Couch to 5k (original) (raw)

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So I've been running longer distances this year but no actual 5k races until today so I thought I'd give you a little update.

Last night I slept terribly (jetlag and stress combined with dehydration). I got a super painful cramp in my left calf in the middle of the night and could feel the pain all the way up to my glutes. I woke up so stiff I felt sure I'd be hobbling along the course and didn't have high hopes for any amazing time.

All summer I've been hovering around the 10-11minute mile pace, even though I run longer runs (3-6miles these days) I haven't cracked the sub 30 minute 5k. The closest I got was last year's Fall Colors 5k (or maybe it was the Santa Hustle? I forget) where I came in at 30m07s.
Today I found an older guy who seemed to keeping a good steady pace and just followed him for the entire course. Morton Arboretum is a beautiful setting but very hilly compared to the rest of Chicagoland but I felt surprisingly okay with all the hills (especially with my stiff crampy leg).
I got to mile 3 and still had energy to push it and sprint for that last leg.
Final time: 29m04s!!! What?! Crazy! I honestly don't know how I skimmed over a minute off my best time?

How are the rest of you all doing? I haven't seen any posts for ages.

How is everyone doing? What are your current goals? Has anyone run any races recently?

Hands up how many of you are managing to get out and run this winter. It's been so bitterly cold here in Chicago (and much of the northern states) and with all the snow and ice it's not easy to get out. Last time I ran was the Santa Hustle 5k 7 weeks ago. I had registered for a race on NYD but my running companions got ill and we had a blizzard, so instead I went for a fun 2+mile walk in the blizzard.

I can't wait for spring to arrive, or for it to just warm up enough during the days that I can take my girl out in the stroller for a decent training run. Last week I decided to run to a social event in the evening while my hub stayed home with the girl. I managed to run 2.52 miles on snow and slush and ice and felt so good about it that I decided I'd try and make it a weekly thing. This week however we're getting a 2nd visit from the Polar Vortex and it will be between -9F and -12F when I go to and from my friends so I'll be catching the train. I did go out for a run today to make up for it though and man, it felt good! Running on snow/slush is like running on sand and the variety of surfaces on the sidewalk made for quite the work out!

I have signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k in 9 weeks so I'm hoping to get out for a training run at least once a week until then. Sadly my finances aren't allowing for as many races as I'd like this year. I'm still aiming to complete a 5k in under 30minutes and push my distance to 10k. Any running goals for you this year?

This was my 3rd year running the Santa Hustle and man was it cold. Seriously. Coldest run I've ever done.
When I left the house to catch the train it was 9F with a real feel of 0F (that's -13C feeling like -17C for those in the UK) . Yikes! It hadn't warmed up much by the time the race started and I think they may have started a few minutes early because it was so cold and they didn't want people standing around longer than they had to.
I knew it was going to be cold and I was rather nervous. I have friend who's new to running ask me what one wears for winter running and I told her what I normally wear for the Hot Chocolate and Santa Hustle's, of course it's normally only in the 30s or 40s, but this was significantly colder so I was a bit stumped.
In the end I wore my usual fitted base layer with a t-shirt over it, then added a warm hoodie and then the long sleeved Santa top over that. I had my warmest hoodie over that for going to and from Soldier Field, warm, but small enough to stuff in my bag for checking. I kept my legwarmers on for the race (normally they get checked in my bag too).
I think it took the first mile for my fingers and toes to thaw out and for me to start feeling comfortable. I had told myself not to push it because I didn't want to be inhaling icy cold air and hurting my lungs, but around the half way point I could feel my knees and hips starting to seize up because I was going too slow (crazy right?!) so I slowly picked up my pace and by the 3mile point I still had enough oompf in me to book it for the last little bit.
Finishing time was 32m59s.
The mile walk back to my friends car was brutal and stole any warmth we'd built up during the run. Hooray for heated seats <3

I'm getting lazy about writing up my races.
On October 26th I ran the Pumpkins in the Park 5k in Lincoln Park before heading immediately to a Halloween party (thankfully my hubby was able to bring my costume with him and the hosts were happy to loan me the use of their shower :P).

It was a cold day, in the mid 40s, but the sun came out right as I was hitting the 2.5miles mark so that last stretch was super pretty.
There were lots of runners in costume which was fun, but I'd opted not to run in costume as mine involved a corset which are rather tricky to run in ;)

I was rather frustrated with the layout of this run, a bottle neck turn very early on slowing us all down, then another bottle neck at the one mile mark as we were herded under a bridge (in both directions too! It was the 2 mile mark on the return). Otherwise the run was pretty. Lincoln Park is right by the lake and the zoo and the wildlife/nature museum so there was lots of gorgeous scenery.
I paced myself pretty well that I could push it at the end, but I didn't think I'd do better than my Doctor Who Virtual 5k. My final time was 30m07s!! What?! Personal Best!! Woo! Totally surprised myself, but I guess running on a regular basis will show improvements :)

Next up might be a Turkey Trot around Thanksgiving, but even if I don't manage to sign up for one of them I'm registered for my 3rd Santa Hustle in early December.

Well, I convinced the hubby to go out for a run this morning. We did our Virtual 5k for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary I set out a route for us and we set off. We decided that as we'd been given actual bib numbers we'd tackle this as an actual race rather than run together. He was pushing the girl in her stroller (first time other than a couple of training runs) so he was dealing with all the resistance that adds and it was rather windy today too.

The route was just along a nice trail in the park, but included a couple of hills. Neither of us were thinking we'd be doing an amazing run today as we're both a little stiff from runs earlier in the week.

My finishing time was 3.05miles in 30m15s!!! Woo hoo! Personal Best!!! Okay so it was .05m short of a true 5k, but I'm counting it damnit!! Way back in 2011 when I did my first 2 races (Hot Chocolate 5k in November, Santa Hustle in December) my times were 30m58s (HC) and 30m44s (SH). Maybe I will be able to reach my goal of completing a 5k in under 30minutes this year...

September 28th I spontaneously registered for and ran the Grundy County Corn Fest 5k in Morris, IL. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it with my parents visiting and the early start but we got up at 5:30 and drove out to the burbs and all had an awesome race!

My brother-in-law came 3rd in his division, the hubster managed a personal best and I ran my fasted 5k this year while pushing a stroller! My finishing time was 32m02s.

Then this past weekend on the October 5th I went to Morton Arboretum with my good friend to run the Fall Colors 5k. It was a chilly but gorgeous day. I decided against running with the stroller this time as the Morton Arboretum has some killer hills. I lost my friend within 5minutes of crossing the start line because the crowds were crazy! I couldn't turn my head to look for her without fear of stepping on someone's heels. As much as I enjoy music while I run, I rarely listen to it anymore and it was rather nice to just enjoy the view without distraction. I found a couple of 'white rabbits' to chase along the way and that helped me navigate through some gaps in the crowds. At 2.5miles I managed to pick up my pace a bit (despite the hills!) and for the last .1mile I sprinted hardcore to the finish line! Finishing time was 31m15s!!! Best time this year and 3rd best time since I started running in 2011 :) Feeling pretty damn chuffed with myself :)

I've started training for a 10k. Mostly to push myself to get out once or twice a week and go for a run, because otherwise I'm only running once a month or so for any races I register for. I have a new local friend who's completed a half marathon so I'm hoping we can get out for a run together once in a while. I've upgraded the RunDouble app on my phone from the c25k to the B210k program which is 3 times a week for 6 weeks. So far I've been out for 2 runs with my little girl in the stroller and today I managed 4 miles! I started off a little too fast for the first interval so the last interval was *slow* :P but again I'm feeling pretty chuffed.

We just got our bibs for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Virtual Run but we're still trying to find some time to go for a run together. Do We just go out for a run? Or do we try and double up with some other race?

I notice a lot of you share my dorky fandom of Doctor Who (judging from your user pics) so I thought I'd spread the word about this virtual 5k.

http://doctorwho50.wix.com/doctor-who50
In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the show this November these people have organized a virtual run. I guess you can do any of the runs as a cumulative thing if you want (so you could still do it even if you are only on week 2 or 3, just take a couple of training sessions) but My husband I just registered for the simple 5k and hope to go out for a run together before the deadline in November.
They email you a bib# that you can print off and then you can email them your finished time. They are sending out medals for each run (same medal on different colour ribbons) but you don't have to submit your finishing time to get your medal.
I registered a few weeks ago and have yet to receive our bibs though. I guess they got overwhelmed by registration and have been trying to email 200+bibs an evening so try to be patient if you sign up.

There might also be a few other sites doing virtual runs for the DW anniversary. :)

It occurs to me that I never wrote about the Run to Remember in July. This is because I ended up not running and was feeling pretty bummed about it.

On July 18th I was planning on celebrating my baby girl's 1st birthday by doing the Run to Remember 5k in the evening. It was going to be my first race with a stroller. Sadly one of her rear wheels got a flat tire in the morning. We went to visit hubby at work and he patched it up, but then after our afternoon play date it got flat again and we wouldn't be able to fix it with time to to get to the race. Plus I would have had to leave for the race before hubby gets home from work so I couldn't just have him babysit and go downtown with out the kiddie.
It was an obscenely hot day (high 90s) so I told myself it was probably a good thing we just stayed home in the A/C rather than take part in our first mother-daughter run, but I was still bummed.