Race For The Hungry Holiday 2013 5K Recap

We lived!!  And there was no rain!!  So much to say about this race today.

The Night Before

This was a first.  Usually I have some pre-race jitters the night before, but this race was different.  I guess because there wasn't a lot of pressure (self-imposed, of course) to do well.  The goal was simply to finish & I knew that barring any acts of crazy nature (or rogue vehicles) I'd finish.  So with zero pressure on me, the night before was pretty easy.  I went to bed at a reasonable time, my gear had already been laid out for a few days since I had to buy things that were appropriately sized - my old running clothes were no longer acceptable in public, LOL. 

Getting Started

Luckily I didn't have to wake up insanely early for this race since it's not that far away so my morning routine was easy as well. I had my half a bagel with Nutella and some coffee and was feeling pretty good by the time LMG got here.  I packed a Gatorade Prime like I did for the Milltown Firecracker 5K in July and drank that in the car as we were getting ready after we picked up our race packets.  Speaking of race packets, guess what number I got?  Just guess?  I can't believe this one keeps recurring!!  This is my sister's number, it's the number I had at last year's race, it's the number 35.  Seeing that, I knew she was with me & that I'd probably do better than I had hoped.

As we headed to the starting line, it was absolutely freezing!  According to the Weather Channel, at 9:00am it was supposed to be 43 and sunny.  According to the thermometer in my car, it was only 35.  Yikes!  It was rough while we were waiting but once we got moving, we were totally fine.  I was definitely dressed appropriately for the race and don't feel like I over- or under-dressed.

Setting The Pace

This was LMG's first race and I had never run with her before so I had no idea what to expect.  Would she be leagues ahead of me, would I have to slow down for her, I just didn't know.  I didn't want to hold her back if she was faster and had more endurance than me but I also didn't want to be crazy far behind where I could have run.  But as we started and the crowd dispersed a little bit we fell into a decent pace.  I asked her if this was her normal speed or if she was adjusting for me and she said that this is how she usually runs, so I was ecstatic that we seemed to be at about the same level.  As we continued, it turned out that we had the same stamina as well.  We both walked at the same spots and ran at the same spots.  I don't really think that either of us held the other back at all.  If anything, the fact that we were staying together kept me going because I didn't want to let her down on her first race, but I didn't feel like I was pushing too far or couldn't keep up either, so we did stay together the whole race.

I am extremely happy to report that I ran more than a mile straight, which is double what I have been doing on the treadmill!!  According to the MapMyRun report, we did the first mile in 11:25!  Again, faster than I had been running this week too!  You can see on the graphic that we slowed down a bit when we hit the largest hill we would come across, and ended up walking at about the 1.35 mile mark.  Not too bad - I ran for over 1.25 miles straight, which was more than I was hoping for. 

We did walk up the rest of the hill, and at the 1.67 mile mark we picked up the running again.  So we walked for just over a quarter mile at that point, but it was a well earned break and even walking the hill wasn't the easiest.  So we completed the 2nd mile in 13:18 and that was the longest we walked for the whole race.  The third mile we had two brief points where we walked because one of us was struggling, but it was very briefly and we were able to do that mile in 12:22.

According to MMR, we completed the race in 39:10.  Since this race doesn't use chips to track us, I think that time is more accurate than the official results, which show 39:23 & 39:24, a difference of a mere 13 seconds.  We were 215 & 216 out of 237 and 116 & 117 out of 134 for our age group, with an average pace of 12:40.

While these were by far my slowest race results, about 10 full minutes longer than my best race results, I am probably the most proud of these.  I had 5 days to prep after an almost 5 month hiatus, I surpassed my goal of running a full mile straight, more than doubling what I was doing during this week, and I finished in less than 40 minutes.  The only way it could have been any better was if I had run the entire thing, and I just don't think that was a possibility for this race, this time around.  I achieved ALL of the goals I set for this race, so yeah, I am happy :)

We finished!!!

Day 3 of 3

Well that's it folks.  My last run before the race is complete.  A few interesting things to point out.

1.  I wasn't as sore today as I was yesterday, so yay for that!  Even my ribs were hurting!  I guess I overdid it with the rest of the workouts too.  I keep forgetting that I have been out of it for so long that it's going to take me time to get back to where I was.  Hopefully with tomorrow's rest I'll be ache-free for Saturday morning. 

2.  I don't know if this is a real thing or not, or if there is some sort of explanation behind it.  Maybe you can tell me.  It actually hurts to run slower.  When I picked things back up on Tuesday I wanted to ease into things so I started and stayed running at a 5 on the treadmill.  Much slower than I had been running before, but I figured I'd take it easy and pace myself since I didn't want to hurt myself or overdo it right away.  And that's where I started running yesterday too.  Eventually yesterday I bumped it up to a 5.3 but it all kinda felt the same.  Tonight, however, I was feeling brave.  I felt like I had my sea legs back, so to speak (feeling more in my body than out of it now for sure!) so after a few minutes of 5 and then a 5.5 I said, "What the heck" and went up to a 6.  And it wasn't so bad!  It actually felt easier to run at that speed than the 5!  At the 5, it felt like my heart was going to explode and like I had no control over my legs, but at the 6 I was grounded.  It's so weird.  I don't know if this is common or even a real thing or all in my head.  But it made me feel better :)  So I got some speed back, but didn't do much as far as endurance goes.  I still had to walk after about half a mile.

I completed the first mile in 12:12...not too shabby, took some time off from yesterday.  Almost a 12 minute mile which is respectable.  I did a grand total of 1.5 miles in 18:06.  So while the progress is slow I am definitely making some.

But can I just say that I LOATHE the treadmill!!  I never thought I would say that!  I hate not being able to just organically speed up and slow down, it has to be in finite increments and none of them are ever right.  I wonder if I will be able to run further outside than I am on the treadmill...we shall see in 2 days!!

Now, there is a chance that weather could be an issue for this race.  Right now there is a 50% chance of rain in the morning but I will keep you posted if anything changes.  The website says, "CHECK BACK TO THIS SITE IF THERE IS INCLEMENT WEATHER.  This event will be held rain or shine."  Puh-LEEEESE keep your fingers crossed for DRY weather!!  I don't care if it's warm, I don't care if it's sunny.  But I would like it to be dry!

Day 2 of 3

Finally things work in my favor!!  The boy took it upon himself to go down for a nap nice and early at 1:00 so I took the opportunity the let the technology babysit the girl and I went downstairs for a run. 

I wish I could say that things were different than yesterday but they were not.  I get about half a mile in and then I need to walk.  I walked for shorter spurts today than the 0.1 but my walking and running was slower.  My body is hurting from being plunged back into activity!  Not only did I run yesterday but I did my whole workout routine after - pushups, situps, weights, etc.  I'm figuring that since my whole body feels off I need to get my core strengthened again.  So my core was pretty sore today too!  All in all I covered 1.25 miles in 15:23.

One more day of work tomorrow and then what will be will be.  I'm hoping that race day adrenaline will allow me to get a solid mile in before walking.  Any hopes I had of running the whole race are gone.  I want to be optimistic, but I have to be realistic too.  I'm keeping in mind that this race wasn't even going to be a possibility at all 3 weeks ago, so I'm thankful that I even get the opportunity to run this week :)  And for starting from scratch after a 14+ week hiatus, half a mile isn't too shabby!!  When I go back and look at where I started from over a year and a half ago, jogging for 60 seconds at a time was daunting.  So I've still come a long way, even though my performance is nowhere it had climbed to.  Plus it's for a good cause.  And there will be people dressed up like reindeer and Santa Claus.  And brunch at my house after.  Whatever happens, it's going to be a great day!!

And We Begin Again...

For those of you waiting eagerly for an update on my last post, I'll start with confirming that pretty much as soon as I posted it I registered for this year's Race For The Hungry Holiday 5K in Burlington.  So it was just a matter of getting clearance to actually run.  My doctor appointment was yesterday and I was happy to hear that I had clearance to not only run again but he was thrilled and a bit shocked that I had signed up for a race so soon.  He actually called me a badass and told me to have at it.  So that's all good news :)

I consulted briefly with one of my running heroes and she advised me that there really wasn't much training to do with only 5 days prep, but that we could hope to work out any soreness before the race.  She gave me a schedule of:

• Monday:  Run
• Tuesday:  Run
• Wednesday:  Rest
• Thursday:  Run
• Friday:  Rest
• Saturday:  RACE DAY!!

Sounded good and reasonable to me!  So I was all geared up to get back into the swing of things and then it dawned on me:  Wifey will be gone the ENTIRE WEEK not to return until Friday night!!  Yikes!  Finding the time to run with 2 kids and no help was going to be challenging.  I figured I had two options.  I could either wait until they were both asleep and run at night.  We all know that I don't function well at night and anything after 9pm is going to be a lost cause, or I could force a nap on the boy during the day and bring the girl downstairs with me.  Clearly I was hoping for the second option.

Monday is upon us and K was getting over some kind of stomach funkiness.  We went to my mother's house in the afternoon so the boy fell asleep in the car ride up there, so there was no option 2 for Monday.  My best bet was to get them to sleep early and run after that.  I strategically stayed at my mother's house until 7:30, hoping they would fall asleep and be out for the night in the car.  No such luck.  Not only were they both awake for the whole ride, but the boy was WIRED!  When all was said and done, they were down around 10:00.  There was no way I was taking to the treadmill at that hour.  Ugh.  So let's recalculate the run schedule:

• Tuesday:  Run
• Wednesday:  Run
• Thursday:  Run
• Friday:  Rest
• Saturday:  RACE DAY!!

Not thrilled but there's not really another option.  So here we are, today is Tuesday and I just did my first run since August, and let me tell you it was horrible!  I was hoping to get through a straight mile without walking and if I could do further, great.  But I greatly overestimated my abilities and underestimated how much my body had changed.  I'm still carrying about 5 extra pounds on me, which doesn't sound like a lot but it sure feels like a lot when you're trying to run! I wasn't very far along, but I guess my body changed more than I had thought.  I guess it being the 3rd time around the shift happens more quickly.  My running clothes felt strange and looked even more horrible, and running itself just felt foreign.  This was not what I remembered running to be like.  I could feel the extra fat pulling my stomach down as I took each step, my legs felt like lead, and the whole of my posture and form just felt wrong.  Like my body wasn't moving the way it was supposed to.  I'm trying to remember what it was like when I first started running; I remember it hurting, sure.  I remember being unsure if I was doing it right.  But I felt like I was in my own body.  Tonight I didn't feel like I was me, I felt like I was running in someone else's body.  It was foreign, it was wrong.  My center of gravity and balance was shifted.  All of this makes sense of course, but I didn't think that all of this would have happened within 12 weeks.  Hopefully as time passes and things go back to "normal" I will feel more like I'm in my own body, but who knows how long that is going to take?

But here we are, we have a race to run, and these are the cards that were dealt.  Tonight I managed to run a half mile, walked for 0.1, and then ran the other 0.4 in a total of 12:33.  Dreary.  Blech.  But I have to remember that I am starting from scratch basically, and I can't expect 9:30 miles right now.  Apparently I can't even expect a mile right now!  lol.  But we still have two more days.  I know there won't be much of an improvement but the only way it's going to get any better is to run through it.  My goal for the race at this point is to just finish in whatever way possible.  Just finish.

I made sure to stretch, but I am sure that I will be sore as heck tomorrow anyway so the foam roller is on standby!  Here we go!

To Run or Not To Run...

Whelp...you've most definitely noticed an absence in my running.  I have some good reasons behind it.

I found out I was pregnant in September and hadn't run for several weeks and when I did it was sporadic.  The rule with exercise and pregnancy is that you can continue with anything you're accustomed to doing on a regular basis but you shouldn't add anything new.  Since I had been out of running for so long, my doctor and I decided that I should wait until I was out of my first trimester before I added a bit of running back into my schedule.

My situation has changed (you can read about it here if you want to - I'm not really addressing it on this blog), and now I have two more weeks of "rest" ahead of me before I can slowly add on some running time.  My dilemma is this:  I should get clearance to run again on Dec. 2nd and there is a race that I really, REALLY want to do again this year (Burlington Twp's Race For The Hungry Holiday 5K).  Both Wifey & I did it last year and had a blast!

I've pulled races out of my butt before in the past, but I haven't seriously run anything since July.  And it was awful.  That would be 5 months of no running and 5 DAYS to prepare for a 5K.  Clearly my expectations should be low, if anything at all.

1. Finish
2. Run the whole thing (not likely)

And really, that would be it.  Anything more than that is 100% unrealistic.  I think I'm looking at hoping to get through a mile of running at a time with decent walks in-between.

So what do you think?  Should I register?

A Slow Start But Getting Back Into The Swing Of It

Well, the good thing is that I can say that I ran a mile.  It was in 10:53, which isn't great, but all things considered I'll take it.  This was a hard mile.

I felt great at first - I started off slow.  Like, really slow.  Like at a 5 slow.  I got bored of that real fast and gradually increased my speed just to make sure my lungs could handle it.  At 5.7 was where I started to feel it.  And not the, "Oh, I'm out of shape & this hurts" feel it but the, "Something is wrong with my lungs and this doesn't feel right" feel it.  I did push to a 6 for about a bit but that was definitely too much for right now so I had to slow back down, but I did finish and I ran the complete mile.

I have a lot of work ahead of me and to be honest, I'm not sure what the right course is.  Do I go for further tomorrow?  Do I do just another mile?  Do I not run at all?  I will probably run again if time allows for it, and I guess I'll see how another mile feels and go from there.  My lungs are definitely not 100% yet so I don't want to overdo it but I also don't want to not do anything either.  Clearly I can handle some activity so I guess we'll see what happens.

Wish me luck!  Have any of you been through this & know what the right way to get back into it is?  (you know, both of you who read this, LOL)

Running In The Near Future Perhaps?

Well I'm definitely feeling better now, thank God!  It took a while but I am finally able to exert myself a little more and not feel like I am struggling to breathe.  And by "exert myself a little more" I mean drag the kids shopping and running my normal 5,000 errands a day with them in tow.  I can carry heavier things without wanting to die, and I'm carrying things up & down the basement stairs with relative ease, and I'm off of all of my medications.  So this is all good news.

But the big question is:  Am I recovered enough to run?

I will find out either tomorrow or Thursday.  Wifey's travel schedule is all over the pace this week & she's actually going to be in WA over the weekend.  So if I'm going to try to get a run in, it has to be while she's home and that only leaves tomorrow & Thursday.

I plan on taking it easy to see where I'm at.  I'm thinking a slow mile is a good place to start and if it goes well tomorrow I might go for 2 on Thursday, but we will see.  I don't want to overdo it too soon, and I'm learning that it's really easy to do that.  I was feeling pretty good and we went to visit a friend of mine over this past weekend and she has a huge in-ground pool that we were enjoying.  I swear, I felt like a kid again!  I was jumping in & out, I tried to dive, I think I even did a flip into the pool - things I probably haven't done since I was about 12!  And I felt good in the beginning but I started to feel the strain in my lungs after a while so I backed off.

So keep your fingers crossed that this goes well - The Color Run is at the end of this month & I REALLY want to be in shape for this!

Pneumonia Hiatus

Grrrrr.  Arrgh. 

Well, it looks like it's going to be a while before I'm running or doing much of anything again.  Right now walking down the hallway is leaving me breathless.  I found out on Tuesday that I have pneumonia after a weekend of being horribly sick.  It took me a while to realize that I was actually sick though.  Maybe it's because the symptoms were vague, maybe it's because I made some stupid decisions, maybe it's because I procrastinate going to the doctor too much.  Probably all of those things.  But here's why things were so shady...

Last week we bought a pool to put up in our backyard.  Nothing fancy, just one of those do-it-yourself type things but it's a big deal to us and especially to our kids.  The first step in setting this up is making sure you level the ground where you're going to put the pool.  With Wifey's crazy schedule, unless I wanted to wait for her help on the weekends and have this project take forever I knew it fell to me to deal with during the week.  And let's face it - it's mid/end July - there's not a ton of summer left so if we're enjoying this thing it has to go up soon!

I don't know if you remember last week or not, but this was the forecast, and I think the actual temps were even higher than predicted:

So I spent every day that week outside pulling up grass & weeds and leveling the ground.  It doesn't sound like it would be much work but it WAS!!  Those grass & weeds had some deep roots to be pulled up and that weather was H-O-T!  I set the kids up in the kiddie pool that we've had so that I could do the work outside & keep my eye on them, and also so I could keep myself cool on breaks.  I knew it was hot, I knew we were in a heat advisory, and I made sure that I was drinking a lot of water and some Gatorade to keep those electrolytes up.  I took plenty of water breaks and pool breaks and out of the sun breaks and come Thursday I had cleared the area we would be setting up the pool in.  Yay!  But I felt like I had been through the wringer.  4 days of hard work in pretty intense heat was getting to me.  I was slow on Thursday, I took more breaks than I had to any day before that, I just didn't have any more energy left.  So I took Friday off & took the kids to a friend's house. 

But on Saturday Wifey was home so I wanted to take advantage of her being here to help lug and empty the fifteen 50 lb bags of sand we had to put on the leveled ground.  I should mention here that on Friday night I imbibed quite a bit on some very delicious double chocolate stout.  Not the smartest decision I ever made but we all need a night to let loose once in a while, right?  And I worked hard all week so I deserved a night of fun.  I should also mention that at the beginning of the evening I felt like I had a sunburn even thought I didn't have the slightest trace of one.  Chocked it up to the beginning "warm" phase of alcohol and didn't think about it again.  However, this is where I believe my fever may have started.  So when I woke up on Saturday sluggish & dehydrated I wasn't all that surprised.  So I got some food in me, drank a lot of water, had some caffeine, and got myself in what I thought was pretty decent shape before we got outside back into the heat.

The second we got started I knew something was off.  At first I was thinking it was just dehydration from the hangover but I had felt relatively OK by the time we went outside.  But once we started working I was super sluggish & needed a break about every 10 minutes.  Clearly I still needed fluids but I also started feeling like I was completely worn down and couldn't catch my breath, similar to how I felt during the 4th Of July 5K, but at least that made sense to me.  This wasn't that much work and I was dripping with sweat and panting like I had just run 2 miles.  Sure Wifey was sweaty too but it was pouring off of me unnecessarily and she was barely glistening.  I was struggling, I felt a headache coming on, I couldn't catch my breath, it was horrible.  I pushed though (taking many, many breaks) and I got the pool set up & filling with water.

By the time we came inside & showered and started talking about dinner I knew something was off but I couldn't figure it out.  Nothing really went together;  I was just overall blah, I was still dripping with sweat and couldn't catch my breath right away.  It felt like my heart was beating out of my chest at about a million miles an hour but I assumed I just overdid it for the day and that I was probably dehydrated from both the drinking the night before and now the day of work I put in.  Add in the week that I just had and I assumed it was all just catching up with me.  I was hoping a lot of fluids and some rest would help me out. I took it super easy the rest of the night, Wifey put both kids to bed and I myself went to bed soon after. 

Sunday was no better - I woke up tired and with a headache.  Luckily we didn't have any real work to do.  We had to finish filling the pool with water and start running the filter, all things within my capabilities, or so I thought at the time.  But whenever I stood up I was dizzy, I started having blurry vision on and off, the headache I woke up with got worse, and now there was a burning sensation in my lungs and a crazy cough that I couldn't describe because it wasn't a throat tickle cough but more like a lung spasm cough if that makes any sense to you.  I also had cramps & aches everywhere in my neck and back.  What I thought was remarkably odd was when Wifey and I walked outside at night to put something in our shed.  It was in the 80 degree zone so not too hot at all and we merely walked and did not exert ourselves - no work was done.  When we were walking back to the house I was dripping with sweat like I had just worked out for an hour and she wasn't sweating at all.  Here is where I finally took my temperature and saw it was about 101. OK, something is brewing here.  Maybe this is more than just heat exhaustion and dehydration...

When I woke up on Monday I couldn't even sit up.  I had nothing left in me.  Zero energy, zero breath, nothing.  Migraine stage headache, pains in my neck, shoulders and lower back, leg cramps, rocking a fever in the 102's, and a cough and burning lungs that would not quit.  At one point my ears even started ringing and I wondered if I was starting to lose my hearing.  I had no idea what was wrong with me.  I thought I'd let it ride for the rest of the day, my fever isn't THAT high and if it's still there in the morning I'd call the doctor.  I kept thinking, "OK, it's not the flu because I'd have a cold.  It's not appendicitis because I'd have abdominal pain.  I've had bronchitis & this is nothing like that.  Whatever this is will pass soon or get worse & I'll know what it is.  And if it's not gone by tomorrow I'll go to the Dr."  Of course nothing changes until about 9:00pm when I can't call a doctor and my only options are wait until morning or go to the ER.  I didn't think it was an emergency at first but when my fever reached 103.5 and kept rising after taking a fever reducer, I seriously considered the ER and regretted not calling my doctor earlier in the morning.  I decided that if it reached 105 we'd go.  We got close to 104 but it did start coming down.  I was vigilant about taking acetaminophen every 4 hours to keep it at bay but even with that it wouldn't stay lower than 101.

When I went to the doctor on Tuesday he surprised me with his possible diagnosis and with what he wanted me to do.  He thought it might be a form of meningitis and wanted me to go to the ER for a workup to rule it out. Figures.  I should have just gone the night before & avoided all of this nonsense!  Luckily after a ton of bloodwork and a chest X-Ray I was cleared of meningitis and diagnosed with pneumonia and a decent amount of dehydration.  Yay!  And the neck and back pain are probably just from the yardwork for the past week.  The nurse thought it was odd that I was happy to have pneumonia and I explained that I'd take pneumonia over meningitis any day!  Plus it meant that I got to avoid having a spinal tap.  I didn't really want to have a spinal tap.  The only Spinal Tap I like goes to eleven.  This one would want ten to be louder.

So now I'm probably taking more medication that I have collectively over the past 4 years (that's a whole other blog), and I still feel kinda crappy.  I have a follow up with the doctor tomorrow so hopefully he can shed some light on when I'll get some relief from this.  I hope it's sooner rather than later because right now I can't make it through much.  I had a 40 minute phone conversation with my sister and I had to hang up because I couldn't breathe anymore.  This is reminding me of my asthmatic youth where my lungs would hold me back from everything.  The rest of my body feels fine - I have energy back, I have pep, my headache is gone, the other aches aren't so bad either, but my lungs can't keep up.  It's just frustrating, especially with 2 young kids who want to run all over the place and I just can't right now.

You have probably guessed that I didn't run the Christmas In July Boardwalk 5K that was this past Sunday.  I can't imagine why?!  I have my first DNS :(  I guess we all incur them at some point.  But it will probably be a while before I am able to run again.  Hopefully I can still do the Color Run at the end of next month, and I'm actually happy that I haven't already registered for more races yet this season because I just don't know what to expect.

So keep your fingers crossed that this doesn't take long!  I'm really, psychotically looking forward to fall running & I can't do that if I can't train!  I'll keep you posted!

Maybe I'm a Winter Runner?

July is hot.  And humid.  And it sucks to run in.  There was a point today where I thought my face was literally going to catch fire and the purple didn't go away for about an hour.  I don't think I like running in the heat.

This is funny to me because I prefer the heat to the cold in just about every other scenario in life.  In fact, I usually feel like I can't function in cold at all!  But while hitting the pavement today I was longing for that frigid day in December where it was much easier to breathe, where I knew I wasn't going to overheat, where even though my fingers were frozen the rest of my body was still plenty warm.

It dawned on me today that while I started running last summer, I never really ran outside until September!  Sure, there were the 2 color runs but the weather was nowhere near as hot as it is now and definitely not as humid.  I spent all of my early training days on a treadmill in my air-conditioned basement, and now I think I'm paying for it!

Today's run was on a different-ish route around my house.  There really aren't too many roads so no matter what I'm going to end up doing what I've done before, but today I started in a different direction than I normally do and went out to one of the main roads - Lucky for me it had a sidewalk!  Less than a mile in I could already feel the heat in my face and was struggling to breathe. I wasn't sure how far I would make it and I really didn't have a route in mind so I figured I'd play it by ear.  I would have liked to have completed 3.1 miles because I have another race next weekend, but after I hit the 2 mile mark I knew I didn't have another mile in me and headed home.

The good news for today is that I did the 2.25 miles all running - I did not walk at all and so that's an improvement from last week's race!  I completed my first mile in 10:03 and my average pace was 10:21.  You can see all of the stats on MapMyRun.  Not my fastest by any means, but not my slowest either!  So I'm getting there.  I need some more work before I'm back at last year's pace but I'm not embarrassed by today's performance, lol. 

Also, I have a new appreciation for Gatorade.  With all of my past runs I have done strictly water and then I grab something light after the run, like a banana or a granola bar or something.  I've never really tried the whole sports drink thing before, never really needed to.  But for my past 2 runs, I was too overheated to even think about eating anything.  At the race last week they were handing out cups of Gatorade at the finish line and I was more than happy with that.  And again today when I got back home, I couldn't think about food but instead reached for the Gatorade.  So I'm a fan of it in this oppressive heat!  I never in a million years thought I'd be looking forward to a winter run, lol!!

Milltown Firecracker 5K Race Recap

This was a doozy!

I was running this with my friend Kristin.  Both of us were nervous because neither of us was in our top racing form.  She has always been much faster than me and is in better shape than me in general, so when she was nervous I became much more nervous!  She tried out the course a few days before the race and struggled with it which added to my apprehension but I said, let's see what happens!  I trained for a total of 2 days for this race, I was sore from the prep time (or lack thereof, however you want to look at it), there was going to be 92% humidity while we were running, and there were lots of hills which I have never run on.  Ever.  What could possibly go wrong?! *note the sarcasam*

The Night Before

Since this race was an hour away from my house Kristin picked up my registration packet (or "death bag" as she coined it) for me.  I spent the night at my mom's house and when I got my racing bib I was happy to see that my racing number was 308.  This was the number of the house I "grew up" in in Old Bridge.  I put grew up in in quotation marks because we didn't move into this house until I was 15 but it was the first house that our family bought after years of apartment living, it was the house where we had so much fun, it was the house that all of our friends hung out at.  Swinging door policy there - there was never a day or night when someone wasn't over and it was awesome. When I saw that number I breathed a slight sigh of relief, hoping it was a good omen for the next morning. 

Getting Started

Off to a bad start as usual - I snoozed through my alarm for about half an hour, leaving only half an hour to get ready.  Typical, but not the end of the world.  I didn't have a good night of sleep because my mother's upstairs neighbor was walking around late at night, sounds I am not used to anymore especially since we don't even have an upstairs level to our house.  On top of that, the neighbor has 2 small dogs, so in the middle of the night while they were prancing around, my half-asleep mind thought I was hearing my children coming into my bedroom so every time they walked, I woke up.

I have been using a Keurig for so long now that I think I have forgotten how to make coffee.  What I made in my mother's regular coffee pot was absolutely awful so I couldn't drink it.  My usual pre-race bagel for breakfast wasn't sitting too well with me either so I didn't eat all of it and instead for the first time I grabbed a Gatorade "Prime" sports fuel pack.  I had a Fruit Punch flavored one and that sat much better in my stomach than any food did though I was still hoping there would be time for a bathroom break before the race. 

I actually didn't do too bad for time but we were a little later than we had hoped.  We walked to the park where the race was starting from Kristin's house and as we got to the park entrance, we saw that there was already a large group of people lined up and an announ
cer was counting down the start!  Were we really that late?!  Were we actually going to miss the race?!  Like idiots we started running toward the crowd that was now running directly at us, only to realize...it was the fun run.  Yup.  We just tried to run to catch the start line of the fun run.  *smh*

There was still time for a bathroom break but they were the oh so lovely port-a-johns.  And they only had 2 unlocked.  And one of them had a seat covered with...well...poop.  I don't know how you even do that.  So one john for hundreds of racers.  We spent the rest of our time before the race on line for the bathroom.  We barely made it to the starting line but we did it.  This start was strange to me...maybe I just didn't hear it, but the announcer didn't count us down, he just said to get ready and a few minutes passed us by and he said nothing else.  Then seemigly out of the blue the gun went off and we got started!

Setting The Pace

Pace was difficult for me.  I mean, it usually is anyway btu this time it was different.  The start was hard because I felt like it took a long time for everyone to spread out and it was probably because the first thing you do is run up a hill, lol.  I stayed with Kristin for almost the first mile which I was happy with because I know she's a fast runner.  Checking my stats, my first mile was done in 9:39, which is average for where I was when I actually WAS running, haha.  And then when I did slow down, I was still able to see Kristin ahead of me.  I kept thinking that if I can see her, maybe I'll be able to dig deep and catch up with her again.  And then we hit a monstrous hill.  OK, so it wasn't monstrous.  And it wasn't even the biggest hill in the race.  We hit that probably about a mile or so in.  But somewhere around 2 miles is when I HAD to slow even more.  I am not proud, but I had to walk up the rest of the hills.  I tried as hard as I could to run them but it was just too much.  And in all honesty, at that point there probably wasn't much of a difference between my running and walking speed anyway.  So, adios Goal #1 - to finish without walking.

Relief Along The Way

Today was hot.  And the humidity was killer.  It was like trying to breathe with a hot, wet sponge over your face.  I am not used to that at all!  One of the things that I did like about this race is that the residents of Milltown really like to get involved with it.  Not only were there additional water stations courtesy of random people standing in front of their houses, but other stood outside with hoses or sprinklers for us to run through and for that I am very grateful.  I don't know how I would have done if I didn't get to run through a few hoses!  One person was handing out shots of vodka...no thank you.  Not only am I running, but it's 8:00 in the morning!  Fun that they would offer though!

There was one guy who was running completely barefoot.  I don't know why.  I get that some people have a theory about being natural and feeling the earth and the impact to your body and it protects something, blah, blah, blah, but even they wear a type of shoe for that. Before the 2 mile mark I passed no shoe guy because he was walking as well.  I don't know how he even did that because the soles of my feet were burning from the hot blacktop...and I was wearing socks & sneakers!  To each their own I guess, right?  I hope his feet are OK!

Finishing

This was a tough course for me for about a million reasons.  My MapMyRun time read 35:40 and the official time was 35:43.  Both are my worst time to date.  Including my first ever 5K while training last year.  So adios Goal #2 - to finish in under 35:00 (originally it was 32:00 but I changed it yesterday).

Bel = 0, The Race = 1.  We need to fix this!

While I am disappointed in both my time & my performance, I am still proud of myself.  I never stopped even though there were PLENTY of times I wanted to.  I could hear my body screaming at me and my mind screaming at me, "Just sit down for a minute!" and I never did.  Yes I walked but I didn't stop moving.  I was afraid of this run and totally unprepared but I did it anyway and I survived.  So there's the silver lining :)

Oh, I also forgot to mention that this was my first race with one of those chips attached to the bib, so yay for that!  I like it when the MMR time is that close to the actual time :)

One Year Running Anniversary & Last Run Until Race Day!!!

My little man wasn't feeling so hot this morning and he took a nap pretty early so I decided to take advantage of it and went for a run in the basement.

My goal today was to hit 3 (or 3.1) miles.  I did not accomplish that, but I was a bit faster than yesterday.  I made it 2.25 miles in 21:42.  That's not great, but I feel better about those numbers.  I am still very worried about how I will do on Thursday and am afraid I won't finish without walking.  But I've prepped as much as one can in 3 days & what will be will be! 

I am definitely taking tomorrow off from working out completely.  After 2 days of running, I'm starting to feel it in my hip flexors again - apparently this is just my running sore spot.  Some people have bad knees, some people get tight hamstrings, apparently I do something to my flexors.  I felt none of this with the Insanity workouts but woke up this morning with some soreness in my hips.  So I grabbed the foam roller immediately after my run and then stretched, stretched, stretched.  I will probably stretch & roll tomorrow just to keep everything loose, but that's it.

Funny - Insanity takes more out of me and I hurt over more of my body but I was able to do that 4 days in a row without a break.  Running is "easier", I feel it less all over, but when I do hurt it is a bigger pain and I can't do it as many consecutive days in a row.  Interesting.

I have no idea what to expect for Thursday but it does feel great to be back in the game again, even if I'm not 100% ready.  One year of this has taught me not to stress too much and just go for it so I'm hoping that will hold true for me this time too.  Can you believe that?!  June 20th marked one full year since I first stepped foot on the treadmill & began this crazy journey!!  I actually didn't even realize it until I checked the date while writing this blog entry.  Amazing.  I feel like I made more progress in those first few months than I have in the last 9!  I am still amazed that I am able to run at all but hopefully I'll make more progress this year.  Here's to many more years of running in my future!

Pure Cardio Hell & 5K Prep

OK, so this Insanity Workout is just that...INSANE!  You are supposed to do one of their workouts every day of the week except for one.  One day off, that's all you get.  There is an "easy" day - easy on the cardio, but you're still working your muscles with yoga poses and stretches.  After 4 straight days of this my muscles were still aching and my body was screaming for a break.  So I took a day off yesterday to let my poor quads recover and it was just what I needed.

I woke up still a little sore this morning but feeling much better so I went right back into the workout schedule.  Today's workout was called "Pure Cardio" and it was pure hell.  I needed to take a break during the warm-up session, and about halfway through the actual workout I threw-up.  So I am happy I decided not to eat until AFTER the workout, lol.  But in all seriousness, I knew this was going to be hard, I just didn't expect it to be like this.  It does make me feel a little better to see that the people in the video have to take breaks too...and they seem to be in pretty good shape so it helps that I don't feel so ridiculous.

Map of the Milltown Firecracker 5K.  *Note the hills*

Today I also officially registered for a 5K on the 4th of July.  Which is 3 days away.  And I haven't run since April.  I am hoping to get a run in tonight, just to see where I am at & how far I can go.  And if I am not happy with it I will run again tomorrow.  No matter what though, Wednesday I am taking off - from everything - because I want my body to rest before the race.

I don't expect much as far as time goes for this race, and there are a few hills which I am not used to at all.  Honestly, I'll be happy to finish all 3.1 miles running.  Secondary goal is to keep it under 32 minutes, which is long for me for a 5K but all things considered, I don't want to set myself up for disappointment.  Seriously, I'll settle for simply finishing without walking, regardless of time.  Hopefully I'll be better prepared for the next race & then I can continue to knock out some of my other running goals for the year.  Speaking of which, one of those goals was to run with Kristin and now I will accomplish that on Thursday.  Yay!!  It's only taking me 7 months to accomplish ONE thing on my goal list, but hey - it's progress, right??!!

INSANITY

I've been a horrible runner.  In that I haven't been running.  At all.  And I have a race coming up.  And a potential one very soon.  On the 4th to be exact. 

Wifey's schedule has been insane, between her long hours at the office and travelling all over the country.  It might sound like an excuse but there really is zero time for me to get a run in anywhere.  Unless I'm running at 5:00 in the morning.  Which CAN'T happen because I'm up until 11:00 fighting with R to get him to sleep, and I need to sleep.  There is no way around that at all. 

So I was mopey about it and squeezed runs in on the weekends whenever possible.  And then I just gave up entirely.  I don't even know when I ran last.  Then that led to me feeling bad about it, then bad about myself and let down by myself.  So I started comfort eating.  That combined with no exercise...I went right back to my pre-baby weight - which was the heaviest I have ever been (not pregnant).  Then I went 3 pounds higher than that and cried. 

I have to do SOMETHING!  Something so that I'm not just stagnant.  I don't like being still apparently.  It affects everything.  Seriously, everything, not just weight.  So I searched for something I could do at home, with the kids around me.  I couldn't take them to the basement with me anymore.  I can't guarantee that R will nap, and when he's down there he tries to jump on the treadmill which is just not a good idea.  The only time I will be able to run is if Laura is here & there is time.  Translation:  Weekends.  Sometimes.  So running cannot be my main source of exercise.

So I got the Insanity workout from my sister.  And it is exactly like it sounds...INSANE!!!

On the first day all you do is a fit test.  You are given one minute incriments to perform as many repetions of an exercise as you can, and there are 8 different exercises.  Again, this is just the fit test and not even one of their workouts.  I threw up during the suicide runs/lunges.  I have never thrown up from a workout before.  Ever.  And I was completely spent afterwords as well.  It took me close to an hour before I could actually function - every muscle in my body was shaky.  But after I recovered, I felt like a million bucks!

This is a 60 Day course, one day off a week and one "light" cardio day as well.  I should be done with it just before my Color Run in August.  Of course I am going to try to get runs in as well in-between, but I feel that this workout will help my running abilities, I'm just not sure in what capacity...if I will get faster or able to last longer.  We shall see!

I just completed my 3rd workout, I am already down 2 pounds, I am sore but feel pretty good now.  And I haven't thrown up since the first day, so that is good too, lol.  Now that I'm moving again, I'm hoping it's easier to jump back into running and not feel so defeated when I have to stop after only a mile.  Hopefully I won't have to stop at all!

Bel In The Road

This was fun.  And brutal at the same time.

Sometime either earlier this week or last week, my friend Sean posted a blog about how he was tired of seeing the same running route every time he logged a run.  He wanted to do something different.  Our friend Kashi posted a link to this and it got him inspired.  So a few days later he ran his initials out on the road and a challenge was born.  Well, OK, nothing official yet (still waiting on Kashi's "official" challenge) but it got me wanting to participate.

I took to the internet and struggled to find an area where I could map out "Bel".  Without running on any major roads (something I'm afraid to do because I will get hit by a car or fall into the middle of the highway and get run over by a bus) my neighborhood is literally just 3 loops.  That's it.  Everything else is a main road.  (As illustrated here - red being roads, yellow being main roads that I don't really want to run on).  Clearly this meant that I would have to drive over to another part of Burlington to make this happen.  So I looked and quickly found the perfect place not that far away.

This was the most planned out run I've ever done!  I was so afraid of getting lost and couldn't remember all the turns I had to make, especially with all of the backtracking I had to do.  Luckily Wifey was on the phone with me guiding me step by step.  I am so thankful that she not only allowed me the time to do this but also was my navigation system throughout even though the kids were not exactly on their best behavior.  So BIG thank you to wifey for making this happen!  Love you!

As for the run, it wasn't my best time by any means.  Here's the link to all the stats.  It took me over 34 minutes to run just above a 5K.  I think that's actually my WORST time to date!  But today was not about that.  Today was not about times or speed or distance.  Today was about having some fun and doing something different.  There were a few people out there who probably thought I was crazy because of all the turnarounds & backtracks I had to do.  I must have looked like I was either lost or had no idea what I was doing!  And then there was the fact that I was talking to Wifey on the phone - most people probably just thought I was a crazy person talking to myself and didn't realize that the headphones were actually the phone and not music.  Oh well.  And then the dogs...seriously!  Does everybody in this part of Burlington have a nasty-ass dog that they leave out in their yard??!!  I don't even know how many dogs I passed that were fighting to leap their tiny fences to have at me!  Of course there were some cute friendly ones too that were just loud and happy to see someone, but there were a lot of really nasty ones out there!

All in all it was a good workout and something fun and different to do.  Hopefully I'll get the chance to do something else like this again but for now I gotta get my butt in gear for the St. Patty's race!

...And Sickness Takes All

Well!!  It's been an interesting few weeks!  There were several runs in-between my last blog & this one that I didn't recap but I have not been as on top of my running as I would have liked.  The girl turned 4 which is incredible to me, and I haven't run in over 2 weeks because this stomach virus has been going through our house & my family has been dropping like flies! 

Now that the stomach part seems to be leaving, we've all got this head/chest cold settling in.  But I wasn't going to let that stop me from running.  This morning was the first opportunity I've had in 2 weeks to get a run in and I wasn't going to miss it!  Sure, I haven't had any sleep in over 2 weeks (average of 2 hours a night when I'm lucky, some none at all!), and yeah I'm hacking up a lung and I can't breathe through my nose.  But I have a race to prepare for!  And it's in less than a month!!

My time was limited because wifey had to get ready for work so I knew I wasn't in for 3 miles.  In fact, I figured on just a mile so that I can get in some of my other exercises too.  My goal wasn't speed, it was just to get moving again.  I was struggling to breathe and exhausted so I wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone.  I just needed to get moving again.

I did a quarter mile warmup walk and then jogged for a mile.  I haven't jogged this slow in quite a while - the one mile took me 11:58!  But I don't think I could have handled any faster today.  I wish I had more time to do more because I felt like I was just hitting my groove again when I had to stop.  Oh well - maybe I'll get more time tonight.  Wifey is leaving for business again this week so my run time is going to be limited so I have to squeeze in as much as I can while she's here.  Hopefully this chest cold won't last long so that I can start working on speed again and get ready for race day!  Either way, it felt great to get moving again!  Hopefully sickness is over for the rest of the winter - I think we have more than paid our dues for the year!

Now That's More Like It!

Got a chance to head outside for a run today in this beautiful weather!  Since it's January and supposed to be absolutely freezing, I completely overdressed and was drenched with sweat not even half a mile in.  Live & learn.  I knew I was wearing too much the second I stepped foot outside but ignored my instinct to remove a layer for fear of delaying/skipping a run for the second time today. (Earlier I attempted a treadmill run but when I reached the basement I got a whiff of a foul smell that I thought was a dead mouse/bird/other critter type thing, but turned out to be a waste pipe leaking into my basement showering a storage cabinet with stinky water.  In an attempt to figure out where it was coming from and having to call a plumber, I had to miss a morning run).  So I didn't want another excuse preventing me from getting out there. 

My pretty pink running watch

In other unfortunate news, Amazon.com completely lied in the description of my running watch.  I thought what I asked for & received most thankfully for Christmas was a GPS watch.  As it turns out there is no GPS on it so it functions solely as a stopwatch and you can break it down in splits, but since it doesn't track how far you are running I have no idea when to hit the button.  Oh well.  Fun though - I do plan on using it during races this year so that I can get an accurate time, and it definitely comes in handy for my other exercises and it's much easier than carrying around my iPhone for those.  So it definitely is a useful tool and will serve its purpose until I can afford a GPS watch.

Anyway, I was nervous as I headed out this afternoon, not knowing how far I'd be able to go after last night's debacle.  My goal was to just hit 3 miles.  I wasn't going to aim for a specific speed just yet but I wanted to make it to 3 miles without stopping.  I knew the route I wanted to follow because I have run it before but I couldn't remember how far it was and I couldn't remember what I did in the end - if I went around another block or not.  (I checked MapMyRun and the last time I ran 2.66 miles and opted to turn back towards home instead of continuing for one more loop around the block).  This time, I opted to do the extra loop and logged 2.97 miles in 30:08.  (You can check out the specifics here.)  SOOOO annoyed about the missing 0.03 miles but I'll forgive myself, especially since we walked another half mile later in the evening. 

My pace was about average for me.  I probably could have run some parts faster than I did but there were other spots where I was really struggling.  I actually almost came to a stop for a second because some chunks had made their way to the back of my throat and I thought I was going to lose it on someone's lawn, but luckily they stayed down.  I know, gross.  But overall even though it was tougher than it should have been I did feel much better running today than I did yesterday, and I think it has to do with being outside.  While I don't like not knowing how fast I'm actually running as I'm running, I like that I can adjust my pace as I feel it instead of having to judge where I think I might feel OK.  Does this sentence make any sense?  When I run on a treadmill, I know exactly how fast I'm running.  But when I feel a little tired or like I want/need to slow down a little bit, I have to guess what speed would be more comfortable and adjust it manually whereas outside I can just slow to what actually does feel comfortable.  But then I don't know if I'm keeping myself at a steady pace or if I'm going as fast as I want to be, etc.  Ugh.  I guess outside & the treadmill both serve their purposes!  I'll probably end up doing my speedwork on the treadmill because of this and I'll aim to do the distance runs outside as much as possible.

As it turns out, I kept my pace fairly steady!  My splits were 10:00, 10:04 & 10:12.  Nowhere near my goals for the year but I'm just happy that I finished today.  I'll start working on speed once I'm comfortable in my 3 miles again.  Taking 3 minutes off of my mile isn't going to be easy so I'm really going to have to push myself to make this happen.

Sitting here typing this I'm feeling that twinge in my hip again.  I did do tons of stretching after my run & I did preemptively roll my hamstrings & my hip anticipating some effects of running on pavement.  Let's just hope that it remains a twinge & goes away quickly with some more stretching & rolling! 

My plan is to run again tomorrow since the timing works out well with wifey's schedule, but if the twinge is pain or too much, I might take a rest day and try to eke out a run on Monday.

So overall, not my best run but I'm getting back to where I was before the holidays and I don't think it's going to take too much more to be 100%.  Hopefully the real work can begin soon!

First Run of the New Year

Well OK then, that was brutal!  I can never let this much time go between runs again - this was an eye-opening experience for me! 

Last night I headed down to the treadmill, hoping to just complete 3 miles.  No big deal, didn't have to go really fast, I just wanted to run 3 miles.  I started off at a 6 - faster than my comfort zone of 5.3 but definitely not anywhere near too fast for me.  I expected it to be tough since it had been so long and I wanted it to be so that I can get on with the rest of my goals for the year.  But I didn't expect it to feel like this;  It was like my body wasn't mine.  I've run 3 miles a bunch of times now, I know I can do it, I expect to be able to do it, some runs harder than others but definitely within my realm of things I can just do.

About half a mile in I wasn't sure I was even going to make it to one mile.  I was pushing as hard as I could and my body just wasn't doing what I wanted it to.  It was like being in one of those dreams where you try to run away from something and your legs won't move or you get nowhere.  I sped up to 6.3 and 6.5 and had hoped to make it into the 7's, but it just wasn't in the cards.  I couldn't move fast enough, I was shocked!

I did a mile in 9:51 which is about average-ish for me so at least I accomplished that, but then I had to walk for a spell.  It felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest and I was really struggling to breathe.  I actually thought I was going to throw-up at one point, which is really why I stopped running at a1 mile.  If I were at a gym or outside I may have continued & seen what happened.  But not on the carpeted side of my basement.  Anyway, it was while I was walking that it dawned on me that I hadn't taken my asthma medication in over a week, so that may have had an effect on my breathing difficulties, lol.  Point taken, I won't forget that again!

So I walked a quarter mile and then wanted to run another whole mile but I just didn't have it in me.  I did another half mile in 4:47 and walked another quarter to cover 2 miles total.  The workout is posted here if you want to see all the embarrassing details.  I am not proud and this needs to change. I plan on running again later today so hopefully that will foster some different results.

On another note, I do feel much better today than I have in quite a while.  My muscles have that slight ache of being used and it is a much more welcome feeling as opposed to the loafiness I've had as of late.  I have more energy today and I'm itching to get back into a run - possibly even outside today if time allows.  And I made sure to take my asthma meds this morning so hopefully that will relieve some of my lung issues!  Let's see what today brings!

New Year, New Goals, No More Excuses

OK, so I'm a bad runner and a bad blogger!  The holiday rush got the best of me both physically & mentally.  Wifey was gone for most of December so it was really difficult to fit in time for runs.  And then when I could, it seemed I was always sick with one thing or another.  Since New Year's though, it has been pure laziness.  I have commented on this before that once you get out of your routine it's REALLY hard to get back into it.  The last time I ran was on December 16th, over a month ago.  It's SOO embarrassing!!

And let me tell you, I feel the effects!  I feel sluggish, I feel like there is extra weight on me (although according to the scale I am exactly the same weight as before - that can't be right).  I feel like there is that weight on my chest that makes it difficult to breathe when exerting myself.  My face is doing some weird acne thing.  I don't understand it.  I was fine until I started running and then I noticed some minor breakouts - I figured it was from all the sweat.  But now that I've been inactive it's like my skin has erupted.  And what I hate the most is the blob that is my midsection!!  It took so long to get it back into something that resembles abs and it is absolutely amazing how quickly that loafs right back to goo on there!  So yeah, I'm paying for my mistakes & inaction, BIG TIME!!

The surprising thing is the lasting effects that running has had on me, even though I haven't moved in over a month.  I had a physical done the other day.  Just your standard, regular, run of the mill checkup.  My resting heart rate went from 92 in March of last year to 60.  I wonder what it would have been if I had kept the activity up?!

So I'm dropping the excuses & hitting the pavement (or rubber treads on my mill as it were).  Wifey comes back home from a trip tonight and I'm getting my butt back in gear!  I already have a first race planned on March 16th, which is right around the corner so I have to get myself back to 5K ready by then.  And then my 2013 running goals begin!

I didn't have any lofty goals in 2012.  It was basically to complete a 5K without walking, stopping, or dying.  I did that but I pretty much missed most of the 2012 running season/races because I wasn't ready until the end of August.  So this year I plan to take part in as many runs as possible, especially on the boardwalks (or what's left if them).  My goal isn't just to run but to run faster.  Specifically, I want to complete a 5K in under 28 minutes.  That's the big goal.  Here's the whole list:

• Run a 5K in under 28 minutes
• Run a 7 minute mile.  Just one 7 minute mile, not a whole 5K at that pace, though I am sure that I will want to repeat it :)
• Run 5 miles.  I am pretty sure I can do this now, but I've never tried it.
• Run on more boardwalks!!!
• Run with Kashi
• Do a Pub Run/Mug Run/Whatever you want to call it.  Running & Alcohol.  I'm in.
• Do The Color Run with LM again (set for March 16th), who is fantastically doing the Couch to 5K program right now!!  She's going to kick my butt this year!
• Run with MFC
• Do the LUNGevity 5K run instead of the walk with Kris
• Do the Race For The Hungry Holiday 5K in Burlington with Wifey

I want to complete this by the end of the 2013 running season, and my last race will be in December so I have a while.  I want to work up the courage to set a longer distance goal (settle down!), but I'm not there yet.  10 miles or a 1/2 marathon still seem super unachievable for this year & I don't really want that now and I'm not sure that I will in the future either.  It's not a matter of thinking that I can't do it - I'm sure I could if I trained for it & put my mind to it.  I just don't have that desire to do a long distance like that.

So here's to a new year, starting fresh, and new goals!