Ok, for real, mother nature needs to be set straight. It is supposed to be spring, not winter! I am sure most of you know we got 15.5" of snow overnight Wednesday night into Thursday and a few more inches Thursday into Friday. So I think Mother Nature is against me running and training for my half marathon. Seriously, I can't win with her. So I am just going to press on and hope for decent weather this weekend so I can get out and do 9-10 miles. I should really be doing more like 11-12, but that is not happening. I feel a little bummed out that I am no where near where I want to be at this time of year. And it isn't totally mother natures fault.
Last week I decided to go back to my class at the running room. I had not been there in a few weeks due to a conflict of interest, but I really wanted to get back there for a nice 5 mile run. So we had our class and at the beginning we had a guest speaker from Cross Fit Credence come and talk. And she thought it would be fun to show us a taste of what cross fit is like. She had us do squats, and we had to go all the way down, like butt almost touching the floor and chest had to be up. We had to do as many as we could for 20 seconds and then we rested for 10 seconds. We repeated that six times. Once we were done my quads were killing me. Oh my gosh, were they killing me and within a few minutes of finishing that we had to go out for our 5 mile run. Let's just say, I felt like I was an 80-year old trying to fast walk. I am sure my form was terrible. I finished the 5 miles and then the next 5 days I paid for it. My quads hurt so bad I could barely walk, going up or down stairs was very painful and I had a very interesting time trying to sit down on the toilet. I had to stand in front of the toilet, bend over at the waist, keeping my legs straight, then put my hands of the floor in front of me and then squat down and sit, and I had to use the floor to get back up again too.
So I milked cows Friday night, and I felt ok, but I did not get my 9 miles in on Saturday morning. I got in about 4.5 and some of that was walking. Then on Sunday, I downgraded my race from a 10K to a 5K and I did run the whole thing in light to moderate pain. So I skipped Moms On The Run on Sunday night and tried to rest my legs.
I do feel pretty good now, but I almost feel like the muscles are tight and need to be stretched out. So I plan on running tomorrow and I will make sure I do a good warm up.
I hope you have a good weekend and I hope that this weather straightens out and we can get some sun!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
This thing called life!
I am so sorry that I haven't been blogging at all lately, life has just been busy. Like, really busy, no time to eat or sleep busy.
I did however run in the Chocoholic Frolic 5K, Fools Five Road Race 8K and I managed to get a few longer runs in too! I did learn a few lessons along the way!
First of all, I knew I had a double race weekend coming up April 6th & 7th and I really wanted to do better at the one on Sunday. So I decided to just have fun and not really "race" in the Chocoholic Frolic race. That was all fine until then next day when I saw the race results and if I actually tried, I could have placed second or third in my age group. Man, it is not all about winning, but I almost never win a medal and now I am just kicking myself for not trying harder. That wasn't the only lesson I learned that day. It was a very cold and windy morning and I was not thinking and decided to dress with 3-layers on top. Yes! Why 3? I have no idea, other than it was cold. So I had to stop and walk at the 1 mile marker to "undress" a little. Which would not have been a problem for me except, my race bib was pinned to my outermost layer. Yep! I had to un-pin and re-pin 4 safety pins. That is what really slowed me down that day! So from now on, I am going to try my best at every race and if I do dress in layers I will pin my bib to my leg instead! I think my time was like 30:00 or something close to that. But it was a good training run for the Fools Five the next day! Which was another lesson to learn.
Here are some photos from that race. It was all about chocolate! There was hot cocoa at the water stops and the finish line. There was chocolate in the race packets and at the finish line. It was chocolate overload!
First of all, I made the decision to go out Saturday night to see one of my favorite local bands play. However, they didn't start until 10pm, so I didn't get home until after 1:30am. Dumb, I know! So I hopped into bed about 2am and at 2:30am my son woke up puking. Yes! Just what I needed. So I spent most of the night...er morning, taking care of him. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep at most. The good thing was that my race wasn't until 1pm that day. Not only was I uber tired, I also didn't feel like eating much, you know how you feel when someone around you is sick, you just feel sick too.
So I drove the 45 minutes to the race by myself and got there about 50 minutes before race time. I thought I had plenty of time, the lines for packet pick up were so short last year and I would be fine. Well, not quite. I walked into the gym at the local high school and bam, the line was almost out the door, (this race draws over two thousand runners), and this wasn't no single file line, it was 3 to 4 to 5 people wide. So I temporarily freaked out since I parked about 6 blocks from the high school and had to get my packet, then run back to my car and then run to the start line. Luckily, I did meet up with a running buddy there, so we could freak out together :) Thank you Kara <3
And that is what we did, we made it to the starting line while they were singing the National Anthem. We hopped in line and the race started within a minute of us getting there. I had decided at this race I was going to stop at the water stops since I knew I was not properly hydrated. I really think that helped pull me through to finish with a time of 46:11, I shaved 2 minutes off my time from last year. I was hoping to do a little better, but that just didn't happen this year! I do plan on doing that race again next year! I love that it is in the beginning of April and kind of gets me really going to run more! And I so need it this year with the weather that we have been having!
Thanks for hanging in there, I will try to get better at updating my blog more often! I have a 5K this weekend and I have a few other fun things to blog about too! So hang in there! We will talk to you again, "Lord willin' and the Creeks don't rise"~ quote from my friend Julie Jones!
I did however run in the Chocoholic Frolic 5K, Fools Five Road Race 8K and I managed to get a few longer runs in too! I did learn a few lessons along the way!
First of all, I knew I had a double race weekend coming up April 6th & 7th and I really wanted to do better at the one on Sunday. So I decided to just have fun and not really "race" in the Chocoholic Frolic race. That was all fine until then next day when I saw the race results and if I actually tried, I could have placed second or third in my age group. Man, it is not all about winning, but I almost never win a medal and now I am just kicking myself for not trying harder. That wasn't the only lesson I learned that day. It was a very cold and windy morning and I was not thinking and decided to dress with 3-layers on top. Yes! Why 3? I have no idea, other than it was cold. So I had to stop and walk at the 1 mile marker to "undress" a little. Which would not have been a problem for me except, my race bib was pinned to my outermost layer. Yep! I had to un-pin and re-pin 4 safety pins. That is what really slowed me down that day! So from now on, I am going to try my best at every race and if I do dress in layers I will pin my bib to my leg instead! I think my time was like 30:00 or something close to that. But it was a good training run for the Fools Five the next day! Which was another lesson to learn.
Here are some photos from that race. It was all about chocolate! There was hot cocoa at the water stops and the finish line. There was chocolate in the race packets and at the finish line. It was chocolate overload!
So I drove the 45 minutes to the race by myself and got there about 50 minutes before race time. I thought I had plenty of time, the lines for packet pick up were so short last year and I would be fine. Well, not quite. I walked into the gym at the local high school and bam, the line was almost out the door, (this race draws over two thousand runners), and this wasn't no single file line, it was 3 to 4 to 5 people wide. So I temporarily freaked out since I parked about 6 blocks from the high school and had to get my packet, then run back to my car and then run to the start line. Luckily, I did meet up with a running buddy there, so we could freak out together :) Thank you Kara <3
And that is what we did, we made it to the starting line while they were singing the National Anthem. We hopped in line and the race started within a minute of us getting there. I had decided at this race I was going to stop at the water stops since I knew I was not properly hydrated. I really think that helped pull me through to finish with a time of 46:11, I shaved 2 minutes off my time from last year. I was hoping to do a little better, but that just didn't happen this year! I do plan on doing that race again next year! I love that it is in the beginning of April and kind of gets me really going to run more! And I so need it this year with the weather that we have been having!
Thanks for hanging in there, I will try to get better at updating my blog more often! I have a 5K this weekend and I have a few other fun things to blog about too! So hang in there! We will talk to you again, "Lord willin' and the Creeks don't rise"~ quote from my friend Julie Jones!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Return of the Robin 5K recap
Good morning! I had an awesome weekend of scrapbooking and hanging out with friends, but all good things must come to an end. The good news is, I am off on Friday, so three day weekend here I come!
This last weekend I ran in the Return of the Robin 5K, for the second year in a row. This is a 5K that is part of a hockey tournament in town. This was the third year they added the 5K to the weekend festivities. Now, last year it was about 40 degrees outside and kind of humid. This year it was 19 degrees and crisp.
This is from this years race, as you can tell, there is snow and I am bundled up a little more!
This last weekend I ran in the Return of the Robin 5K, for the second year in a row. This is a 5K that is part of a hockey tournament in town. This was the third year they added the 5K to the weekend festivities. Now, last year it was about 40 degrees outside and kind of humid. This year it was 19 degrees and crisp.
This photo is from the 2012 race. I ran it with my sister and her son. There were 210 runners last year, I believe I was 60th overall and my time was 28:05.
The path that we ran on was very icy in spots. There was glare ice right at the beginning, so we all had to slow down and even run on the snow a little bit. I felt good this whole race, I even let a few people pass me around the 2 mile marker, but I ended up re-passing them around the 3 mile marker. The last .11K of this race is all up hill, but since I have been running hills I was able to sprint and pass two more people at the end. My official time was 26:48, which was pretty good for my first 5K of the year. I was 34th overall, out of 121 runners.
I want to do some of the same races as I did last year to see how I have improved over the year. I think it will be fun to compare my times and how I feel overall. Plus, This is a good race because it is early in the year and can help me set my pace for the rest of the year.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Get Lucky 7K Recap!
The Get Lucky 7K was my first race this year. I always get nervous before every race, I don't know why, I do just fine, but for some reason I had butterflies the entire 75 mile drive to the cities. I drove up with two of my friends, so we talked and laughed and tried to calm our nerves the best we could.
I had it all planned out, where I was going to park, I even pre-paid a parking spot at one of the suggested ramps. Once we got to the area where the race was being held, I didn't pay too much attention to the map and drove to a ramp, which wasn't the one I was supposed to go to. However, this ramp was one block from the starting line, compared to 6 blocks for the one I pre-paid for. I did see this ramp on the race website, but I figured everyone would go there, so I didn't even think about parking there, but after a few wrong turns and it actually worked out in our favor.
We parked and made our way to the starting line. Once the race started it took us just over 9 minutes to cross the start line. I started out at a good pace, but I had to weave around people the entire race. At first, I could barely feel my face and my fingers were really cold. I wore a headband and gloves, but I should have wore my gaitor, I will remember that next time. It was just a cold morning, only 19 degrees, but it was very sunny out. The course started out ok, but once we turned the first corner it was really slippery. I did see people fall throughout the whole course of the race. They did warn us about this, but there were times I felt like I had no traction at all.
About half way through the race I warmed up enough to un-zip my jacket a little bit. I am in the picture below, I am the one with the green skirt on. My sister actually made it for me the night before the race.
I felt good the whole race and really didn't get tired until the 4K mark. That is when I was like, ok I am over half way done, just keep moving. Once I saw the 6K mark I was like "sweet", but it seems like that last 1K took forever. Once I was done, I had to walk up the street a little bit to get the medal, and as I was walking I passed a bunch of runners who were just starting, they weren't even to the 1K mark yet. I didn't realize how many people were running in this race. There were 9797 runners total and 7225 of them were female runners. WOW! However, it took some people over 40 minutes to cross the start line.
There was all kinds of celebrating going on at the local pubs and bars, but we didn't partake in those festivities. We headed for home once we were done and the traffic wasn't actually too bad. This was a very fun race, I would totally do it again. It was nice to have a different length instead of a regular 5K. My official time is 39:19 and I placed 1207 out of 9797.
I will be running this coming weekend the Return of the Robin run 5K. I plan to beat my time from last year, which is 28:05. It should be a fun, quick race, but we did just get more snow today and it will be in the teens and low twenties this whole week, so that will slow me down a bit. I really live in the wrong state to be a runner ;)
I had it all planned out, where I was going to park, I even pre-paid a parking spot at one of the suggested ramps. Once we got to the area where the race was being held, I didn't pay too much attention to the map and drove to a ramp, which wasn't the one I was supposed to go to. However, this ramp was one block from the starting line, compared to 6 blocks for the one I pre-paid for. I did see this ramp on the race website, but I figured everyone would go there, so I didn't even think about parking there, but after a few wrong turns and it actually worked out in our favor.
About half way through the race I warmed up enough to un-zip my jacket a little bit. I am in the picture below, I am the one with the green skirt on. My sister actually made it for me the night before the race.
I felt good the whole race and really didn't get tired until the 4K mark. That is when I was like, ok I am over half way done, just keep moving. Once I saw the 6K mark I was like "sweet", but it seems like that last 1K took forever. Once I was done, I had to walk up the street a little bit to get the medal, and as I was walking I passed a bunch of runners who were just starting, they weren't even to the 1K mark yet. I didn't realize how many people were running in this race. There were 9797 runners total and 7225 of them were female runners. WOW! However, it took some people over 40 minutes to cross the start line.
There was all kinds of celebrating going on at the local pubs and bars, but we didn't partake in those festivities. We headed for home once we were done and the traffic wasn't actually too bad. This was a very fun race, I would totally do it again. It was nice to have a different length instead of a regular 5K. My official time is 39:19 and I placed 1207 out of 9797.
I will be running this coming weekend the Return of the Robin run 5K. I plan to beat my time from last year, which is 28:05. It should be a fun, quick race, but we did just get more snow today and it will be in the teens and low twenties this whole week, so that will slow me down a bit. I really live in the wrong state to be a runner ;)
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Happy Tuesday!
Happy Tuesday! Well, not really, but a very busy tuesday for me. I am working until 4:30 then my favorite Running Group "Moms on the Run" is having an open house at Terra Loco at 5:30. I am very excited to see some friends that I haven't seen in a long time and I love the Terra Loco store. It has some really cool running gear! I do like the Running Room just as much, I guess I am lucky to have two really good running stores in town. After I visit there I have to head out to my dad's to milk cows tonight. Then I hope to be home and in bed by 10:30. I really need to get a Polar watch so I can tell how many calories I burn during milking? Hmm...my birthday and anniversary and mothers day is all coming up in a few months...I wonder what I should ask for? I wish my hubby actually read my blog. LOL
Anyways, on to the good stuff...
I did get out on sunday for a nice 5 mile run. I say nice, because for once the trail was almost all cleared off and the temp was mid-thirties. I have not ran that far in a long time, but let me tell you I felt great! I am not sure if it was the carbs I had for dinner the night before...I love panera...or if I really just ran with my heart! I was able to do 5.10 miles in 47:13. It is not my best time, but not my worst time either.
I plan on getting out on wednesday to run hills again and then I have class on thursday and my final regular season volleyball game, woohoo! I milk on friday night and I have the Lucky 7K race planned for saturday morning. This will be my first race this year and I am excited to have some good friends running with me :) Plus it is St. Patty's day themed, so we will have some fun outfits on! I will post pictures as soon as I can.
Have a great week!!
Anyways, on to the good stuff...
I did get out on sunday for a nice 5 mile run. I say nice, because for once the trail was almost all cleared off and the temp was mid-thirties. I have not ran that far in a long time, but let me tell you I felt great! I am not sure if it was the carbs I had for dinner the night before...I love panera...or if I really just ran with my heart! I was able to do 5.10 miles in 47:13. It is not my best time, but not my worst time either.
I plan on getting out on wednesday to run hills again and then I have class on thursday and my final regular season volleyball game, woohoo! I milk on friday night and I have the Lucky 7K race planned for saturday morning. This will be my first race this year and I am excited to have some good friends running with me :) Plus it is St. Patty's day themed, so we will have some fun outfits on! I will post pictures as soon as I can.
Have a great week!!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Training class #3
Tonight was my third night of my training class. I have not actually run since Sunday. So I was proud of myself for having a good fast run. Now as we increase our distance I hope to keep up the good pace, but we will see.
Tonight's talk was on running in winter and staying safe in freezing temps. That's easy for me since I won't run in anything under 25 above zero. But it was a nice refresher.
The run was only 2.5 miles and since we did get that 10" of snow Monday and Tuesday the trails weren't very clear. I did happen to step in a giant puddle near the end of our run, but I was happy I didn't fall. It was very icy. I am so looking forward to spring and if it doesn't come after next week I am going to go find that ground hog and shoot him!
Tonight's talk was on running in winter and staying safe in freezing temps. That's easy for me since I won't run in anything under 25 above zero. But it was a nice refresher.
The run was only 2.5 miles and since we did get that 10" of snow Monday and Tuesday the trails weren't very clear. I did happen to step in a giant puddle near the end of our run, but I was happy I didn't fall. It was very icy. I am so looking forward to spring and if it doesn't come after next week I am going to go find that ground hog and shoot him!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Weekend recap!
I was scheduled to rest on saturday and run 5.5 on Sunday. Well, I spent the entire day cleaning my house on Saturday. So I really didn't rest much. We are trying to sell our house and our realtor is having an open house next weekend. And with a busy week and we are going out of town this coming weekend, I thought if I did a really good job this last weekend I might not have as much to do before we leave on Friday.
So Sunday I woke up and was in the kitchen all morning until just after noon. I made dinner, breakfast and lunch and two desserts and prepared my food for the week. Then I had an origami owl jewelry party at 1, and after that I went out for my run. I planned on doing 5.5 miles. I did not wear my yaktrax thinking the trail would be cleared off, but I was wrong. The trail was hard compacted snow that was very bumpy and uneven. So at any given moment I felt like I could roll an ankle or fall. So I only ran 4 miles. I was also on a time crunch.
It felt good to get out there and it was a beautiful sunny day and I think it was about 35 degrees outside. I hope to increase my mileage this weekend. But we will see since we are in a snow storm warning and at the end of it we could have over a foot of snow.
How was your weekend?
So Sunday I woke up and was in the kitchen all morning until just after noon. I made dinner, breakfast and lunch and two desserts and prepared my food for the week. Then I had an origami owl jewelry party at 1, and after that I went out for my run. I planned on doing 5.5 miles. I did not wear my yaktrax thinking the trail would be cleared off, but I was wrong. The trail was hard compacted snow that was very bumpy and uneven. So at any given moment I felt like I could roll an ankle or fall. So I only ran 4 miles. I was also on a time crunch.
It felt good to get out there and it was a beautiful sunny day and I think it was about 35 degrees outside. I hope to increase my mileage this weekend. But we will see since we are in a snow storm warning and at the end of it we could have over a foot of snow.
How was your weekend?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)