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.

Tackling the Treadmill

Tonight found the motivation to go to the gym and run on the treadmill.  The thought has scared me in the past since I’d be running on a piece of equipment in front of many other people, whereas when I run outside there aren’t too many people around.  After 10 minutes walking I decided to start running, and it was pretty good.  I have to say my form must have been a little different on the treadmill than it is on the road, because my legs were more sore than usual, but overall it was good.

I’ve decided my training plan is going to be to run at the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since it’s dark outside and there are no well lit areas nearby where I can run outside after work, as well as it’s getting pretty cold out.  On the weekends I’m going to run outside if the weather permits, otherwise I’ll head inside to the treadmills on those days as well.  I’m looking forward to this winter!

Now this is Cold!!!

A couple weeks ago I commented that it had been in the 30s when I was going for my runs, well that was nothing, considering I think it was in the upper 30s.  This morning it was 25 or so when I left the house, 30 when I returned.  It was cold, but good!  I invested in layers that I was able to wear this morning and other than my legs I didn’t feel that cold.  I’m going to have to get some warmer running pants if I want to keep running comfortably in the cold.

Just about 4 weeks until the Santa Hustle, it’s the weekend before Christmas.  It’ll be interesting to see how cold it is and if there will be snow on the ground.  Either way I’m looking forward to it!

Jingle Bell Run

Today I had the Jingle Bell Run at the zoo.  Overall the run was great.  I was a bit worried that my knee might not hold up, as I started having issues with it a couple weeks ago, but I wore my knee strap and I didn’t feel any pain throughout the run.  I think the toughest part of the run was the hill at the zoo that challenged most runners.  We had to do two laps, and the first time through I made it halfway up the hill before I stopped to walk, and the second time around I made it about a quarter of the way up.  I also ended up with pain in my side about halfway through the run, which happened at the last run too.  I’ve been reading up on it to see how I can prevent it and while I thought it was maybe lack of some sort of nutrient, it sounds like it has more to do with my fitness level and breathing technique.  I’m going to try some of the breathing techniques I found out there to see if it helps going forward.  One of the things I’ve seen repeatedly is to breath deeply and with a rhythm, such as every time you left foot hits the ground.  We’ll see if it works for me!

My next run is in December, the Santa Hustle, but I’m tempted to sign up for a race in between, the end of December is a long ways away.  I’ll have to see how the month goes and where my workouts take me.  Maybe the extra training time is needed to get me better prepared to get out there.

High Expectations

When I started running earlier this fall, I don’t know that I had intended to enter into races.  Sure, they inspired me, and part of what got me going might have been the benefit walks I was doing, but I don’t think I ever saw myself as a competitor.  Now I’m sitting here wondering if I can train for a half marathon in 6 months.  The Door County Half Marathon is May 4th, 2013.  All I’ve run so far is a single 5K, my second one is this coming Sunday.  My average pace was around 13 min/mi, which isn’t great, but it’s more than the minimum required to finish.  The farthest I’ve run is 4 miles.  Part of me says just do that 3 more times, plus a little more and you’ve got a half marathon.  The other part of me says it gets harder the further you go.

I’m one of those people who believes if other people can do something, so can I.  We’re all human.  My plan is to see how far I can run before the end of the year and then decide if I’m going to enter the half marathon, otherwise there’s a 5K option I can enter instead.  I wish there was a 10K.

The other thing I’ve been struggling with is knee pain.  I think I have runner’s knee, based on all the descriptions I can find.  I went back to the gym and started using the strength equipment, so that should help build some muscle to support my knee better, I just hope that does the trick.  It is starting to feel better, this is week 3 of the knee pain and I went for a light jog this past weekend, but otherwise have been keeping pressure off of it, just using the stationary bike at the gym for cardio.

I guess I’ll see how the run on Sunday goes, and where the next month takes me.