Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 7 The Hanukkah Hustle

Today puts me at the end of the first week of training.  It's been a good week.  To end it, I ran the Hanukkah Hustle 5k.  I really enjoy this race as it's small and I love the course.  I like watching the residents of the assisted living facility get out and enjoy time with family and the volunteers.  Here we are before the race.

It was starting to snow as we headed to the start line.  It was a pretty fluffy snow too.  I reminded Mike that he should be thankful that I was only doing the 5k and not the 10k.  He didn't have to stand outside as long.  I know he went inside to stay warm.  He knows my times and knows when to be out at the finish line.  And he was!  Here I am crossing the finish line.

The race itself was okay.  My legs were really tired from my runs this past week.  I knew I would be slow, but I was fine with that.  It took me awhile to get my legs stretched out and feeling good.  By that point I was almost at the finish line.  The finish for this race is uphill.  I got to the hill and kept repeating, "Up the hill. Across the line."  It got me there.  It's not the hill was particularly big or steep, it was just my legs were that tired.  I got my finisher's medal and we headed inside for hot dogs, latkes, and to check results.

I didn't think I had gone fast enough to place, but I was surprised that I got 3rd in my age group!  We stayed for the awards.  The top 3 in each age group got Star of David pendants.  They were pretty cool!

Here's a picture of both my finisher's medal and my age group pendant.

Tomorrow is my rest day.  I will just take River for a long walk.  Tuesday I'm in the gym for speed work and weights, Wednesday it's a 4 mile run, Thursday cross training and weights, and Friday is my long run.  Saturday is my rest day and Sunday I have a swim meet so I can't run then.  I'm ready to tackle the 2nd week of training!

Day 3: Brrrr.....

Yesterday I just took River for a walk.  I was supposed to do speed work, but Mike was out of town and I just couldn't get motivated to get to the gym later in the day.  Today we woke up to snow and cold temperatures.  After dropping James off, I came home and got ready for my run.  River was excited like she always is.

We started out a bit slower since there was snow on parts of the sidewalk.  I didn't want to slip and fall.  It was cold, but sunny and that made for a nice day to run.  I never really hit my groove today though.  The run just felt off the whole time.  It didn't hurt or fell hard, it just felt off.  My pace was okay even with the snow.  I just wasn't feeling it this morning.

River had a good time though.  She was in her element with this cooler temperatures.  She was happy and smiling the whole time.  Towards the end she was ready to come home though.  She has a point in the run where I think she just gets bored, but then all of a sudden she's back in the run.  It makes for some great interval training for me though.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to be in the gym.  I have to get back in that routine.  I'm back on a running schedule so now I have to get back to the gym.  It's a cross training day so I'll do the bike and weights.  I just have to make myself get up and go.  Friday is my long run day.  Going to try to get 10-12k in that morning.  Saturday is my rest day and Sunday I run the Hanukkah Hustle.  It should be a good next few days!

It's been awhile!

October and November caught me and got away from me.  Wow were they busy months.  Let's see if I can upate on my training and racing.

At the end of October I did the Zombie Race in Milton.  It was a great race, but of course it was raining and a bit chilly.  The mud made it more fun though.  It was mostly trails and I loved it!

 

Here is James and I after the race.  He was a bit disappointed that he couldn't run it with me.  In a few years he will be old enough.

 



November started and so did the swim meets.  My kids have been swimming okay.  There is still some technical stuff to fix, but we are making progress towards that.  My training was up and down.

I went to Indiana to surprise my mom for her birthday and brought back the newest member our our family. 

River is a Treeing Walker Coonhound mix.  She is very high energy and gets along great with Anya and Mulder.

We've had her for just over a week and James said it feels like we've had her all our lives.  She is on a great schedule to get lots of exercise.  Monday and Thursday I take her to the dog park.  Tuesday and Friday we walk to daycare when James is with us and then we go for a run.  Wednesday she goes to Doggy Daycare.  Saturday and Sunday we go to the dog park or hike.  I get all three of them out for walks at least 2 other times a day as well. 

Here she is at daycare playing with some of her friends.

When I got back from Indiana I ran the Hanukkah Hustle in Hamilton.  I ran this race last year and had a good time, so I was back for a second year.  I did pretty good for my training being hit and miss.

After the race we took all three dogs hiking.  They had a ball and the weather was awesome!

I ran a bit last week and took River for her first run with me.  We ran just under 3 miles and she had me moving!  She really does love to run.

Saturday James and I ran the Hamilton Santa 5k.  We had to dress in Santa suits to run.  It was a lot of fun and James ran a best time of 44:09!

 

Mike and James will be running the Santa 5k in Burlington on Mike's birthday.  James had such a good time he wants to do it again!

So that brings us to this morning.  I was going to walk all three dogs to daycare with James, but it was just too cold out for Mulder.  He wears a coat, but still gets really cold, so I just took River.  It's 1.63 miles to daycare and then we went for a 4 mile run.  She just keeps going!  There was no way she was letting me slow down or walk at any point.  She just loves to run!  I won't be able to run with her on Friday as I'm at a swim meet, but Saturday afternoon she and I will go for another run when I get home from practice.

My next goal race is the Robbie Burns 8k at the end of January.  I'd like to be around 50 minutes or faster.  I think I can do it, if I stick to my training schedule.  I have to start doing weights again next week to build up my strength again.  I'll be able to see where I'm at on January 1st when I run the Resolution Run. 

Right now I have to get so much stuff done that I feel like I'm already behind!  Off to enjoy the rest of my day!  Have a wonderful one yourself!

Hanukkah Hustle 5K

Today I got to run a race with my mom and grandma watching.  It was fun!  I have been hit and miss with my training since I haven't been feeling 100% so I was a bit worried about what this race would look like.  It was pretty good.  I ran a personal best of 34:55.  It felt good.  As I started running a noticed that we were running down the hills when we came to them.  In my head I was starting to frustrated myself by noting that meant I had to run up the hills on the way back.  I was not looking forward to that.  I did it though.

I felt so good at the end when I saw my time.  It has me motivated again to run more consistently and stick to my schedule.  I am already planning my week so that I can get my running in.  It will require me to be organized and just suck it up and forget the fact that I'm still not 100%.  I feel good after I run.  I feel like I've accomplished something. 

My next race is January 1st and it's a 5k.  Later in January I have an 8k so I'm trying to get ready for that.  I know I can do it because I want to do it.  I'm inching closer and closer to my 30 minute goal.  I know I can get that goal sooner than I think.  I have discovered that I do enjoy running in the colder weather.   Of course it hasnt been super cold and we haven't had snow yet, so we'll see.  I may change my tune come February.

I sat down and planned my race calendar for the next few months and I'm really excited about all the races coming up.  I am running a 10K in April and I want my first one to be pretty good.  I can't wait to run it!

After the race we went to Niagara Falls.  Mom had never seen it.  It was fun. We had a good time walking around and looking at the Falls.  We didn't go far or stay long, but it was still a lot of fun.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

At the starting line.

After crossing the finish line.

Grandma and I at the Falls.

A rainbow.

Here we are with our mounties.

Tomorrow they head back home and it's back to my routine.  I had a great time this weekend and can't wait for them to come up again!