Run the run

Holy Mother of all things good! I have 2 words for you.....

PUMPKIN SOUP

I have to start by saying that I am NOT a big fan of pumpkin, at least not in the sweet version that seems to be everywhere right now. Nope to the Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Nope to the Pumpkin Muffins and No thank you to the Pumpkin Cheesecake. But being fall and loving soups I figured I'd give this a shot. After all my sister absolutely LOVES pumpkin in any way shape or form and well, if I didn't like it I could always pass it along to her. It was very easy peasy and surprisingly (to me) delicious!! Just what I needed after the tongue lashing I had to give myself this morning on my run!

Here are the stats:
Duration: 1:02
Distance: 5:16 miles
mile 1: 12:21 (included .50 warm up)
mile 2: 11:13
mile 3: 12:17
mile 4: 12:31
mile 5: 10:58 (finally warmed up!)
last .16: 3:09 (cool down)

How does that saying go? "The road to Hell was paved with good intentions." Well I'm not sure it was HELL worthy but close enough. I set out this morning with good intentions and they quickly went to Hell in a handbasket! I hadn't even reached mile 2 yet and was walking. The internal dialogue had been started "just do 3 miles" "No, you set out to do 5, your doing 5, even if you have to walk it". Well, I decided I was doing 5 if it killed me and the faster my legs covered that 5 miles the sooner I'd be done. So, I kept putting one foot in front of the other and knew I'd get there eventually. The only mile that didn't include a walk break was mile 5 and that still felt slow.

The awesome thing about running though is that regardless how bad it feels while your doing it, finishing it always feels AMAZING! I was proud that I did what I set out to do. Happy that I got up early to do it and the rest of the day would be a walk in the park. I constantly have to remind myself that I cannot compare myself to other people that are running 8 and 9 minute miles. I'm just not there yet, may never be there but all I can do is strive to be MY best. Not THEIR best. And I also need to get out there and put in the miles. Reading, talking and blogging about running are not going to improve my running. It's the actual running that will make me stronger and I need to make a better effort to put in my miles.

xoxo,

Say hello to my little friend!!

Yep that's right folks, my little friend Garmin who is also known in this home as my 4th child!

Garmin arrived bright and early this morning and was taken on his Innaugural Run tonight. He performed fabulously. I on the other hand not so much...
I am still fairly congested from the cold I had last week and for some reason was really sore from Saturdays 5k and had this knot in my right calf the entire time I was running. I'm not even going to post the stats from my first workout their so pathetic... I ran 2 miles and took quiet a few walk breaks but even though the run wasn't what I had hoped it would be I did learn a couple things so it wasn't a complete bust.

1. just because it rained does not mean it is cold out - the long sleeve shirt was overkill and almost unbearably HOT!
2. Never, I repeat NEVER forget to stretch after a 5k - or you'll pay for it later
3. A lot of times when I'm running and start to feel winded, I would start to feel like my heart rate was too high...based on tonights run my heart rate never maxed out. It did get up there but never reached my max so I need to stop using that as an excuse and just suck it up and run, slow down if needed but stop using it as an excuse to walk.

Well my friends, I'm off to shower and crawl into bed...tonights reading material will be my Garmin Owner's Manual, I must learn all it can do!


xoxo,

Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

I wish I could say I was running as FAST as this photo would have you believe...
Josh aka: Speedy with his 2 sidekicks Michelle and Bern...

After a week long cold, which seemed to be getting better as the week progressed, I woke up this morning really tired and congested. I had such high hopes for this 5k, it was a hometown race, I knew the course like the back of my hand, it couldn't have been any flatter and I just wanted to PR...

shoulda:

• hydrated better this week, my water intake was the saddest it's been in a LONG time!
• ran at least twice this week, but coming off of a Cycling vacation (150 miles) and a cold, I rested.

coulda:

• had a PR with this course... :o(

woulda:

• been happy if SOMEONE from my family (the non-runners) had been there to cheer us on... after over a year of running races and having this in our hometown, merely blocks from home it would have been extremely nice to see the parents or kids at the finish line. I totally get that it's early on a Saturday but come on! I mean I've sat my cold sorry ass on many a soccer field, baseball field, gymnastics, dance...you get the picture. I understand WHY they didn't come but still if we're being honest here, it would have been nice. That's all I've got to say about that.
  

All in all, it was a fun run, extremely crowded and LOTS of very young kids and walkers. They had a huge turn out. I'm disapointed in myself but at the same time I know that in the moment I gave it my all. I guess my disapointment comes from the feeling that I've been running over a year now and my 5k times just are not improving, I feel that I should be closer to a 30 minute 5k by now. We start our half marathon training this week so hopefully with that and our increased distance I will see some improvement. It's been a good running year and overall I am proud to at least have stuck with it. As we come to the end of this year I can't help but think about what goals I'd like to make for the new year, I guess one would be to improve my 5k time and shoot for a 30 min time....

What goes UP must go DOWN...

This week was 2 years in the making... planning, saving, dreaming and worth every single dime and worry line! We knew ahead of time that we'd see one of the couples we toured with last time because I had kept in touch with them and we planned this together and I had requested the same tour leaders, one of whom I had stayed in touch with but we had no idea that 2 other people from our last tour would be joining us, it was purely coincidental but WONDERFUL!! So in all there were 10 people in our group, 8 of which had been on our last tour- it was like a reunion and we were all like long lost siblings who had just been reunited!

Our entire group on our last day of riding...so sad to see it end!

Sister riding UP a hill...one of many, cuz Vermont ain't flat!
One of the beautiful trails we rode...

The Causeway- this trail was Amazing, it cut all the way thru Lake Champlain, which to me seemed like an ocean it was SO BIG! This trail was about 6 miles long and it was so neat to ride with the lake on both sides of us.

This girl, this silly girl.... Oh the laughs we had on this trip!

Her goal for this trip was "not to fall" which for some odd reason she does quiet often...it's getting better but still she falls. I've often joked about getting a helmet cam just so I could see exactly what it is she's doing back there... well this time, I got to witness it firsthand.
In case you didn't know, Vermont ain't flat.... there are hills, there are trees and then there are HILLS!
This particular hill that we were riding was so steep that at some points you couldn't see the top because of the trees... I get to the top of the hill and stop to catch my breath, a few seconds later here comes Sister. Whizzing right by me and then BAM! Both her and the bike on the ground right in front of me! Not quiet sure what just happened I asked "what the heck?" and she says "I couldn't get my feet off the pedals!"
Apparently she realized about half way up the hill that she needed to stop and rest but couldn't because she couldn't unclip her shoes from the pedals...as she passes another one of our riders she yells "help me!" the other rider thinking she just needs some motivation yells "you can do it! keep on going!!" Well, she had no choice but to ride the rest of the way up the hill...and then lay it down right there. Once I realized she wasn't hurt (which, for as much as she falls, never gets hurt??) I couldn't control my laughter, none of us could...because really, what was she expecting the other rider to do at that point? Put her arms around her and hold her? Lay down and allow Sister to fall on her?? Really, there wasn't anything anyone could do for her at that moment....it was all quiet funny!

The weather was wet and cold the entire week, we had a couple hours of blue skies on a couple of the days but for the most part had rain every single day.... On Tuesday the rain came in around noon and we ended up riding the last 20+ miles in the freezing pouring down rain...that was a pretty miserable day!

This is me - the pocket on back of my jacket, filled with rain, mud and my new camera!! Yep, ruined. Bummer. I guess it's a good thing I have more than one camera but I was really liking this one...
All in all I would say that I prefer the Southern part of the state better than the Northern and I think next time I'll do Maine in the Summer!!

Next up..... half marathon training begins!