Tulsa Run

Give me some candy.....

Is candy worth this humiliation, Mom?

He warmed up to it, eventually! I guess so!

I finally got to do it. Tulsa Run is in it's 32nd year. It's a 15K and has a huge turn out. And since it offers some prize money, it's also fassssttttt! This year I finally got to do it! In 2007 my kids were about 6 months old and the furthest I had run in almost a year was 20 minutes (keep in mine that includes a little bed rest stint). Last year it came a few weeks after Longhorn 70.3 and I was still battling some hamstring/hip flexor issues. This year I thought it was the same weekend as Longhorn 70.3. When I went to look up results on Monday, I realized it was Halloween. Woo hooo, sign me up! I knew it wouldn't be pretty 6 days after a half ironman, but I knew I could do it, and all the people I train with would be there, and most of all I really wanted to thank Brian and Kathy Hoover at Runner's World for all their support. So I dawned my Runner's World jersey, went and got Dana (3 weeks since Kona), little QuickTrip coffee, and we rolled up at the Downtown Y at 8. It was like a reunion and the atmosphere is so different than a triathlon. Everyone is so....happy? Relaxed? Not sure, but it's much more laid back. I started getting worried that maybe I should be nervous. I always go into a race with a plan. Earlier in the week when I had a hard time walking, I thought to just try to break 60 minutes. Be conservative and go out the first 5k in 20 min. As the week went on my legs felt better, so my time got a little faster in my head. I saw Sean Stephens in the Y and we're usually pretty close, so I asked him what he was trying to run. "55 and a half." Alright, looks like I'm going to try to run a 55:30. What the heck was I thinking? There are thousands of runners and I found Sean within the first 1k. He was nailing his splits. I asked if I could tag along--it felt effortless. We rolled through 5k at 18:30...dead on. Then, somewhere around 6 to 7 k everything went south. My legs just hurt. No, they freaking H-U-R-T!!! Yes, even my compression socks did nothing for me (yes, I am a dork, but I hadn't taken them off all week, my calves are always a mess post race), Sean ran away in the distance, then more and more people were passing me. 10k--38 minutes. Slowed down a minute. Okay, just hold on to this pace. I wish, each k was a little slower and my legs hurt a little more. Lucas found me at various points in the race and he and the kids were cheering from the car. I really just wanted to go get in the car and stop this pain. Then I see Amanda Erwin and she jumps out, holds her hand out and yells, "Keep it up, only 7 minutes behind!!" Thanks for the comic relief, Amanda! 15k--finish, yes! 58:52--slowed down another minute. Well, I broke 60 at least. I could have done it in a lot less pain if I had gone one with my conservative 20 minute 5k! Lesson learned! All in all, it was a really fun day and I'm glad I didn't stop. Plus, I got a cool "sub 60" mug. One year I'm going to do this race "for real!" I doubt I'll be anywhere close to the 50 minute winning time, but I know I can hit those 18:30 5ks, Sean! I won't be dead weight next time!

As soon as I got home I started making the chili for a little Halloween get together. Lucas raked leaves and the kids darted between us "helping." Rowan would take the leaves and bring them inside. By the time I was finished I had a huge pile to clean up. Too bad I couldn't lean over to get them--Lucas had to take over. The kids were amped all day. They completely understood "you get candy from houses today." What they didn't get is that you are supposed to wait until you get home to eat it. More pictures to come...I can't find the stupid cord that downloads the pics. Here are a few from earlier in the week!