An actual 5k!

TJ and I have targeted an actual 5k to run! We're actually going to do the run in memory of TJ's good friend James, who both had an incredible obsession with Yankee Candles, and died way, way too young of a heart condition. When I found a 5k at the Yankee Candle Flagship Store that benefited the American Heart Association and is going to be held exactly at the end of our training calendar, it seemed like fate.

So, James, get ready for August 14, because we'll be at the Disney World of Candles in Deerfield, MA, running in your honor!

Week 2, Run 2

Having counted the mile run as run #1 for week 2, TJ and I set out for the second run on Friday evening. This one hurt. A lot. I think my muscles were not recovered very well from field day, which was really about 7 hours of solid activity, starting with a run that I didn't stretch very well afterward (bad Erin, BAD!). And several sprints after a certain science teacher who was taunting me.

Anyway, even though I was in some serious pain, I pushed through -- I knew I couldn't pin it on the shoes anymore -- and did the run in its entirety. I will be sure to stretch before and after, quite thoroughly, each and every time. Some lessons are learned the hard way.

Playlist! Lots of good ones this time. The beginning had kind of a punk rock theme, which I found to be a great vibe for running.

The walking songs are in navy, the running ones are in aqua.

• Po' Lazarus / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - James Carter & The Prisoners (4:21)
• Big Rock Candy Mountain / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - Harry McClintock (2:18)
• You Are My Sunshine / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - Norman Blake (4:28)
• *Coming Clean/ Dookie - Green Day (1:35)
• *Tonks Hunts a Leprechaun / Music Ed 420 Project - Erin Gardy (Milne) (2:08)
• *Nut Rocker / Tessie EP - Dropkick Murphys (1:22)
• *Deianara Crush / Sweden - The Mountain Goats (1:54)
• *TROGDOR / Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits - Strong Bad (1:40)
• *Ebudae / Paint the Sky with Stars - Enya (1:53)
• Unreleased (3) / Burningn'n Tree - Squarepusher (1:28)
• Hollow Hills / Celtic Solstice- Paul Winter (1:55)
• Let's Get Together / Classic Disney Vol. 1 - Hayley Mills (1:32)
• *Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch (1:58)
• Bongo Contront / Return of the Candyman - Charlie Hunter & Pound for Pound (1:21)
• Eleanor Rigby / 1 - The Beatles (2:07)
  
• *Down By the River to Pray / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - Alison Krauss (2:56)
• I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - Soggy Bottom Boys (3:10)
• Hard Time Killing Floor Blues / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - Chris Thomas King (2:42)
• *I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (Instrumental) / O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack - John Hartford (4:29)

Mile Run at Field Day!

The school where I teach had its field day on Wednesday -- super fun! I made excellent shirts for all the kids in my advisory (as well as myself), there was a volleyball tournament, and the teachers whooped the students in a giant tug-of-war match.


There was also a mile run. Here I am!

See how quickly I am running? I was actually not running all that quickly -- I ended up doing the interval plan from Week 2 of Couch to 5K, and finished 22nd with a time of 13:55 (for 1.06 miles, actually). Out of 22 who finished, but about 35 who started the race. Mr. Griffin won overall, and students from my advisory were both the first boy and the first girl to finish. It was the power of the T-shirts. Overall, a pretty good experience! Hopefully at next year's field day, I can convince some slower people to enter have a faster time!

All Tonks' Children Got Shoes

After a brief hiatus to buy new running shoes, HOLY CRAP SHOES MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.

After two attempts at week 1, having to give up both times, I tried it again tonight with these new babies:



And, yes. Holy cow. I thought I was in the worse shape of my life the other two times I'd run. But tonight, not only did I blow through the Week 1 workout, I ran for an additional 3 straight minutes at the end.

Boo ya.

I re-used this playlist for the third time. It was still good, and this time I actually got to run to the Chip n' Dale theme song, which was exciting and kind of MacGyver-esque.

TJ came with me on the run, which was fun. He runs way faster than I do, his stride being about 50% longer than mine, but he doubles back for the walking part. The weather was gorgeous -- about 67 degrees by the time we went at 8pm. It was the solstice today, so we had just enough daylight for our 40-minute escapade.

We'll be graduating to Week 2 for our next workout. AND I now have enough confidence to enter the mile run for field day at school on Wednesday. I'll probably finish last. Oh, well.