what's up with 2015

Wow, time sure flies by! I can't believe we are nearing the end of January already!!  Yes, I've been running, and even doing some cross-training.  It's been a good month!  I've set some goals for myself, and also joined a few fun challenges.

First the challenges:

Proof!

1. Run 50 miles during January.  I'm gearing up to begin marathon training the first week in February, so I started doing my base training in December.  But I'm lazy. So when I saw the Minneapolis Running January Miles Challenge I decided to join. Options were 50, 100 or 150.  I knew I wasn't up for a 100 mile month yet, but 50 was totally doable. I have just over 10 miles left to reach my goal. Easy peasy!

2. January Plank a Day challenge with Eat Drink and Be Skinny.  Front plank and two side planks each day.  Four levels of difficulty.  I'm a wuss and remain at level 2 BUT... I am now able to hold 60 second planks (for a total of 3 minutes!) AND I have done it every day so far!

3. Run 100 days in 2015 Challenge. I forget who it's with!! Anyway, I'm sure I can meet this challenge and just thought it would be a fun one to participate in. I know I signed up for it someplace - probably on that bookface thing - but frankly can't remember. You know I'm going to be 50 soon, right? Yeah. So I guess I have cut my aging brain some slack.

My gratitude jar

Goals:
1. Practice gratitude.  I'm learning a lot about personal resiliency and how it affects day to day life.  One great tool to enhance resiliency is to practice gratitude.  I have a jar next to my bed, along with colored pens and paper. Each night, I write down things that happened during the day for which I am grateful.  Could be cooking a meal with the husband, sharing a laugh with one of the grunions, going for a run with a friend, seeing a beautiful sunrise...... whatever made me feel good that day.  The plan is to do that throughout the year, watch the notes pile up in the jar, and then on December 31, read and relive all the wonderful things I saw, did and experienced during 2015.

2. Take better care of myself. 2014 sucked, and I had a few stressful years before that.  I think my overall stress led to injury.  In 2015, my plan is to take better care of myself, mentally, physically and spiritually. Eat better, sleep better, nourish relationships..... you get the idea.  Not only can I help myself, but hopefully, I can do something good for others as well.

3. Run two marathons in 2015.  Because I'm turning 50! Grandma's in June, and if I can get in, Twin Cities in October.  Fingers crossed that the arthritis doesn't make training unbearable.  This is somewhat uncharted territory for me now.  I haven't run further than a half marathon in a couple of years, and I have to say, a couple of those were pretty damn painful. Of course, I wasn't training much either, but since I had signed up to run and if I was feeling pretty good that day, I figured what the hell, I may as well!  Probably not super smart on my part, but whatever. I like the mental challenge just as much as the physical.

So that's what's up for me so far for 2015.  I have a 10k race tomorrow (the Securian Winter Run) which I'm looking forward to.  I've done the 5k a couple of times. It's a nice hilly course in downtown St. Paul. Looks like the weather is going to be gorgeous too - 38 degrees!! Makes me wonder if I should wear capris...... I'm a Minnesota girl, ya know.  I'll run in shorts if it's over 45 degrees.  

I'll let you know how the race goes. If you're racing, or running, or setting goals or otherwise challenging yourself, tell me about it! I'd love to hear what others are up to.

holiday bootie buster challenge!

In an effort to keep ass expansion to a minimum during this holiday season, I've joined the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge put on by Amanda at Run to the Finish.

It's a known fact that I sometimes have portion control issues when it comes to snarfing the foods I love.  (Remember, I had to ban Oreos from the house because I can't be trusted to not eat an entire package in one sitting.)  Oh, and did I mention that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday?  Stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, whipped cream....... I deny myself nothing at Thanksgiving.  Oh my, I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Making sure the turkey is ready to serve.

And as long as we're being all sorts of honest here, let's acknowledge that internal motivation isn't exactly my strong suit.  Remember when I was asked if I'm a cowbell whore?  That's one of the reasons I love races so much - cowbell comes in so many different forms: Crowds cheering!  Medals!  Sometimes, even beer!! So what's the big draw for the HBBC?  Free stuff.  Really COOL free stuff.

Free Stuff = Cowbell.

And all I have to do is maintain some semblance of a workout plan and log it on a spreadsheet.  I can do that.

The HBBC starts tomorrow and runs through the first week in January - the perfect span of time.  I'm optimistic that this challenge will get me through the holiday eating season unscathed and having maintained my current weight.  Success will mean I won't have to add "lose vast amount of poundage" to my marathon training plan when training kicks off in January.  That would be fabu.

I am SO ready for this.  I've been carb loading for weeks in anticipation!!

get lucky 7k

Had my Get Lucky 7k race yesterday and for the most part, it was a pretty fun day, although also a tad disappointing. 

Maybe I'd be faster if I ran with my eyes open

Ever see the movie "Office Space" where the guy is in rush hour traffic and no matter what lane he's in, that's the one that isn't moving? That's how my first 1.5 miles felt! Once again, I started too far in the back of the pack.  Argh! Lots of traffic. Funny thing is, I had moved my starting position up to the 10 minute mile pace flag (I usually start by the 11 minute pace) so I thought I was being aggressive.  Not so much.  Spent a lot of time weaving through folks again.  Traffic was pretty heavy all through the race though, so maybe it wouldn't have been any better farther up, I'm not sure.

Frickin' Dipsy Chick

Anywhoo.... not too long after starting the race I noticed one particular runner ahead of me.  Some chick was wearing a green Teletubby costume (that particular Teletubby's name is Dipsy) - I could see her antenna bobbing ahead of me in the crowd, taunting me.  As I was weaving through the crowd and trying to pick up my pace, I just got annoyed with her for being faster than me while wearing a full-body costume and told myself there was NO WAY that little green beyoch was going to beat me to the finish!  Finally passed her at the end of mile 4 and left her in my dust. Yes, I'm sure she's a very nice person and it's not her fault I fixated on her so I probably shouldn't call her names.  She did after all, provide me with some motivation!

My "official" time listed on the race website says I ran a 10:00 min/mile pace (43:30 overall) but my Garmin says 9:54 min/mile (43:05) so that's the result I'm going with. Is that bad? 

Here are my splits (notice they are NEGATIVE!!): Mile 1=10:14; Mile 2=10:06; Mile 3=09:57; Mile 4=09:31; and the last 0.35 mile = 09:13. Did I mention those splits are negative? That means I went FASTER with each mile I ran. Su-WEET!!

I do love the swag! 
OMG I just noticed the pose similarity between Dipsy and me!
And....is the guy behind me picking his nose???

I know I should be happy with my race and my time (both Garmin AND "official") because either way, it's a personal best for me. And negative splits are nothing to sneeze at! But I finished the race and felt GREAT; I didn't feel like I had just finished running a race, I felt like I had just finished any old run and could have run for several more miles. So I think that's a good thing, means I'm getting stronger and and all my hard work is paying off. But it also means I don't know what the hell I'm doing in a race and I'm not trusting myself - my body kept telling me "Go faster, you can GO FASTER!" but my mind said, "Don't go too fast, you'll fade before you finish!" Unfortunately, mind won.

So I have some work to do before my next race - I'll have to get better at pacing myself and really reading my body to have a better idea of how much I can push it. Is it weird that I'm so interested in running faster all of a sudden? I've been slow for so long and really pretty content with just finishing races feeling good....but for some reason that's not enough anymore. Anyone have any thoughts on this??

Onward and upward......I need to just quit whining about my performance and learn from it.  And I should be proud.  I AM proud!!!  My next test will be the Get in Gear Half Marathon on April 30.  Can't wait!

BIG shoutout to the husband for supporting me yesterday (and every day!) He went with me to the race, dropped me off at the start and went to park the car, carried all my crap, stood around in the cold waiting for me to finish and then fed me a fantastic dinner last night. He's the bomb!

90 days to Grandma's!!!!