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

[roxymama]

I finally got over my "no races on the horizon" lazy excuse-filled stretch of not running for a week and hit the pavement for 4 miles yesterday.
I guess everyone goes through that sometimes right? It felt good to just get back out there. Helped that I spent over two hours watching Chicago marathon coverage on tv. Talk about inspirational. My 4 miles felt like a marathon though. It's funny how great I felt at the Ditka Dash vs how human I felt this weekend. Lesson learned to try to stay on my schedule even if it's just little runs or cross-training during the week.

I did a hybrid of walking and running around my neighborhood. I did not have a set path...I kinda did my "wander" thing that I like to do. I started off mimicking the 5k route that I did a few week's ago when I PR'd because they still had the saw-horse things set out that had the arrows that directed the runners. (Wondering when anyone is going to come pick those up???) I ran home though and then did a 1 mile lap around a different area of my neighborhood. I'd say I walked at least .5 to .75 miles total of it. I wasn't keeping good track. I was kind of fartleking in that I'd go run to a destination and then take a breather walk and etc etc. Some runs were below 10mi pace, some were above...the walks were all around 15. I was just "enjoying" the outdoors.

On the topic of what's next. I did look at a couple couch to 10k type training schedules but they all involve intervals of walking and running 1 min to 1 min or similar. I really would rather not go back to those intervals. I know they work for a lot of people but I very much enjoy sustained running. My knees tend to not like starting and stopping so much.
Does anyone have a good plan for ramping up to a 10k or even half distance that does not do very short intervals. I'm fine if it involves some walking to build up to running it throughout.
The NIke+ App's coach does not let you customize for what days you want to workout, so I do not want to use it.

 

[roxymama]

November run decision has been made. I will be running the Hot Chocolate 5k 11/8 after-all. Although I hear that it is a HUGE race with tons of corrals and no medal, the lure of chocolate is just too strong. Plus the jacket you get instead of a race tee looks really nice. This will be another good "rundisney-type" practice race I think since I've heard they are actually strict on the corrals. They even made us submit proofs to get in preferred corrals and since hubby and I both had proofs less than 11:30 we both got our acceptance emails this morning.
The only race I've done with an assigned corral so far has been rock n roll but it was not policed at all. So we shall see.

My goals for the week are below with one caveat...I have a sick baby at home today I hope she gets over this little cold bug soon because I hate seeing her not feeling well.
Tuesday (today) - Gym night, run at least 3 miles.
Wed - Rest
Thur - Gym night - going to try a mix of running and some other kind of cross-train I hope...bike or core or elliptical TBD
Fri - Rest
Sat or Sun - Long run...try for 4 miles or little bit more...4.25/4.5

My personal non-run goal for the week - MORE WATER! LESS FRENCH FRIES. (I've seriously had one too many french fries lately...not sure what that's about...just jonesing for them.)

 

[SarahDisney]

On the topic of what's next. I did look at a couple couch to 10k type training schedules but they all involve intervals of walking and running 1 min to 1 min or similar. I really would rather not go back to those intervals. I know they work for a lot of people but I very much enjoy sustained running. My knees tend to not like starting and stopping so much.

I haven't really looked at the couch to 10K programs, so I don't know if this would work, but ... have you thought about maybe doing the C210K but ignoring the walk/run alerts and just running the whole thing? Could that work?
I basically made my own plan for the transition, but I know that doesn't work for everyone. Most people like to have a set plan, and I think that if you keep looking, you may find something that works for you.

November run decision has been made. I will be running the Hot Chocolate 5k 11/8 after-all. Although I hear that it is a HUGE race with tons of corrals and no medal, the lure of chocolate is just too strong. Plus the jacket you get instead of a race tee looks really nice. This will be another good "rundisney-type" practice race I think since I've heard they are actually strict on the corrals. They even made us submit proofs to get in preferred corrals and since hubby and I both had proofs less than 11:30 we both got our acceptance emails this morning.

Yay Hot Chocolate! That's one of those races I really want to do just for the swag ... the medal is nice (once you reach that mileage), but the jacket is my favorite part!
I wish they had one in NY ... none of the fun races come here! (Well, they did just have a Rock n Roll in Brooklyn, but that was just the half)

My goals for the week are below with one caveat...I have a sick baby at home today I hope she gets over this little cold bug soon because I hate seeing her not feeling well.

Aw, poor kiddo! I hope she gets better soon!

My personal non-run goal for the week - MORE WATER! LESS FRENCH FRIES. (I've seriously had one too many french fries lately...not sure what that's about...just jonesing for them.)

I totally know this feeling. French fries are the best. If only they weren't so oily/greasy/nutritionally terrible...

 

[roxymama]

@SarahDisney I JUST realized that you have a PTR journal right now. Completey missed that. So when I'm needing something new to read I will head over to peruse. I love reading about trip planning because it sparks some good ideas that I sometimes do not thing about.

I will also make sure to report back on the Hot Chocolate for your future decision on if you want to run one. The nice thing is that it is a Sunday race which I remember is important to you.

I am also going to maybe check out the active.com C210k app and see if I can modify off of that. I do like to incorporate walking breaks when I'm adding mileage, but just not the short intervals. I have months and months and months to play around before my 10k...IN JULY!

 

[SarahDisney]

My PTR is a mix of random stuff that only occasionally gets updated ... but you're totally welcome to join the fun and see if it gives you any ideas!

I'd definitely love to hear more about Hot Chocolate ... its one of those races that has a mix of Saturdays & Sundays (the closest one to me, which is Philly, is a Saturday), but I could probably find a way to make a Sunday one work, so I really want to do it.

And yes, you do have time to play around before your 10K ... but if you think you're ready before July, you should see if there's another 10K you can do! I think one of the reasons why I'm having so much trouble with my long runs is that my 10K is so far away that somewhere in the back of my mind I don't feel a need to go beyond that distance for a while. I have to keep reminding my brain that I want to be long past the 10K distance by race day. So ... my advice is: take your time figuring it out, but once you've got it figured out, you don't have to wait until July to do your first 10K. The first one you signed up for doesn't have to be the first one you do.

 

[dancingtodisney]

Thanks for reading through all my updates! I'm working on my update now from this past weekend's 5k because I am insane and now seem to have a race every weekend. But Spoiler Alert...I PR'd. So stay tuned for that update...

I did decide on my Disney outfit. I am basically going for a Epcot Spaceship Earth silver glitter-bomb of an outfit...that is also a throwback to Future World Minnie Mouse from the 1980's. So I have a silver shirt already with 1980's Minnie screen-printed on it. I've ordered my silver sparkle skirt and am going to go looking for some silver metallic leggings and multi-colored leg warmers as well. I also need to track down a sparkly Minnie mouse headband which should not be too hard, and add on a multi-colored bow that matches Minnie's. I maybe won't be too hard to miss when I am out there on the course?! Hopefully I don't end up looking too crazy

Hellooooooo! I've still been following I've just been super busy and catching up on all my posts the last few days!

First things first... CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW PR!! You beat my 5k PR by 6secs!! We can no longer be friends... haha

I LOVE your idea for the 5k outfit! I imagine a lot of people will be going all out for the 5k. Our most elaborate costume is going to be for the 5k... we have an idea that I think could be really unique and quite a bit of fun too... I'm keeping it hush hush for now! Maybe we'll manage a group shot at the 5k in our outfits!

As for the training plan perhaps this will be of use to you

http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51122/10-K-Training-Guide-Novice-Program

I am following his training plan for my marathon and again for Dopey as well. If you just take the mileage from it you could maybe tweak it to suit yourself but it looks like a good fit for the kind of mileage you're running already. You might even decide to start on a later week than week one if your long run is at 4miles already. I've not been following the strenght training as recommended by the plan but I will be doing so after my marathon ( I feel it's too late to start now so close to the marathon).

 

[Kriii]

Just wanted to drop in and say how impressed I am with your dedication to your running!

 

[roxymama]

Just wanted to drop in and say how impressed I am with your dedication to your running!

Thanks Kriii! It's getting tough because I have been doing this now for over 6 months and so the "I've been doing this for awhile, so I deserve a break" demons are starting to show up in my head. I made myself sign up for the 5k in early November partly because it keeps me honest about sticking to this. I did not run this weekend...I chose hanging out with my kid and then napping when she napped over running. So I pretty much have to run Tues and Thurs to get back into it.
It's going to be a challenge these next two months with Halloween events starting now, my kid's birthday, a wedding, lots of other events to attend, Thanksgiving, and then all the Christmas events. So I really need to maximize my weekday after baby is in bed gym visits since the weekends will be a blur of activity.

 

[LSUlakes]

Thanks Kriii! It's getting tough because I have been doing this now for over 6 months and so the "I've been doing this for awhile, so I deserve a break" demons are starting to show up in my head. I made myself sign up for the 5k in early November partly because it keeps me honest about sticking to this. I did not run this weekend...I chose hanging out with my kid and then napping when she napped over running. So I pretty much have to run Tues and Thurs to get back into it.
It's going to be a challenge these next two months with Halloween events starting now, my kid's birthday, a wedding, lots of other events to attend, Thanksgiving, and then all the Christmas events. So I really need to maximize my weekday after baby is in bed gym visits since the weekends will be a blur of activity.

Training during the holidays is a headache! In years past, things have worked out one way or another, but it is very stressful trying to do it all. My DD b-day party is on the same day as my first 20 miler of this training cycle. Should be very interesting. Hope you are able to get your runs in and good luck on your next 5k!

 

[roxymama]

Training during the holidays is a headache! In years past, things have worked out one way or another, but it is very stressful trying to do it all. My DD b-day party is on the same day as my first 20 miler of this training cycle. Should be very interesting. Hope you are able to get your runs in and good luck on your next 5k!

Ooof, 20 miles and a party in one day. Yeah that sounds tricky. I'm rooting for you!
Thanks for thee good luck wishes too. At least I know that the Disney race in Jan is going to be a fun run of sorts for me with a character stop or two. But I also want to keep my fitness up with all the progress I have made. So I am telling myself to keep it up so that when Disney weekend comes around I can enjoy it immensely with an easy run instead of huffing and puffing the whole way.

 

[roxymama]

I don't know if I've posted yet that I've officially started my 5k to 10k training. I'm using a plan that @dancingtodisney posted which works well for my schedule. Tonight I ran for 30 min at my gym via treadmill (well 5 min was cool down.)

So I'm back on track I hope!

It has all the long runs on Sunday's so I'm thinking I can do this!!

My hubby just started active.com's Couch to 10k so we will compare notes with each other

 

[dancingtodisney]

I don't know if I've posted yet that I've officially started my 5k to 10k training. I'm using a plan that @dancingtodisney posted which works well for my schedule. Tonight I ran for 30 min at my gym via treadmill (well 5 min was cool down.)

So I'm back on track I hope!

It has all the long runs on Sunday's so I'm thinking I can do this!!

My hubby just started active.com's Couch to 10k so we will compare notes with each other

Oh I'm glad the plan works for you! How exciting!!!
I'm actually excited to start my Dopey training plan after the marathon, kinda feels like your first day back at school or something with a clean slate and more responsibility!

That's great about the hubby too... best of luck, excited to follow along

 

[roxymama]

I run tonight on the treadmill. And my focus lately has been to ease into 10k training. But I have a 5k on the horizon for on 11/8 which is "no big deal." Although now I received my corral assignment and my competitive juices are flowing again. I wrote this in the marathon thread, but I got CORRAL C. It's a really big race with 23 corrals that end in W. Probably the closest I really will get to a rundisney atmosphere. It's still a "fun run" because the theme is eating chocolate. But now that I'm in C it makes me want to run like a C runner and keep up with all my C brethren, etc. So I'm going to keep with my 10k training but still with an eye towards running a good 5k that weekend.

Any tips from anyone running a shorter race in the middle of training for a longer one?

My guess is maybe 5k won't seem so long after a few weeks with some runs at longer distances???

I'm excited. My last big race with corrals I think I was in 7 of 11? And I was still very happy with that. So this feels weirdly special in some way...my proof of time has improved by almost 5 minutes since then.

 

[LSUlakes]

I run tonight on the treadmill. And my focus lately has been to ease into 10k training. But I have a 5k on the horizon for on 11/8 which is "no big deal." Although now I received my corral assignment and my competitive juices are flowing again. I wrote this in the marathon thread, but I got CORRAL C. It's a really big race with 23 corrals that end in W. Probably the closest I really will get to a rundisney atmosphere. It's still a "fun run" because the theme is eating chocolate. But now that I'm in C it makes me want to run like a C runner and keep up with all my C brethren, etc. So I'm going to keep with my 10k training but still with an eye towards running a good 5k that weekend.

Any tips from anyone running a shorter race in the middle of training for a longer one?

My guess is maybe 5k won't seem so long after a few weeks with some runs at longer distances???

I'm excited. My last big race with corrals I think I was in 7 of 11? And I was still very happy with that. So this feels weirdly special in some way...my proof of time has improved by almost 5 minutes since then.

Very exciting indeed. Hope you have a good race when the day arrives!

The shorter race can be very easy or hard depending on the effort you put into it. In theory, you should have a faster pace for a 5k then you would a 10k and so on. During your training you may find that your 5k PR pace has now become a pace you can complete the 10k in. If that's the case, you should also be able to now run the 5k faster because its a shorter race. So the 5k could be run at a relatively easy pace and not be challenging, but running 3.1 miles is running 3.1 miles. I don't its ever easy, it just becomes more pleasant to do.

 

[SarahDisney]

Any tips from anyone running a shorter race in the middle of training for a longer one?

So, I've never done this, but I am planning to do it in a month or so.
My plan is to treat the race like a short/medium training run. I'm not going to train specifically for the race, just go out there and run it like any other training run (maybe a little more intense).
Then again, I won't be in corral C or anything special like that ...

 

[Kriii]

Just a word of encouragement to Roxy and the other runners following this thread. I am sooo impressed by all of you! Keep up the good work!

 

[roxymama]

I came home to a package at my door with my I Run Evergreen Park challenge medal! Awesome to get a medal without running a race today. This was for doing my hometown races. They even gave me a framed plaque and a $10 Jimmy Johns gift certificate! And it's such a nice medal!

 

[Ariel484]

Great medal! Very cool.

 

[roxymama]

My plan this month was to just keep running and start on 10k training...and I started out doing that and then got both very very busy and very lazy (when it came to the free minutes on the time I did have.) sometimes it sucks being a girl and having to do my hair and makeup. Throwing a run in the middle of the day after I've already gotten ready just is not easy because I have to add in the getting ready again time.
Basically this month I was an excuse machine. And the above is just a sample of the many I came up with!
But I did just come back from a 3.1 mile run outside (bundled up for warmth) and my hubby is out now doing his. He's wearing his new Brooks Beasts he got on Friday since he had been running in cross training not running shoes.
And the run felt awful and amazing at the same time. Literally a roller coaster of feeling both unstoppable and out of shape. And fighting through the feeling of wanting to quit, etc. But I got through it and finished strong. I took a .25 mile "feeling sorry for myself" walk break, but that was it.
I felt so tired after but now that I'm sitting here drinking my coffee while my kid naps, I'm feeling so much better. The relief of no longer making excuses and procrastinating.
I'll run again tues and thur and a shakeout run sat and the my hot chocolate on Sunday. Maybe by then I'll feel back to normal. My goal is sub 30 but I just didn't get even close today. Amazing what a week+ of sitting on my bootie does.

Thanks for not judging my will power fail. Please stop by on Tuesday and tell me to run. But I think I'm now motivated.

And I need to hide all pajama pants and cozy blankets until then!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love the challenge medal! What an awesome surprise to have waiting for you at home!

It's definitely rough when you can't find the motivation to run and the excuses take over. I've had times like that, and the best advice I can give you is to keep trying to get yourself out there until it works and you can get back into your routine. I'm glad to hear that you're starting to feel motivated again, and I hope that continues throughout the week.

RUN ON TUESDAY!!
I will try to remember to stop by on Tuesday and remind/motivate you to run. I'm planning to run on Tuesday morning, so I'll check in and let you know how I did ... we can see which one of us ran further! (I'm guessing it'll be you, because I'm planning to run less than 3 miles).