A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Monday, November 2, 2009

A Scary Halloween Story



So on Saturday morning (Halloween morning) I set out for an 8 mile run. My plan? To run from my house to the starting point of the Monday night OPRC runs, do the OPRC route, and then head home.

Except I got lost.

Imagine, it's Halloween. A lone woman is running through a deserted town. She's looking left and right as if she's searching for something. And then, she comes across this:



*cue screaming*

Okay, not really. I just missed a turn and couldn't quite figure out where I needed to go in order to pick the original route back up. But I knew vaguely where I was. So I just kept going. And I'm glad I did because if I'd run my regular route I'd never have come across that house and their amazing Halloween display. Seriously, the photos do not do it justice.

I mean, you can't even see the zombie Michael Jackson singing and dancing in the little hut in the front yard.

Anyway, it was a good run. And, interestingly enough, I came across this house just after the 10K mark. The 10K mark that came at 58:20. Oh yeah. If I don't get under an hour at this race next Sunday I'm gonna be ticked!

I had a weird pain in the arch of my right foot about mile 5 but it worked itself out. Good thing, too. I had a full day ahead of me and I didn't want to spend it hobbling around. Being Halloween and all, my husband and I went to see Paranormal Activity in the afternoon. I'm not sure my heart was beating that fast during my run!

We also attended a Halloween party later that evening. I seriously thought about going as Kara Goucher but ended up going as a different kind of racer. Jason, as always, was my pit crew:



So, yeah, a great run to start out a great Halloween. How was yours?

*************

Stats


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:627 ft
Location:Forest Park, ILElev. Gain:+0 ft
Date:10/31/09Up/Downhill: [+65/-65]
Time:08:06 AMDifficulty:2.4 / 5.0
 
Weather:Partly Cloudy
 42 F temp; 70% humidity
 42 F heat index; winds W 15 G 23
Performance

Distance: 8.27 miles
Time:1:18:28
Speed:6.3 mph
Pace:9' 29 /mi
Calories:980
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
19' 37+0' 086.2-0.1+3 ft
29' 19-0' 106.4+0.1+6 ft
39' 33+0' 046.3-0.00 ft
49' 24-0' 056.4+0.10 ft
59' 14-0' 156.5+0.2-9 ft
69' 26-0' 036.3+0.0+16 ft
79' 26-0' 036.3+0.0-3 ft
89' 34+0' 056.3-0.1-16 ft
end10' 26+0' 575.8-0.6+3 ft
Versus average of 9' 29 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

8 comments:

kilax said...

Ha! That would have been super funny if you went as Kara Goucher. But would people get it?

I love it when people do super neat Halloween (and other holiday) displays like that. It must be so much work!

I bet you are going to do even better at your 10k! Will you have pacers this time?

lifestudent said...

gotta love the random house that goes all out. we have one just on the other block - with caskets and moving figures and smoke machine and all ;)

Kathleen said...

Haha nicee run..that would creep me out!

Bayjb said...

You guys look great. I LOVE that house, I'm so glad you brought your camera with you

Toronto home staging said...

I just have to admire the house, it has great atmosphere. And during night it must be very spooky place. I really want to have house like that during Halloween. It had to be hard work to make such decorations. Thanks for having camera with you.

Good luck,
Ella

kristen said...

Great costume. I heard the movie was the best scary movie ever seen! I'll never see it though - I'm a chicken :)

No Longer Using said...

what a creative costume couple! you two were adorable!!!!! gosh whenever i get lost i have this extreme stress response- sweat, hot, heart beating... lol. it's scary!!

Crabby McSlacker said...

I sometimes think it's actually a bonus that I have a crappy sense of direction and get lost all the time, because it's true, you find great stuff that way! On the other hand, it does cause a bit of anxiety to not be sure how to get back.

Awesome house decorations, thanks for sharing that, and love your costumes!

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