My recent running highlights

My first holiday race - Rudolph Ramble 8km
It was cold and it was wet. I got there way to early.
This was only a small race but I don't think it was the best organised event I've participated in.
However, I had fun! There's something about running while wearing red foam antlers that just adds something to a race. Plus, it was my best 8km time (although my first 8km race) at 51 minutes. While I don't love standing around in the cold I definitely love running in it. This time is particularly good for me as I did a 7 mile run the day before.

SNOW!!
My first Chicago snow (took you long enough, Chicago). I was super excited on Thursday when it started, so wandered around in it for a couple of hours. Not my best idea as I ended up super cold and slightly damp by the end of it.
I did 5 miles on Friday for my first snow run and followed up with 9 miles today.

Looking south on the Lakefront Path, somewhere around Millennium Park

Turns out running on snow is kinda difficult. My glutes are feeling the extra work they had to do this morning! But I love it!! I love winter. I love Chicago. And I love snow.

I also love running. 2013 is going to be an awesome running year - I am scheming big running plans for it right now.

A streak update

As I mentioned when I first decided to streak, one of my goals was to develop a running habit. My running history is littered with "rest" days.

Nine days into the streak, I was feeling good and actually wasn't having the internal debates about running. Every day was a run day. Some run days were one mile on the treadmill but they were still a run. I even tried a four mile run on the treadmill. I made it to the end but it wasn't pretty.

Day 1 - 4 miles
Day 2 - 4 miles
Day 3 - 6 (fast) miles
Day 4 - 2 miles
Day 5 - 1 mile
Day 6 - 4 (boring) miles
Day 7 - 3 miles
Day 8 - 1 mile
Day 9 - 4 miles

Day 10 (Saturday): I did five miles with my F^3 Half training group (at a much more reasonable pace than the week prior).

Saturday evening I had my office's Holiday Party. Naturally, I got frocked up - LBD and mile high patent heels. It was a great night which started with a few raspberry sangrias and continued with several cranberry vodkas.

Cranberry vodka - very tasty!

Sufficient to say, my coordination left a little much to be desired by the time my feet hurt too much to stay out any longer.

I think you can guess where this is going.

The combination of heels, too many pink/red drinks and a very steep flight of stairs resulted in an embarrassing slip on my way home. Luckily, all I did was skip two steps on the way down as I was holding onto the railing the whole time. But those two steps did a number on my ankle and leg.

Sunday through today have been run free.

I am disappointed to not be running. But I am OK (in theory) with not running due to injury (yes, silly self-inflicted injury, but injury never the less) rather than due to "I can't be bothered".

The good news is I was completely pain free today, including after a three mile walk, so tomorrow morning I will be back out there streaking.

Anyone else sidelined themselves with foolish behaviour? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Success!

Day 4 of the running streak is done!

After weeks of not hitting four runs a week targets, I have now run four days in a row!!

This post is likely to contain an excessive amount of exclamation marks!!!

Thursday (Thanksgiving) - four miles
Friday - four miles
Saturday - six miles
Sunday (today) - two miles

Friday was a pretty standard, uneventful run. Much more comfortable than the four miles I did on Thursday. The weather had done a turnaround from Thursday and was about 15 degrees colder - and just about perfect running weather in my book.

Lakefront Path, looking South toward Oak Street Beach

I snuck in a little bit of shopping in the afternoon, despite the horrendous crowds, to get a dress to wear to a work Christmas function next weekend. I got something much shorter than I would normally go because I love my runner's legs and am proud to display them now (hopefully everyone will ignore all the bruises I have from my bike - I am so uncoordinated!!).
Saturday was my long run for the week which I did with my CARA running group. After the bike ride to join the group my legs and feet were pretty much numb. A pair of windproof running tights is definitely on the list. As is some form of foot protection. The first two miles were completely on auto-pilot because everything from the waist down felt completely disconnected from me. I still really like running with a group - I'm not very chatty but I enjoy listening to everyone else. We knocked out the six at 10:40 pace (not ideal given we're supposed to be the 11:00 pace group!) and I must confess I was tired by the time I got home. It was the first cold run I have done since moving here. I was starving when done too. I treated myself to eggs and vege hash for breakfast at a local cafe after what felt like the best hot shower ever.
Sunday was a slow two miles. Technically today is a cross-training day on the plan, so I kept the mileage low and pace reasonably glacial.

Tomorrow will be the first "big" challenge in the streak. After a glorious four day weekend, I will have to go back to work :(

I'm planning on sneaking in one mile on the treadmill in my building's gym before work. I only want to do one mile tomorrow as I'm worried about hurting myself if I go any further. The treadmill will help keep me to one mile because I detest treadmill running.

I'm going to streak

Despite my history with consistent running (specifically, consistent running and I don't have a history), I'm going to try the Runner's World Running Streak.

Why?

I am hoping that the goal of only having to hit one mile a day won't overwhelm me. I can run one mile if I'm not feeling great. I can run one mile on the treadmill without passing out from boredom. I can fit a one mile run into any day.

They say (whoever "they" are) that if you do something 21 times, it becomes a habit. And if I can get into a running habit then I'll be much better set up for doing the running that I want to do. I would love 2013 to be the running year.

I kicked off the streak with 4 miles this morning. Lovely day. Bad run. First two miles were plagued with a stitch (why?! why?! I wasn't even running fast) and a very tight left leg from hip to heel. Second two miles were significantly better and made me glad that I persisted through the first two, even though they were still pretty lacklustre.

How could I pass this up?

Post run, I had a date with the foam roller and the tennis ball (ow! ow! ow!). It think I need to add stretching to my streak too.

You win some, you lose some

Today marks the end of the second week of my official 12 week training to the F^3 Half.

I signed up to train with CARA as I was apprehensive about running through my first Chicago winter. With two group long runs on the books, I am happy about this decision (even though it hasn't really got cold yet). It's been a bit of a shift to run with others but when you're living in city where you don't really know anyone, I think it's the way to go. I joined the 11:00 pace group which is working out great.

Other than my long runs, the rest of my training has been a little hit and miss. The plan has us running four times a week - as I've previously reported, hitting these targets has been an issue for me.

I have high hopes of achieving the target this week as there are no "events" planned over the next seven days. I have the best of intentions but this sort of reflects what actually happens when I go out:

I am envious of those who can drink and run. I like beer. I like running. Beer and running do not like each other when I am involved. You win some, you lose some.

In addition to running, I have also entered the world of cycling. My new training group starts their runs about 6 miles from where I live. Given my lack of car, my options for getting there are public transit, cab or bike. Waiting around for the bus after a run is not really what I want to do. As it turns out, I do not have great biking legs. I especially don't have great biking legs after a run. Sore legs beats cold legs any day though.

Until next time...

Not quite there

I had plans for this week. Not particularly ambitious plans and yet I didn't follow through.

Here's the stats of what I did do:
Tuesday - 4 miles: This was one of those runs. From start to finish I felt sluggish. Every step felt 10 times more difficult than normal. It was a run where I had to pull out nearly every motivational trick I have in my admittedly slim arsenal.

• I broke the run into mini-milestones - I'll run to that light; I'll run to that water fountain; I'll run to that road sign.
• I focussed on my form - Head up; Shoulders down; Hands relaxed. I pretended I was back in Melbourne in my running group and Jodie was taking us through our paces (I miss those guys!).
• I repeated running mantras
• I really listened to the lyrics of songs on my iPod (usually it's just "white noise" in the background) so I was focussing on the songs and not on the running.

Ultimately, it was all worth it. I know every run won't be easy and you need the "difficult" ones to help you improve. And looking at the end result, I finished in 44:03 which equates to 6:50/km (yes, I'm mixing my measurement systems) which is a decent pace for me. That pace should feel hard when I'm coming back from a two to three month layoff.

Sunday - 6 miles: This was not a solid run but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I headed south on the Lake path today which I think is a good plan for going forward as I did most of the first half of my run into the wind and then had it at my back on the return leg. Much easier than the alternative! I also tried my first run in a long sleeve top. In retrospect, it was too much and short sleeves would have been fine, but you live and learn, right? The downside of the run is a cranky knee that is currently seeing some ice. Fingers crossed it's just temporary.

And that's it for the week - can you see what's missing? Run number three. I was planning on going out on Thursday but just never did it. It was cold and wet and I just slacked off. Yet more personal running lessons learned this week -
1) don't let yourself get overly cold during the day because it sends you into hibernation mode - all I could think of on the way home was a hot high carb meal. I scoffed a bowl of pasta quick smart but that put an end to running for the day.
2) there are no rules about when you can run. In my head, there's first thing in the morning or there's right after work. In reality, there are many more opportunities.

This week I hope to get in four runs - a couple of shorter sessions to start introducing some speed work plus my usual longer (because it's all relative) runs. Hopefully I can utilise some of my learnings from this week and hit all four.

Approaching normal

Because I am nothing if not consistent, it's been quite some time since I checked in here. I don't know exactly how long as I'm implementing the time honoured approach of denial.

What exactly has prompted this return to my much neglected blog?

I Ran Three Times this week! Three Times!!

I realise this is not Big News for the majority of the world but after the time off for the move, the heat, and the stupid Sore Foot, I am so super excited about it. I'm getting back to normal again.

AND, in other news, I entered the F^3 Lake Half Marathon in January next year. Having a race to train for gave me a major kick in the pants for working out too.

So, what did I do?

Tuesday - estimated 3 miles. My Garmin died after about 1.5 miles. I remember it was dead by the time I turned around to come home so I'm calling it 3 in total.

Friday - 4 miles. It was a little (ok, very) chilly out. I haven't run in those sorts of temps since my Canberra days. I used a headband to cover my ears and threw on a pair of gloves but otherwise I stuck to my t-shirt and knee length capris. This was OK but I am going to go shopping for a long sleeve top later today.

Sunday - 5 miles. I'll be honest - I didn't want to do this run today. I talked myself into it by reminding myself I had decided to try a Salted Caramel Mocha today and that meant I needed to bank some Activity Points. Plus there's the whole race thing in three months. Anyway, to make sure I didn't chicken out, I caught a bus 5 miles north and then ran home. This was a genius move. I'm pretty confident I would have done my planned 5 miles in an out-and-back but why not make it easier to succeed? Now that it's over, I feel good but it was definitely a hard slog. I must remember it's always like this when I start over again.

I'm planning to get in 14 miles next week - two 4 milers and then 6 miles for my long run on the weekend. I'm excited!