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

[Sleepless Knight]

I've been known to show up to work the day after returning from a Star Wars race at Disneyland wearing my medals. I also secretly wore my 1/2 marathon medal to one of my 8 screenings of The Force Awakens in the theater.

 

[roxymama]

I've been known to show up to work the day after returning from a Star Wars race at Disneyland wearing my medals. I also secretly wore my 1/2 marathon medal to one of my 8 screenings of The Force Awakens in the theater.

Since Sleepless Knight brought up medals it reminded me to share a pic I got via email today for my 15k that I'm currently training for. Good motivation for making me get out the door tonight for my 6 miles.

OMG It has a little coin magnet thingy!!!

Maybe I will secretly wear it to work once I get it too

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Since Sleepless Knight brought up medals it reminded me to share a pic I got via email today for my 15k that I'm currently training for. Good motivation for making me get out the door tonight for my 6 miles.

OMG It has a little coin magnet thingy!!!

Maybe I will secretly wear it to work once I get it too

But is it edible? Or is there an edible version? Mmmmmmm, chocolate.

And unless an office dress code strictly prohibits it, I fully endorse openly wearing medals to work.

 

[roxymama]

In my haze of tiredness and glory last night I accidentally posted about my run in the running thread...well I guess it could have been worse. I could have posted it in a fastpass+ thread. So I scaled it back to like a couple sentences over there. Here's my big word dump for you all.

So last night I picked my kiddo up from school and we went home and had a Barbie tea-party dinner, complete with pouring milk and juice out of tea-pots and it was fun and lovely. My hubby got home so I changed into my running clothes, knowing I had an hour + run in front of me (Oh and the rain had completely stopped too!) But I just looked at my kiddo and I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay and play with her. She was being such a good girl earlier in the morning and I had one of those "I don't want to drop you off at daycare" feelings and it just was the same after dinner.
So I stayed and played with her for a couple more hours until she went to bed and I loved every minute of it. We even watched the track and field while she waved her little american flag at the tv rooting for "USA shirt people."
By the time she went to bed it was 9pm and I was exhausted. But I still had my running clothes on. I just stood in my living room staring at my hubby on the couch like willing him to say "it's ok, you can stay home"
But he said "I can't make you go, you have to make yourself go" and he was right. He said "Just run at least a half hour and see how you feel" but I knew once I started running I'd already be there and I'd keep going. I told him I'd see him later and out the door I went.

I have not been on a treadmill for literally months. I was not sure my planet fitness pass would even work, but of course it did. I'd been paying my $10 a month for the privilege of those dang machines being there once it gets to fall/winter again after all.
The gym was not especially crowded but the few treadmills in front of the two designated NBC tvs were jam packed, it was kind of funny. There was one open spot so I hopped on and watched Olympics the whole time. Turns out I love running while watching other people run. Felt a little super-hero-ish to run so long that several track and field races can finish while you are still going.

So the first two miles at WU pace (4.4 mph = 13:38 since my treadmill can't hit my exact pace on the nose) were very easy for me. But they took literally forever. The olympic watching helped.
The tempo miles were not as bad as I thought they'd be (I did 5.8 which is more conveniently 10:21) The plus side...these didn't take as long to complete...because math! I wouldn't say they were easy but they weren't torture and overall I felt good. I went through moments of "I feel awesome" and "My legs are tired will I make it"
My last 2 miles at the 4.4mph again were totally fine...but they took fooooorever. Why does 20+ min running outside feel like nothing and the same time on a treadmill feels like 5 hours?

So downside: My glasses suck on a treadmill...they get sweaty and slip down my nose too much while I'm trying to hold my head up to watch the tvs. I think when I'm running outside I'm looking straight ahead and then every once in a while down at the ground for pothole/stick/curb precautionary reasons. Something about lift my head slightly to look up at the tvs and my glasses just do weird things. So I may just force myself into contacts here in the next month or two (I'm a scared baby about it) OR get a dorky head strap which...whatever...I'm already a sweaty mess in neon crazy clothes.

Plus side: I stayed on pace! Cause I was forced to! And I will say my tempo ended up being not as exhausting I think because I never did my nose-dives into the 9:45 or 9:50 or whatever like I will do outside.

Not sure if Plus or Down side: I think my legs felt more worn out at the end. I was "fine" cardio wise (as fine as one can be after running for over an hour) but not sure if it was because of the constant same rate running with no ups and downs in pace OR if it was because it was late at night and I was just pooped from my day.

Fun Fact: my treadmill has auto-cool down and shut off at the one hour mark...did not know that. But I still had a little bit left, so I like jogged in place on the non -moving treadmill (probably a gym foul) and then waited the two minutes and then turned it back on and finished. I was kinda sad I was unable to take a pic of the screen saying 6 miles. Instead it said like .8 or whatever. boooo

Ok, so that was far too much stuff about a single treadmill run. I was home by 10:35pm and in bed at 11. AND COFFFEEEEE today.

 

[roxymama]

Ok if you got through the word dump above, yay, and thank you! And sorry!

I forgot one thing. I have a new fave "get me through it" song. Really recommend you all add to your playlist. Good pump up song. I played it two times over to finish my run.

Falling (Duke Dumont Remix) - Haim (Make sure you are listening to this remix version)

The chorus is basically this....

Don't stop, no, I'll never give up
And I'll never look back, just hold your head up
And if it gets rough, it's time to get rough

 

[happybaker]

So downside: My glasses suck on a treadmill...they get sweaty and slip down my nose too much while I'm trying to hold my head up to watch the tvs. I think when I'm running outside I'm looking straight ahead and then every once in a while down at the ground for pothole/stick/curb precautionary reasons. Something about lift my head slightly to look up at the tvs and my glasses just do weird things. So I may just force myself into contacts here in the next month or two (I'm a scared baby about it) OR get a dorky head strap which...whatever...I'm already a sweaty mess in neon crazy clothes.

So, I've been following your journal, and I just thought I'd comment on your glasses. I had the same issue with my last pair of glasses sliding down my nose when I run (and I can't wear contacts anymore because of a boo-boo eye). My new glasses are better at staying on, but what I had done was I bought some of those thin headbands (not the cloth ones they're more like ponytail holder material) and instead of putting it behind the ear pieces of the glasses and around the back of my head, I put it over and it holds my glasses in place. It's less dorky than the head strap and cheaper than contacts.

Just a thought.

Holly

 

[roxymama]

I'm definitely going to try that! Thinking back, my most successful non-slippage race was when I wore a survivor type buff on my head over my ears. That was for warmth at the time. Thanks for the tip! And thanks for reading my journal!

 

[roxymama]

What a difference nice weather makes! Finally a day that wasn't rainy or muggy!! Did my 6 mi long run and I gotta tell you that I got a little emotional around the 4th mile because I knew I was going to have my longest mileage week ever. And as much as I rah rah on disboards, I don't always believe I can do these things. And I did the thing!

I also may be be slightly Olympic-toxicated which is a condition where I get inebriated off sports montages to music.

Next week we leave for our lake vacation and that means I'll get a change in running scenery and I'll get running buddies since there will be a couple runners coming from our family.

Final note: I tried really hard to internalize my pace so I can do okay at my blind run next weekend. I kept falling back into my old 11:15-11:20 LR pace (old habits die hard) but then I'd course correct myself back to the high 11's, by the end I was doing much better staying there. And I appreciated that pace at the higher mileage.

Oh and I avoided a hypodermic needle for the first time, so is that some kind of right of passage?

 

[Ariel484]

Exciting week - new PDR, avoiding needles...you're killing it!

And as much as I rah rah on disboards, I don't always believe I can do these things. And I did the thing!

Right there with you. But I believe in you!!

 

[roxymama]

My plan for this week!

Mon 8/22: Bachelor in Paradice and do laundry for vacation. So "stair work" to the basement
Tue 8/23: Avoid packing until the last minute by doing my 3 mi @ EA.
Wed 8/24: Relax
Thur 8/25: tempo run by Lake Michigan with buddies! 1.5 mi WU, 3 mi Tempo, 1.5 CD. Not sure how long their stick with me. My guess is they'll get annoyed by my pace in the beginning and then maybe I can try to catch up to them in the middle? We shall see.
Weekend (not sure which day): 4 mi LR - BLIND RUN. I think my hubby will hang with me for this one and I'll just tell him that I'm his pacer. That's good practice right...since during a race I'd be next to other people. I will just be a "not race pace" pacer.

I see a 7 miler coming up soon in my schedule. (I've never ran over 6.5 miles...got to start psyching myself up for it now.)

Fun news: hubby is about 99% sure he will be doing the North Shore Triathlon on 9/18 this year. And since we will be at the lake this week he will get a chance to practice his open water swimming again (since he usually is stuck using indoor pools for practice.)
I've been so laser focused on my 15k that I have not been really looking into any local 5ks right now. But I did see this for next fall. Think I should try to earn this? (and don't adjust your monitor...that medal is the size of a salad plate.)

 

[dis_or_dat]

Do it!!! Then wear the medal for a week nonstop!

 

[roxymama]

Do it!!! Then wear the medal for a week nonstop!

Haha, I should probably pre-book a chiropractor then for my neck!

Classic me that I'm looking for the next distance before I conquer the current one. I tend to only do that after a good run week.

 

[dis_or_dat]

I'm in the same boat. If I have an exceptionally good run, I can conquer the world. If I have a bad one, I start second guessing the upcoming race.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Beautiful medal. I'd say, "If you want it, Prove it, by doing what is necessary to get it!" I definitely think you can do it.

 

[roxymama]

Beautiful medal. I'd say, "If you want it, Prove it, by doing what is necessary to get it!" I definitely think you can do it.

Hmmmm...where have I heard that before......I'm experiencing a weird sense of DeJaVu.

 

[ZellyB]

Congrats on your 6-miler and on a treadmill no less. UGGGGG!!!!

And that medal is all kinds of awesome so you definitely need to do it!! Glad you get to have some runs with running buddies too. Yay.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Hmmmm...where have I heard that before......I'm experiencing a weird sense of DeJaVu.

Funny enough, I wrote a scientific term paper freshman year of college on DeJaVu. A very interesting phenomenon!

 

[roxymama]

Congrats on your 6-miler and on a treadmill no less. UGGGGG!!!!

And that medal is all kinds of awesome so you definitely need to do it!! Glad you get to have some runs with running buddies too. Yay.

You run with groups a lot right?
I don't have a lot of experience running with people. Any tips for running with a small group on days you want to stick to a very specific pace? I'm pretty sure one person will be completely faster and I want to avoid getting caught up in "keeping up." I think I can get my hubby to stick with me though he may want to speed up too. Should I just pick a coffee shop to run to and say "winner pays?"

Funny enough, I wrote a scientific term paper freshman year of college on DeJaVu. A very interesting phenomenon!

One day you will tell me this again and I will feel like you've said it before.

 

[ZellyB]

You run with groups a lot right?
I don't have a lot of experience running with people. Any tips for running with a small group on days you want to stick to a very specific pace? I'm pretty sure one person will be completely faster and I want to avoid getting caught up in "keeping up." I think I can get my hubby to stick with me though he may want to speed up too. Should I just pick a coffee shop to run to and say "winner pays?"

We do, but we are also the pace leaders for our group, so that makes it easy to make people stick to our pace! I'd say just let everybody know before you start out that you have a specific pace you are shooting for as part of your training plan and that it's totally okay if everybody wants to run at a different pace and just see each other at the end. Often people will say if you have a specific pace in mind and they don't that they'll just run your pace, but if not, then no hard feelings since everyone knows where everyone else stands up front.

 

[roxymama]

We do, but we are also the pace leaders for our group, so that makes it easy to make people stick to our pace! I'd say just let everybody know before you start out that you have a specific pace you are shooting for as part of your training plan and that it's totally okay if everybody wants to run at a different pace and just see each other at the end. Often people will say if you have a specific pace in mind and they don't that they'll just run your pace, but if not, then no hard feelings since everyone knows where everyone else stands up front.

Ok, so I chatted with Mr. Roxy and he's going to run from our lake house to the local mega grocery store that has a nice starbucks in it with me. It is 6 miles conveniently maybe 6.1+. He said that he will get me a keychain or something as my medal since I never did sign up for an August race this year. Gotta keep my race a month streak going, haha. Oddly enough we calculated that if he does three of our local 5ks this fall + his already scheduled tri's and races...he will hit 20 races this year!!! That's a lot of races but I said GO FOR IT. So I may be spectating a few extra runs this fall

I also picked my Nov & December races. 11/19 Ditka Dash 5k & 12/3 Santa Hustle 5k. So gotta go update the runner's thread with my race addition.