Tag Archives: marathon

ColdGear my butt.

9 Jan

So I mentioned that I got my Under Armour Compression Tights and my new Nike (Golf) jacket in the mail. I tried them out during my chilly run on Saturday and I have mixed feelings.

First, let me say that I absolutely LOVE the fit and feel of the compression tights. I seriously would wear them all day long and never take them off because they’re so comfortable. I wasn’t sure that I would like the weird men’s-underwear-looking elastic band around the waist (you can see it in the video on their website) but it is seriously comfy. No muffin top action there. And my favorite part – they’re actually a little too long. Not like my 2XU compression tights.

I have perfected the awkward picture in one try.

But unlike my 2XU tights, these don’t feel like recovery compression tights. My 2XU tights are so tight, they’re almost like getting a wetsuit on (you should see how small they are!) and I can actually feel them doing something to my legs when I’m wearing them. The UA tights are a good tight, but I am skeptical about their muscle-fatigue-preventing powers. Thoughts?

 

Anyway, I wore my new duds out my run Saturday morning at the butt-crack of dawn. Seriously, the sun was just beginning to rise when I went out. It was about 25 degrees and I wore a long-sleeve tech tee, my new Nike jacket, and a fleece vest on top. On bottom, my UA tights and SmartWool running socks (seriously the best socks ever for cold runs). I also wore a fleece ear warmer and fleece gloves.

Katy didn’t understand why I was bending over and not petting her

Why did I head out so cotton-pickin’ early? I was supposed to run with a friend at 8 am and figured we’d do about 3 miles. Since I had 8 on the schedule and wanted to be done after running with my friend, I got up to do the 5 before meeting up with her.

So, I got geared up and after a breakfast of instant oatmeal (that I’m trying to get out of my cupboard) with raisins, I set out with the pooches for 3.5 miles, after which I would drop them at the house and go do another 1.5 before driving over to D’s house.

Immediately, my legs were cold. But maybe the tights work on some kind of heat exchange so I just need to get moving for them to warm me up, I thought.

Not so much.

My legs froze. My butt froze. I was not enjoying it.

But I kept going because I had to. I dropped the dogs off and gritted my teeth for another 1.5 miles. Just a few more minutes until I can warm up, I told myself.

I got back and grabbed my stuff to head over to D’s, when I found out that she wasn’t feeling well and didn’t think she should run. So I was on my own to finish out the last 3 miles. Crapit. My legs had just thawed out and I had to head back out into the cold. But I wanted to be done more than I wanted to be warm so I did it. It wasn’t pretty but after a spoonful of peanut butter and 3 Shotbloks, I did it.

Luckily, for those last 3 miles, I brought Harry Potter with me (on my iPod) and for some reason, having mental stimulation like listening to a book or sermon makes time pass a lot faster during a workout for me than listening to music. So the cold wasn’t as bad during the last 3 miles (but it was probably mostly that the sun was out by then too).

All in all, I ran 8.27 miles in 1:32:40, an 11:12 pace. I feel pretty good about that, considering I was running with ice legs.

So unfortunately, while I like the UA leggings and am definitely going to keep them, they’re not going to be appearing on any more 25 degree or colder runs. I told Travis that I think my problem is that I’m too cheap to buy the actual leggings made for those temps. I saw some at Boulder Running Company when we were buying our shoes – they were a lot thicker but they were also something like $120. In Minnesota, I think I could justify that because it’s a lot colder there, and for longer, than it is here in CO (except for this winter?!?!). But by February, I’m going to probably be wearing shorts again so…

About the jacket, since I wore a fleece vest over it and it wasn’t raining or windy, I don’t really have an accurate assessment (not that you probably care, since I’m most likely the only one cheap enough to buy a golf jacket for running) but it did keep my arms warm (and not too warm)!

Here’s the back of the jacket if you’re interested:

And the stretchy side:

Also a sad little side note: the jacket has a cinch at the bottom and the little plastic thing rubbed against my UA tights, so now there’s a fuzzy spot on my tights. ::tear::

What do you wear on your legs for cold runs? Help a girl out!

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Training Recap: 1/2 – 1/8

9 Jan

My weekend was very relaxing – Friday night, Travis played broomball with some friends and I just stayed home. I made a frozen pizza for dinner, went to Target and bought some binders/scrapbooks to create a new picture album, a memory book for races, as well as a memory book for holidays, vacations, etc. Then I organized my scrapbooking tote and watched The Wedding Planner.

Saturday, I got up at 6:15 to eat breakfast and feed the pooches before heading out on a run at 6:50, right when it started getting light outside. I ended up doing 8.27 miles at a 11:12 pace, which I’m pretty excited about (that pace would give me a 4 minute PR in the half). After my run, I did 2 things I hadn’t done in a year: used Photoshop (tried to teach my friend how to use it for basic things) and got my hair cut. No, I hadn’t gotten my hair cut in over a year. Whoops.

But really, it’s because my hair only grew this much:

Maybe 6 inches?

Anyway, after my haircut, I took a nap while Travis hung this up in our guest bedroom:

This makes you want to come visit, doesn’t it?

Now you can understand my hesitation to let him put it up anywhere in our house – it’s HUGE. But supposedly this is just “temporary” until we can take it back to Minnesota to his parents’ house. I actually don’t hate it. I just think it looks awkward because of how big it is, and how small our house is.

Here’s a victory pic:

After I was done lamenting about what he had done to our lovely guest room, I worked on my race memory book, and then we went out to dinner at Namiko’s, a sushi bar near our house. We tried a couple of new kinds and found one that we loved – it was called Gemini and was a tempura roll with tuna, crab, and salmon inside. Delicious.

After that, we read and went to bed around 9:30. We lead such exciting lives, don’t we?

The next morning, we both slept in until 8:30! I can’t believe we got 11 hours of sleep. I got up at 6 to let the dogs out and feed them. But then I put Charlie back in her kennel and Katy crawled in between us on the bed for another 2 1/2 hours.

When we finally did get up, we went to church, grocery shopping, and then over to some friends’ house to watch the Broncos game. What a great game! We were all totally pumped that they won, and in the way that they did. Amazing. Go Tebow!

After the game, we went home, worked out, finished doing laundry and dishes, read for a while, and went to bed.

And now it’s Monday again! That means it’s time for a training recap.

Monday: 3.5 mile run (40:04, 11:29/mile)

Tuesday: Half mile repeats (total of 3.3 miles, all 4 around 4:30); 20 minutes strength training

For my strength training, I did the exercises I learned in physical therapy. The hardest one to do is backward lunges off a high step or box (this time I used a step with 4 risers, but I’ve also used a box jump before). Stand on your right foot with your left foot off the step. Slowly bend your right leg until your thigh is parallel to the ground and then step down on to your left foot, concentrating on keeping your right knee straight forward. Start with 1 set of 12-15 times and switch sides. Work up to 3 sets. Major butt soreness.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 3.04 mile tempo run (31:15, 10:17/mile); 35 minutes of easy yoga

I did my usual tempo formula: 0.5 mile warmup, 2 miles tempo, 0.5 mile cool down. The tempo miles were 9:55 and 10:20. I think the second one was slower mostly because I had to pick up and throw away two poop bags and I didn’t stop my watch. My total time was still 7 seconds faster than the same run last week. Improvement!

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 8.27 mile run (1:32:40, 11:12/mile)

I’ll give details about this run in another post, since I wore my new Under Armour tights. But for now, I’ll say that it was a tough run, but I’m very pleased with my pace.

Sunday: 45 minutes of Denise Austin’s Ultimate Fat Burner

An oldie but goodie. I’m not sure how smart it was to do this video – it involves a lot of lateral movements and plyometrics and now my right knee hurts a bit. But I sweated a lot and got my heart rate up to 173 so it was at least partly a success. I think I’m going to forego the run today though and do some cross training.

When was your last haircut?

What do you think about head mounts of animals? {I won’t be offended if you say you hate them… although Travis might be.}

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I took the plunge…

6 Jan

 

AND

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New Pages… and New Marathon

4 Jan

Since I’ve had copious amounts of time at work to do nothing but blog and read blogs, I have updated my blog with the following:

Food

To Eat or Not to Eat – links to all posts involving my food struggle, my views on healthy eating and grocery shopping.

Recipes – my favorite recipes. I hope to start posting more of these.

Books

Books I’ve Read in 2012 – there are 3 in progress!

Running

Marathon in 2012 – updated with the following news…

I am 99% certain that I am no longer going to do the Eugene Marathon. ::single tear::

I spent many, many hours deciding which race to pick based on date, location, size, course, spectator support, athlete reviews, and airfare price, and had decided on the Eugene Marathon in April. But due to limited money and a desire to vacation in Alaska for 2 weeks in celebration of 5 years of marriage, I will either be doing the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage on June 23 or the Kaiser Permanente Colfax Marathon in Denver on May 19 (which also happens to be our anniversary).

Because things are still up in the air (and it will take some time to plan this mega-trip to Alaska), I am following my marathon training plan as if nothing has changed. This way, I can still do the two races that I had planned on doing – although the 10 mile race depends on when I go down to Evansville to see my new nephew, who was just born this morning!! Congrats to my bro and SIL! It also gives me until the middle of February to make a decision.

After those races, if I’m planning to do the Colfax Marathon, I’ll back down in mileage for 2 weeks and then continue on with the marathon training plan where I left off. If I do the Mayor’s Marathon, I will have enough time to simply restart the marathon training program from the beginning. One bright side of doing a later marathon is that it will work out for me to do the Platte River Half Marathon on April 15. But one drawback is that we wait longer before trying to get pregnant. You win some, you lose some. But Travis and I both agree that this is the best year for us to go to Alaska so in the end, it’ll be worth the wait.

I’m kinda bummed to not be doing Eugene, since I spent a lot of time researching and I’ve heard some other bloggers say they’re doing it. But alas, twas not to be (this year). Regardless, I’m still pumped for marathon training!

So for the next 7 weeks, this is my training plan:

 

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Training Recap: 12/26 – 1/2

3 Jan

Yesterday was the day of organization. We took down our Christmas decorations and stored them in new totes. We went through clothes, toiletries, and jewelry, throwing out what no one would want to wear and creating a pile of stuff to donate to the thrift store. I organized my dresser drawers, 5 different closets, and even my spices. I also gave the dogs a bath (after our run, it was very necessary) and cleaned the house. Productivity is such a great feeling!

Here’s what my training looked like last week:

Monday: 3.04 mile run (35:50, 11:47/mile), 16 min weight training

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 2.73 mile hill workout (30:48, 11:17/mile)

I did this run outside my office in Broomfield. I warmed up downhill/flat for a mile, then sprinted 10 seconds up the hill, walked for about a minute, sprinted, walked. Here’s the elevation profile:

According to MapMyRun.com, where I’m running in Broomfield is actually higher in elevation than Wheat Ridge by about 400 feet. Which makes me feel better about wheezing up hills.

And you can’t beat the view:

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 3.04 mile tempo run (31:23 total, 10:19/mile); 18 min Tabata workout

I warmed up and cooled down for .5 mile (1 mile total), running the 2 middle miles at a tempo pace. I wore my 2XU compression tights on this run and once again, I busted out speed from God-knows-where. I ran the middle 2 miles at a 10:00 pace and the other mile at a combined pace of 11:23. Not too shabby.

And then I got my butt handed to me by a Tabata workout. If you haven’t heard of them, the idea is to do something all-out for 20-30 seconds, take a rest, then do it again. This is the workout I did (and I’m sorry, but I can’t remember the blog I found it on):

  • squat with weight shoulder press
  • pushups
  • lunge with bicep curl (alternating legs per set)
  • mountain climbers
  • sumo (wide) squat with single weight tricep extension (behind the head)
  • seated lower body crunches (leaning back and curling knees into chest)
  • jump squats and jump lunges (alternate per set)
  • bicycle crunches

You were supposed to do 6-8 rounds of each exercise before moving on. I downloaded a free Tabata timer on my phone, which makes it easy and brainless to time the intervals of work v. rest. I made 6 rounds of the squats, lunges, and sumos, but I had to call it quits at 3 rounds of pushups, mountain climbers, and lower body crunches (although I added 3 rounds of other core work to make it 6.) Yeah, definitely a good workout – I counted how many sumo squats I did in a single 30 second interval. 10. 10 x 6 = 60 squats. No wonder! This showed me that while my lower body is fairly strong, my upper body and core need some work.

Saturday: 1.1 mile run with pooches (12:55, 11:44/mile); 5.2 mile run without pooches (52:01, 10:00/mile)

If you’re wondering how on earth I managed to run my first mile in 11:44 and then 5 consecutive miles at a pace of 10 minutes per mile, let me tell you about the wind. It was crazy. Power went out in places, portapotties tipped over, sandstorms were blowing from the foothills, windows were whistling. I never looked it up but Travis estimated the gusts were 40-50 mph at times.

Yes, I ran in that.

I took the dogs out for what I planned to be a short 1.5 mile run around the lake. Ha, yeah. The minute I started heading west around the lake (no wind barrier), I was leaning into the wind, tears streaming and breathless (the wind was actually kind of cold). So I said Screw That and turned around. Hence the 1.1 miles.

My route to and from the lake ran north and south and it really wasn’t that bad being out there when you weren’t running west. I tried to think of a route I could do from my house that would run only north and south but it’s a weird, old neighborhood with a lot of streets that end in weird spots. I would inevitably end up having to go west sometime. So inspired by Monica at Run, Eat, Repeat who has her husband come pick her up from her runs, I had Travis drive me 5 miles to the west, so that I could do my entire run going east. As we were driving over there, Travis said, “I can’t believe you’re doing this. I think you’re crazy.” But he knows how stubborn I am so he didn’t argue.

And I will say, it wasn’t that bad. Yes, I got blown around like a ragdoll at times and when the wind died down so that I was running on my own strength, I felt like I was running in slow motion. But I wasn’t the only crazy out there. AND there were other people running west. Now those people are crazy.

The only thing I didn’t like about the run was my hair. I had contemplated wearing a hat but didn’t want to deal with it blowing off. I should’ve worn a headband at least because my hair flyaways were constantly in my face.

If you look closely, you can see leaves flying through the air and mist rising from the reservoir.

So when I wanted to eat my Gu Chomps at mile 3 of my combined runs, I actually turned around and ran backwards, so that the wind would keep my hair out of my face while I ate.

Overall, the run was a success.

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In other news, I tried these two new foods last week and loved them both:

The Pretzel Crisps tasted a lot like mustard pretzels (which I love) and the Pure Almond Dark Chocolate milk tasted just like chocolate cow’s milk. This would be a great alternative for those who are lactose-intolerant and want to drink chocolate milk, or for someone looking for a drink high in calcium (it provides 45% of your daily value). But there’s only one gram of protein, so I’ll be sticking with my cow’s milk and Hershey’s syrup for post-run recovery.

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Food journal update: It is a lot harder than I thought it would be to remember to write down everything I eat. I failed yesterday. Whoops.

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What are the craziest conditions you’ve run in?

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Looking Back and Ahead

31 Dec

I don’t really do resolutions but I do like how the new year prompts a look back and a look ahead, and I like setting goals. So here ’tis the obligatory New Years post…

In 2011, I…

…ran 276 miles (from May to December – I didn’t keep track before that. Stupid!)

…biked 458 miles.

…swam 16.4 miles.

…raced in 3 sprint triathlons, 1 Olympic, and a 5k.

…started a new job.

…started writing a nonfiction book.

…read 26 books (beat my goal of 25!)

…combined my running and spiritual blogs into Life, Really

…went on my first trail run and loved it.

…adopted a new dog, Charlie, found on an Indian reservation in New Mexico.

 

It was a very good year – like I mentioned in my Best of 2011, this year could be summed up as Busy, but Fun.

 

In 2012, I hope to: 

…get pregnant.

…run 700 miles.

…finish writing my nonfiction book.

…read 50 books.

…consistently track my workouts so I have accurate totals on 12/31/12!

…grow in being a loving, supportive wive to my amazing husband.

…accept who God created me to be.

 

And because I like cheese, here are 12 more goals for 2012, one for every month:

  1. January – Forego sweets for an entire month.
  2. February – Read or listen to the entire Harry Potter book series.
  3. March – Try Bikram Yoga.
  4. April – Finish a memory book about our first 5 years of marriage.
  5. May – Make a time capsule for our 5-year wedding anniversary.
  6. June – Run a marathon… in Alaska (more on this coming soon, hopefully!)
  7. July – Bike 50 miles in one ride.
  8. August – Climb a 14er.
  9. September – Complete at least one big home project in preparation for moving in 2013.
  10. October – Make Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread with Buttered Rum Glaze
  11. November – Make our own Christmas stockings.
  12. December – Watch the movie classic, It’s a Wonderful Life

I will try to do those goals in order but the Harry Potter series might take me longer than a month to get through. I have already requested the first audio book from the library though!

I also posted these goals on my new page, 2012 Goals.

 

I am excited for 2012. Bring it on!

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New Running Gear!

30 Dec

Even though my family is wonderfully generous and I got lots of great presents for Christmas, I didn’t get any running stuff (which was secretly what I wanted the most, but it’s also the hardest to buy for someone else so I totally understand why they bought other things).

So after thinking long and hard about the running gear that I would most like right now, and shopping around for the most reasonable prices (I think I can only handle spending $100 on running tights once in my life), I bought the following:

Underarmour Coldgear Compression Tights – $49.99

For every run I’ve gone on that’s been colder than 40 degrees, I’ve worn Smartwool long underwear under my regular running pants. It works but the long underwear doesn’t stretch at all and I don’t like having to wear 2 layers. So hopefully these will solve my dilemma.

I bought a medium because that’s almost always what my size is, but according to my waist/hip measurements and their size chart, I would be an XXL. So I’m crossing my fingers that they’re the ones on crack, not me.

Nike Windproof 1/2 Zip Jacket – on sale for $29.23!

I’ve been wanting a running jacket for a while but am so cheap that I almost pass out every time I look at their price tags. {Side note: What happened to me?!?!} This jacket is cute, on sale, windproof and water resistant (which is all I need because I don’t usually run when it’s pouring outside). I also bought a medium in this.

I’ll let you know how I like them after they come and I have a chance to try them out.

I haven’t tried out my new shoes yet because I was a big lazy butt last night and this morning. I watched Sweet Home Alabama on TV (love that movie!) and then slept in until 7. I’ve just been so tired this week – I don’t know what my deal is. Usually, I’m wide awake once I get up but this week, I get up late after getting 8+ hours of sleep and still want to go straight back to bed.

Anyway, I’m going for my run after work today. And I’m actually excited because it’s supposed to be about 45 degrees and almost all of the snow we had has melted, which means no more slipping, sliding and accidentally stepping in ankle deep puddles.

What is the most important thing for you to have/wear on cold runs?

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The Day After Christmas

30 Dec

If you can believe it, on Monday, we did even less than we had on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We moved from our bed to the couch to watch Little Fockers and DVRed episodes of Bones and Desperate Housewives and there we stayed. Glorious.

But! Monday was officially the start of my marathon training (kinda, sorta, more on that later) so I had to get in a 3 mile run and strength training. We had also talked about going to buy new running shoes at Boulder Running Company, since Travis was in dire need. And we had a 15% off coupon so I figured I might as well buy a new pair too – even though I don’t need them right now, I will soon! I think I’ll start rotating my shoes when I run on consecutive days.

Finally, we got motivated at 2:45 to get running. Unfortunately, my pre-run fuel choice of nachos and caramel corn set off my acid reflux and I hadn’t drank enough water so I had a headache for the entire run. At mile 2.5, I decided to walk the rest. It just wasn’t worth it.

Ok, not quite the start to marathon training I had envisioned…

But no biggie. I know that bad running days happen and I have gotten acid reflux on enough runs that I know it’s just plain stupid that it continues to happen. I need to stop eating tomato-based foods (like salsa!) on days I’m running and start taking antacids before every. single. run. Even when I don’t think I need them. At first on this run, I thought it was the caramel corn attacking my esophagus. It seemed a little weird but the combination of chocolate and coffee once sent me to the ER – so why not caramel corn? But then I remembered the salsa-laden nachos and that made a lot more sense. Even ketchup gets me. It’s so sneaky!

After our failed run, I did 15 minutes of strength training, wiped myself off with a fancy cleansing towelette, and we headed down south to BRC and to get us a juicy burger and some fries for dinner (after all that candy, I was craving something hearty… but still not healthy).

At the running store, I stuck with my tried and true Nike Zoom Structure Triax:

It’s been so long since I bought running shoes that I actually skipped a version, going from the 13 to the 15. Sad. These feel less squishy than past pairs so I’m going to try them out at the gym first, just in case I don’t like them (please, don’t let it be true!).

Travis went with the Brooks Ravenna:

He had ran in the Racers for several pairs and while he liked them, he wanted something with a little more support, since we run on concrete 95% of the time (hey, it’s convenient and free of traffic). Plus, these aren’t horrific colors like the new Racers:

I told Travis that he would look like a Kenyan in those. He didn’t buy it.

After a quick stop at JCPenney to do an exchange, we went to Red Robin for some juicy deliciousness. As we sat there debating menu choices, I had the grand idea to sub a beef burger for a Gardenburger – I mean, I’m not a huge fan of meat so would it really make that much of a difference?

Big mistake.

It did make a big difference. I was craving a juicy burger and while my veggie burger was tasty, it didn’t have the juiciness (ahem, fattyness) I wanted. At least my heart thanks me.

On our way home, we got a call from my family – we were planning a conference call for that night so that we could all talk together a bit, since we were in 3 different locations (Colorado, Indiana and Minnesota).

After we talked for about 30 minutes, we hung up and Travis and I watched Hall Pass. It was a bad, dirty movie. Which made me sad because I really Owen Wilson and Jenna Fischer as actors.

Anyway, this has been so true this week:

Cheers!

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A New Season

23 Dec

I am very excited for the beginning of a new season: training for a marathon. I spent the majority of 2011 training for triathlons, culminating in my first Olympic distance. While I love the variety of multisport, there’s something about getting out on the road and slogging out a bunch of miles in preparation for a long distance running-only event.

And I was just thinking this morning that if I used my two cross-training workouts a week for biking and swimming,  I could even be in triathlon shape by the time the marathon is over!’

I saw this little “Best of 2011” on RunToTheFinish and liked it so much I’m going to do it:

What I’m looking forward to in the season of marathon training:

  • Mapping out new routes on mapmyrun.com
  • Exploring new areas of Denver on foot
  • Buying cute new running shoes
  • Feeling the good hurt in my legs of running many miles

  • Visualizing myself finishing my first marathon
  • Calling myself a marathoner
  • Eating like a horse and not gaining a pound
  • Developing runner’s leg muscles

  • Listening to books on tape and sermons while I run
  • Seeing my pace get faster (hopefully!)
  • Exercising mental endurance and positive thinking (You got this!)
  • Spending my Saturdays running a crapton of miles and then taking a nap

I tried to take the dogs on a walk this morning and it was more than a little difficult, what with traffic, a foot of snow and a temperature of 15 degrees. I ended up turning around early because Charlie started limping, showing that her paws had gotten cold. Maybe she could wear the Frankenbooties we bought Katy? If we put them on one of them again, I’ll record a video – that is, if I’m not dying laughing.

Our favorite thing to do lately to joke around with our sweet little pooches is this: if we’re watching TV and a commercial or show has a doorbell ringing in it, Charlie thinks it’s real. So she’ll get all excited, bark and even jump up to see who’s at the door. To prolong the hilarity of the situation, we’ll rewind the DVR to replay the doorbell noise. By the time we do that 4 or 5 more times, I’m seriously crying because I’m laughing so hard. Dogs are an endless source of amusement.

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, I took a picture of this car on our street:

 

That car is totally plowed in by 3 foot snow banks on both sides. Our neighbor plows our street (since the city never does it, by law – isn’t that ridiculous?!?!) and I think he plowed that car in because it’s been sitting there (in front of our house, mind you) for weeks now. Both Travis and I had a good chuckle over that.

What do you look forward to when starting a new training plan?

Have you ever been plowed in? I haven’t, but there was one time when I wasn’t able to get out of our driveway in college.

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Christmas Festivities, in Pics

20 Dec

I finally remembered my camera! So here are the pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Christmas Tea

I found these picture holders at Kohl’s for less than $4 each. These were the guest gifts.

Christmas Decorations

Same as last year

Our mini tree

Christmas Carol 5k

Sweet shorts, huh? (Thanks for the pics D!)

About the race…

It was being held in City Park and didn’t start until 9 so we met D and Doug at our house around 7:45. We got down to the race site a little after 8, parked, got our bib and stood around drinking coffee. The temperature was in the high 20s but besides my feet, I wasn’t really cold at all. Ten minutes to 9:00, we did a quick 1/4 mile warm up and stretched – but we didn’t start running until 9:13. Since I went out too fast last year and ended up walking in the middle to catch my breath, my goal for the race was to do negative splits and beat my time from last year (33:40).

Finally, we were off. For the first mile, I focused on maintaining even breathing and even though we had to weave around people, I tried to not be too ambitious. We reached the first mile marker at 11:03. I was a little bummed because it felt like we were running faster than that, but I was happy that if I maintained that pace (which felt doable), I would definitely beat my time.

The second mile started off with a nice little downhill stretch and a run by the Denver Zoo. It ended with a brutal uphill stretch. But because I was running with Travis and D and didn’t want to fall behind, I kept pushing, telling myself that it would be downhill in a bit. We reached mile 2 at 21:15 – a 10:18 pace. So that’s why I feel ready to collapse. Seeing that motivated me to keep pushing, even though I felt completely out of breath.

The third mile was a mental battle. Just like during the Rock n Roll Relay, I keep telling myself that the pride and accomplishment of setting a new PR will be worth the next 10 minutes of agony. Finally, I could see the finish line. We passed the third mile marker around 31:45. As we got within 100 feet of the finish, I actually felt a little dizzy/nauseous. We crossed the finish at 32:52 – a 10:36 pace. Even though my time is still pretty slow, I feel good that I really pushed myself. The only bad part about this PR is that now I have to run even faster to beat it!

We were funneled into a chute, where the race timers were collecting the tags off our bibs. We were a little confused at how they determined the times that way, since there were 2 chutes, but oh well. We grabbed some water and bagels, our goodie bags, stretched a bit and headed over to Denny’s, where I had their new Bread Pudding French Toast. It was pretty good – not as good as real bread pudding, but close.

As for the race itself…

I thought that A Christmas Carol Classic (5k/10k) was a fairly well-organized race for its first year. There were 425 runners in the 5k and 264 in the 10k – impressive for an inaugural event. They had a lot of volunteers telling people where to park, registration/check-in was organized and quick, and they had coffee and pastries for runners before the start. The goodie bags were pretty decent (they included chocolate milk), they had bagels at the finish, and the course was well-marked (though the markings were sometimes hard to see because of the crowd). The race also sponsored the Denver Children’s Home, which I liked.

But I think it would be better if they used chip timing. My official time was 33:43 (40/82 AG, 193/425 overall) but I don’t feel like it took me almost a minute to cross the start line. And because D ducked under the rope into the other finish chute because the line was shorter, her time was recorded as 34:09 even though she crossed at the exact same time as we did (granted it was her fault, but that’s the downfall of bib tag timing!).

Also, even though the website said something about having carolers out on the course, they didn’t. (They did have them at the finish, which was nice.) I wish that we would’ve gotten more race swag for our $30 (like a shirt, towel, medal or something) – you could buy a shirt for $15 but they weren’t that cute. I just hope that most of our race fee went to the charity.

Finally, if I had been doing the 10k, I would have been a little annoyed. They started at the same time as the 5k and just did 2 laps of the same course. So the 5kers were finished and leaving while the 10kers were still running and we were actually walking on the course to get back to our cars.

But overall, I enjoyed the race and would do it again. I like that the course is all in City Park, so you don’t have to worry about traffic or sidewalks.

……………………………..

We’re heading back down to City Park tonight for Zoolights at the Denver Zoo – we’ve never been and apparently, it’s pretty cool!

Have you gone or are going to any holiday lights shows?

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