with a note saying "buy yourself some running stuff". I thought that was pretty cool. 

-

Don't forget to change your clocks tonight (If applies to you). With this extra hour gained just means that I will be out for my run an hour earlier.

Today's Song of the Run - David Guetta - The Alphabeat  

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

You don't look like a runner.

Speed Workout today (Thursday). 4 Miles at sub 7min miles! Song of the run: Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine . This song came up on my iPod when I had 1/2 mile left in my run. And I needed it!! It gave me that extra boost I needed to keep my pace going til the end of my run. It was an awesome run today!

5 miles on Tuesday
7 Miles on Wednesday

-

"You don't look like a runner". I was told this today by a new guy at work that saw me head out for my run during lunch. He said that I don't look like the runner type. We were having this conversation while I was working on his computer so couldn't really ask him what he meant by this. The funny thing is, this is not the first time some one had said this to me.

I think I know what they mean though. It's like when I go to races, I always look around at the other runners and some of these guys have that athletic build. They look like runners to me. Then there are other guys that dont.  I think I land on that side of the fence. Ya know what I mean?
Honestly it doesn't bother me. When I'm at these races and I see these "runners", I expect them to be faster than me. But it makes me feel good when at the end of the race I'm watching them cross the finish line after me.


 Has anyone ever said that to you?

Survived the first winter storm!

I woke up early Saturday morning and got 10+ miles in before the snow started falling. It was cold, probably in the upper 20's or lower 30's. But I was prepared. Had my black winter cap, black gloves, black long running pants, black long sleeve shirt with a bright fluorescent yellow short sleeve over that one that made me look like a highlighter marker:

Otherwise I would have looked like I was about to rob a bank or something.. :)

Started snowing at about noontime and didn't stop until 8am Sunday morning. We lost power for about 6hrs that night. We were lucky. Still today there are thousands of people without power in our town and surrounding areas.  We got about 8" of real heavy snow. Towns north of us got a mind blowing 32"!!!!! That's almost unheard of midwinter, never mind in October.

Our office was closed on Monday, which meant I didn't have to drive in. As long as I have an internet connection I can work from anywhere. So I was logged in answering emails and making calls. It was just as busy as any other day.

So I ran 10 on Saturday. Sunday was a planned Day off. Monday work and life took the front seat to everything else. This morning I packed all my running stuff and brought them in with me to work. Lunchtime  runs here I come!

Have a great week everyone!!

-JR