Category Archives: 5K Training

two minutes, fifteen seconds.

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So today Ellen, Jeff, and I completed our 80s-themed 5k.

It was Ellen and Jeff’s first competitive race, and my second, and we all managed personal bests! For me, I ran two minutes, fifteen seconds faster than my race last year with my sister. For that race, I trained for five and a half weeks, taking nearly two weeks off during training for when I was traveling across country with Corelyn.

This year, I trained for eight weeks, missing only one training day, despite making two cross-country trips during those eight weeks. (And, it should be noted, that running and I took a break between the two trainings – I ran maybe five times between the two trainings.)

I think my dedication to racing paid off, and gave me the desire to (gulp! I never thought I’d say this) run another race! Even though it was 85 degrees when we finished and we were all hot, exhausted, and sweaty, we all managed to discuss another race (maybe in the spring?) before heading home.

The race being 80s themed helped – lots of people dressed up, ready to race in tutus and leotards and pink tights. It also helped to have two novice runners with me instead of one experience runner (sorry Nik, but you’re a speed-demon) and it helped that instead of 40 degrees and sleeting, it was 80 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. And, there was no looping — one large loop (instead of 2.5 smaller ones at the Ann Arbor race.)

Here we are at the finish of the race!

I had a blast running with Ellen and Jeff, and know they had fun too — and I am proud of myself for running in sub-40, and beating my time from last race AND last weekend when I ran my practice 5k around the course at the Rose Bowl.

Here are the medals we got at the finish!

Next up, maybe we’ll run an 8k or 10k…the sky’s the limit, folks! Until then, I am spending the rest of the day preparing for an amazing long weekend, proud that our team finished strong.

 

no clouds in my sun

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Tomorrow’s final playlist. Let’s do this.

Umbrella (feat. Jay-Z)/Rihanna
Adding To The Noise/Switchfoot
Mean/Taylor Swift
I’ve Been Down (Live Acoustic)/Hanson
10 Days Late/Third Eye Blind
Some Nights/Fun Some Nights
Which to bury, us or the hatchet/Relient k
Titanium (feat. Sia)/David Guetta
Carry Me Through/Dave Barnes
Sydney (I’ll Come Running)/Brett Dennen
Shake It Out/Florence + The Machine

Total time: 42 minutes (finishing roughly 1 minute into “Shake It Out”)

19 miles later.

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Since starting my 5k, I have trained the distance of 19 miles. I haven’t run the whole way, but I have steadily been increasing my run times, per my training schedule, and I am seeing a difference, which really is starting to excite me. I have gotten faster and I’m only on week four of the eight week program.

I even ran when in Chicago, once alone (dying through the humidity) and once with my sister and our dog (who I suspect could have run faster given the chance.) I suspect my first post-Chicago run will be even better than the two at home.

Other accomplishments include not gaining weight when I was home on vacation, coming home to a clean house, and managing to (almost) stay on top of my food-posts over at GMS.

Pictures to come from my trip from home, but for now I leave you one for delicious, NOT fried eggplant that I made in lieu of the usual fried eggplant we make when I’m home. Recipe to come on GMS sometime this week.

Do you worry about traveling when on a training or weight-loss program? How do you deal with rewarding yourself on vacation while not losing site of your goals?

 

 

 

6th Place: Relative Danger.

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Today was D-day for my 5K with my sister. The race started at 10:30, which meant we had plenty of morning to…get nervous! I was up until 1:00, making sure I had hot beats to jog around Ypsilanti to. Getting up at 8:30, I knew we were in trouble.

On Friday, I arrive in Michigan to 80 degree weather. By Saturday afternoon, it was 50 degrees, and rainy. And Sunday morning? Race morning? 42 degrees. Pouring rain. Dripping rain. Rain sideways. Rain upwards, downwards, blustering across the roads, flooding the race track.

As we drove to Ypsi, I realized that I was under dressed, nervous, cold, and maybe worried that I was not ready for this after all.

“Maybe they’ll cancel the race,” I said.

“I forgot my rain jacket, maybe we should turn around and go home and get it. We’ll…make it back,” I gasped.

“There’s no one here, we should go,” I chimed as we pulled up.

“I am pretty sure I can’t go.” I blurted out.

“What if I am last?” I mused.

“Then I’ll run behind you so I’m last,” Nikki said, as she basically pushed me out of the car. Before I was out of the car, my mom did manage to give me her long-sleeved shirt so I wasn’t so cold, and then Nikki and I ran into the building to find the check in. There were so many people around (although Nikki assured me this was one of the smallest races she’s run in) and we had to figure out where to get our bibs. We finally did, and managed to pin them on and find a place to stretch.

“This is the most I’ve ever stretched before a race,” Nikki said. I felt tight. I felt weak. I felt nervous. I felt cold. But alas, here we go.

We headed out to the start line with the crowd. bib on, headphones ready. Headphones on. Headphones not working. Definitely a moment of panic as I looked to Nikki, screaming in the pouring rain, “IT’S NOT WORKING. IT’S NOT WORKING.” I pushed the start button once, twice, three times…nothing. “Do you want mine?” Nikki said. And then, fourth’s a charm, and my tunes were on.

“ON YOUR MARK,” says the man, “GO.”

We were off. In my morning haste, I had also forgotten my watch. So, per usual, Nikki was boss. We were off. The rain was pouring down, and we were soaked by two minutes in. My jams were jamming, but I was running pretty slowly. But I was running. Nikki was running with me, making sure that I only walked when I really needed to, and kept alternatively singing out loud, yelling at me to run, and looking at her watch.

As we rounded mile 1, I couldn’t believe we had so much more to run. Mainly because I was freezing, wet, and already my ankles hurt. But we persevered. Or I should say, I did, as Nikki obviously could have finished no matter what. Anyways, so we got back to the beginning, as this was a lapped course, and  we had to run around it twice. There were people stationed along the route cheering for us, and I looked for my parents, who were warm in their car, and beeped at us for encouragement.

As we went around the first bend again, and I tried to trick myself into running harder, running longer, running at all. Nikki definitely kept me moving, but it was definitely hard. We hit the mile 2 marker running, and I knew that we were getting somewhere. The rain just kept coming down, and I just kept moving. Finally, about the 2.5 mile point, Nikki said, “It’s freezing, we’re cold, we’re wet, let’s go.” I picked up my pace, pushing myself as much as I could.

As we got around the final bend, I skipped through a couple jams to get myself to the end. My parents were at the finish line, cheering us on. In our matching shirts, Nikki and I finished at 41:11 minutes. It wasn’t my goal (under 40 minutes) but it was finished. I had done it. In my age group, I came in 6th place. As a sister team, we came in 4th. And Nikki and I did it together. In matching shirts. And, matching wind-burned cheeks.

Will I do it again? Well, I told Ellen I’d run one with her this summer. I definitely want to explore swimming more, and I am really enjoying going to yoga regularly. I want to work on my endurance by really focusing on 1 mile runs to run for longer. I am glad I did one, and I am excited to find a sunny LA one to do this summer.

Thanks for all your support guys! It’s made running a 5K a piece of cake.

 

 

…who did NOT die…

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In A Christmas Carol, the Muppet version, during the last scene, Gonzo/Mr. Dickens is holding the reveal. Did Tiny Tim make it? Or did he have a date with death? Gonzo lets us know, by stating: “And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die…” It’s probably one of the funniest Muppet moments, and certainly one of my favorite movie moments. It was even funnier this year when we watched it with a large group of my friends and Gonzo delivered his perfect line to a perfect crowd: everyone erupted into laughter, and my friend Scott and I still get the giggles (or whatever the giggle equivalent is for men) when one of us mentions it.

Anyways, my point is, on Friday, I ran 3.1 miles. It was on the treadmill. It was at zero incline. Flat surface. I had to stop twice to loosen my shoes and stretch my calves, for one minute each. I wanted to quit at mile 2. I wanted to quit at mile 2.5. I wanted to quit every second of the last half mile. But I prevailed because I had to. So I did the 3.1 miles. I was supposed to do 3 miles, but you know, I figured I should probably know whether or not I could actually go 3.1 miles just in case maybe that last .1 mile is really what was going to push me over the edge.

It took me 39:24. That’s an average of 13 minutes and 8 seconds. Slower than my best mile (of 11:35) but faster than you know, walking. Less than my original (arbitrary) goal of 45 minutes. It’s not fast. It’s not fancy. But I did NOT die.

The three miles were a little faster than the 13 minutes and 13 seconds it took me on Wednesday to run two miles. And my two miles today were a little faster, at 25:45, which was 12 minutes and 52.5 second average. These two miles were 58 seconds slower than my fastest two miles. Which is a smidge discouraging, but it’s better than nothing. Am I right? (Let’s hope I’m right.)

Jeff and I went to Michael’s today to get stuff to make Nikki and I shirts for the run. So at the very least, I’ll be well dressed. Less than a week left. Here goes nothing.