Santa Hustle 5K–Milwaukee

This morning was the Santa Hustle 5K in Milwaukee.  After our rain/snow ordeal this past week, it was icy on parts of the path, but overall not too bad.  When we got there it was about 18 degrees outside.  Thankfully we were able to park under the art museum, which has heated parking.  We hung out in there until shortly before the race.

The race was great, they gave us santa beards, hats, and shirts to dress up in.  There were probably well over a thousand santas running through Veteran’s Park downtown.  The frigid temperatures made it a little more difficult to breathe, I wore a scarf like thing around my mouth to keep the air I was breathing a little bit warmer.

I’m happy to say I finished.  I don’t know what my time was yet, but regardless I made it through, and in those temperatures.  I have another cold run at the end of January at the Milwaukee County Zoo – the Samson Stomp.  I’m expecting it to be even chillier.

Happy running!!

Tackled the Track

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve determined running on the treadmill isn’t for me, yet.  There’s something about it that just kills my calf and shin muscles to the point that I can’t run very long.  I’m sure my form is changed just enough to throw me off that little bit on the treadmill.  Today I made the decision that I’m going to have to toughen up and run on the track.  I don’t like running in front of people, and at my gym the track passes directly in front of a line of ellipticals, bikes, and treadmills.  I started my night out by doing 30 minutes on the recumbent bike to warm up, and then I got on the track.  I walked in circles for about the first 10 minutes before I decided to start running.  Once I got going it was great.  I had to learn to relax and not worry about the other people in the gym who might see me.  Everyone’s there to get healthy, right?  Anyway, I’m glad I overcame another fear and am able to confidently run on the track.  I have to get in shape for all the races I have scheduled in the upcoming year somehow!

Training for Endurance

Up until now I’ve been focused on how fast I can run, although I’m still a rather new runner, and have a long road ahead of me.  This past weekend I signed up for the 13.1 Brewers Mini Marathon, being held at the end of September 2013.  I’m currently at a state where I need to take breaks every so often to walk.  I’ve come to the realization that I need to focus more on my endurance rather than my speed.  I can maintain the speed required by the Mini Marathon even with my walk breaks, so it’s time to shift my attention to being able to run continuously with fewer breaks.

This morning was the start of my new training plan.  I went out for a run this morning and committed to running 10 minutes, and then walking 3 minutes.  I did this 3 times, although I felt like I probably could have done a couple more, I don’t want to overdo it and injure myself.  I’ve had various aches and pains while training over the past couple months, so the more I can keep that under control, the better I’ll be.

I’m looking forward to the Santa Hustle in about 2 weeks, we’ll be running in Santa hats and beards, it should be fun.  As I’m preparing for these upcoming races I’ll also be shifting some of my training indoors.  I’ve managed to get the ambition to run on the treadmill, and while it’s not my favorite mostly because I don’t like running in the gym environment, as well as I feel like it changes my running form, I think it’ll be a must if I want to stay on track.