Category: Running

Frosty 5k Recap

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Sunday morning I had the pleasure of running my first race in my new city! The rec center held it’s annual Frosty 5k and I figured this would be the perfect way to kick off a new year of running. I took a lot of time off after 3M and had just started getting into a normal routine within the past week. I wasn’t expecting much and just wanted to use this race as a way to get some miles in. Plus, a race in Medina only happens once a month, if that, so any race that I don’t have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to is a big bonus these days.

I started the morning with my regular Clif bar and arrived at the rec center around 8:30. I picked up my bib, did some stretches and waited inside until we were ready to start. They should have changed the name to Freezing 5k, because it was down right cold, right around 20 degrees. The race was hosted by the rec center, so it was only open to rec members, bringing the field to about 70 people. Not bad for a cold Sunday in February.

Once we all lined up, the race directer yelled the old fashioned, On  your mark, get set, Go! And just like that about 30 people sprinted ahead and I found myself being pulled with them. I checked the Garmin and we were at a 7:40 pace. There was no way I’d be able to keep this up for the whole race, or even the first half mile. I slowly started to ease myself into a better pace and settled right around 9:00. I was feeling good and had already passed one person. Then again around a mile in, I passed my second person.

The course was set throughout housing developments, so it was pretty much the same scene over and over. Lucky for me, these neighborhoods were new to me, so I kept checking out the houses and daydreaming of my own dream home. Then I suddenly realized that this was the longest mile ever. Where was the mile marker? I checked my watch and we were already at 1.25 miles. No mile markers, but not to worry, I’ll just go with it. (Apparently there were kilometer markers, but I missed those completely)  The next 2 miles were pretty much the same, nice neighborhoods, a decent pace and just a few spots of black ice. The only difference was the hidden gradual inclines. They weren’t really that bad, probably the “flattest” area in all of Medina. Remember this for future runs.

The last half mile was fun. I really hadn’t checked my time at all during the race, instead just focused on  my pace. I was feeling good and was able to pass my third person. I never pass people, so this was exciting. And then I had my biggest challenge…an 11 year old boy. I think I surprised him when I starting running next to him, so he quickly sped up. But the finish is uphill, so he couldn’t really get away from me. We went back and forth and I couldn’t help but smile, I was fighting a child for the finish. My final surge of energy came when a little 4 year old held out his hand right before the finish. I gave him a high 5 and crossed the line. As for the boy I was racing, we tied.

Overall I thought it was a great race. Besides being completely freezing half of the time, we had great weather even with a little bit of black ice to watch out for. I never felt like I was over pushing myself and I kept a pretty decent pace most of the time. It’s also great running without pain, something I hope to keep going for a long time this year.

After the race, everyone hung out inside waiting for the results to be posted. Because I signed up after January 31st, I didn’t get a shirt, but no problem, I managed to score one when I got second place in my age group! Complete shock, but awesome because I got a long sleeve shirt, a $5 certificate to go towards a class of my choice and two free guest passes to the rec center. Road trip to Medina anyone?

This was a great way to kick off the new year and the last of my “off season”.  This week I’ll be starting a 12 week training cycle for the Flying Pig Half Marathon, which will include a new way of training. I look forward to sharing more of this with you all!

Course Elevation:

Screenshot_2_10_13_1_03_PM

This is “flat” Medina

Garmin Time: 27:51

Age Group 20-29: 2/11

Gender Place: 7/39

Overall Place: 27/72

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Second Place Winnings

 

Did you race this weekend? Have you ever raced a kid to the finish line?

A Weekend in Austin

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Two weeks ago, I spent a short weekend in Austin. The plan was to meet up with fellow bloggers/runners from across the states and run the 3M Half Marathon. I flew in Friday morning, and by the time I made it to the hotel, I noticed an unwelcome guest had invited themselves on to the trip…the flu. Because my hotel mates weren’t arriving until later I spent the day curled up in bed trying to make myself better for the rest of the weekend. First day of exploring the city turned into a major fail.

Once Courtney and Luke arrived, we went out for a bite to eat, hoping that food would make me feel better. We checked out Dog and Duck Pub, and had I felt better I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Saturday I still wasn’t feeling my best so I took the morning easy. Once I was good on my feet we decided we’d try to get as much in as we could. First stop was the expo. It wasn’t big, but it was perfect on my wallet. Dollars spent=$0.

Expo time

Expo time

Afterward we headed down to the lake. We hung out at the dog park that didn’t require leashes…perfect puppy borrowing opportunity. Not only did I see some adorable pooches, but I scored some pretty good pictures of the city.

Downtown Austin

Downtown Austin

After driving around and taking in the views of the city, we stopped at a running store and then headed out to a late lunch. We stopped at Abel’s on the Lake and met up with Courtney’s sister and boyfriend who both live in Austin. I highly recommend eating here. Everything on the menu looks great. And yes, it over looks the lake.

Sisters and me

Sisters and me

Afterward we checked out more of Austin and met up with Courtney’s dad who was in town for the race. Seriously such a nice family. By this time it was approaching dinner, which meant it was time for our pre-race dinner! We went to Melissa‘s house and met her boyfriend Brad and Paula, who were also running 3M the next day. It was a great dinner filled with talk of running, travel, and friends.

3M Ladies

3M Ladies

Following dinner we headed back to the hotel and as soon as we were asleep, race day appeared. Post race activities included spending lunch at Abel’s on the Lake, again. (Yes, it really is that good) We were joined by Sam and Jared, who were awesome race spectators.

Austin crew

Austin crew

The afternoon concluded with a very long and delayed flight back to Ohio, but I left Austin with great memories. It was a weekend full of a beautiful city, a wonderful race and awesome friends. I’m definitely looking forward to my next trip to Austin.

Also, check out the bag we got from 3M, products you’ll actually use!

3M Swag Bag

3M Swag Bag

3M Half Marathon Recap

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It’s taken me a week and a half, but I finally have my race recap of the 3M Half Marathon. This race was a different experience to me in more ways than one. I had a lot of factors, some on my own terms, that made this weekend a challenge. But for once, my emotions and my personal experience had no impact on my overall thought of the race. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Before I dive in, let me catch you up. I was in Austin Friday through Sunday, and I promise a post of my visit will appear soon. During this time I was lucky enough to have a bit of the flu. So. Much. Fun. And my training? Non existent.

Sunday morning was race day, and since the race started at 6:45, wake up was at 5:00am. I was sharing a hotel room with Courtney and Luke, and somehow we had a pretty smooth morning. Nerves weren’t too much of an issue, but I was starving. We were out the door by 5:30 and headed downtown to find a parking spot. There was some wind and the temperature had dropped 20 degrees from the previous day. Coming from Ohio, 40 degrees in January isn’t bad, especially considering it’s in the single digits now! We were thankful that it wasn’t raining. All week there was a good chance we’d be running in pouring rain.

We got in line at the port-a-pots, dropped off our bag and made our way to the start. We were part of the few crazy people wearing shorts, everyone else was bundled up in cold weather gear. I won’t lie, this made me feel tough, or maybe completely stupid.

Right before bag drop.

Right before bag drop.

Courtney and Luke were way up front. I stood by the 2:10 pacers knowing it wouldn’t be a fast day. Just before we started, my stomach turned. I already knew it’d be an interesting race, but my new race plan was to make it through without embarrassing myself.

The first mile was rough, we ran straight into the wind and everyone was still pretty close together. Once we got closer to the second mile, things started opening up and it was a little brighter out. There were a lot of water stops along the way, probably every 1.5 miles, which was perfect because that meant a lot of bathroom stops. My stomach held up pretty well, but I kept myself at a slower pace. I was averaging 9:58 pace per mile. I knew that if I kept it slow I had a better chance of making the entire distance. My goal was just to finish the race now that I had been able to start it.

I made it to mile 5 without any problems, I had been drinking a sip of water every couple of minutes and I hadn’t felt hungry enough to use any Sport Beans yet. At this point, I made a precautionary stop at the bathroom. And then I spent 10 minutes waiting in line. 10 minutes! Any chance of a good time was now gone. I then made the smartest decision of my entire race. I would no longer check my watch and I was just going to enjoy the experience.

My favorite thing about running new or out of town races is that I have no idea where I am, I just follow the course, check in at the mile marks and take in what’s around me. Austin is the perfect place to do this. We ran through industrial areas, housing developments and shopping areas. Each section was unique in it’s own way, something I saw throughout the weekend visit.

I managed to keep a decent pace going until mile 8. I started to do the walk jog thing, running more than walking. The course was pretty easy, and mostly down hill. Even a small incline was nothing and I kept my feet going in the right direction. Around mile 10 I started to get really hungry, and realized I hadn’t snacked all race. I started popping Sport Beans and was quickly back up to my normal self. I was even greeted with some Lemon Lime cup of Heaven shortly after this, which gave me a sign that I could do this. I only had three miles left. What I didn’t realize is that these three miles had hills.

All downhill, until the end

All downhill, until the end

It happened to be move in weekend and the University of Texas, so instead of running through the campus we ran around it. Which wouldn’t have been bad if there hadn’t been hills with false summits. This also caused us to hit a strong head wind right at the finish. But instead of letting that ruin my finish, I went with it. It was tough, but what race doesn’t make you work.

I finished those last couple of miles with heart and gratitude. I looked around and saw the most beautiful views of Austin (still kicking myself for not taking a picture). I was finishing my 10th half marathon in under two years and running in my third state. I had run the race without checking my Garmin every two seconds, I wasn’t stressing about my splits, and I wasn’t nervous if I’d miss my PR. I was happy that the friends I had running on the course were doing amazing things. I was enjoying the 40 degree, beautiful Sunny weather. I was running, something I had separated myself from for the past couple of weeks. I was back doing what I loved.

Lucky number 10

Lucky number 10

Official Results:

Time: 2:36:27

A hard earned medal

A hard earned medal

I finished far from my PR and breaking 2:00, but I was ok with that. I had an amazing experience that I couldn’t have enjoyed more. Not every race is going to be perfect or even good. You encounter those tough courses, race plans, and injuries to make yourself stronger. I’ve run 10 half marathons and at least three other 13 mile runs during my marathon training. That distance can bring something different each and every time.

I honestly have no complaints about this race. It could have very well been the perfect race. The start went smooth, water stops were plentiful and the spectators along the course were wonderful. The grab bag was packed with great items, the t-shirt was unique and the medal was neat. This is a great race to PR and I would completely recommend this race to any runner looking for something fun. I plan on coming back down someday to run 3M again. And there is no doubt that I will be breaking 2:00 on those same streets of Austin.

13.1 on 1.13

13.1 on 1.13

 

 

 

 

3M Half Prep

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It’s race week and Sunday is the 3M Half Marathon in Austin, Texas. With only a few days left to go, I ask myself a few questions. Am I ready? Will I be able run the race? Any chance of a PR? The answer is no. By no means am I ready to run Sunday, I honestly don’t know if I’ll even be able to finish the race. After my two weeks required off from running in early December, I never really got back into my training. I was scared of hurting my rib cage again, and honestly I was burnt out. I was mentally done with running for the year. I had trained non stop for the last 12 months and my passion for the sport was quickly fading.

I thought I’d pick up my training again when I had 11 days off around the holidays. I didn’t. Instead I took time to visit with friends and family and finally give myself a few days to relax, reboot and get ready for the new year. Shortly before vacation was over, we finally got a pass at the local rec center. Bikes, treadmills, ellipticals and an indoor track were at my disposal every day. Here it is, just a few days before the race and I haven’t put that much effort into picking up my training. I’ve run a few times, always with shorter mileage, but never pushed myself into a long run. I never felt that urge until this weekend.

So what do I expect as I had down to Austin? Do I pull a DNS? No, I’m going to start and give it my all. If I learned anything last year, it was that somehow my body just knows running. It’s what I’ve been doing my entire life. I may be out of shape, and my training runs have been non existent, but I’m still a runner, and my body can still pull through. I’m not expecting a PR, but I know that I will be disappointed regardless. I let my training go and it will surely show as I step to the line on Sunday.

But with every disappointment, there is a silver lining. I know that I still have that love for running, and sometimes you just need to let it be for a while and realize how true that feeling is. What I’m most excited for is seeing friends and exploring the beautiful city of Austin. I’m in this weekend for the experience, not for redemption on my training.

If you want to follow some true rock stars on race day check out our 3M team:

2013 Race Calendar

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It’s a new year, which means it’s time to reveal the new race calendar! As I mentioned in my year review, last year was the year of races. But towards the end of the year, I was  burnt out. Not a total surprise after non stop training for 12 months and the addition of the holidays and busy schedules. This year I want to make sure I enjoy every run. I want to fall in love with running more than I ever have.

I’ve taken a step back and added mostly 5k’s to the schedule this year. They’re short, fun, and if I feel the need to run more that day I can always add on extra miles. I also have a handful of half marathons I’m interested in, including two out of state races. The only thing missing? A marathon. I’m taking this year off from the marathon, at least for now. But 2014 I will definitely try my hand at it.

Here’s my tentative 2013 schedule…

 

January 13, 2013 – 3M Half Marathon

February 10, 2013 – Frosty 5k

March 2013 – 4 for Friends 4 Mile Run

March 23, 2013 – Sole to Soul 5k

April 6, 2013 – Miles for Madison 5k

April 2013 – Buzzard 3 Mile Run

April 20, 2013 – Run to the Beach Half Marathon

May 3, 2013 – Run4Fun 5k

May 5, 2013 – Flying Pig Half Marathon

May 11, 2013 – Lightning Bug Run 5k

May 18, 2013 – Wadsworth Bookin’ 5k

June 16, 2013 – Canton Half Marathon

July 4, 2013 – Twin Sizzler 5k

July 20, 2013 – Lodi Corn Fest 5k

July 21, 2013 – Double Trouble 10k

August 2013 – Ledges to Lake Adventure Race

August 17, 2013 – Wooster Heart & Sole Half Marathon

September 7, 2013 – Tunnel to Towers 5k

October 20, 2013 – Detroit Free Press Half Marathon

October 26, 2013 – Montville PPA 5k

October 27, 2013 – Buckeye Half Marathon

November 2013 – Devil Dash 5k

What races are you looking forward to in 2013? Are we running any of the same races?

3M Half Training: Week 5

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This week was a big fat zero. It’s not my fault really, it’s my body and what the doctors told me to do. And what I’ll continue to do until at least Wednesday.

It started last Saturday, as I was driving home from the Tour de Ashland Half. I was overly tired and I started having a burning feeling in my chest. My guess was that I at my bagel too quickly, and it was probably heart burn. It was a 40 minute drive home and the longer I was in the car, the worse the I felt. I figured once I got home and showered I would feel better. Was I ever wrong. By the time I got home, I was having chest pains, my heart rate was faster than normal and I felt it was working harder than usual. I was starting to panic, thinking something worse was happening to my heart.

In 2003, I was diagnosed with Arrhythmia, which means I have irregular heart beats and sometimes my heart skips a beat. I was also told that I have a small hole in my aortic valve, but neither were life threatening and they wouldn’t prevent me from running. I went on throughout high school and college and never had any problems. I would feel my heart skip a beat once in a while, and that was all that ever really happened.

Last summer I had some intense pain in my chest over so I went back to the cardiologist to have things checked out. After more tests and a 48 hour heart monitor I was cleared, my heart could still handle the long distances I was putting it through. Up until last week, I hadn’t had any problems. So of course with chest pains the first thing I could think of was that my heart wasn’t happy with the mileage I was putting myself through.

After a few long days of being pushed around to three separate hospitals, I was finally able to get a doctor to look at my heart. It was during this time, when I was hooked up to a heart monitor for over an hour, that I realized just how scary things could have been. Luckily my heart was healthy. Somehow during the race I had hurt my rib cage and now it was inflamed. It made sense why I had the chest pain, and why I didn’t notice anything until I was able to warm myself up post race.

So here I am, off all exercise for over a week, until I’ve been cleared by a doctor and I’m slightly ok with it. I took this as my body telling me it’s had enough for this year, that I need to take time off. I’ve been training since last December and never gave myself more than a week off in between training cycles. After January’s race things will change. I’ll give myself time off, and I plan on changing a few things around for 2013.

What does this mean for January’s race? I’m still going regardless. If I can’t run, then I can’t run, but I will still enjoy a weekend with some awesome runners. And sub 2:00? If it doesn’t happen, that’s fine. There will be other races. I’ve never let any of these issues interfere with my running, and I won’t let them start now. But, I’d rather run with a healthy heart, than a broken one.

Tour de Ashland Half Recap

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Where do I even begin with this recap? Let’s start with a month  before when looking for races for 2013. I found this one, it was close, it was a challenge, and I thought it would be good for next year. Next year. And then a week before the race I decided why not try it this year. I wasn’t completely sold on the idea, but I had a free weekend, registration was cheap and I needed a long run. I think I spent the entire week worrying about the elevation chart they provided….

This my friends would be a hilly race.

Their elevation chart

Their elevation chart

And so the day before the race, as I was scrolling through the website, I noticed that they alerted runners that there would be no port a potty stops along the course. Umm what? I’ve never run a half that didn’t have bathrooms. Que instant stomach ache and fear of 13 miles of stomach issues. But it was ok, because there would be water stops every two miles in case something really bad happened. And the weather would be warmer, so all would be just right.

I woke up at 6:30, packed my bag and ate a quick snack before heading down to Ashland. It was a 45 minute drive and my stomach was turning with nerves. Once I got there, I picked up my bib and tried to stay warm in the car. I was still nervous about the hills, and wasn’t sure if I was ready for 13 miles. The longest I had run since the marathon was 6 so I knew it would be an interesting race.

I went over to the start line and found Molly! I knew she’d be running and it was so good to see a familiar face. It calmed my nerves, and reminded me of the hills of Muskingum that we’ve both run many, many times. If we can handle those, we could handle this course.  We began the race, and I struggled to find a good pace. There were pacers for each group, but the 2:00, 2:05, and 2:10 pacers sprinted ahead. I kept checking my Garmin to see we were at a 8:30 pace, I knew this was way too quick and backed off. After the first mile, I found my groove and was ready to take on the hills. We already experienced a few rolling ones, but I knew the hardest part was yet to come.

At three miles the 5k runners, who started ahead of us, turned to the finish. We came across the first water stop, as well as the pace leaders role change. The 2:10 pace leader threw his sign and sprinted ahead. Apparently we would not be using them for the rest of the race.

We started on our loop around town and were heading up and down side streets, I was feeling pretty good, and felt I was keeping a pretty good pace. And then we hit mile 5. I remembered from the map that this was a big hill, and it was. I powered through at a slower pace, but I never felt the need to walk. I was going to beat these hills and prove to myself that I don’t hate them, at least as much as I used to.

After the hill I was still feeling good. I hadn’t taken any sport beans yet and there hadn’t been any water stops. Luckily I had my handheld and made sure to keep hydrated, I wanted to listen to my body to find the perfect hydration strategy. Mile 6 and I came in under and hour, 56 minutes I think. Still on a decent pace, but no thoughts of a PR or a time in general. I just wanted to run for the miles.

And we would run, up hill. These next few miles were brutal. The next three miles would be a constant up hill battle. We would change streets so you could never see exactly what was coming next, hoping for some sort of plateau to stretch. Mile 7 had a relay exchange zone and a water stop, the first one since mile three. We were in an industrial part of town, running with traffic, with limited volunteers, runners or anything. Cars didn’t have to stop, they didn’t know there was a race. For the first time, I didn’t feel safe. I was also hurting. The hills were doing a number on my knees and I hit my wall. I didn’t feel like running anymore. I was over the hills, and over the race. If I stopped to stretch, I didn’t know if I would begin running again.

I made it to mile 8, and stopped. I stretched, took some sport beans and tried to walk the negative feeling out me. I started counting down the miles. 5 more to go, I had to do it, there was no one out there to pick me up if I stopped. So I kept going, hill after hill, each one getting harder, but I kept going. Around mile 10, the hills broke and it was more of a rolling elevation. All that was left was a 5k, easy. My pace was still decent, and I knew I’d break 2:15, this was a confidence booster on my already broken spirit.

Mile 11 and all I could think about was Cleveland, and how long those last two miles always feel. I knew I was getting close, we were starting to get near the track and the start line. A half mile later, I had my breaking point. I was attempting to cross a fairly busy intersection, and traffic wasn’t stopped. Two lanes of traffic in each direction passing by, the officer in the middle had her hands up trying to stop  people. I started waving at the lane next to me, yelling at them to stop. I was furious. No one was stopping, and no one was paying attention. I nearly got hit by a man texting and driving. Finally traffic started to slow, and eventually I had a path to run through. I told them they were all a bunch of idiots. I was so fired up, my pace quickened as soon as I could start running again. I wasted so much time at the intersection and I was so close to the finish.

I kept going and hit mile 12, I came up behind the pacer that threw his sign and sped up from earlier. I passed him and never looked back. Despite my pace, the last mile was hard. I was upset about being stopped and my body was begging to be done. I came up on the track and knew I had a lap left before I could finish. It was the longest lap of my life, but it never felt so good to be finished. My time was 2:11. It wasn’t my best time, but despite the hills, the stops and the negative attitude I acquired, I was pleased. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard for a half or beat myself up that much during a race.

Afterward I went home and collapsed on my bed accidentally taking a 2 hour nap. I awoke to hunger, and pain. Not only were my legs feeling torn up, but my chest felt heavy. It was the worst I’ve ever felt after a race, even worse than the marathon. This feeling stuck around for quite a while, and is something I’ll discuss in my weekly training recap.

As for the elevation, the true course wasn’t far off what I had expected. Tour de Ashland can now be named my hilliest half, and my hardest.

I love hills...said no one ever.

I love hills…said no one ever.

Results:

Overall – 155/191

AG – 13/19

Gender – 43/61

With that my 2012 race season is over, and my 9th half marathon is in the books.

Half Marathon Number 9

Half Marathon Number 9

 

3M Half Training: Week 4

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Just like always, this week didn’t go as planned. It felt more of an extreme with training than a regular week. The week started off slow with cross training mixed in, one day of short mileage, then ramped up and was just plain hard on Saturday. But this week also taught me a lot. I’m quickly learning that we need to join a gym asap! With one treadmill, elliptical and stationary bike in a small 10 x 10 room, it makes it hard to have personal space. It’s even worse when there are more than three people in the workout room, waiting to have their turn on the equipment.

This led me to biking 7 short miles on Wednesday. The other machines were taken and soon there was a line waiting for all of us to leave. This definitely gets rid of all motivation for a good workout. Needless to say the motivation to join a gym has risen quite a bit and that will be this weeks main goal. Luckily I was able to get a short run in on Thursday to prep myself for Saturday’s race.

Saturday’s run was completely opposite from the earlier workouts, it was hilly, hard and took a lot out of me. At least I know I’m capable of running a half marathon now, with my not so good training so far. But, I didn’t do the proper recovery routine and I paid for it, I wasn’t feeling myself until Sunday night. Look for my recap coming this week…

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday: 7.25 Miles-stationary bike

Thursday: 3 Miles

Friday:

Saturday: 13.1 Miles–Tour de Ashland Half Marathon

Sunday:

Total Miles: 7 Biked, 16 Ran

So a little bit of cross training and a little bit of hills. Not my best week, but certainly not my worse. I’m officially done with the 2012 race season, and will spend the next month reviewing my 2013 schedule. I thought a lot about what I want out of next year, and hopefully I’ll make the right choices race wise. I also broke 600 miles for 2012, not bad!

Turkey Burner 5k Recap

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I’m thankful for hills. At least that’s what I kept telling myself as I ran the Turkey Burner 5k in Hinckley over Thanksgiving. This post is a little delayed, but I think we’re all moving slow this week. Thanksgiving plans weren’t confirmed until about Wednesday night, so I hadn’t pre registered for any race. Luckily Hinckley had a 5k that was close and relatively inexpensive. I tried to get there early so I could register, get a good parking spot and find out where I was even running.

I got there around 8:20 and went right away to register. Unfortunately they didn’t have any shirts left, and had run out days ago. Bummer,  it was a pretty nice long sleeve shirt and I was looking forward to adding another to my growing collection. It was freezing and I regretted not bringing a headband, so I spent most of the time before the race in my car. The race was set to start at 9:00, but at 8:55 they let everyone know they were going to start at 9:10. It ended up being 9:15 by the time we started, and there was no send off. I looked up and saw people running and started on my way.

I was still freezing and was hoping to use the first mile to warm up, get my pace and use the last mile to speed things up. I was wrong. A quarter mile in a hill started, and it kept going and winding up, and up until we reached the first mile. A tough start to the race and many were dropping behind or walking already. I powered through, but my pace was not impressive, I came in at the first mile around a 10:00 pace. But with an incline, comes a decline and we were heading down hill to the water stop. I passed and just kept going. We then had two smaller hills, not as bad, but they were still hills. Around mile 2 was the last hill. It was a steep one, and I struggled with this one, but I knew we were almost done and hopefully the rest would be easy. Everything after that was a slight down hill followed by a quick turn into the finish. I crossed the line at 27:40, not bad for 4 hills.

Four hills, why not?

Overall, it wasn’t a bad race. There weren’t any mile markers, so I was glad to have  my Garmin, but my pace was all over the place. I averaged a 9:03 pace, but was up to 10:00 going up hills and down to 7:40 running down hill. Unfortunately I can’t find results, and don’t think they’ll be posted. It was a beautiful course around Hinckley Reservation, probably the most scenic 5k I’ve done. I wish I had my phone so I could have taken pictures along the way. I’m hoping to get back out there sometime and really do some damage on those hills. If anything it was a good course to get my run in for the day, with a few hundred other people.

 

**Official results posted***

Overall -152/502

AG -4/15

3M Half Training: Week 3

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This week I was determined to get back on track with  my training. I knew with the holiday it could be tough, but I also knew I’d have a chance to get many outdoor runs in rather than spending some time on my old friend the treadmill. I did pretty well, my mileage was higher than last week, but my week days runs are still pretty weak. I need to be getting some more mileage in. I also made it a point to possibly follow the Runner’s World Run Streak, running one mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Years.

I started that streak with the Hinckley Turkey Burner 5k, recap to follow soon. Spoiler: It’s hilly.

The rest of the week was pretty easy, did some miles out in the real country and even bribed Darren to join me for a run. We only ran a mile, but it was cold, and windy and I’m proud of him for sticking it out. Every run was pretty low key. I designated Sunday as my “long run” but I wasn’t sure how far I’d run with 3 miles being my top mileage so far. I’m also struggling with figuring out how long a long run is when training for a half. I’ve run 8 half marathons, I should know this. But it’s weird not going out with 14-16 miles in mind. I was able to manage 5.5, I was realy cold and knew I should have waited until the sun came out to run. I get nervous with the winter months that I’ll get too cold and numb and actually cause some damage to my toes or fingers. I miss those 80 degree days…

Monday:

Tuesday: 2 Miles

Wednesday:

Thursday: 3 Miles– Turkey Burner 5k

Friday: 2 Miles

Saturday: 1 Mile

Sunday: 5.5 Miles

Total Miles: 13.5 Miles

Overall, not a bad week. This next week I’ll get a chance to catch up on the miles and work off some of that Turkey. I decided to sign up for the Tour de Ashland Half Marathon to force myself to get in a long run. It looks brutal, but I won’t be running for time. Plus proceeds go to the Ashland Cross Country team. I think I can handle a few hills to help out the team.