Roxymama's 5k to Marathon, Time to Collect Another Castle

*DisneyDreamer said:

Thanks! I am so excited for it and really hope I get the true experience this year and not a shortened course. I'd like to write up a recap afterwards, but I don't know if anyone would read it.

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I will! recaps are my fave!

You are going to rock this race! Trust your training and hopefully it will be awesome!

I wish I could help with the clothing choice, but ... I wear long sleeves pretty much in all weather. Wear what seems comfortable, I guess...

*DisneyDreamer said:

Thanks! I am so excited for it and really hope I get the true experience this year and not a shortened course. I'd like to write up a recap afterwards, but I don't know if anyone would read it.

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Oh man, you guys are the best!

roxymama said:

It will help that my current PMSing and cramps will be long gone (TMI?) but let's be real ladies...timing of monthly "life-events" really can make a huge difference in physical ability and personality...at least for me. I hate when that time falls on a race and am over the moon that I will be done with that just before my race!

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My cycle really affects my energy levels too. Blah.

Good luck on the race! You got this!

I have had some of my best races/runs during that time of the month, just sayin...could be a blessing!

And definitely short sleeves in 50 degree weather, I would probably even wear shorts, but I get hot really fast.

Alright, advice time!

It all started with a PM.



You said to me...

November 24th, 2015...

"Basically I have been running only 5k races this year and I have done at least one per month with a few multiple race months. It was my way of making myself a runner by setting a lot of easy to attain goals. I am running the WDW 5k in Jan but it will not be a "race" for me so I am not training for any kind of PR on that one. But I signed up for an 8k first week of April, then would like to do a 10k in May and in July I have a 5k/10k challenge. End goal is 15k & 10 miler in the fall. I'm hoping you can help me figure out how to get myself to the 10k distance as I'm a little bit lost on best way to take myself to that next distance step."

"my first goal was to run the distance. Then my goal became to not take walk breaks. Then it was to get faster. I came close to an age group award in my small town but I'm just not sure I could ever get down to the 25 or 26 min range without just full out exertion. My new goal is the distance again but 10k this time. I'm not as worried about speed yet."

July 19th, 2016...

"My 15k is on Oct 30th and I'll even wear a badger on me if I can survive my training"

We set out on this journey together that within a year we'd take you from a 5K to a 15K. And now it's here. Think back. Remember where you were. Think forward. Visualize where you will be.

So, let's get down to business to defeat the Hot Chocolate 15K.



First and foremost, since your race is Sunday morning your most important night's sleep is tonight. The nerves will get to you on Saturday night. So take tonight to relax, and if possible catch an extra couple Zzzzs!

The Warm-up



You don't have to change much. Whatever stretching routine you have been doing. Do that. Try to start the stretch and warm-up no sooner than 60 min prior to race start and finish no sooner than 15 min prior.

Do 1.5 miles as a warm-up. This will not take away from you ability to finish the distance or race the 15K. You will still be well below the glycogen depletion threshold. You will not induce a significant amount of fatigue that will prevent you from racing as best you can. Do the first mile at a slow EA effort. You can pay attention to the watch if you wish, but don't get sucked in by it. During the last 0.5 mile, do three short bursts of 20 seconds up to 15K effort. Don't worry what the pace says during these. Don't even look. Just do it by effort. Don't let these surges get in your head about predicting future race day success. They help prime the muscles, but in no way are a predictor for future abilities.

Slow down just a little



Line up with people of similar abilities/goals. If there is a pacer that seems appropriate for you, by all means line up next to them. Remember we won't be running with them anyways, but it's a way to place ourselves in the corral. Now remember the strategy. We want to Pac-Man this. Start slow. Start Conservative. Slow down just a little. We want to make sure that for the first two miles the people around us are constantly passing us. That's fine. Remember that they're running too fast right now. If you can manage it, try to run this blind. Run with somewhere around an EB effort for the first two miles. Does that mean run a 11:24 min/mile? No, it means run what feels like EB. This "EB" will likely be significantly faster on race day, but the effort will be right where we want it.

The middle of the race



At around mile 2-3 is the time to just start picking up the pace. We don't want to blast it. But we want to slowly turn up the effort. We should begin pulling even with our competitors. Be even with everyone from miles 2-5.

The second half of the race



Alright, now we're cooking! We should start to pick up the pace even more. We should start to pull ahead of our competitors. You should feel calm, comfortable, and you should be "Chomp, Chomp, Chomping!" Race this way from miles 5-7.

The back end of the race

This is where the mental game will come. Think back to all of the training you've done.



Remember that this is the prove it day. Have fun. Mentally this section will become tough. You've done the prerequisite training! You CAN DO THIS! Keep the mind positive. Keep reminding yourself how much fun you're having. Remember that the pain you may be enduring is temporary. As soon as you finish, you're going to feel better. So just keep pushing through whatever feelings, emotions, pain you might be having. The fun is coming!

The sprint to the finish



Take all those emotions and feed off them. Each person you pass continues to FEED your Pac-Man. Just go out there and lay it all on the line. THIS IS YOUR "A" RACE. IT HAS BEEN SINCE NOVEMBER 24th, 2015. THIS IS IT! GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! FINISH FINISH FINISH!!!!

And then it's over

You've done it. You've completed it. Now envision that right now. What will that feel like. Whatever that feeling is, bottle it up right now. Because the emotions will be running high. I believe in you and if you can dream it, you can do it!

This is awesome. I will be warming up exactly like that gif now!

My training is over! Ah! I've done all the


Crazy that it's been almost a year since I even thought the about being a long distance runner. Crazier that I actually did most of the things I said I wanted to in that pm dopeybadger posted. Guess I was serious about it.

It's expo time in a couple hours too!! So once I know my bib # I'll bravely post my runner tracking info. and hopefully pictures of piles of free marshmallows!

Wow! I can't wait to read about how your race went!

Great pep talk DopeyBadger! And great pic John!

Loving your Cherry Blossom InB shirt!

I'm so excited for you--you are going to do great!

Ok, here goes...if you want to keep track of how I'm doing Sunday morning after 7:30am you can sign up for runner tracking https://www.hotchocolate15k.com/chicago/runner-tracking



I'm bib 51502
I've never been tracked before on here so just eveyone get your virtual Pom poms out. If you see me with a real slow time I probably just got distracted by a table of free chocolate . Got bumped down to corral C, which I'm cool with. Was where I was last year and felt like a good place for me


Tall girls appreciate large props that make us look smaller

Oh and that bag I'm holding...


I love them!!!!!!!

I wasn't able to get the runner tracking to work. Doesn't look like every name and number are linked. What are the first two letters of your last name?

MU or GA?

DopeyBadger said:

I wasn't able to get the runner tracking to work. Doesn't look like every name and number are linked. What are the first two letters of your last name?

MU or GA?

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AUB

roxymama said:

AUB

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Thanks! Done and Done! I guess I know what I'll be doing from 7:30am-9:00am on Sunday morning.

(<---- That's hot oatmeal because I'm not a coffee drinker. Of course I guess neither does my computer look like that..... Well I guess you get the point!)

I'm in my corral! Aaaahhhhhh
Nervous energy nervous energy.
Using it for good not evil!
It was raining but not anymore. I'm dry. I'm in cherry blossoms. Everything's gonna be ok.

Hella windy off and on but it'll be at my back for 2-5.


Corrals closing. Omg!!!! It's happening

No live updates yet. I'm presuming she has started. Although the race countdown clock has is starting at 8:30am . But with the corrals closing, clearly you're off and running and doing well!

Alright, I found a website link:

http://ramracing.enmotive.com/results/index/561569a8-80cc-44e8-b545-5cc5c0a86526

She started at 7:30:38 AM and has not yet crossed the 5K mat (which appears to be the only mid-race timing mat). GO @roxymama!!!!

No updates here either-oh, and you just posted the other website! Go Roxymama!!

And it's updated to show there are mats at 5K and 10K now. Still no mid-race split yet.