Getting ready for the 5K

My last weekend before the Crawfish 5K next Saturday included running up this hill 3 times (I have to say this picture does not do this hill justice as how steep it is to run up) as well as a mile run to and from it yesterday morning:

And today, I ran the 5K course:

On the plus side, it looks like a possibility that I'll beat my previous 5K time of 33:29 (given that I ran .20 miles more than the 5K).  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll meet my secondary goal of doing better than a 10 mile pace.  Guess that will have to wait until the next one.

I decided to give these compression socks a try today:

I heard that they were good for holding everything together as you run and would help prevent shin splints and improve performance.  And goodness knows, I'm down with trying any kind of voodoo to help with my running.  Overall, they were comfortable and it definitely felt like it was holding my legs together but it didn't make me faster.  That said, I'll probably wear them on race day--it certainly didn't hurt to use them.

So I got my runner friends to approve that this would be my last "long" run before Saturday since I'm traveling Wed-Friday.  So glad to get the long run over with (which is probably not a great sign about my running ability.)

Can't believe I found this street here in Columbia

Countdown to the race begins--less than a week to go!

SC Mud Run 2015!

I joined my friends' mud run team a few weeks ago.  Though I wish I had trained a few more weeks, I couldn't have asked for a more supportive and gracious team to join:

Hopefully lucky bib 49!  Our main goal was to complete without injuries:

And we did it and in pretty good time: 1 hour 38 minutes!  Not bad for a 10K with 36 obstacles.  Where's the mud?  Why, completely in my running tights!

Unfortunately I didn't make my standing goal of getting across the rope transfers but these margaritas soothed any shortcomings:

So did these chips and tacos!

Overall, glad I did it and setting my sights on another goal to train for...maybe a 5K?

Sweetheart 5k run

Man I was getting so anxious for this run.  Yesterday, I mentioned this to a woman at the gym who used to run a lot.  She said, "I've found there are two kinds of runners.  One, those who are in tune with their bodies the whole time, those are...the top runners...the cream of the crop."  She took a wistful pause and I briefly thought she was going to kiss her fingers to honor these elite runners like waiters in Italian restaurants do when describing their transcendent ravioli.  She continued, "the other kind are the ones who need a distraction."  She looked at me, "Maybe you could have a radio."  I totally took no insult that I wasn't an elite runner and confirmed, that yes, yes!  I'll be playing music when I run.

And...I finished!

With a smile, to boot.

It was chilly--in the 30s.  And as usual, I started gasping immediately.  But I finished!  And it was pretty hilly terrain according to my RunKeeper app (fyi, 186 meters is approximately 610 feet):

What threw me off is that part of the trail overlaps part of itself towards the end and a 12K race was starting as we were finishing so we started to run into each other in opposite directions.  I heard a runner say "you got this" and another (thinking I was in his race) helpfully shout, "you're going the wrong way!"  Pretty supportive, don't you think?  I ended up stopping at one point after my app said I finished 5K and checking my map to make sure I was going the right way.  I was on the right path and found my way to the finish line.

According to my splits, I finished 5 km in 39:49, which was in line with my goal.

But apparently, the official 5K finished further out than my app calculated and my official time was 48:27.  At least I have time to beat next year--and I won't need to check a map next time!

Valentines

And also, #2 of 12 of my "make things" resolution.  Using an iota of my craft stuff, I made a few valentines for my girl and her cousins:

Besides stamping the front, I used my Zink hAppy to print pix to wish them kisses and funny faces inside.  Then I adhered a vintage valentine for some cute sentiment:

Here's a close-up of one to our nephew:

I included a little fruit wrap (though the girl got a Dunkin Donuts gift card) to give them something sweet but didn't bother going overboard since I'm sure they are going to get inundated with sweets by friends and schoolmates. And it doesn't hurt that it kept postage down to one stamp too.  Just a little sweet something from their Auntie!

Another run

I tagged along on another trail run--about 4 miles, which isn't nearly as hilly as the one I'm doing on Valentine's Day.  It was about 30 degrees and yeesh, it felt like the freezing temp that it is.  I still struggled and still feel like I was gasping the whole run.  For what it's worth, it would be awesome if I could maintain this 7:25 min/kilometer pace (it's about 12 min/mile pace) for the run on Valentine's Day so I could meet my goal to do a 5K under 40 minutes, but the extra hills on the actual course may wrench that up a bit. 

We'll see...in less than 7 days, I run that 5K.

One down

Okay for January, I'm on pace with my resolutions. Even though I technically started this book in 2014, I'm claiming reading credit for "In the Woods" by Tana French in 2015:

It was a good mystery read though I'd have a tough time recommending it. I'd be like, "the set up is great, the journey is gripping, but ugh, unsatisfying ending."  I'm embarrassed that I'm one of those readers who needs things resolved at the end and I get "in real life" one doesn't get all answers, but come on, when you've got a mystery, isn't that the point?

Okay baby steps with the crafting--pulled out the Spirograph and made a card, which I mailed to a friend:

On a side note, Spirographing is kind of harder than I remember (or takes practice), I had a number of times when I couldn't keep the cog on the track if my pen was in a hole farther from the center of the cog and I'd have these sudden jagged lines where my pen just veered across the design.  A tad frustrating.  Or maybe I need smaller hands.

And voila! I found out a local girl scout troop would take craft stuff so I got motivated to purge some of my stash, knowing it would be put to good use:

Okay, 1 out of 12 done--now on to the next 11...

New Year's Resolution: Lean in 2015

Here we go, 2015.  It's a new year and we're cleaning up.  It's been almost a year and not much progress since I last blogged.  Still at about 170 and ready to kick off the new year right with some simple focused goals.

To start with I have this goal sheet from my gym of reaching 5 pull-ups in a row by the end of 2015.  A few years ago, I was able to do my first unassisted pull-up and got up to 2 in a row.  Now, at 15 pounds heavier than that time, I can't even do one.  Besides some exercises that build up to pull-ups (vertical rows, horizontal rows, etc.), I was advised that weight is a factor as well, so a supplemental goal is getting rid of excess weight.  So starting off by not eating after 9pm and increasing cardio with its own goal of doing a 5K under 40 minutes.  I've signed up for a 5K trail run on February 14--fingers crossed!

Additionally, it's time for other parts of my life to get lean, so decluttering is in order.  And I want to focus on creating and producing, instead of consuming (in my case, hopping around craft blogs, saying how much "I should make that!" and then on to another craft blog).  So less internet, more making stuff.  The exception is reading.  I feel like reading a book is working out my brain, unlike say, surfing the internet.  So here are the rest of the resolutions for 2015:

- Reading 12 books

- Getting rid of 12 boxes of stuff

- Make 12 things

Originally these were all going to be once a month goals, but I didn't want to restrict myself if I'm on a roll (especially the decluttering).  Deep breath.  Okay here we go!