Thank You to Everyone Who Came Out to the St. Charles 5k

For me, yesterday's race was the best and most beautiful ever!  The weather was perfect and we had a great turnout.  I am now back in San Diego to take my finals in college so I can graduate on Saturday(!)  I want to use this post to give some important messages to runners who may be looking for more information.  

To see the official results on Cool Running, follow this link to the race results.  

Seacoast online published two articles on our race here and here.  

I had a few photographers at the race.  Once they have submitted their photos and I have uploaded them, I will share those links.  If any runners took photos or videos that you would like to share, please email the link to srmaryagnes11@aol.com and I will be happy to get them up.

Many runners left the race early and did not pick up their awards.  If you see in the results on Cool Running that you won an award but did not receive it, please feel free to stop by St. Charles Children's Home to pick it up, or email me and I will be happy to mail it to you.

Also, there are always some runners who sign up but are not able to come on race day.  Traditionally that means they forfeit their T shirt.  If you registered and were not able to come, please feel free to stop by St. Charles to pick up you race bag and T shirt.  Or, I can mail it to you, but I would ask $5 to cover the cost of shipping.  Just email or send a check and I will get the shirt out to you.  I am in San Diego until September 14, and I will do any requested mailing then.

Please give us your comments and feedback about the race!  We are always trying to find ways to make our race better, and we want our runners to be involved in that process.  Again, thank you for coming out yesterday!

You can still register for the St. Charles 5k on Race morning!

Online registration at Active.com is now closed, but people can still register for the race on race morning.  In fact, many runners prefer to do that.  Just plan to come sometime between 7:30 and 8:45.  We will be glad to have you join us!  Registration fees on Labor Day are $20 per runner.  The Fun Run for kids 7 and under is free.  There are still plenty of T shirts and lots of food for everyone.  Don't miss this race!

Perfect Weather for the St. Charles 5k

The sisters at St. Charles pray about many things, and as Labor Day approaches each summer we ask the Lord for nice weather for the day of our big road race.  He has not disappointed us yet!  We have things cooling off by Monday, and the temperature should still be in the 60s when the gun goes off at 9 AM.  I cannot ask for a nicer forecast.  

Some runners have told me they like our new website, but they miss the thermometer showing the number of runners who have registered!  I am still in the process of learning how to navigate the back end of our website, so maybe by next year I will have figured out a way to put our thermometer back.  But in case anyone is wondering, we have 711 runners pre-registered as I write this blog.  Online registration continues until 11 PM tonight, so that number may go up.  I am excited to say we have already surpassed last year's record of pre-registered runners, which was 689.  As anyone familiar with my former home made website knows, our goal is to reach 1000 runners.  So call your friends and bring them along!  Walkers are welcome too.  We have great food and a really big raffle.  In another post I intend to highlight some of our bigger raffle prizes this year.  

Several months ago, someone suggested to me that I give up the road race and find more efficient ways to raise money for St. Charles.  I was deeply distressed at even thinking about not having our race!  But the question helped me to reflect about how much this race really does mean to me.  It has been the highlight of every year for me since it began in 1997.  There is just something so special for me when I see so many people gathered to support our work with the children at St. Charles.  I love it when the gun goes off and I watch the runners all start:  the energy and enthusiasm are amazing.  Another special moment is when we call all of our children up at awards time so everyone can recognize the St. Charles Eagles.  This year, most of our children have just begun living at St. Charles a few weeks ago.  This will be their very first race.  Each of them will be a winner, because when they cross the finish line they will have set their first "personal record" and will be able to receive our unique "PR Awards" during the awards ceremony.  Some of them are eagerly anticipating the race, and ask me about it every time they see me.  I can't wait to see their response on race day.

Thank you to all the runners who come each year and make this such a wonderful event.

The Saint Charles Children's Home 5K--a video from last year

I happened to find this video that someone captured from our race last year and put together, and thought I would share it on the blog.  Last's year's race was wonderful and we hope for another great race just 8 days from today on Labor Day!

Just a reminder that if anyone wishes to run our 5k but can't be with us on Labor Day for whatever reason, please consider running our Virtual 5k wherever you are, whenever you want.  

Feedback from a runner: St. Charles 5k "One of the Best"

With the 14th Annual St. Charles Children's Home a week from Monday, I thought I would share a nice letter I got last year from one of the runners:

"Your race was one of the best that I have attended this year.  Very well organized and all of that wonderful food!  Many times at a big race the food will run out before the last finishers cross the line.  Not the case in your race, there was plenty for everyone.  You did all of the right things to draw people back to your race next year.  I intend to be there in 2010..."

The highlight of our post race food is a barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs donated and cooked by all of the Applebee's restaurants in this region.  Tommie Mattie of the Portsmouth Applebees is chief chef, and I can attest to the fact that there is nothing like those hamburgers hot off the grille. Other food includes donuts, bagels, fruit, cookies, pizza and more.  

I was excited to get a letter from a runner last year.  If you have run our race and would like to share your thoughts about it, please let us know!  

Climbed a Mountain in Vibram Fivefingers!

Today is a milestone day for me.  In March I got a a pair of Vibram Fivefingers shoes, and have been building up my ability to function in them ever since.  My goal on DailyMile has been to climb a mountain in the VFFs.  Well, today I did it.  Note my happy little feet in the corner of this picture of the monument on the top of Cowles Mountain.

I made the 950 foot climb in 36 minutes.  Cowles is the highest mountain in San Diego county.  This trail was perfect for the VFFs.  It is mostly a dirt trail--not filled with sharp rocks which would have made the barefoot walk more challenging!  As I have noted in other posts, the Vibram Fivefingers give you some protection, but they are a lot like really being barefoot since you feel everything under your feet.

The shoes performed well.  I learned that it is easier to climb in Vibram Fivefingers than it is to navigate down a steep trail.  First of all, because you're going down you naturally want to go fast.  I stubbed my toe and that reminded me that I need to slow down and pick my way carefully.  The other difficulty in going down is that steep, dry, dirt trails can be slippery, and today was no exception.  VFFs can be slippery just like any other shoe.  I slid just as much as in sneakers.  I was not handicapped in any way by the VFFs.  It was a great hike!

A Natural Drink to Balance Electrolytes

Image borrowed from http://tipdeck.com/home-made-lemonade-recipe

I first learned about electrolytes after a race in the late 90s.  It was a sweltering hot day--the first really hot day of that summer.  After completing the race I was talking to a reporter, who was intrigued by the fact that our sisters were running in full habits with the children from St. Charles.  

After that conversation, I remember turning around and heading to the refreshment stand.  Next thing I knew, everything around me started to swim and my face was in the grass (I am so glad there was grass there!)  Other runners were very kind.  They told me to sit there and put my head between my knees until the dizziness went away.  Some one got me a banana.  I wanted to disappear into the grass.

Since then I have learned that if I sweat a lot and then rehydrate really quickly right away, I am susceptible to this kind of dizziness.  I am not alone:  that is why sports drinks have been invented, with their special ingredients to help replace the electrolytes in our body that we lose when we sweat a lot.  I don't like all the sugar in those drinks, however, and I wanted to share a natural recipe given to me by my naturopath  that works really well for me. Here it is:

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup grapefruit juice (I use unsweetened)

3 1/2 cups water

It's quick and easy to make and less expensive than those sports drinks.  Works for me!  For more information about electrolytes and how to avoid electrolyte imbalance, here is a good article.