Ocean's Edge "5k" and Changes to This (B)log

Last Saturday (July 7), I ran in a little out-and-back race on the beach in Lincoln City, OR. It was advertised as a 5k, but when I finished in ~19:36, I was skeptical (I couldn't do that right now on a track, let alone on an all-sand course!), so I asked a girl with a Garmin (alas, mine is in San Diego!) what the actual distance was, she said 2.83 miles, so I'm rolling with that. It converts to about a 21:31 5k, 6:56/mile pace. I ran this as an experiment of sorts, to see how I could run after primarily slow, long distance biking for the past month (I ran 3 times during the bike tour, all between 2 and 4 miles, then once a couple days before this race, again ~4 miles, on "Pre's Trail" in Eugene, OR!). The answer is fairly decently in terms of pace, but poorly in terms of how I felt, and how my muscles reacted and were able to recover (they're still a little sore today, 3 days later). The race only had about 80 participants, so it wasn't too hard to win the female 19-30 age group, and second female overall. The winning woman was slightly older than 30, and was pretty speedy and speedy-looking, outfitted head-to-toe in neon yellow Brooks apparel, footwear, and compression leg warmers. Karen, Steve, and Michael came out to watch me race, which was awesome. Here's a photo Karen took at the start:

This race made me excited to get back into running again! I'd like to run a marathon at some point this fall or winter, and then start getting ready for another shot at an ultra. Of course halves, whatever distance trail runs, and mountain runs are always fun in the intermediate space. :)

In an effort to keep better numerical records and to make this blog slightly more interesting, I am switching to the KB-esque Google spreadsheet for my everyday training log. I will try to only post race reports, epiphanies, landmark workouts, photo-worthy runs/rides, and other such things on here in the future. If you want to see the numbers, check out my spreadsheet here in the future!

Also: I downloaded Endomondo on my 'phone' in an attempt to map my run in Shevlin Park (Bend, OR) today. It didn't work, but something awesome about it is that it counts down to the start of your workout and says "Free Endorphins!" at the end of the countdown. :D