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

[SarahDisney]

I'm so impressed that you went out in the cold! I've been avoiding the cold weather runs over the past few weeks ... I miss the 50 degree weather, that was perfect running weather for me!

 

[roxymama]

I'm so impressed that you went out in the cold! I've been avoiding the cold weather runs over the past few weeks ... I miss the 50 degree weather, that was perfect running weather for me!

Oh I agree! It just shows how much I didn't want to drive to the gym today.
I used to shake my head at winter runners...and now I'm becoming one. What's happened to me?

 

[roxymama]

A co-worker told me about a free app she uses called 7 minutes by Wahoo. She showed it to me and I thought it may be a good "off day" workout for a few times a week. It says "12 high intensity bodyweight exercises. 30 seconds per excercise. 10 second rest between excercises."
It has little videos to show you what to do before you start and then has count downs and everything.
I'm gonna give it a go tonight and I'm not allowing myself to watch the Bachelor on DVR until I at least try this.

I'm scared of the following:
Push-ups
Abdominal crunches
Planks

I think the others I'll be fine with. I'm pretty confident in my leg strength but my arms are a bunch of noodles and my "abs" are getting better but still post-baby-traumatised. So I'm gonna do my best to not totally give up through this. At least it's just "as many as you can do" for 30 seconds.

 

[roxymama]

I didn't list my last week's workout schedule like I planned. But I will list this upcoming week right now!
Hubby and I traded opportunities to run outside yesterday since the weather was a balmy 50 degrees in January???!!!???!!
I saw him run past the house and thought...ok he is probably doing one more lap to make 4 miles and then he did not come home in what time I thought he would. Eventually before I got worried he came in the door and said he ran 5 miles in 63 minutes!! That's was very awesome to hear. We are both training for an 8k which is 4.9 miles but I didn't expect him to go for this mileage so soon. He just had a great run and said he didn't take any walk breaks this time either. Super proud.
I got out a few hours later and had a light mist rain going because that's just how it's been going for me lately with outdoor runs. But I listed to new music this time from the Spotify playlist called Just Run and I had not heard any of the songs before (well maybe I've heard of a couple), and it was so nice running to new stuff. My old songs had gotten a bit stale.
Felt great and ran a little too fast for my plan...oops. I avgeraged 10:59 for 4 miles and I was supposed to be at 11:14. Had a harder time keeping myself consistent especially as I tried to focus on just completing the distance instead of staring at my watch. I'm going to try much harder to stick to my pace plan this week!!!
The good news is that 4 miles felt fine! So I'm not so scared of my 8k afterall. Since I have not delved into 5 miles yet I will make sure not to be too over-confident about it.

2/1 to 2/6 SCHEDULE!
TUESDAY: 2.5 miles at EA pace (12:23)...treadmill
THURSDAY: Supposed to be: .5 miles WU (13:09), 3x1200m @ Speed (9:13) with RI at WU (13:09) 400m, .5miles CD (13:09)
But per @DopeyBadger advise I am going to run this at EA pace for 3 miles. And save my speeding for my 5k.
Was going to run this outside as a "snow practice" for the 5k on Sat. But if the forecast holds we should now have a clear weekend with 35 degrees! So we shall see as we get closer.
FRIDAY NIGHT: arrive in St. Joseph, MI to stay overnight with hubby while baby is with grandparents.
SATURDAY: Ice Fest 5k. If weather and streets are agreeable hoping to stick at my 9:13 goal pace or better. There may be one big hill, but I think we also get to go down that hill as well as up. We shall see. I'd be proud of myself for just running and not walking on the hill. We get a cute finisher mug. And there's the outside possibility I could age-group based on the results from last couple years...knowing that all it takes is three fast women to show up for that not to happen. I'm not banking on it, but it's a small race and I always get weirdly hopeful when the races are small. Even when it's naive to think I would medal. In the little local races usually what happens is there will be 2-3 insanely fast people and then a HUGE gap and then 15-30 women all in my same blob of 28-31 min times.
SUNDAY: LR 4 miles (11:14)

So I will keep posting how I'm faring. I've been proud of my hydration and my eating habits these last two weeks and I think that has helped me get a little bit over the holiday blerchs. But Super Bowl is coming which means I want to get that Long Run in before I dive head first into bad decisions.

 

[DopeyBadger]

SATURDAY: Ice Fest 5k. If weather and streets are agreeable hoping to stick at my 9:13 goal pace or better. There may be one big hill, but I think we also get to go down that hill as well as up. We shall see. I'd be proud of myself for just running and not walking on the hill. We get a cute finisher mug. And there's the outside possibility I could age-group based on the results from last couple years...knowing that all it takes is three fast women to show up for that not to happen. I'm not banking on it, but it's a small race and I always get weirdly hopeful when the races are small. Even when it's naive to think I would medal. In the little local races usually what happens is there will be 2-3 insanely fast people and then a HUGE gap and then 15-30 women all in my same blob of 28-31 min times.
SUNDAY: LR 4 miles (11:14)

Keep up the good work. I'll be mentally rooting for you on Saturday morning!

 

[roxymama]

Keep up the good work. I'll be mentally rooting for you on Saturday morning!

I will take all forms of rooting...even if mental

 

[SarahDisney]

Yay for a good 4 miles! I think that if you can do 4 miles and feel good, you'll be fine for the 8K. Just trust yourself and your training, and you'll do great!

I will take all forms of rooting...even if mental

Well then I'll be sleep-rooting for you! (I tend to sleep in on Saturday mornings, so you might start running before I wake up)

 

[roxymama]

Yay for a good 4 miles! I think that if you can do 4 miles and feel good, you'll be fine for the 8K. Just trust yourself and your training, and you'll do great!



Well then I'll be sleep-rooting for you! (I tend to sleep in on Saturday mornings, so you might start running before I wake up)

Ok my new goal is to finish my race before you wake up!

 

[roxymama]

Edited because the whole beginning of my post got cut off!

I have a bad habit of using food as a reward system. And this year I'm really trying to focus on better food decisions. So I've decided to make a structure of non-food rewards that are focused on indulgences for a busy working mom. I'm guessing these are fairly normal mundane things for many people, but for me they are ways to take time for myself and reward myself for working hard.

Mondays: watch the Bachelor...all 2 glorious horrible hours of it. If I don't do my Long Run on the weekend...I don't get to watch it until I do my Long run. And then I have to endure trying not to see spoilers and that's just no fun.
Wednesdays: late night mani/pedi.
Friday: late night mask...because looking like a scary alien for twenty minutes is just too fun.

And so now any food indulgences are not "rewards because I ran." I won't deny myself bad food now and again because there's no way I can go cold turkey from all the good stuff...but it'll just be a choice that has no relation to my running.

Wish me well!
Also, the Bachelor was so annoying last night because it ended in a "To be continued"...not cool!

 

[SarahDisney]

I totally get what you're saying about using food as a reward system - I used to do the same thing, and it was bad (apparently a 400 calorie latte is not a good reward for running a few miles...). I think you came up with an awesome system and I really hope it works out well for you!!

 

[roxymama]

I need to do two things. Edit my race page for 2016 as I just registered for the Flying Pig in Cincinatti for end of April & Write my race recap from this weekend. I finished another 5k on Saturday and this time the festivities around it were very unique for me. So this is my spoiler that a recap will be coming tonight...while I watch the Bachelor...so hopefully I can write it all before my brain cells all die off.

 

[roxymama]

St. Joseph, MI Ice Fest 2016 Chocolate 5k Run/Walk Race Recap - pictures to be attached soon.

A month ago my hubby had the idea to try running a 5k he read about that would take place in a lake town where we spend a week every summer. And since we are trying to do one race per month, this fit the Feb. bill.
And we had an awesome time for our short little weekend trip!
Hubby picked me up from work at noon and we drove from Chicago to St. Joseph, MI. On the way we stopped at Greenbush Brewery for lunch in Sawyer, MI and it was surprisingly very good! The place was packed at 2pm on a weekday which was a good sign and the food and drinks lived up to that. We even took home some bottles from the gift shop.
Hubby picked a nice hotel because the prices to stay there during the winter were insanely reasonable. The Inn at Harbor Shores (which is a golf course.) When we got to our hotel we dropped off our bags and headed into the little Main Street area to check out the shops. We got two new margarita glasses from the kitchen/decor store and some Michigan cherry candies and peach butter. Then a book for me and for my kiddo at the book shop. We put those in our car and then watched the ice sculpting competition. It was Ice Fest that weekend and so they had lots of ice related festivities. There were at least 10 teams ice carvers all lined up and they had a two hour limit to make a sculpture from a 3ft-ish block of ice. My favorite ended up being the tiger with a parrot on its tail. It was fun to periodically check on their progress.
We then drove to the tennis club down the street and picked up our race packets and "finisher mugs" for the race the next morning. We decided to play by the rules and run our race the next day even though they gave us our finisher mug early. Neat idea instead of a shirt or medal. Much higher quality than the mug you get at the Hot Chocolate races. We then got back to Main Street in time to watch the bonfire in the middle of town. They encased the wood inside a giant hollow ice sculpture thing. We had hot cocoa at the local coffee shop to warm us back up. We grabbed pizza for dinner at Ryebelles in town but did not sit on the roof deck like we do in the summer.
Then we went back to hotel for relax and sleep before race morning.
Race was at 9am and we woke up at 7. Lots of time to chill out which is a nice change from the insane early wake-ups for other big races. It was cold out...I was cold...no better way to say it than that. I was worried about getting too hot while I ran so I wore my long running tights, and a tech shirt and my tech hoodie, headband and gloves. My hubby bundled a bit more with a heavier jacket. And he threw his other jacket on the tree by the start (which I was happy to grab when I finished!) The start was a little tough to find since we were mainly on running paths and the town is set up on layers of bluffs down to the lake. We found it by following the fast guys who run before runs and laughed because we could have literally seen the start out of hotel window if we had looked. The crowd was mostly our age and older which is a bit of change from the high school-age heavy local races by us. I started out great and my effort felt perfect the whole race. I got passed quite a bit in the first mile by the fast crowd, but after that I mostly never passed anyone or got passed until about the last .5 mile where a few people caught me. My iphone for music froze and died of cold at about the .5 mile mark. So it was just me and my thoughts and my garmin watch again. I never felt like I was going too slow, but never felt out of control either. The ground where I was concerned about ice had a ton of sand on it, which was kind off odd but better than ice. I did not account for the amount of elevation change we would be doing as we run up some hills that got us up to different "layers of the bluff"...not sure if that makes sense. I had read somewhere that you should start up hills at a slightly slower effort and then power up the last 1/3rd. I kept my posture how I read you should for hills and just powered up to the top. I'm proud of how I handled them but I'd say it did slow me down a bit. I wish there was more down-hill to relish after the uphill but there was not much. My hope was to be in the 9:10-9:15 pace the whole race and I was more like 9:20-9:35 throughout because it felt right in the moment. I did manage to get myself down to 7:46 for the last section to finish according to my Garmin. I was not paying attention to pace at that point, just sprinting trying to see the clock not change from 28:XX. Came in at 29:20 which was less than a minute over my goal. It was still good for 6th place in my age group and 48th overall female. I would have been in 6th no matter if I had hit my goal, as #1-5 were all very very fast. First place woman was 38 years old...so I have 3 more years to get that fast right? Haha
Not too shabby race overall. I enjoyed it and seeing areas of the lake and beach and bluff you can't see by car. It was an out and back route and I think that helped me mentally feel like the last 1.5 miles were shorter than they were. I was hella cold once I cooled down and the sweat hit the elements so getting our real winter coats from our parked cars was so great. Oh and hubby beat his last race time and since his only goal was just to run the 5k with no walk breaks, he achieved that and more And we both had a lot of fun.
Then we headed up to the highest part of town for the after party (walking that steep hill was not fun, so we were glad they did not include it in the course.) They had 4 kinds of cocoa and lots of chocolate but we didn't stick around too long because did I mention it was cold out? We defrosted in our hotel and showered and packed up. Checked out and then had brunch in the lobby restaraunt by the fire place which was wonderful. Yummy eggs and bacon. I burned 900 calories running that morning and then ate them right back.

We drove back to Chicago to get our baby and had a nice weekend after that.

I'd run this race again in a heartbeat, save for any blizzards or really really cold temps. We are thinking about taking Grandma and Grandpa and kiddo with us next year. But I will need to start working in some hill work this year as this is not the first time hills have thwarted my goals.
And I feel good about my fitness. The hoard of much faster runners continues to inspire me instead of terrify me, so that is a good sign. I may never dip below my 28:XX time, but I guess there's no point in not trying right

 

[roxymama]

Pictures from our race weekend...with no actual race pictures due to frozen cell phone!

 

[SarahDisney]

One of my biggest fears is my phone freezing because of the cold. It freaks me out so much!
It sounds like it was a decent race, despite the cold and the hills. Great job!

And I love that mug - it's awesome!

 

[roxymama]

One of my biggest fears is my phone freezing because of the cold. It freaks me out so much!
It sounds like it was a decent race, despite the cold and the hills. Great job!

And I love that mug - it's awesome!

I have an Iphone 5C which is plastic. It seems to freeze and shut down a little more often than my husbands metal one, so go figure. I'm always ok when 30 degrees or over...but my race was more like 21ish. It's happened before at 27 and 28 degrees as well. In all the years I walked downtown with my phone it never froze, only while running with it strapped to my arm. So if you have it in a warm pocket or belt maybe it wouldn't be as bad?

And here is one more pic of the mug for you showing the cute hershey kiss logo on the side

 

[SarahDisney]

I have an Iphone 5C which is plastic. It seems to freeze and shut down a little more often than my husbands metal one, so go figure. I'm always ok when 30 degrees or over...but my race was more like 21ish. It's happened before at 27 and 28 degrees as well. In all the years I walked downtown with my phone it never froze, only while running with it strapped to my arm. So if you have it in a warm pocket or belt maybe it wouldn't be as bad?

I wear it in my belt or in the pocket of my fleece vest, and it's been fine so far. I think having it inside something warm helps.
But I also haven't really been out below freezing in a while. I'm wondering if it will have problems if I go out when it's colder.
Of course, first I'd have to find the motivation to go out running while it's cold...

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'll add that I run with an iPod shuffle for music (small and has a back clip that I just clip to my shorts) and it has never quit on me up to -15 degrees. I used to have my iPhone quit on me too. It was a bummer.

 

[roxymama]

I'll add that I run with an iPod shuffle for music (small and has a back clip that I just clip to my shorts) and it has never quit on me up to -15 degrees. I used to have my iPhone quit on me too. It was a bummer.

I'm really thinking that may be the way to go as well. Since I use my Garmin 220 for pace and mapping...there's really no need for my bulky phone except for music. In race it was kind of just a giant paperweight on my arm after it pooped out.
Now if I was out trail running or somewhere sketchy I'd want my phone for emergency calls...but racing I just don't need it.

 

[roxymama]

I wear it in my belt or in the pocket of my fleece vest, and it's been fine so far. I think having it inside something warm helps.
But I also haven't really been out below freezing in a while. I'm wondering if it will have problems if I go out when it's colder.
Of course, first I'd have to find the motivation to go out running while it's cold...

I would gladly stay in my warm cozy corner of my couch with a blanket on my lap forever and ever and ever during the winter...but I'm getting some weird satisfaction from being a crazy person outside running around in the freezing-ness. Don't know who I've become really. I guess I can chalk it up to just liking outside running that much more than the treadmill. I am kind of 100% ready for spring to get here though. So I can be rained on of course. j/k

 

[roxymama]

Tonight is run night. I've got my first "tempo" run waiting for me.
The plan
.5 mi @ WU (13:09), 2 mi @ TEMPO (9:37), .5 mi @ CD (13:09)
Feeling confident that I can definitely do that. I always joke that if a 5k was just 2 miles long I could really lay it all out there.
Have my playlist set up and ready to go...power songs at the ready!

And now a new topic.
What are your thoughts on Virtual Races.
I've mostly ignored them. Generally I think there are cute medals people would like to get OR people want to race with a group that doesn't all live in the same area. But I've never really been tempted by any.
Well I do not have a race lined up for March because my focus is training for my 8k on 4/3. My hubby is currently doing the one race a month goal for 2016.
So I got an email from Sparkle Athletic about a Virtual 5k for charity for March and my sister has been completely owning her a new healthy lifestyle since New Years...she's down sizes and eating really green and clean. She's wanted to do a 5k and she lives in Texas. I think I want to talk her into running this with me virtually...and I'll probably be doing my 5 mile long run. For bonding mostly. And also I don't want to have to beg for a babysitter for another big March Chicago race...My hubby can choose any race he wants to do and I'll go cheer him on with the baby.

http://sparkleathletic.com/shop/teamsparkle-virtual-5k-2016/


Alright...time to drink another glass of water.