We're all out there chasing our better selves (FredtheDuck chases on)

I was out last week and missed your 5K recap... great job given the conditions!
But seriously, why can't all races be 50F, partly cloudy, with the lightest tail-breeze? (is tail-breeze a thing? ha!) The cold also really bother my lungs and I hate that feeling.

How fun does that Christmas race sound!? Can I come next year?? I love Christmas decorations, especially if it involves penguins! Your daughter (should I just call her Moana? ;) ) trick-or-treating is too cute. Also... great family pic!

Good luck on T-Day!!
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I was out last week and missed your 5K recap... great job given the conditions!
But seriously, why can't all races be 50F, partly cloudy, with the lightest tail-breeze? (is tail-breeze a thing? ha!) The cold also really bother my lungs and I hate that feeling.

Thank you! Sorry to hear that it happens to you in cold weather, too - it really is a cruddy feeling. And re: the weather... I know, right? That would be some amazing race weather. Sometimes I wish that I'd picked up running when I lived in northern California still - the weather was like that all the time!

How fun does that Christmas race sound!? Can I come next year?? I love Christmas decorations, especially if it involves penguins! Your daughter (should I just call her Moana? ;) ) trick-or-treating is too cute. Also... great family pic!

How fun would it be to have a DIS meet for this race next year? But... probably a bit too far for most people to travel for a 5k. :sad1: There is a delicious alehouse like a mile away that would make for a great post-race gathering spot though. :drinking1 Alas... I think Gaithersburg, Maryland, is probably not high on people's race destination lists.

And mini-Moana (I like it!) is definitely a cutie... crafty, but cute.

Good luck on T-Day!!

Thank you!
 
Alright, I'm registered for the two-miler on Thursday, and @MoanasPapa offered to pick up my packet and shirt tomorrow, which is great.

In other news, can I just gush over my treadmill for a second? If you saw in the running thread, it was a big purchase for us, and one we did a lot of researching and thinking about. Well, when I was getting my stuff ready last night for this morning's run (I lay out my clothes/shoes/water bottle the night before to minimize how much noise I make), I realized I didn't have any clean tights/capris, and I wasn't about to run in the 30s in shorts (I'm a wimp). But wait! I have a treadmill! I can run in shorts on that!

So up I got at 5:00, started the coffee pot, then headed downstairs. I decided it might be kind of cool to do the run in the dark (there's a nightlight down there), and that ended up being an awesome call because I watched the news on my ipad and just kind of tuned in to that since there was nothing else to look at because it was dark. Maybe that's weird, but it ended up being a really good technique to keep me focused.

I mentioned in a recent post that my dad lives with us. Our basement is a walkout, so it doesn't feel like a basement, it feels like a main level but with no windows on one side (except that the floor is cruddy old linoleum tile). He has kind of a quasi-apartment down there, and his bedroom is about 20 feet from where the treadmill is. I was really worried that the noise from the machine or me clomping up and down on it early in the morning would be disruptive to him, but he slept right through it and tells me he didn't hear a thing. @MoanasPapa couldn't hear the clomping from upstairs, either, so he also slept through it (as did our kid). It was a really comfortable run, too, the deck on that treadmill is perfect for me.

So long story short, treadmill running in the dark while watching the news in my basement was a win for all - I got my four miles in and am not currently suffering from cold butt, and my family all got to keep sleeping and was none the wiser.

YAY for no cold butt!!!
 
Happy Birthday to your sweet girl!! I love that family pic of you guys too.

Count me as another vote for the 2-miler.

So glad that you are loving your treadmill. YAY!! It's so great to have that as an option. And no cold butt is always gonna be a win. :D
 


Cute pic of you guys at the holiday 5K! I definitely enjoy doing a 'fun run' race every once in a while, and it sounds like a great one! I'm a sucker for holiday lights so I'm jealous. Enjoy your treadmill!
 
Monday Training Update (Week 9): Week Ending 11/26

This was the plan for the week:

T - 4 miles @ EB
Th - Turkey Trot!
Sa - 2 miles @ EA
Su - 3 miles @ EA + strides

Ugh. I almost didn't want to write this post, but I think it's good to be accountable. As you saw with my gushy post last week, I did my 4 miler from Tuesday on the treadmill and totally loved it.

The Turkey Trot 2-miler on Thursday was an experience... It was insanely crowded, full of walkers, and on a tight course with a lot of turns, which meant passing was super difficult. Further, it wasn't timed at all, which I only found out when I got home and saw that my bib had no chip attached to it. So I have no idea how I did, but it wouldn't have mattered anyways because I was in heavy, heavy foot traffic for the first half mile or so of the two mile race, with tons of family walking groups spread across the course. My splits were 10:11 and 9:36. The bright side is that @MoanasPapa, our kiddo, and my dad all came to cheer me on. I didn't see them when I crossed the start, but they got a great spot right at the finish, and by then I had moved through traffic and was going at a pretty good clip - it was super nice to see them and made the race worth it. My dad has never been to a race and seemed to really enjoy it, and says he wants to come to cheer some of the shorter ones we'll do next year, so that's sweet. After the race we went to our local coffee shop for a light breakfast, then home to parades, cooking, and family time. I like the idea of running on Thanksgiving, but I'll do the 10k next year as an easy long run... I feel like that would be more worth the traffic and parking headache (all street parking for one of the biggest races in Maryland? what?). The shirt was cute though, and my daughter was totally entertained by the person in the turkey costume that took pictures with everyone after the race.

And now we come to the reason I didn't want to do this week's recap: I totally skipped Saturday and Sunday. I knew they were going to be busy days and I thought I should have done at least one of those runs (possible just both of them combined) on Friday, since my legs weren't tired at all from the 2-miler. But instead I decorated my house for Christmas, and we went shopping for running clothes at our local running store. And then Saturday was taken up by the saga of the lawnmower (an annoying story I'll skip), racing the clock to get some leaves raked before the last leaf collection of the year, and trying to get some lights up (which became an ordeal that has now required a trip to two different hardware stores). Sunday was grocery shopping, taking the kiddo to meet Santa, Christmas shopping, more frantic leaf raking, and the continuing ordeal of the Christmas lights. Basically, there was just no time. Which is annoying because they were both short runs and I should have been able to slot them in somewhere.

One thing that was good this week, though: I'm really missing longer runs. I have had all shorter runs lately because of my weird race schedule, so I'm looking forward this week to getting a challenging speed workout in, plus a longer run this weekend (8 miles). Just don't ask me when I'll fit it in.
 
I don't think you should be beating yourself up about missing a couple of days as you have been plugging away. Sounds like you were pretty busy rusing about so that counts as cardio, right?
 


I feel like picking up running clothes is pretty much the same thing as actual running. I mean, they both have running in the name. Plus you got the clothes at a running store so there's way more running in that sentence then actually running would have.
 
Ditto what others said that I wouldn't worry about missing those two runs. Life happens and you just gotta roll with it. And, girl, you were BUSY!!
 
Thanks everyone! I know two runs isn't the end of the world, and they were both short, but I also know that dopeybadger put work in to the plan so I hate when I blatantly disregard it. Plus, between the holiday and and a couple of weeks of either all short runs or skipped runs, I was definitely feeling kind of sloth-ish.

Not to worry, though. I was back at it on the treadmill this morning, I have a tougher speed workout Thursday, and a longer run this weekend. I already feel better.
 
@roxymama I may just have to, we still haven't solved the light/wreath conundrum, so the hardware store is likely in my future.

In other news: things I thought during my run this morning, in no particular order:

- Gloves were a good choice
- Whatever setting my headlamp is on is good, people are actually stopping for me when I run across the on/offramps on the way to the high school
- Running at the HS track at dark by myself is both great and creepy
- OMG WHO IS THE GUY IN ALL BLACK WHO SUDDENLY SHOWED UP ON THE TRACK. Oh wait. He has a headlamp. He's probably legit a runner.
- What lovely weather (it was 41* - I was assuming it'd be in the low 30s)
- Why am I wearing gloves?
- What number interval am I on again? 4? 5? 6? Ok, hold on, let me count. Wait. I need to count when I'm walking so that I can think.
- Running intervals is (for me) really the way to go
- Gloves were a dumb choice
- Should I feel bad that I'm mostly walking my RIs? I don't feel that bad.
- Wait. What number am I on again?
- Hmmm. This run is going to end up at 4.84 miles. Since I walked my RIs, maybe I'll just keep going until I get to a nice, tidy 5. Yeah. I'll do that.
- How am I going to get this 8 miler in on Saturday? (thinks through commitments for the day). Well. Guess I'll just have to give up my sleep-in day (@MoanasPapa gets up with the kiddo on Saturday, I take Sunday). If I get up at 6, that's an hour later than I normally get up on running days, and that should give me time to run, get back, and get showered before we leave for gymnastics. Ok. I guess I'm the type or person who sacrifices sleep for running now.
- Wait, but the normal route I take for long runs is not one I want to do by myself in the dark. Oh well, I guess I'll just string my two "neighborhood" routes together. That should work.
- I wonder if setting a goal of running 1,000 miles in 2018 would be realistic?
 
@roxymama I may just have to, we still haven't solved the light/wreath conundrum, so the hardware store is likely in my future.

In other news: things I thought during my run this morning, in no particular order:

- Gloves were a good choice
- Whatever setting my headlamp is on is good, people are actually stopping for me when I run across the on/offramps on the way to the high school
- Running at the HS track at dark by myself is both great and creepy
- OMG WHO IS THE GUY IN ALL BLACK WHO SUDDENLY SHOWED UP ON THE TRACK. Oh wait. He has a headlamp. He's probably legit a runner.
- What lovely weather (it was 41* - I was assuming it'd be in the low 30s)
- Why am I wearing gloves?
- What number interval am I on again? 4? 5? 6? Ok, hold on, let me count. Wait. I need to count when I'm walking so that I can think.
- Running intervals is (for me) really the way to go
- Gloves were a dumb choice
- Should I feel bad that I'm mostly walking my RIs? I don't feel that bad.
- Wait. What number am I on again?
- Hmmm. This run is going to end up at 4.84 miles. Since I walked my RIs, maybe I'll just keep going until I get to a nice, tidy 5. Yeah. I'll do that.
- How am I going to get this 8 miler in on Saturday? (thinks through commitments for the day). Well. Guess I'll just have to give up my sleep-in day (@MoanasPapa gets up with the kiddo on Saturday, I take Sunday). If I get up at 6, that's an hour later than I normally get up on running days, and that should give me time to run, get back, and get showered before we leave for gymnastics. Ok. I guess I'm the type or person who sacrifices sleep for running now.
- Wait, but the normal route I take for long runs is not one I want to do by myself in the dark. Oh well, I guess I'll just string my two "neighborhood" routes together. That should work.
- I wonder if setting a goal of running 1,000 miles in 2018 would be realistic?

That thing about the gloves...SAME!!!
 
I also have a love hate relationship with gloves.
Mine is usually: Why am I wearing these, Why did I take them off, I shouldn't have put these back on.

If you start training for Dopey 2019 then 1,000 miles in 2018 is totally realistic.
 
There is a delicious alehouse like a mile away that would make for a great post-race gathering spot though. :drinking1 Alas... I think Gaithersburg, Maryland, is probably not high on people's race destination lists.
You MUST be talking about Dogfish Head... My water broke there.... Hahaha.
 
Monday Training Update (Week 10): Week Ending 12/3

This was the plan for the week:

T - 4 miles @ EB
Th - 1 @ WU, 10x400 @ 10k w/ 30 sec RI, 1 @ CD
F - 4 miles @ EB
Sa - 8 miles @ LR

Aaaaah, I had missed the feeling of fatigue that I get from a "typical" training plan week. Got that back this week.

Tuesday's run was indoors on the treadmill at home. Nothing eventful about it. My dad woke up and came out of his room when I had about a mile to go, and was surprised to see me there because that treadmill is so quiet. I'm really glad for that, because I do my runs before the rest of my house is up, so it's nice to know that I'm not disrupting anyone.

I really wanted to do Thursday's run at the track, and I lucked out with the weather (it was 41* when I left my house). You saw my running thought process in a previous post, so I won't write too much on this run. I was faster than expected during the intervals (low-to-mid 9's instead of 10:03) except for the very last one, which was en route back to the street and up a small incline - that one was closer to the right pace. I did make the decision to walk most of the resting intervals, though. The reason is two fold: I have to mess with my watch a bit to get it to start a new segment, and I find it easier to do all of that when walking, and also, I was feeling a little wheezy and didn't want to push it with my breathing. I kind of made up for it, though, because as I got towards home during my cool down, I realized I was going to be at around 4.8 miles. I figured I'd make it an even five, so I extended my cooldown mile to about a mile and a quarter to get the even five.

Thursday's run was also uneventful. There's one street I run up and a down a few times that neighbors are now parking their cars straddling the sidewalk, so it forces me on to the street on what is a really narrow (one lane) street. It's a small street that doesn't get much traffic (and isn't lacking for proper parking), but the lack of consideration for people that use sidewalks is really frustrating to me.

Ah, Saturday's run. I was going to sleep in until 6, but I woke up around 5:40 and was thinking about my run, so I got up and headed out a bit early. Because it was still dark, I didn't want to go down to the park path I normally do longer runs on until it got light. So I decided to string two shorter routes together. I actually really liked the route, because it gave me some good mental feed back when I reached certain waypoints that I normally hit on either of the shorter runs. "Oh, I've reached my normal turnaround point for route A. I'm halfway done with route A," seems a lot more positive than "I'm a quarter of the way done with 8 miles." Once I finished route A, it was light enough for me to feel safe heading down to the park route, so I ran down there and along the park route for a while ("Ah! I' halfway through route B!") before heading back up the hill and home. My average pace for this one was 11:00/mi, which is faster than I am supposed to be doing my LRs, but it was cold and that felt good, plus it was a hilly route (including some big downhills), so I think from an effort perspective it was pretty good. I was done, home, and showered in plenty of time to have a cup of coffee and some toast before we left for gymnastics.

The one observation I had this week was how much easier of a time I am having getting through and recovering from longer distances. The 8 miles on Saturday were done on a hillier route than my long runs are typically done on. During the training cycle over the summer, 8 miles would have left me physically tired, in need of a nap, and sore. Not this time. I felt really good after, and I definitely could have kept going for several more miles if scheduled to. We had a busy day and a busy weekend overall, and I felt totally fine and ready to go. I'm sure the cold is playing a factor, too, but I also think I'm just getting used to running.

In other news: We had a date night and saw Coco. It was excellent. Beautifully done. I also really liked the Frozen short in front of it. It was much less obnoxious than the preview made it look.
 
Thursday's run was also uneventful. There's one street I run up and a down a few times that neighbors are now parking their cars straddling the sidewalk, so it forces me on to the street on what is a really narrow (one lane) street. It's a small street that doesn't get much traffic (and isn't lacking for proper parking), but the lack of consideration for people that use sidewalks is really frustrating to me.

In other news: We had a date night and saw Coco. It was excellent. Beautifully done. I also really liked the Frozen short in front of it. It was much less obnoxious than the preview made it look.
Your Thursday run experience really speaks to me. There is one house that leaves a car-length of space in the driveway and then parks their car so that it's right in the middle of the walkway. There are also several houses that leave small-ish gaps and stick out into the sidewalk because one of the vehicles is a big truck but they aren't as blatant and don't bother me as much.

Glad to hear about Coco. Everything I've heard makes me want to see it.
 

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