Turkey Dash 5K

What a better way to start Thanksgiving than to run a 5k. So it was up bright and early to get ready for the race. My goal for this race was two-fold. I wanted to run a 24:30 and place in my age group. Neither one of these goals would come true for me on Thursday. However, even though I didn't run a 24:30, I did run a 24:34 which is 12 seconds faster than my previous 5k PR! I believe I was in the top ten for my age group. I was passed near the end of the race by at least two other women in my age group. The best part of the race was doing it with friends and having my kids cheering me on at the finish. There is nothing more motivating at the end of a race than hearing your 7 and 4 year old say "go mommy go". So even though I didn't meet my goals, the race was awesome and very rewarding. In fact, my 7 year old asked me if she could run it with me next year. We will see how that goes. I am signed up to run another 5k this Saturday. The Reindeer Run in Lakewood, Ohio. My goals for this 5k will remain the same as the goals I had for the Turkey Dash 5k.

I had an awesome workout today and it made me believe that both of my goals for Saturday are certainly within reach. I will be making a new playlist for the 5K on Saturday. If you have any suggestions for my playlist, please share!!

Keep running and remember "you inspire me" and "you're simply the best"

"You Inspire Me"

I was at a neighborhood OSU vs MICH party on Saturday (GO BUCKS) and I saw some neighbors I hadn't seen in awhile. We got to talking about my running and how it has been a great weight loss tool. Many questions were asked:

~How long have you been running? Since February 2009
~How much weight have you lost? Close to 40 pounds
~Are you growing your hair out? Yes, I figured new weight, new hair
~Did you run outside all last winter? Yes, I did (well, except one day when the wind was blowing a snow/hail mix in my face...I opted to use the treadmill that day)
~Do you have any new goals? Yes, I want to complete the Cleveland Marathon in May

As I was leaving the party, one of my neighbors said three simple words that made me realize there are so many physical and emotional benefits to running. Those three words were "you inspire me."

Keep on running and always remember "you inspire me."

Motivated by Music

Once again I must thank Deb for being such a great friend. I had a lot going on today during and after work. She took the time to stop by my house to pick up my workout clothes. I went to help with Market Day at Kaelynn's school and Deb picked up Kaelynn and Grant for me and took them to her house. Not only did she do that but she also helped Kaelynn with all of her homework. Not to mention her husband made dinner for my kids. And Deb made dinner for me. What great friends! During the homework, Deb allowed me access to her treadmill for a workout!

Now to the workout. I planned to run three miles on the treadmill today. However, when I got to the three mile mark my Ipod had some really good tunes playing. I was motivated by the music to run another mile!

The songs that motivated me to run four miles today were:

~My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson
~Life's A Dance by John Michael Montgomery
~I Run For Life by Melissa Etheridge

Today I am thankful for the generosity of friends, a great workout, and motivational music.

Looking forward to running the Turkey Dash 5k on Thanksgiving morning!

Mathematician...not so much!!

So today I was to run ten 200's. So I figured okay, I am going to be running 2 1/2 miles (ten 200's at interval speed work pace and ten 200's at jog speed for recovery in between). No problem until I walked out of work and it was pouring. I called Deb to see if I could run on her treadmill. I get to Deb's gear up the treadmill and the Ipod and I am off running. So as I'm running I think to myself: "okay .2 on the treadmill is 200 meters". As I'm running the intervals and the miles keep going up, I start questioning the .2 theory. I finally get to the end of the 10th speed interval and look at the mileage on the treadmill and see 4.1 miles. I finish the work out with a .4 mile cool down for a total of 4.5 miles today. At this point, I ask Deb if .2 on the treadmill is 200 meters. She is great at math so she figures out quickly that .2 is closer to 400 meters than 200 meters. Turns out I did 320 meter intervals. I am certainly no mathematician but I did have an outstanding speed workout today! Turns out I was an overachiever and didn't even know it. I'll take it but next time, I will ask Deb to calculate the distance for me before I start the workout. Thanks again for letting me borrow the treadmill Deb...you are a lifesaver!!

I WAS STRONG TODAY

Today was a scheduled tempo run. Around 11:00 this morning, I realized I had once again forgotten my Ipod. I sent my friend Deb an email asking her if she wanted to bring me my Ipod. My amazing friend Deb brought her Ipod to me so I could use it after work. She rocks!! Thanks again Deb.

When I walked outside today after work, it was starting to sprinkle. I called Deb's cell thinking I would ask her to borrow the treadmill. When the call went to voicemail, I decided I'm not going to be a whimp, I'm going to be strong today and I decided to run outside in the elements on a new route since I was running for a predetermined amount of time and not mileage. It was nice to run a different course. With the new course came hills and plenty of them. I warmed up and ran a nice pace for 12 minutes. After the first 12 minutes, I picked it up and did my tempo part of the workout for the next 12 minutes. At this point, I should have run a 12 minute cool down but I cut it short (7 minute cool down) because the sprinkles were starting to turn into a steady rain. Luckily, I finished right before it started pouring and I (as well as Deb's Ipod) stayed dry!!

When I picked Kaelynn up from school today her latch key teacher asked me these two questions :

• Why are you still running in this weather?
• Didn't you do your 1/2 marathon already?

My answer was yes I ran my 1/2 marathon but I'm training for the Cleveland Marathon now. I didn't hesitate or say I'm "considering" training, I said "I AM" training for the Cleveland Marathon to honor and support Deb's 10 year tumor free milestone.

In closing, to quote Melissa Etheridge, "I run for hope, I run to feel, I run for the truth, for all that is real, I run for your mother, your sister, your wife, I run for you and me my friend, I run for life".

The Turkey Dash 5K

I have registered for the Turkey Dash 5K that takes place on Thanksgiving morning. The race benefits the Karen P. Nakon Breast Cancer Foundation (www.nakonfoundation.com). I have decided to follow the Advanced 5k running program put out by Hal Higdon. The goal I am working toward is breaking my PR 5k (24:46) and possibly placing in my age group. I haven't won a medal (aside from my finisher's medals at the 1/2 Marathons this year) since high school. I figure it's worth a shot. After all, I "jogged" the Skeleton 5k last weekend and placed 5th in my age group. Of course I am most excited about getting to see friends come together for a common goal on Thanksgiving morning. Many people in my life have been affected by breast cancer and I always like to help out in anyway I can to raise money and awareness.

With all that said, I need to get back on track. I haven't run since Thursday. My Thursday run was a tempo run. It was not a good run at all. I can't blame it on lack of Ipod since I remembered it. I can't blame it on the weather as it was beautiful out. I guess I can just chalk it up to a bad day or to the fact that I had a pretty bad headache by 8:00 Thursday night. Yesterday was a scheduled day off and I was grateful for that. Today I was supposed to run 5 miles but the headache was still lingering this morning and it was raining steadily. I thought about the quote by Peter Maher: "Running is a big question mark that is there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?" For the first time in a very long time I chose to be a wimp today. Sometimes choosing to be a wimp makes the most sense when you aren't feeling up to par. I certainly don't want to be miserable and sick and miss an entire week of training.

Here's hoping I can get back on track tomorrow.

Good luck to everyone who is going to be running a Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving!!

Silence is definitely not golden when running

So I forgot to pack my Ipod for my run today. I realized this at approximately 7:15 AM. Of course I spent the entire day stressing over how I could run without it. So I basically thought about my Ipod (or lack of) for 8 plus hours.

Keep in mind I only ran three miles today and these are all the thoughts that went through my head:

• The words to eye of the tiger
• Wondering if I was going to be hit by all of those falling acorns
• Am I done yet
• Running without an ipod sucks
• There's no way I can run 26.2 miles without music
• I wonder how my cousin did in the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday
• The words to eye of the tiger (yes this is a ditto, thank you for the inspiration Rocky Balboa and everyone else who has continued to support and encourage my running.)
• Wonder what so and so is doing
• How can I put this into my blog
• Wow, I didn't know I could have so many thoughts in under thirty minutes

I survived my run without my Ipod, but trust me I will NOT be running without it again anytime soon!!