TWO Races...in ONE day...take TWO

So tonight hasn't gone at all as planned. I stayed at work until 7:15pm catching up on some of my documentation that had been backing up on me due to having a very busy month of June. My "plan" (go ahead, laugh) was to come home, eat some dinner while watching part of The Bachelorette (on my DVR from last night...I know...I have quite the taste in crappy television), and then get crackin' on my reports for work. My goal was to get THREE of my SIX waiting reports DONE. I was well into report one...and the documentation system started going awol. It still hasn't gone back up. UGH!!! Therefore, it's "Hello, Blogger!"

I am SO FRUSTRATED because I thought I'd take tonight off of working out...I'd sacrifice this Tuesday night full of potential and promise...just to get some SERIOUS work done because I knew the feeling of decreased stress would be SO worth it. So much for that!!! So now I am sitting on my couch, the season finale of House (from my DVR) playing on the TV on the wall in front of me, and a glass of wine sitting on the arm of the couch next to me. Yup, it's a classy night in Rachel's world. I am getting kind of "hungry" for something salty, thanks to the wine, but I won't allow myself to start snacking...knowing I will feel even fatter/more pathetic as a result.

Anyway. Not really necessary to "set the scene"...but thought I would anyway :).

Let's see....

So Saturday, June 18 was one fun day.

Months ago, Jeremy and I registered for the Warrior Dash in Channahon, IL. We ran in the event last June in Joliet and loved it. We literally looked forward to this year's Warrior Dash since the finish of last year's. It is just MUCH FUN! If you haven't experienced a Warrior Dash, I would highly recommend it. As they advertise, it's "The Craziest Frickin' Day of Your Life"...in a GOOD way! :) Really, nothing compares.

More recently (as in, just this week!) I decided to run in the Steamboat Classic in "beautiful" Peoria, IL! Some co-workers were running, so thought...hey, I'll go watch (since I was already registered for the Warrior Dash on the same day...I figured I shouldn't do two events in the same day)! Let's be honest...as long as I'm not incapacitated just "watching" a race basically equals some sort of torture for me. So, after being reminded at book club on Thursday night that my friend Anne was running both the Warrior Dash and Steamboat....those wheels were a-turnin'...of COURSE I could do both as well! HA!

So....I woke up early on Saturday and set out for Peoria...I left home around 5:15. Quick tangent: It never fails to amaze my husband that I am able to jump out of bed almost immediately when my alarm goes off on a race day morning at 4:45am or so, yet when the alarm goes off on a work morning over an hour later than that...I can hit snooze for up to an hour. Ah, the mysteries of life :).

I saw a ton of people I knew in Peoria at the Steamboat event...co-workers, Anne from book club, etc. It was so much fun! I went into it thinking that I would "take it easy" since I had the Warrior Dash later that day. I decided to try to not take it completely "easy"...and go somewhat hard, without pushing it too crazily (if that makes any sense at all...ha!). I wanted to see what I could do, but I still wanted to ensure that I left "something" in my body for the Warrior Dash later that afternoon.

Oh wait...have I mentioned yet that I hadn't exactly mentioned to my dear husband that I was running in the Steamboat? *nervous laugh*

Explanation for my reluctance to let him know about my plan to run 2 races in the same day....

So...back on April 17 when I had the hair-brained idea to run 2 5k's back-to-back (literally...the start times were 90 minutes apart)...and I ended up being the top female finisher in one...and ended up getting a stress fracture (or something) in the second...anyway, it was basically determined at that point that I shouldn't really EVER try to do two events in the same day. Even though they were SHORT events (really, a total of 6+ miles in one day is NOT a big deal in my scheme of things)...clearly my body is not quite hard-core enough to handle such challenges.

Therefore, thanks to my less than stellar results back in April...I decided not to let my husband in on the knowledge that I wanted to run two races in the same day...again...just about 9 weeks post injury following doing two races in the same day back then. I figured (correctly! :)) that he would be less than impressed with me. So, I decided to be the bad wife and just kinda do it without being completely forthcoming.

Yeah. I'm despicable, really! ;)

He did know that I was indeed going to Peoria for the race...but I had maybe said something along the lines of "I'm going to watch/cheer for some friends/co-workers..."...

So, off to Peoria I went early Saturday morning...chowing on unsalted almonds, my pre-race fuel of choice, as I drove to the Riverplex. But seriously, as I drove, I was so paranoid that I'd trip over my own feet or something and break an ankle or whatnot during the Steamboat and thus be "found out" by poor Jeremy! Lesson? Uh, SO not worth being less than forthcoming to one's spouse ;). I mean, seriously, what's the big deal?! It's just a little race, right?

I ended up finishing...and as a bonus, I did indeed finish all in one piece...

Results:
(I ran the 4 mile event)
I came in 14th in my age group (25-29) out of 274 total girls in that group....and 519th overall out of 3345 with a time of 31:20 which is a pace of a 7:56 minute/mile. Not terribly shabby. Clearly still room for improvement, but I am satisfied with it I'd say.

Shortly after arriving home...my husband looked at me and asked suspiciously (for the record, I had changed my clothes!)..."So, did you run in the race today?" I couldn't blatantly lie....so I came clean :).

He shook his head and may or may not have called me a name or two, but all's well that ends well, right? ;)

So, after my confession I ate...a little (I was quite hungry but was paranoid to eat anything terribly substantial before the second race of the day). We left around noon for Channahon and after lots of driving started my second event of the day...the 3:30pm heat of the 2011 Midwest Warrior Dash!

This year's Warrior Dash was even muddier and hillier and all-around more challenging than last year's Midwest Warrior Dash in Joliet. It was a GREAT time, though!

Jeremy beat me (harumph! ;))...but I am not really disappointed by my overall results: I got 33rd in my age group out of 1087 with a time of 34:51, which boiled down to a 9:57minute/mile pace for the 3+ mile race. So, compared to other women my age..I can somewhat "bring it!" Kind of a good feeling.

Jeremy's time was 32:04...sheesh...he apparently beat me by close to 3 minutes!!

It was intense...and SO MUCH FUN! Seriously, check out the website and videos online for info...and sign up for a Warrior Dash near you!

So...Two Races...one Day...take two? I daresay...a success! :)

What's next on the agenda? The Park to Park race on the 4th of July here in Blo-No, IL! After that...bring on the Bix 7 on July 30! Nothing is scheduled yet for August...and my "big" news is that I am officially registered for the Quad Cities Marathon! 95 days and counting....

Happy Running!