This was my third year running in the Race for the Grasshopper 5K and my worst. Over the past few months, I've slowly lost my motivation for running. And now with a full-time job and limited daylight hours, it's just been way too easy to say "I'll run later" but later never happens.
I went into this race with very little training and honestly wasn't expecting much. The weather was great for January, low 50s. Much better than the last 2 years. I can remember standing at the start line waiting for the gun to go off and feeling nothing. No adrenaline, no nervousness, nothing. It was just one big group run where I didn't know a single person. To me, it felt like another solo run, another 5K without my husband supporting me or friends cheering me on. Why am I even here, running this race? I just didn't want to be there and sure as heck didn't feel like running.
The gun went off and I started running at an easy pace to get warmed up but it wasn't even a half mile in until I got a really bad side stitch. I tried to slow down but it just wouldn't go away. I pushed through the last mile which felt like it was twice as long as the first two miles just wanting to finish and get this race over and done with. I crossed the finish line in 33:37, pretty slow for that course.
Once I finished, I learn one important thing, I absolutely hate continuous running and prefer longer distances using run/walk method. Ironically my 9 miler last week felt easier than today's 5K and am probably not going to do that many 5Ks this year and instead focus solely on triathlons.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2011 Year in Review
Happy New Year!
This is the day where I look back at my log for last year and take a minute to reflect my accomplishments...
- I swam 14.5 miles
- I biked 493.3 miles with the Tour de Paws 28 miles being my longest ride of the year.
- I ran 356.1 miles with my longest runs being a 10 miler in February and a 9 miler on New Year's Eve morning.
- I completed two triathlons; The Middle Tyger YMCA Triathlon and the You Go Girl Triathlon.
- I completed my first charity ride; The Tour de Paws in September.
- I achieved a new 5K PR of 30:44 and new 8K PR of 50:58 and a 10K PR of 1:04:25.
My goals for 2012...
- Sub 30 minute 5K
- Sub 63 minute 10K
- Finish at least 1 half marathon
- Finish at least 3 triathlons
- Open water swimming
- Metric century (62 miles) bike ride
Run Report: Run with the Stoix
[caption id="attachment_967" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="© 2011 TRIATHLONARMY"]
[/caption]
I went into this run with my longest run being a 7.5 miler three weeks prior and then a 5K and 6 mile run leading up to this 9 mile run and this was my longest run since March. I wasn't really expecting for much but to just finish. I knew I was going to be slow and decided I was going to use run 2 mins, walk 1 min intervals.
The course was a 3 mile loop that we could do 1, 2 or 3 times and obviously I decided to go for the full 9 miles.I arrived somewhat late (hey, I hate mornings so yea, it was hard getting going) and arrived with just 10 mins to spare. I barely had enough time to sign in and pick up my beanie. The weather was foggy and in the low 40s. We quickly lined up and were off 5 secs later. The first 2 miles felt really easy and I even had to force myself to slow down at times.
[caption id="attachment_968" align="alignright" width="199" caption="© 2011 TRIATHLONARMY"]
[/caption]
Then 2.25 miles in, there was a monster hill on Washington Street. I tried my best to jog up it but 30 secs in, it proved to be too steep and too long for that to happen. Once I got up and over that hill, the rest was relatively easy. In fact, I felt really good for miles 4 and 5 but here came that Washington St hill again! Then all was good again for miles 7 and most of 8 but half way through 8 my hips were starting to hurt but I kept moving knowing it wasn't that much further and I was done! By the third time around, Washington St hill was painful.
That hill felt like a mountain and kept feeling like it was getting longer and steeper with every step. I could think about was just getting to the finish line and wanting this run to be done with as quickly as possible. So finally I crested the top of the hill and finished my 9 miler. It was slow but I got it done.
Mile splits =10:37, 11:16, 12:57, 11:39, 10:49, 12:54, 11:34, 11:52, 13:12.
Loop splits = 34:50, 35:22, 36:38
[/caption]I went into this run with my longest run being a 7.5 miler three weeks prior and then a 5K and 6 mile run leading up to this 9 mile run and this was my longest run since March. I wasn't really expecting for much but to just finish. I knew I was going to be slow and decided I was going to use run 2 mins, walk 1 min intervals.
The course was a 3 mile loop that we could do 1, 2 or 3 times and obviously I decided to go for the full 9 miles.I arrived somewhat late (hey, I hate mornings so yea, it was hard getting going) and arrived with just 10 mins to spare. I barely had enough time to sign in and pick up my beanie. The weather was foggy and in the low 40s. We quickly lined up and were off 5 secs later. The first 2 miles felt really easy and I even had to force myself to slow down at times.
[caption id="attachment_968" align="alignright" width="199" caption="© 2011 TRIATHLONARMY"]
[/caption]Then 2.25 miles in, there was a monster hill on Washington Street. I tried my best to jog up it but 30 secs in, it proved to be too steep and too long for that to happen. Once I got up and over that hill, the rest was relatively easy. In fact, I felt really good for miles 4 and 5 but here came that Washington St hill again! Then all was good again for miles 7 and most of 8 but half way through 8 my hips were starting to hurt but I kept moving knowing it wasn't that much further and I was done! By the third time around, Washington St hill was painful.
That hill felt like a mountain and kept feeling like it was getting longer and steeper with every step. I could think about was just getting to the finish line and wanting this run to be done with as quickly as possible. So finally I crested the top of the hill and finished my 9 miler. It was slow but I got it done.
Mile splits =10:37, 11:16, 12:57, 11:39, 10:49, 12:54, 11:34, 11:52, 13:12.
Loop splits = 34:50, 35:22, 36:38
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