Another 5k in the Books!

On Thursday night I ran my first 5k race of the year. I didn't know what to expect, as I hadn't trained for this race like I had for my previous races. I've been focusing more on my Bootcamp workouts, still running, but not as my main workouts. I was unsure how this race would be, because it seemed a little disorganized when I stopped on Wednesday night to pick up my race packet. I was pleasantly surprised on Thursday night with how the race was organized. It was an out-and-back course, but it really didn't seem as bad as previous out-and-backs I've run before. There was one curvy hill to run up about 2.5 miles into the race, but I really felt like I nailed it. I started out at an 8:30 pace, but I think I should have started a bit slower. By the last mile, I had slowed down to about 9:30 mile. I think if I had started slower, I could have maintained a 9 minute mile the whole race. Lesson learned :) I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 28:56. I was 43 seconds off setting a new PR, but that's okay. I felt really strong this race, and I think that is due to all the cross-training I've done with Bootcamp. I'm planning to do another 5k toward the end of June, and my hope is to run a sub-28 race. Then my next focus will be a half-marathon in September!

Do you see me?  I'm wearing a blue shirt.  My mom was trying to run and take a picture of me but the guy in the grey shirt got right in front of me!

Mom was finally able to get a good picture.  She ran with me up to the corner, and then she was whipped :)

I had enough energy to finish strong!  The guy behind me and I had been keeping a good pace until those yellow blockades in the distance, and I wasn't going to let him pass me!

Crossing the finish line!

Time to rehydrate and relax!

It's hard to believe that the 8 week Bootcamp program has nearly come to an end.  I loved all the workouts that Tina created for us, and the amount of support and community on the Facebook page is outstanding.  I feel like I gained better knowledge of what my body is capable of, as well as the chance to push my body harder than I've done on my own.  I've noticed a lot of physical changes--the muscle definition in my triceps is pretty sweet!  I've also improved my cardio endurance.  I plan to continue to use the workouts that I've learned over the past 8 weeks, and continue to build upon, and improve my physical fitness!  Thank you, Tina, for all your work!

Pushing

I can't believe it is Saturday already!  This week seems to have just flown by.  I had something going every night after work, so it feels like I have hardly been home this week.  We had the final night of SEM this week, so next week will be a little less busy. 

Speaking of things flying by...I can't believe week 7 of Bootcamp is nearly over.  It feels like it was just week 1.  I loved this week's workouts.  I found that I was really able to push myself this week.  I built off of what I knew my body was capable of, and pushed it harder.  Yesterday, I managed to run at a 7:30 pace on the treadmill during some sprints I was doing.  That's over a minute faster than my best 5k time (per mile), and I'm quite proud of that.  I'm excited to see how it effects my 5k next Thursday.

This week one of the workouts was in ladder format.  It was something totally new to me, and I really liked it.  For each exercise you do, you start at a low number of reps and work up.  For example, if you were doing bicep curls, you would do 5 reps, and then rest for 10 seconds.  Then 6 reps and rest, 7 and so on until you've completed 10 reps.  By my last set, by about the 4th rep, my muscles were so fatigued.  I could really feel my muscles working and they were sore the next day.  A sure sign of a tough workout!

I have been eating mostly clean for over a week now.  I've eaten some items with white sugar or flour in them, but I'm not going into this will an all-or-nothing attitude.  I'm feeling good, and I can tell I have less "belly-bloat".  My goal is to continue to eat this way until the cruise.  I've found that since I'm not eating as much sugar, my body is not craving it as much, so that's awesome for my sweet tooth (and waistline!)

I'm really looking forward to this last week of Bootcamp.  I know I can push myself even harder than I did this week.  I'm loving the results I'm seeing so far!

Reaping the Rewards

I haven't always enjoyed working out.  I was never good at team sports that we played in gym.  I'm scared of the ball, so I'd typically strike out while playing baseball.  I usually can't catch a football.  It hurts my wrists to hit a volleyball.  I didn't mind kickball, it's not too difficult to run the bases.  I even did track for a couple years--but avoided running as much as possible.  Instead, I threw discus and shotput.  I ended up running the 4x100 meter relay, but that was the extent of it.

In college, I decided to actually start working out.  Mike bought me a Wii Fit, and later the Biggest Loser.  I enjoyed using those to work out, but I still felt like I wasn't doing enough.  I used both of those programs to get in shape for our wedding. In the fall of 2010, I kept seeing some friends posting on Facebook about a running program, the Running Mate 5k.  They were doing it, and for some crazy reason, I decided to join in.  I don't know what prompted me, but I gave it a shot, and I ended up loving it! 

Crossing the finish line of my first 5k!

Since then, I've completed five 5k races.  I have a sixth coming up later this month, and my first half-marathon in September.  I've challenged my body in ways I never thought possible!  Last May, I bought a Groupon deal, and got both Mike and I a summer gym membership.  I dedicated myself to getting up each morning when Mike was getting up for work, and we'd leave the house at the same time, he'd go to work and I'd head to the gym.  I fell in love with daily workouts.  I love to push myself.  I set goals, and do what I need to do in order to achieve them.  I'm not where I want to be yet (I still can't do a full pull-up), but when I look in the mirror, I see muscles that I've never seen before!

Sometimes though, it's hard to find the motivation I need to keep going.  Some mornings, the bed is so warm and comfortable and an extra 1.5 hours of sleep sounds so much better than sweating my butt off.  But I get up and do it anyway (though every once in a while I do choose sleep!). 

I was determined not to let the lady behind me pass me--and she didn't!

When it's tough to stay motivated, I turn to external sources.  I've done a couple rounds of the Accountability Adventure with a group of ladies from church.  It was great for the accountability to eat right, drink water, and exercise, but that wasn't what I needed.  That's where the blogging community comes in.  Last month, I participated in Carissa's Fit2Flex50 Challenge.  Every week, she posted two exercises for us to do each day, 50 of each exercise.  Sounds fairly simple, right?  What if I told you that the exercises included burpees, v-sits, and plank push-ups?  I'm telling you, it was tough!  But I did it, and my body thanked me!  Although I did the challenge for myself, it was a nice reward to be drawn as the Grand Prize winner and have these items delivered to my front door:

I love Chobani Greek yogurt! 

This is my first experience with Designer Whey.  I had a protein bar for snack today, and it was delicious!

I'm currently participating the Best Body Bootcamp, hosted by Tina. Again, this is exactly what I've been needing to challenge me.  For example, I have a schedule for my running, but I don't mix it up a whole lot.  This morning's workout from Tina consisted of running a faster pace than normal, and then bumping up the treadmill incline every 20 seconds, then doing a sprint at my peak incline!  Wowza...definitely not a run I would have scheduled for myself, but I felt awesome when I completed it!  I went on to lift some weights, and I was challenged to do a couple new moves.  I left the gym this morning feeling like I could accomplish anything!

I think my whole point in this (rather long and wordy) post is that I've found things to keep me healthy and motivated.  Even when BBC ends, I'll have a variety of workouts to fall back on that will keep me from being bored.  I've seen changes in my endurance and athletic ability, as well as my body.  And that is why I do what I do!

5k Results

The race results have (finally) been posted, so now I can tell you about my most recent 5k on November 12th.  This race was really special because I was able to run it with a group of friends from church, Jennifer, Karen (and her husband and son), Kim, Bekah (Kim's daughter), and Erica.  I loved the race course because it was flat and well marked!  And, I have to say, the post-race refreshments were the best I've had yet!

Getting ready to begin

My original training plan was to complete a 5k each month through the summer in preparation for a 10k in October.  However, a stress fracture way-laid those plans and I didn't run a single race between June 28 and November 12.  This was my comeback, and I did make a nice comeback!  I crossed the line with an official time of 28 minutes and 13 seconds!  This was my best race yet by 1 minute and 8 seconds; I ran my fastest mile times ever too!

So get this though, they start to announce the awards and I figured I'd stick around to see what place Karen's husband took. All a sudden they called my name...I took 3rd place of the females in my age division. Whoo hoo! Shout out also to Karen who took 3rd in her age division and her husband who took 1st in his. What a day for all of us!

3rd place medal--very surprised and thrilled!

Our little group of runners

Just so I can keep track of it, and if you want to see my progress, here are my past race results:
3/12/11--Black River Rat Race--31:51
4/16/11--Lamont River Run--30:33 (not chipped)
5/28/11--Kick Off to Summer Run--31:12
6/28/11--Zeeland Zoom--29:21
11/12/11--Paradise Bound--28:13 (not chipped)

Overcoming frustration

I ran on Wednesday, pain free, for the first time in nearly 5 weeks.  This was a huge moment of pride and accomplishment for me. 

You see, 2 days after I ran over 6 miles, I injured my foot.

I was out running, just a quick 1.5 mile loop, and I felt a sharp pain in my foot.  First I thought it was just a cramp so I figured I'd run it out.  When it was still hurting a few minutes later, I thought I better give up, and so I limped home. 

I spent the next few days limping around.  5 days later, I decided it was time to go to Urgent Care and get it checked out (I'd had many people tell me to do that!)  Basically that visit didn't do me any good.  The PA said he thought it was probably a stress fracture, but the chances that an X-ray or bone scan could show that were quite slim.  Since we haven't met our insanely high deductible yet, Mike and I opted out of the X-rays and figured I would just treat it as a stress fracture.  The PA gave me a perscription for an anti-inflamitory and sent me on my way. 

Since then, I'd been sticking with lower impact workouts, like the elliptical and cross trainer, and focusing on some more strength training.  I tried to run one day and my foot felt ok as I was running but as soon as I stopped, the pain was back.

I was just so frustrated!  I love running and I felt like I wasn't getting a good enough workout on the elliptical.  My goal had been to complete a 10k race in October and I was right on track for that...and then BAM--an injury. 

So now I finally feel like I'm back on track again.  I ran a 5k on Wednesday and had absolutely no pain (well, except for my toenail cutting my toe and making a bloody mess in my shoes but that's another story!)  I'm half tempted to go back into training full-force, but I'm sure that would only end in disaster.  For now, I'm going to listen to my body...I'll probably run 2 or 3 times a week until I'm sure I'm painfree. 

I just signed up for a 5k with some friends from church for November 12.  It's been a while since I've done a race...since June (!!!), so I'm really excited for this one.  And, I found a great training program to start gearing up for a half-marathon next spring.  Now I just have to choose one to do!

I did it!

As you all know, I have been training to run 5k's.  I have run 4 so far, and each race I have set a goal to do better than the previous race.  For example, after walking a small portion of my first 5k, I set the goal to completely run my next one.  Then my next goals were to increase my pace and bring down my time from each race.  Well, I had a race on Tuesday night and this time I set the goal to run it as close to 30 minutes as possible.

Here I'm waiting for the race to start...

This is just past the halfway point of the race.  I ran the first mile in 9:26 (my best mile ever!) and I was so pumped.  I knew this was going to be a record setting run for me!

I am about to cross the finish line here.  See the lady in the blue beside me?  She had been behind me for most of the race and was pulling ahead.  There was no way I was going to let her pass me so I used every last bit of energy I had and crossed the finish line before her.

Oh yeah, and my time?  29:21!!!  I shaved almost 2 minutes off my previous PR!  Out of 724 finishers, I placed 352nd! (Out of the women, I placed 158 out of 428 runners.)  Let's just say I'm proud!  Now on to the next goal....a 10k?

I did it!!!

I've had a goal...ever since high school when I measured the distance between my house and one of my best friend's to see if it was 5 miles (it was...almost exactly)...that I wanted to be able to run 5 miles.  In fact, it's even on my bucket list.  Well, guess what?  Today I got to cross that off!  When I got to the gym this morning I decided that I was going to run 5 miles, so I did!  I felt great, I was tired when I was done but I honestly feel like I could have kept on running.  My legs felt great, I didn't cramp up, and I had no trouble breathing.  I was soaked with sweat when I finished, but it was hot in there today!

I took this picture right after I hit the 5 mile marker.  I did do a cool down, so I actually did 5.25 miles today!

In other running news, I completed my 3rd 5k on May 28th!  My 2 running buddies, Jennifer and Karen, and I ran in the YMCA's Kick-off to Summer race.  It was a challenging course, lots of hills to run, but we all set personal records.  It was a fantastic day!

The race was chipped, and I actually completed in 31 minutes and 12 seconds!  I'm running another race at the end of June and my goal is to beat that time :)

We did it!

My First 5k!!!

As you all probably know, I've been training for a 5k for the past few months.  Some friends from church have also been using the same program and me (or a similar one) to train.  I reached the point where I was ready to run a race, I just didn't know which to run.  So I turned to Facebook and Karen told me that she and Jennifer were planning to run a race in Holland.  She invited me to join them so I signed up!

Saturday was the big day!  Rain and wind were predicted so we were a little wary about the weather.  It didn't rain, but it sure was windy!  We had a few hills and some rough terrain on the course and the wind didn't help much either.  My goal was to run the 5k in 37 minutes or less (that's what I calculated I should be able to do based on my training runs).  I don't know what happened but I must have had a ton of energy because I finished the race in 31 minutes and 51 seconds!  I placed 202 out of over 360 people!  I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty proud of myself and I'm looking forward to my next race!

Me, Jen, and Karen before the race

Crossing the finish line!!!

Tired, Sweaty, but super proud, after the race!

5k

I'm running my first 5k today! I'll let you know how it goes!

Trying

Have you ever really wanted to do something that just didn't come naturally for you?

I'm tackling that right now. I've always wanted to say I am a runner. I did track in high school, but I was more of a field person, I threw discus and shot put (not very well, but I tried!). I did run what we nick-named the "fat man's relay", which was the 4x100 relay and each of us throwers ran a leg of the race. Give me a short sprint and I can do a pretty good job, but I've never been good at running long distances.

Last year, I told myself that I was going to start running. I wanted to run a 5k that they have on July 4. As you may have guessed, that didn't happen. I kept saying, I'll run tomorrow, I'll start next week. And you know how that goes, it never happened.

Well, this year is going to be different. A group of ladies from my church starting doing the Running Mate 5k101. It really seemed to work for them, as many of them are self-proclaimed "non-runners". Seeing their success made me want to achieve my own. So I decided I was going to go for it!

Basically the Running Mate program walks you through preparing for a 5k. The first week you run 2 minutes and then do a recovery walk for 3 minutes. Each week you increase your running time and decrease your recovery time. You repeat the circuit multiple times. By week 8, you'll run for a full 30 minutes.

I'm on week 4 right now. I'm running 4 straight minutes and only walking for 1. The whole workout is about 33 minutes. I'm really excited to see where this running journey is going to take me, and I'll keep you updated as I prepare to run my first 5k!