Preview of Saturday's 5K

So to put this run in context... It's Wednesday, and it's Halloween.
Monday's scheduled run was put off due to scheduling conflicts (yes we are working mom's so we just have to be flexible). I really wanted to get three runs in this week so we put today's run on the calendar after 5:30am boot camp on Monday. We were also determined to stick to it! Saturday's 5K is Run 4 Recovery

Fast forward to today and it's raining, and 40 degrees and downright miserable outside.  When I texted Amber this morning I said something like "rock your day because we are running rain or shine". Well it definitely wasn't shining as we met behind the church at 4pm. After a quick change in the car (note to self: I need tinted windows) - we set out following the course map I had downloaded on my phone. I had even studied the satellite map because the cemetery has way too many road choices. Needless to say - once in the cemetery we got turned around.  We hit a pretty major downhill in mile 1 and all I could think was good Lord - this is going to be a doozy of an uphill on mile 3. Mind you - my language was more in the R rating and not this PG-13 blog. Amber yelled "I quit" once spotting the hill's decline and I reminded her that our runs go in the blog. A few stops for clothing adjustments - map readings and family texts - we did less running than we should have but got in our mileage.The goal was to stick to the course and run our intervals for this week (3 sets of 18mins). Aren't goals great to have :) We spotted a lake soon after entering the cemetery which ended up not being THE lake on the course map. We found the signage funny - no swimming, no fishing and no ice skating - definitely noted!
We spotted geese that looked pretty sedate, dodged geese poop and I saw a large adult white tail disappear into the woods. We had quite the running commentary (no pun intended) on gravestones, names and......what did I find? A rather large memorial to a "Delahunty". Absolutely no relation but it made me wonder! Creepy on Halloween too!

Brian sent the picture off to his mom to do some investigating. On the way out of the park we saw several black squirrels. Unfortunately being as dark as it was - and as dark as they are, my pictures didn't come out. A Fort Mitchell resident commented that they have a lot of them in their community and other visitors are just as curious and amazed by them. I felt like quite the tourist, taking pictures of squirrels - couldn't help myself  - plus we were on the cool down walk back to the cars.
 I have an amazing running buddy to brave the weather and hills with me. We have a long way to go on our running journey - but we have come a long way too. We have our Turkey Trot 10K in our minds and by golly we will complete it - and run it STRONG!

Tomorrow's run is with the Goodridge "Girls on the Run" group for their practice 5K. Thanks for reading! ~Geniene

5K Finished!

Original Posting date: 10/27/2012
A chilly morning for a 5K, but I finished in 37 minutes!!! I only walked while I was taking off my hoodie even though I wanted to walk the hills. Had a great time and I can't wait to do it again next Saturday!! ~Amber

5K Complete

So we completed the Panther Prowl this morning. I am so glad it stopped raining but it was chilly 42 but felt more like 30something. Layered up we set out and I had that dreaded mile on my mind. We made it to mile one on a hill and I had left Amber slightly behind. On the way back at the I still had the mile on my mind and I had to stop a few brief seconds to catch my breath. I wasn't out of breath but u was wheezing a bit. Something about the weather today felt almost oppressive. I was determined and ran up the darned hill only to walk for a few seconds at the top. I finished in my best time yet (yes of two) to finish with 34:02. My goal was to finish under 35mins so I'm happy. Amber will fill in her story later.

October 24

Original posting date: 10/25/2012

Run #two of this week and we met to run the 5k course for our race on Saturday. I have never previewed a course before and I was really glad we did. For me - I have a game plan for those uphill now. There are a few small inclines and one pretty steep hill that I might (let me emphasize might) walk on Saturday. I felt better than what I performed yesterday. We should have run 3 intervals of 17 minutes but again ran out of course before our time was up. I think the inclines were a slight shock to the system and messed with our pacing quite a bit.
Amber and I chatted on the phone driving  home afterwards and agreed that we need to find a stretch of road that allows us to put in the time and mileage to stay on track for our 10k which is one month away. Eek!!
We have a 5k the next four Saturdays so that should keep us on track.
I brainstormed with my hubby and I think I have a plan. Now to break it to Amber :)
I'm thankful that my boys are old enough to stay home and get their work done with James in charge so I can run. It's liberating and such a good stress release, and and SO what I need after a long day at work.
Today I stayed in bed instead of going to boot camp. I have been battling a fever all day and have minor vertigo this afternoon. The worst is that I have lost my appetite. I love to eat and my usual eat every three hour schedule did not happen today. I hope I shake it by tomorrow.

Monday Oct 22

Original posting date: 10/23/2012
Well all kinds of disruptions happened last week that prevented us from running as planned. This needs to be remedied so that we stay on track.
Last night we had 30 minutes available before having to pick up my oldest from open gym. We ran 2.4 miles around the Conner campus including a quick warm up walk. After dropping him off at home we ran another 10 minutes (.8).
We are on week 3 of the 10K training and need to be running 3x 17 minute intervals. So better planning for time and mileage in our future!

Rest Days

Original post date:  10/18/2012
Let me just say that I am very grateful that we are running every other day at this point. To fill in the missing detail for the readers (whomever you may be), Amber and I met at 5:30 am Bootcamp class during the fall Get Fit program that Melody's Bootcamp Fitness offers. This is my second session of Get Fit and I plan to enter the maintenance program next spring.

So our running training exists on top of our daily morning workout - and my calves were screaming at me Wednesday morning (well really all day). While it was more of a challenge to get our daily step requirement in for yesterday (15,000 daily this week) - I don't know if I would have been able to run. On the flip side however, sitting in a one and a half hour Council meeting last night did nothing to help improve the tightness in my legs and by 8pm I wish I had gone running!

This morning I have more pain with calf tightness - so I believe some reading about leg muscles is in order.
We have some 5K's on our running agenda, leading up to our 10K on Thanksgiving:
Oct 27 Panther Prowl (North Pointe Elementary)
Nov 3: Running for Recovery (Ft. Mitchell)
Nov 17: Boone County Parks/Melody's Bootcamp Fitness (England/Idlewild)
Nov 22: Turkey Day 10K (Downtown Cincinnati)

Get moving and grooving!~

Run 1 in the 10K Plan - new partner and new plan:)

Original Post Date: 10/16/2012
 
Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Run 15 minutes / walk 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Five-minute cooldown walk.

 

We ended up modifying slightly because we ran out of mileage. We parked Amber's car at the hotels 2.8 miles away from my house and ran to it. We walked 5 minutes to warm up, ran 15 minutes. Walked 2 minutes - ran 9:43. At that point the hotel was in sight so we walked 4 minutes to the car to cool down.

I felt really good - the first 15 minutes were pretty flat and I wasn't ready to stop. It was definitely tough to start back up again after the 1 minute walk. Plus the next leg was uphill and crossing the highway. Not the most scenic or peaceful run, but we did it! Amber will fill you in on her accomplishments but I didn't see myself running ever again, yet today I felt like a runner. Those crazy people you see on the street as you drive by and think "why are they doing that?"