I did it! I beat my last 5K time. Official race time was 28:28! The course was hilly, but it had just the right amount of up and down to balance it out. I had my fastest mile on my third mile with a pace of 8:58. I think that was the first time I managed a mile in under 9 minutes.
Felt the need for a long run after all the eating and shopping this week. Ran 8 miles around my neighborhood on Saturday. A month after the marathon, Dave started running again this week. He ran the first 3 miles with me and we kept about a 9:40 pace. After he split off, I dropped back into the 11:00's for my pace for the remaining 5 miles. I stopped by the house and picked up the kids. They ran 2 miles while I finished my last 3. We went up to the track. It felt great to have a nice relaxing slower paced run.
Overall, the weather has been nice and cooperative for most of the runs. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up enough running through the winter, especially when I need to start training for the next half at the end of January. My next half is in April, which means starting "official training" again at the end of January.
My weight has basically been at a stand still for the last several months. I would love to drop about 15 pounds more. At least 10 would be nice. I need to refocus on my eating. I haven't been out of control or anything, but my portion sizes have gotten bigger again, and I do eat things that I probably shouldn't. I want to focus on this over the next two months to get my weight down before I start training for the half, because I know it will help with my time. It is hard with all the holiday parties to focus on healthy and light eating, though. I just have to make it my focus again.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Still Running
Hard to believe it is already November 20, and a month has past since the half marathon. Since then I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K in Chicago, Illinois with a friend from college, my sister, and a neighborhood friend. It was fun to run in a different city. I complete the 15K (9.3 miles) in 1:36:29 with an average pace of 10:22. After the race there was hot chocolate and chocolate fondue from Ghiradelli. It was a lot of fun and a nice distance to run after completing the half 2 weeks before.
My next race was a 5 mile run yesterday ("5 Mile Run for Remembrance"). My finish time was 49:11 with and average pace of 9:50. It was hilly (the hills didn't go on for miles, but they were steep) and windy. I am happy with my finish time. It was nice running with a little over 300 people after running the last two race with thousands of people. I felt like I had room to run and could just get in my own grove. Other than the wind, the temp was nice and cool, and I really enjoyed the distance and the challenge the hills gave. There were enough sections of downhill to balance out the uphills and give some nice variety. My mom, dad, and Erik also participated. Erik and Dad finished in 1:12:00. Dad had to double back and slow down a few times for Erik. Erik found the hills and wind a bit difficult, maybe now he'll actually want to train a little for these runs. I am hoping to model a healthy lifestyle for my children so they won't have to go through the ups and downs with weight and body image. I'm so proud of my mom. She completed the race in 58:31. Her goal was to finish in under an hour and she did. She never ran before this last year, either. It is so wonderful that my desire to get healthy has become a whole family affair. We are all enjoying setting goals and working hard to meet our goals. It give such a sense of accomplishment. My goal for this race was to get in under 50 minutes, and I made it.
My next race is a 5K on Thanksgiving. My parents and sister are running one closer to their houses, so I will be on my own this time. My goal is to keep it under 30 minutes. My last 5K time was 28:51, so I'd like to meet or beat that time. Dave was running with me and helping me pace myself at that race. It was the perfect temp for running that day, but it was also raining the whole time. I think that made me run faster to get out of the rain!:) So I guess that's my time to beat.
My next race was a 5 mile run yesterday ("5 Mile Run for Remembrance"). My finish time was 49:11 with and average pace of 9:50. It was hilly (the hills didn't go on for miles, but they were steep) and windy. I am happy with my finish time. It was nice running with a little over 300 people after running the last two race with thousands of people. I felt like I had room to run and could just get in my own grove. Other than the wind, the temp was nice and cool, and I really enjoyed the distance and the challenge the hills gave. There were enough sections of downhill to balance out the uphills and give some nice variety. My mom, dad, and Erik also participated. Erik and Dad finished in 1:12:00. Dad had to double back and slow down a few times for Erik. Erik found the hills and wind a bit difficult, maybe now he'll actually want to train a little for these runs. I am hoping to model a healthy lifestyle for my children so they won't have to go through the ups and downs with weight and body image. I'm so proud of my mom. She completed the race in 58:31. Her goal was to finish in under an hour and she did. She never ran before this last year, either. It is so wonderful that my desire to get healthy has become a whole family affair. We are all enjoying setting goals and working hard to meet our goals. It give such a sense of accomplishment. My goal for this race was to get in under 50 minutes, and I made it.
My next race is a 5K on Thanksgiving. My parents and sister are running one closer to their houses, so I will be on my own this time. My goal is to keep it under 30 minutes. My last 5K time was 28:51, so I'd like to meet or beat that time. Dave was running with me and helping me pace myself at that race. It was the perfect temp for running that day, but it was also raining the whole time. I think that made me run faster to get out of the rain!:) So I guess that's my time to beat.
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