Monday, September 19, 2011

Charlotte Trip / 10k Race Recap

Good Morning and happy Monday to everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I had an awesome time with Charbelle!  Our time together went too fast, of course.  This is a 2-part post.  I know race recaps are boring for non-runners so feel free the skip over the content after the asterisks if you have no interest in the race...  I partly do the recaps for myself as a way to track my running progress!

Anyways, as I said, I had a wonderful time in Charlotte.  I had such a good time, I did not take a single photo...  I know, I know.  I need to work on this...  Sometimes it's hard to interrupt a fun time by saying, 'hey, let's take a picture'!  Here is a bullet-point recap of both the biz & fun parts of the trip:

  • Longest Day Ever.  I flew out at 7:30 on Thursday which meant getting up at 4 am, and I got back to my room around 10:30 pm.  This was one of the longest days I have had in a very, very long time.  I arrived around 11:30, went to the office, worked until 6 and then went out with co-workers.  No, this was not optional, it is part of my job to socialize and meet people and get them to like me.  It was pretty much me and 8 traders.  I learned a lesson this evening - it's  probably not a good idea to let a group of men who drink somewhat regularly order you a drink.  Turns out the drink they ordered me was straight vodka but I could not tell because it was pineapple infused so it honestly tasted like juice.  I had already had some cocktails at this point, so having this drink was not the best idea...  Live and learn.  I paid for this on Friday morning.... 
  • Smile, smile, smile.  I did a whole lot of meeting and greeting.  I am going to estimate that I met about 50-60 people.  The goal of this trip was to meet as many people as possible as putting a face with a name goes a long way in our business.  I consider it a success.  I am glad I went on this trip, but for reasons I won't get into at this point, I would never want to move there.  It's good to find that out, though!
  • Race!  See below - Charbelle and I ran a really strong race (as did her friend that ran it with us).
  • Shop 'til you Drop Charbelle took me to a great outlet mall on Saturday where I got some great deals on work clothes and also picked up lots of things for my new niece!
  • Girl Time Charbelle and I spent a lot of time in the car throughout the weekend, which means we had lots of quality time and great discussions.  From being single in your 20s to career stuff to marriage to learning how to say no and not feel guilty, we covered it all! 
It was a whirlwind 4 day trip, but I am so glad it worked out spend the weekend so I could pack some fun in with the business commitments!

************************
Race Recap:

The temps were unseasonably cool on Saturday morning, which was a bit of a relief for me.  I was sort of expecting to run in hot/humid/thick air, but that so was not the case.  It was in the 50s and I definitely had goose bumps as we waited at the starting line.  I had talked race strategy with my running coach and he told me to just have fun and to not push it too much as he didn't want me to run a poor race and have that mess with my mind for my Victoria race.  So I decided to take his advice and just went out and had fun.

Here is how the miles broke down:

Mile 1 - 9:11
Mile 2 - 9:03
Mile 3 - 9:01
Mile 4 - 9:14 ( I believe there was a decent hill during the mile)
Mile 5 - 9:15
Mile 6 - 9:02
.3 miles - 2:33 (9:08 pace)

The course measured .1 miles long according to my garmin.  My official finish time was 57:22, so I ran it at a 9:09 pace based on a 6.3 mile distance.  This pace felt "comfortable" the whole race.  I didn't feel like I was working very hard, and I definitely could have pushed the pace if I had wanted to, but it wasn't the day for that.  Between getting very little sleep and having a fairly stressful/intense couple of days in Charlotte, I needed a fun, easy going run. 

I ran almost the whole race with Charbelle and felt good when I crossed the finish line.  It was a great way to see the city of Charlotte!

What did you do this weekend?  Since my week/weekend were so busy, this is a 'mark all as read' kind of day for me...  So please catch me up on anything that happened in your life last week! 

21 comments:

Unprofessional said...

sounds like a fabulous weekend! OH gosh-you dominated that race! Great work, Lisa!

Raquelita said...

Awesome job at the 10K! It's always nice to get a confidence-boosting race experience like that. I hope you get settled back in quickly, as travel can be exhausting. M's parents were here Thurs-Sat, so I tried to do something fun with them each day after I had done a fair amount of work.

Leigh said...

That sounds like a long and busy day that you had! I bet you are glad it's over :)

Awesome run by the way! Sub 2 hr is coming your way :)

Amber said...

You know, if you hold that pace for the half you'll still be sub-2 I think. And if it felt comfortable I think you are on a roll for the sub-2 half. Just sayin! ;)

I'm so glad you had such a great - if extremely busy - weekend! I would like to know what this vodka drinks was! I CANNOT drink vodka (or any hard alcohol drinks really) because I find them disgusting! So I stick to wine, and easy drinks like caesars and margarita's :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a great race & like you had a lot of fun! So glad to hear it :)

missris said...

Wow sounds like you had a great race! You could TOTALLY do a sub-two hour half!

Stephany said...

So glad to hear you had a fun weekend after such a crazy start to it all and WAY TO GO on the fab race! I'm curious as to why you weren't keen on Charlotte to live. Just because I'm nosy like that. ;)

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

You are SO READY for the Sub 2!!! That is an awesome race! You totally downplayed it yesterday. You did really well!

As you know, I had a great time with my Dad this weekend -- we went for a nice hike at the Trail of Tears State Park, had fried (carb loading) food at the District Fair, ran our race (Dad placed 3rd in his age group!) and then went for a nice (recovery) brunch afterwards. Then it rained, so I read, FINALLY caught up on blog reading and went to bed (fairly) early.

It was a great weekend! Next weekend is going to be great too!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

Way to rock the race! I think I would've crawled through the entire thing if I got drunk just a few days before. But, that's just an educated guess, based on how I felt on Sunday after going to a wedding Saturday night. =)

Becky said...

Okay so not only am I going to pin you down and paint your nails, but I'm going to force a camera into your hand as well!

Glad the race went well and you and Charbelle had a good time!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I am terrible, instead of marking all as read- I'll just read a few of my favorite blogs (yours included) and then ignore the rest. I may have some that are up to like 100 posts haha. Clearly, I am never going to have time to read them!

Anyway, I'm glad your race went well and built up your confidence. Also glad it was on the cooler side!

Did you guys come up with any fantastic ways of saying no? I need tips haha

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

Oh, yuck, straight vodka! How did you choke that down? I don't think I could have done it. Maybe when I was 21, but not now!
Glad you had such a great race and weekend with Charbelle! Can't wait to see you in about 2 months! ;)

Shoshanah said...

I completely understand what you mean about interrupting to take a picture. I love having pictures to look back on. But so often it just feels awkward or forced to take out a camera to take pictures. Although I'd assume the more often you do it, the less awkward it feels.

Abby said...

Way to go, Lisa! Awesome time on that 10K! You rock!!!

Sounds like a perfect trip!

It was a good weekend ever here. 1st time I've actually spent more than 1-2 hours with Ryan in probably 3 weeks? So it was nice! We locked in our rate and did the home inspection, too! Lots of excitement!


Straight vodka...eeeek

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Great work on the race, Lisa! It's always a nice feeling to know you can push harder.

I want to hear your thoughts on Charlotte when we see each other in a few weeks. ANd infused vodka - whew, dangerous! I've had a few cocktails here with habanero infused tequila and holy moly that stuff is strong and spicy! The manfriend would die from having a sip of it (spicy = no bueno for him).

Marlys said...

Great job on the 10K! I'm glad the weather was cool for you and that you got to see the city! I'm sure your Friday morning was miserable after that pineapple vodka drink! Whew! You had a busy week!

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

Wow awesome job on the 10k lady! Sounds like a long but eventful weekend.

Jeanie said...

So glad you had a great time, good fun,terrific race and met lots of people. Plus spending time with a friend. Really, can a weekend be any better than that?

Mandy said...

Yay for rocking your race! Charlotte sounds like a fantastic town to hang out in for a weekend. And having amazing conversations with friends is one of the best things ever, isnt it?

Marina said...

It looks like you had great weekend :) My wasn't so exciting.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Congratulations on your great race!!!!!

I had an awesome weekend in Vegas with about 19 closest friends!