Turkey trax 2011 recap

Thanksgiving morning I ran my first race since July (I think). I was definitely itching to race.

At the beginning of this year I set a goal to run a sub 25 minute 5k. The race I ran on new year's eve 2010 was in 26:08 so I thought knocking just over a minute off my time shouldn't be too difficult. Well, here it was the end of November and I was still chasing that sub 25. I ran a St. Pat's race where my Garmin said 24:55, but my chip time was 25:08....wah! wah!

The weather was going to be wonderful for the race this year. I remember last year being fuh-reezing. It was in the low 30s or high 20s (I can't remember). This year was expected to be in the mid 40s. Perfect. I ended up wearing capris and a long sleeve tech T under a short sleeved shirt. Well, the mid-40s didn't come around until later in the day (even though the forecast said mid 40s at 8:30am when the race started). So I was a bit chilly, but even 40* is better than low 30s. :)

My dad ran this race with me and my mother-in-law walked/ran it also. It's great to do these races with other people. It's much more enjoyable to me.

Me, MIL, Dad

I knew my dad would beat me, that's no secret. He is a speedy guy! We still lined up together to start. This was a huge race. Prior to this one - St. Pat's is usually has the most participants with less than 700. There were more than 1000 people doing this 5k on Thanksgiving. That's crazy to me. I was happy to hear the guy on the PA system pre-race instruct the walkers and folks with strollers and dogs to start near the back. This usually helps some of the congestion at the beginning. Of course, there are people who ignore that, but every little bit helps I think.

So, we start out (no starting mat for timing, FYI). It's pretty congested at the beginning, but the street is pretty wide and everyone was able to spread out since there was no traffic.

There wasn't anything particularly interesting or noteworthy about this race. I thought it was fairly hilly, but my dad disagreed. About mile 1-1.5 (or maybe more) was a gradual uphill. That wears you out eventually. I did get passed by a lady with her dog during this hill. They were really moving and it made me wish my dog would run with me for that extra push. I remember last year getting passed during that hill by a guy pushing a double strollers...so I guess this is a win for me this year. :)

My pretty girl, Lucky Anne.

Luckily, after that gradual hill it was pretty flat for a mile and then a VERY steep hill at mile 2.4(ish). It wasn't very long, but at the point in the race it felt like we were going straight up. It kicked my butt.

Once we climbed that hill - we had just over a half of a mile to go and almost a quarter of that was on the track. I tried to really kick once I got the track (less than .25 of a mile left), but I only made a decent sprinting effort for about 100m and slowed a bit for about 200m. That 200m felt like forever so when I got to the final straight away I tried to give it hell.

I still missed my sub 25 even though I felt like I really pushed myself. Bummer.

Some stats:
Garmin time - 25:26 (I forgot to turn my watch off of a couple of minutes so this is my "moving time")
Garmin pace - 8:17 ("moving pace")
Official time - 25:15
Avg pace - 8:07
Overall place - 176/904
Division place - 10/73
Sex place - 55/140

Last year I ran this race in 28:06. So, even though I didn't get in under 25 minutes - I could definitely seem huge improvements in just a year of racing.

For anyone curious, my dad definitely beat me. His time was 22:XX. Maybe someday we can run a 5k at the same pace...probably not. Haha. And my MIL knocked 7 minutes off her time from last year so that's wonderful.

Back in action!

Wow, I haven't blogged since early may. And, get this, I GAINED follower. Thank you guys for not ditching me. I want to get back in the saddle of blogging.

I did, as I said in my last blog, finish the Nashville Country Music Half Marathon at the end of April. It was a wonderful experience and a lot of fun. I will touch on it more (when I FINALLY finish my race recap, ha....3-4 months later!), but I felt a bit "blah" soon after the race. That's a feeling I never would have expected. There was no doubt in my mind that I could finish, but the time I finished in was a bit slower than I would have liked. I actually raced slower than many of my training runs....you will find out about all of this when I finish my race recap.

My dad (fasha) is doing the Roots 'n Blues half marathon in less than two weeks. I had originally planned to run this with him. And by with him - I mean we were going to run the same course. He would definitely kick my arse. Dude is speedy! I am so incredibly excited for him and even more proud of him. This will be his first half. I would have loved to have run his first half "with" him. Unfortunately, football season calls. Mizzou plays at Arizona State so Justin and I are heading southwest for the game. I have enjoyed sharing training stories, trials, and tribulations with my fasha. I know he is going to rock this half marathon and totally kill my official time in Nashville. It's all good - that gives me a time to beat when I run my next half (which I hope to be in the Spring).

I want to jump back on the blogging bandwagon because it seems to go hand in hand with my running schedule. This summer has kicked my ass as far as running goes. The humidity has absolutely killed me. My pace has been a good 1.5-2 minutes slower per mile. When I do get out to run - my mileage has been poor. I have, honestly, run 3-4 six mile runs since Nashville...and nothing longer than six miles. In conclusion for this paragraph - F YOU, heat and humidity!!

It's all good though. Football season starts this week (college, WOOT!) so that means the air is about to get a bit more crisp...and hopefully my pace will return with the turning of the leaves.

So to my trusty followers who haven't "unfollowed" in my hiatus...please, show me some love. I need the motivation and support as I go after my goal to run a sub 25 5k for 2011. I definitely thought I posted a 2011 goal post, but I guess not. So to fill you in (8 months later, from what I remember)....I had a goal to blog more (fail), run a sub 25 5k (fail by 8 seconds, UGH!), and run a half marathon (winning!).

In closing - keep following my blog. Show some love. I hope to recap my runs, live, and the like as time goes by. Enjoy, y'all! :)

30 day shred...day 1.

One of my new year's resolutions was the complete the 30 day shred (30DS) by June 1st. I did day one yesterday so I won't be finishing by June 1st. I am, however, able to finish by our 2nd anniversary on June 7th. So hopefully I can stick to it an finish by then.

As I said in my resolutions post - when I finish the 30DS I can get a new pair of jeans or two. I desperately need new jeans. Hopefully shopping for jeans will be a bit more enjoyable after the 30DS. I am hoping to fit into a size comfortably and not in between sizes.

So day 1 of the shred....
During the workout I got pretty tired a couple of times. Most of the time, I was able to keep up without any of the modified versions of things. I expected this though. I am an athlete so I never have to do modified versions of work outs. I did lose my breath a couple of times so I did the modified for a couple of reps.

I had to use Progressive (or Progresso...I never know which is soup and which is car insurance) soup cans for upper body lifts. So my upper body probably did not get work out that my lower body did. I have a trip to walmart planned for today to pick up some free weights.

Today I will do day 2 and I am SORE. My calfs (or is it calves too for muscles?) are very sore (?). My butt and legs are super sore also - squatting, forward lunges, and side lunges. I am anxious to do day 2 to see if these sore muscles are going to slow me down.

I will keep my blog updated as I continue on the the 30DS. Lord knows I need something to blog about. I plan to take before and after pictures as well. Unfortunately, my camera isn't working today so my before pictures might be a couple of days into the program (I doubt it will make that much difference).

Have you done the 30DS? Did you stick with it? Success? Are you or have you done any other work out program somewhat similar?

Resolution follow up...

It's the second month of 2010 so I figured I should do a little follow up to the resolutions I set mid-way through January.

1. I am on my way to finishing the couch to 5k running program. I did week 6, day 1 tonight. So far so good. I should have no problem finishing by my birthday. And I definitely need some new scrubs so that is great motivation.

2. I haven't started the 30 day shred yet. That will come soon enough. I have until June 1st to finish that so I have some time.

3. This is the BIG one. I got offered a job in Columbia today. And it's a WONDERFUL job. It's MRI which will be some new training in a different modality of radiology. I am so excited about this, but I am also sad to be leaving the job that I have had for the last 4-5 years...and the people I have developed relationships with here in KC for the last 7 years that I have lived here. However, I will be moving back to my family which I cannot begin to explain how happy I am about that.

4. I am surviving the distance between Justin and myself right now. Luckily, I only have a couple of more weeks to survive the distance. And then at that point, my focus will be on surviving living with the 'rents for a bit, renting our house, and everything that goes along with those two things.

5. I have been tracking my mileage on on sparkpeople.com so I can see if I make it to 500 miles in 2010. So far, I am at 17.39 miles for the year. That is not 10 miles a week like I was hoping for, but I know as the year goes on I will up my mileage so some weeks I will have more than 10/week.

6. We are slowly, but surely working on our credit card debt. Not much to update there.

7. I did not blog at all last week so I think that means I have failing at the whole blogging 3x/week thing. I will keep working on this also. :) I am sure I will have a lot to blog about as I start the transition of moving back to my hometown and starting a brand new job. I can hope so anyway, right?? :)

New Year's resolutions...

I know we are a few days into the new year, but I figured I should probably blog about my new year's resolutions so I can reflect back next year to see how well I did at keeping them.

1. Finish the couch to 5k by my birthday (March 3rd). When I do finish, my reward will be to purchase a few new pairs of scrubs (with xmas money :)).

2. Finish the 30 day shred by June 1st. When I do finish this, my reward will be a new pair of jeans.

3. Find a job in Columbia.

4. Survive the distance between Justin and myself until I can find a job where he is.

5. Run (on the treadmill or elliptical) and/or walk at least 500 miles this year. My reward will hopefully be a more toned body and having my clothes fit better. I figured this number by thinking about 10 miles a week for 52 weeks (and I am already 2 weeks into it and figure some weeks I might not make it to 10). This seems very realistic and doable. I will record all of my distance runs/walks on sparkpeople so I can keep track of this number.

6. Pay at least 1/2 of our credit card debt that we have remaining. This, again, is very realistic and doable. Hopefully we can do even more than just 1/2 of what's left.

7. Blog at least 3 times a week. Hopefully the reward to this is more followers, more comments, etc.