Taking A Short Break

Don't worry people, just because the first 5k is behind me, it doesn't mean I've retired from running. :)

I decided to take a week off and rest up to start this adventure all over again. I really intended on starting back up yesterday with my Sun/Tues/Thurs running schedule but things have just been busy with school starting back up and it seems like something has been going on just about every night, last night included, that prevented me from getting back out there.

That, plus the fact that my right knee has decided to act up on me again...which is strange because it hasn't bothered me in weeks...then the morning of the 5k it decided that it was going to start to give me trouble again. That morning I just figured it was due to the rain and cooler weather and would go away..but it has stayed and I'm starting to feel like an old lady with achy joints. :) It's just not letting up. :( So I'm thinking I need to ease back into running again.

My plan is to start the Couch 2 5k program all over again from the beginning, hopefully with tomorrow being the first day. Since I've been running for the last 12 weeks or so, it shouldn't be too difficult to do and if I happen to have to miss a day or so each week, like this week for example, it shouldn't set me back to far.

My reasons for doing this are:

1:) I seem to run much better, longer, stronger when I have a set plan of running/walking combined together as opposed to just one long run for x amt of time. I never really got to a point after about 10 or 12 minutes where I could just keep going. I was convinced I needed some sort of break and I want to work on getting out of that habit before the next race, which leads me to #2

2:) I'm signing up for another race. The Koman Race for the Cure, which is Oct 4th and I'd like to build back up my stamina before that. I think the best and easiest way to do that would be to do another round of, in some way, shape or form, the C25K.


October 4th is really only about 5 or so weeks way, so I'm obviously not going to be able to complete the whole program, but I also haven't really decided 100% yet if I'm actually going to start at week 1 or maybe jump up a few weeks.

Week 3 or 4 wouldn't be so bad to start with...I don't know..Maybe I could do one day of weeks 1 - 3 in one week and then jump up to 4 the next week? I 'should' be able to do that no problem..but we'll see.

I'm hoping that after a week or so off my body hasn't forgotten how to run!

Fast Forward's Race Against MS aka My First 5k!!

The results are in!!

105 Shannon S. F 31 38:55

Not sure how they were timing this thing, but according to them I finished almost a whole minute sooner then the time on the Garmin read...I had my time at 39:48...but I like theirs better. :)

Mandy informed me that there was a big board at the finish line that popped your time up as soon as you crossed, and she even said the time they posted for her did not match the time that was on the board.

I was oblivious to the board at the time, but now I'm curious as to what it said and if it was closer to what I timed myself at. I think they might have made a mistake in the times, but I think it was for our benefit.

They spelled my last name wrong too on the results page. :)

I finished 105 out of 114. But I finished, and under my goal of 45 minutes, so that's all that matters!

The first place 'kid', and I say kid because he is 19, finished with a time of 16:07...crazy! I thought the guy that came in 3rd place had won...he was the first one I remember seeing pass us by, so obviously the first two guys were a blur as they ran by.

I think I would have done much better without all the hills! The first big hill at the start of the race wasn't too bad at the time and I was able to run up it, but once we turned around and ran back the way we came and I had to run up it again at the end of the race...well, that was a different story!

I didn't walk a whole lot, but a lot more then I wanted to.

But HOLLAR for the little kids handing out water!! ;) SOOOO glad they were there!

My legs hurt more today then they did yesterday and more yesterday then Saturday. No pain, no gain I guess??

Nonetheless, I'm proud of myself for doing this!!! I can't believe I actually ran a race! HA!

Here's a few unflattering pics of me looking like I have huge thunder thighs and that I'm picking my shorts out of my crotch :)

When It Rains, It Pours

***First off, I hope to have a full report of the 5K we ran yesterday...I'm awaiting for the 'official' results to be posted and pictures of me crossing the finish line too..once I have those, I'll post a recap of that.***

But this post is all about rain. :)

Friday night, while we were at our Monthly Girls Bunco Night GTG, Mandy made the comment that it was crazy that we had been running for 11 weeks, 3 times a week, so 33 days of running and it had never, not once, rained on us or did we have to reschedule a run because of rain.

Essentially a month of no rain while running....

Well, it rained a months worth of rain on Saturday morning. And that is no exaggeration...

I woke up around 5:30 to the sound of thunder and pouring rain...and it just kept on raining and raining and raining...

By the time Lisa and Mandy showed up at 7:15 a.m. to leave for the race, it hadn't let up and on the way there I had the windsheild wipers going full speed...it was still pretty dark out and I was having a hard time seeing while driving to the race site.

The Lightning was wicked...

Apon our arrival there, it started letting up a bit...enough for us to make a mad dash to the registration tent and check in for the 8 a.m. race...the parking lot was pretty much a river, as was everything else around us, the lightning was still pretty intense and we got soaked running to and from the car.

At check-in we were informed that the 5K actually started at 8:30. The 1 mile race was to start at 8, so we had over an hour until race time. We inquired about if the race was on, rain or shine and they said yes. We were a bit surprised, not so much because of the rain, but the lightning. We weren't sure they would allow us to run because of it, but they said if they needed to push the race back a bit until it cleared up, they would.

We retreated back to the car in what was now a full blown down pour and proceeded to wipe ourselves dry with our race t-shirts. We spend the next 45 mintutes sitting in my car, ran pouring down all around us while we watched people run to and from their cars to the registration tent and back.

We seriously considered not running...at least Lisa and I did...I don't mind the rain, but didn't feel like dying at my first race because I was struck by lightning. Mandy was adement that she was running no matter what. I wonder how many people got their shirts and ran...like out of there and back home...not in the race. :)

At about 8:15 we decided to brave the weather, head to the bathroom and prepare for the race. By the time people started lining up at the start line, the rain had slowed down to barely a drizzle and as soon as they blew the horn to start, there wasn't a drop in the sky.

It was the craziest thing. I think someone up there really wanted me to stay and run and not get struck by lightning. :)

About 25 feet from the finish line the path we were running on was COMPLETELY flooded..like ankle deep water and there was no where to run but right through it. :) That was probably the worst part of the whole thing; Having soaked feet. But at least it was at the very end of the race and not the very beginning..I'm not sure what that would have been like to run in wet shoes/socks for 40 minutes. :(

I managed to keep my nice, white shoes just that, nice and white, for the last 11 weeks...after yesterday they finally look worn, dirty, and broken in. :)

Like they have been worn by a true runner.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

Race Day! What I have been training and working up to for the last 11 weeks.




This week we took it kind of easy. Went to the race site and scoped out the terrain on Tuesday. Here's a picture of the course map:

There's a couple of hills that I'm hoping we get to avoid running, but other than that it's a pretty straight course.

Last night Mandy and I headed over to 'the lake' we normally have been running at when not on the track and just walked a bit further then normal and ran back to the car. I didn't have my Garmin last night so I'm not sure how long/far we ran..it couldn't have been more the 5 or 6 minutes though...just a quick little run.

We're trying to conserve our energy for tomorrow! ;)

I have been noticing a lot more side pain during these last few days of running. I really hadn't had much of an issue with it since the very beginning, but it started creeping back up this last week or so. Not sure if that because of bad hydration?? Or not breathing properly? I really need to pay attention to the breathing tomorrow and make sure I'm hydrated well.

I've been thinking about what I'd like my 'goal' to be as far as a finish time for the race. When we run at the track, I'm averaging about 3 mins per lap, or 12 minute miles...If I was able to keep that pass for the entire 5k, I should be able to finish it in about 36 minutes...but I'm not going to set myself up for failure by setting that as my goal. I'm sure I'll have to have a little walking break at some point..but hopefully not too many or for two long. :)

If you remember back to my follow-up post after the Bennington Daze Race, I finished that in a little over 28 mins and it was a 2 mile that I'm pretty sure I walked at least a mile of...

So for tomorrow I think I'm just going to hope to finish the race, and to finish it in under 45 minutes..if it's closer to 36 minutes, then that's a gold star for me, but I'd still be happy with less then 45.

Wish Me Luck!

The forecast earlier this week called for a high of 94, low of 72 for tomorrow, but that has been changed to a high of 82, low of 69 with a 50% chance of rain...I'm hoping the rain holds off until after the race and that its a cool, non-humid 69 degrees for race time. I think that will make it go much smoother for me!

I'm sure I'll have a full update/recap of the day sometime before Monday..after I come home, shower up and take a long nap!!

Just What the Doctor Ordered...

A decent run after a two week rut.

Still haven't quite worked up to that full 3.1 miles, but tonight was the closest I've gotten to it and it was the boost I needed to feel a little bit better about the race on Saturday.

Tonight I 'ran' a total of 33:14 time wise, and 2.38 miles.

After about 6 weeks of wearing the Garmin, I finally figured out after last Thursdays run that there is actual a button labeled 'lap'..right there in bright green letters...and that if I would have been hitting that little button every time I ran a 'lap' I'd have a nice little break down of how many laps I'd run and how long each lap took. Convenient, huh??

I put that button to good use tonight. Here's the boring breakdown:

Lap 1: 5:03 (Warm-up lap)
Lap 2: 2:50 (Ran)
Lap 3: 3:02 (Ran)
Lap 4: 3:04 (Ran)
Lap 5: 3:11 (Ran)
Lap 6: 4:49 (Walked)
Lap 7: 3:05 (Ran)
Lap 8: 3:09 (Ran)
Lap 9: 4:40 (Walked)

There are a few more seconds in there someplace..from me getting a little hit happy with the lap button and causing it to calculate 5 second laps. ;)

As far as I know we are sticking with the usual plan for running, as far as days go, so we'll get in at least two more runs before Saturday's race. I'd like to try and get another one in, but don't want to push it and end up tiring myself out or hurting my knees before Saturday, so for now I'll stick to the plan and hope the rest of the week goes as well as tonight.

Week 9 - The Final Week!

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

I decided to just lump this whole week into one post since basically every run was the same and, quite frankly, there is nothing much to say about them other than they sucked. :)

For some reason the last two weeks I've just been in a funk about running. I only ran two nights this week instead of three; Sunday and Thursday.

Although I was excited about returning to the track a few weeks ago, mainly for my knees, I'm really starting to think it has had a very negative effect on my motivation.

Something about the boring repetitiveness of running around in circles for 30 minutes?

For me, there's no 'goal' at the track...no destination I feel I need to push myself to reach. I can see my car the entire time...its calling for me to jump in and drive home. There's no 'scary' woods to run your ass off through to make it out alive...no crazy guys sitting at picnic tables...no deer waiting to jump out and attack you.

I miss that.

Last night was the last official run of the Couch 2 5K program for me...and even though I still do not feel like I ended it strong, or that I'm anywhere near ready to run an entire 5K, I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking it out for the 9 (actually 10) weeks.

This morning I'm registering for the race next Saturday. Something I've been putting off, but now there is no reason too.

We plan on spending all of next week running the actual race route at the race site. I'm hoping to do that at least three days next week, if not more.

I'd really like to try and run this weekend some too, but the summer weather has returned in full force finally....today and tomorrow the temps is going to be at or very close to 100.

That makes me very nervous...I'm watching the weather like a hawk waiting to see what next Saturday holds....last week they predicted 84 for a high on race day, but we all know how accurate the weather is that far out....I'm hoping, praying, they are right...there would be nothing worse then to have spent the last 10 weeks of your life preparing for a race that you will kneel over and die running in the first 5 minutes because of the heat and humidity.

That would be the ultimate let down. :)