Dec 19-25th merry festivus!

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season!!
Last week in review:

Monday-rest
Tuesday-5 miles
Wednesday-2.75 miles including 6x400
Thursday- 5 miles
Friday 6 mile tempo
Saturday- 12 miles
Sunday- rest
 To say this week was busy is an understatement!
I think the biggest craziness aside from Christmas with 4 kids was the #operationpuppytransport that took place. Basically Wednesday and Thursday I had 7 ( of my 11) puppies to transport everywhere from Charleston to Columbia. It was quite the work and it took many phone calls, several rounds of pleading and many miles of driving but our volunteers were able to find foster homes for 5 of the pups and adoption homes for 2. So far 6 babies have been adopted! 5 more pups need thier forever homes!

 more pics of these bundles of fluff can be found HERE

I was barely able to make it on time to Wednesday track, but I got there and had a surprisingly horrible workout. I wasn't feeling well so I cut the workout in half and called it a night after 6x400s.
It was nice to see everyone on the track though!

 I did redeem myself with a 6 mile tempo run on Friday and had a really good long run on Christmas Eve day. We had a good turn out for our run and it seems like a lot of others had the idea to get in a few miles before Santa clause made his rounds.

It was nice to wish everyone we saw on the trails a merry Christmas.Afterwards a group of us went to grab coffee at Cuppa Manna. I had the dark chocolate peppermint frappe and it was just what I needed!

Sunday was a simple Christmas with just our clan of 7. This was also the first time in 4 years that all the kiddos were healthy so my husband and I only got about an hour of sleep due to the younger kids getting out of bed every 45 minutes or so to check to see if they could catch Santa. At 3:30 AM Santa clause made a really loud noise while putting hot wheel tracks together. I am surprised the kids didn't see Santa scrambling to get back up the chimney. They did wonder why me and Terry were downstairs during all the commotion. We said we heard a loud sound and rushed downstairs to see what was going on......looks like none of actually saw Santa, but we all heard him swooshing back up the chimney!
I am a bad mom and didn't get any pictures of kids during the Christmas mayhem. I did get a  picture of the pup before my phone storage was full

Even though we didn't spend the day with our extended family, (as is usually a tradition) I brought a sense of home by cooking my fathers traditional rouladen with sauerkraut and potatoes. This is the best I have made the dish, as it tasted almost like how my father makes it! I ate entirely too much but I'm sure I'll burn those extra calories in the following weeks.

(the inside has bacon, mustard, pickle, onion, salt and pepper, all wrapped up and then pan seared with lots and LOTS of butter-it makes its own gravy and is THE best comfort food ever!)


Half marathon training starts up again soon AND I've also signed up for a few more races.....(I've got 3 lined up in January).
Just more incentive to keep all aspects of training in check!(nutrition, hydration, crosstraining)

Hope all have a great week ahead. 2017 is right around the corner- have you thought about what's in store for the new year?

I am linking up with our weekly wrap hostesses:  Tricia and Holly, stop by and see what everyone has been up too!

Another post college PR!!

Before the recap of the race, a quick glimpse of last week:

Dec.12 - Dec. 18

Monday- 6 miles
Tuesday-rest
Wednesday- 5 miles including 3 mile tempo/fleet feet run
Thursday-rest
Friday- 4.5 miles easy
Saturday-7.6 miles including a 5k
Saturday- 10 miles SLOW

Typically, Mondays are my rest days but since I skipped last weeks long run I went ahead and got in 6 miles. My body felt heavy and tired. I rested on Tuesday and Wednesday was a fun "catch the gingerbread man and chase the fox" run held at the local Fleet feet. What better way to get in a run with 100 of your closest friends?






First 10 runners to catch the gingerbread man won FF gift cards, the first 40 to chase the fox won socks!

 6 of the top 10 runners were from or Wednesday night track crew. I love these guys!!!!!

After the run it was time for some cookies and adult hot cocoa!

It was such  a fun time with friends. This fleet feet has really helped pull the local running community together!!!!

 Friday was a 4.5 mile shake out run. My legs felt good. My husband and I watched the movie "Race" (about Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics) before rounding up our clan for bedtime.
Earlier that day I had my oldest daughter at the Drs office so she could get some more asthma medicines. This time of year is always hard on her. Her little sniffle and cough can escalate quickly to something more serious if preventative measures aren't taken. Unfortunately we didn't catch things in time.My poor sweet girl went from a sniffle and cough to a fever and full blown asthma flare up within hours. We were up until 3AM before things finally got calm and she was able to sleep without her chest hurting as much and coughing uncontrollably. Keeping my fingers crossed she avoids coming down with pneumonia. (she's already had it twice this year.....)

 Race Day!
I woke up tired. I was nervous. I had all sorts doubts in my head about the race. I was trying not to overthink things!The good part was that the start line is about 15-20 minutes away from my home so I didn't have to leave until about 8:30. Traffic wasn't as bad as expected and was much better than lasts year fiasco!
I just sit in the car for about 20 minutes to stay warm before venturing out to warming up. I try to get my mind right and in the game. I knew of one speedy gal who was going to be there. She beat me by 20 seconds at the reindeer run. My plan was to stay on her heels and then pass her at the line.( I'm glad I changed plans though.) I was getting preoccupied with who was going to be showing up. I also spent some time on Runners Alley app, checking out predicted race times based on training.
Before getting out of my car to warm up, I ask the running Gods for some help.
I find a few of the Wednesday track crew runners and then decide to start running. I find Mrs Rockstar Kerry and we chat for a few minutes. I'm glad I spoke with her because she told me how fast the speedy runner I mentioned was. Apparently the Reindeer Run  was an off day for her and she usually runs in the mid 18's. THAT was good to know because if I didn't know that then I would have started out WAY to fast. I changed my plan. I was just going to run my own race. I wanted to be faster than 19:38. If I could land a top 3 OA spot that was just icing on the cake......

I make my way to the start line. My thoughts turn toward my grandfather( I wore my traditional superman shirt-a reminder that I was running for those who could not).I make sure to get a spot right up front so chip time and gun time would match. I was super nervous until I toed the line. Then all my nerves vanished.A calm came over me as the horn blares......... and off we go! I make it a point to run the first mile semi conservative. I wanted about a 6:12-6:15 pace. I spy Kerry and we stay together for this mile. I am 6th female at this point. A very smelly guy is in front of me. I try to move to the left to avoid the smell but when I moved he moved. The smell was so bad I actually gagged!

Mile 1 comes up at 6:17. A little slow but that was OK.I told myself I needed to start the race and start it NOW. So I made my move.I surge ahead in front of Kerry and another 2 gals. The rabbit hunt had started. I wanted top 3 and it seemed possible.

By 1.5 miles in I had (barely)made it to 2nd OA spot. Then speedy gal #2 (a college runner) surges ahead of me and does not look back. That puts me in 3rd and I was determined to keep it that way. When college gal urges ahead of me I pick my pace up.
I see mile 2 at 6:09.

Could I possibly see 18:xx today? I tried to do mental math. But I suck at mental math when I'm running.The final mile was a mental battle more than anything. My legs felt good but I couldn't catch my breath. (all of those holiday sweets were catching up to me. You cant outrun/out train a bad diet!).
I see the 2nd place gal move up to lead gal. I tell myself to just keep moving my legs and even if I get a 6:30 mile I can still see 19:20. I start to close the gap between me and the guy in front of me. I pass him close to the mile 3 mark. Did they move the finish line? WTF? (wheres the finish???)
I was so ready to be done! I start to kick it in to the line and get passed by the guy who I passed just a second ago. I cant see the clock until I get almost to the line and when I see it, I throw my hands up as I cross
19:17!!

I shaved off 21 seconds from the 5k from 2 weeks ago!
My heart smiled !
Mile 3 is in 6:25
final 0.1 was 5:57 pace

18th/1555

3rd female

6:13 average pace

I grab a cooldown with amy and then we wait for awards.
A majority of our crew and the CRC clan either set PR's or placed in their AG---- it felt pretty awesome to be able to be a part of this bunch!

I left feeling very happy

This years cocoa cup race went MUCH better than last years as far as traffic, hot cocoa bar, children's activities and portopotty lines go (they actually had someone directing the portopotty line-awesome!!!)I cant wait to do this race again next year-hopefully I'll be in good enough shape to win it
: )

By the time I got home from the race, I felt like I got hit by a truck!!!!!
I proceeded to feel like death warmed over the rest of the day...

Sunday was a busy day and I didn't end up running until the afternoon. Slow miles on tired and heavy legs. They didn't feel loose until mile 8. But I got it done. I've got to keep some type of endurance up because.......

Yeah, more on that later.
Hope yall enjoy this week and have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!!
heres hoping I can keep my face out of the cookie jar long enough to get in decent training over the holidays!

(can you tell which cookies the younger kids made vs the older kids?)

How many races have you signed up for in 2017?

I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link. Check it out and read the other posts here.

spur of the moment 5k and Dec.5th-11

Training Dec 4th-11th
Monday-rest
Tuesday- 4.5 miles around neighborhood (first mile with my dog. I usually don't count these miles but my pup is getting faster so yes I will start counting her sub 9 minute miles-(8:33 for mile 1, her PR!)
Wednesday- 5.5 mile including 6x800 at the track
Thursday-rest
Friday- 3 miles
Saturday- 7 miles including a 5k
Sunday- 12 miles rest

After my treadmill died at 9.3 miles into my long run last Sunday, All but 3 miles were done outdoors. Which is just fine by me!
Tuesday was an un intentional progressive run, but the weather was overcast and my legs felt good. Ms. Fanci pants enjoyed her PR and celebrated by chewing up a toy

 


And then she later  crashed with her favorite little human:

Wednesday was a great track workout. While I hate with a passion, detest in the worse manner, cringe when I think about LOATHE 800 repeats, Dan was able to pace me and we were consistent at keeping at or below sub 6m/m pace. Speed work is so much better with friends.(The weather was also better than last week. Much cooler!)

Thursday I cashed in my free 1 hour massage I won back in September from massage envy. I was able to have it transferred to a closer location. I was nervous about  having a full body massage done as I enjoy my personal space and am not crazy about the idea of a complete stranger touching me. While the experience wasn't as bad as I anticipated, (I will never be comfortable with massages)I didn't get the deep tissue sports massage I wanted so I scheduled another massage with someone different who specializes in that area.


Friday night, something made me re-visit my treadmill. I lifted the hood for the 4th time and turned the belt on-I heard a horrific scraping sound and then I saw an earbud go flying out of the motor. AHA!!!! that's why it was sounding so horrible and that's why I smelled burnt rubber!

A pair of earbuds had gotten caught in the wheel base of the motor and had coiled itself around the motor. It took 5 minutes to fix, hooray!! I did a slow easy 3 miles to make sure all was working well.

I wasn't planning to race on Saturday. 10pm Friday night my husband asked me if I was running in the morning. I said no due to having a goal race lined up on the 17th. He urged me to go ahead and run it and just use it as a workout. He was very encouraging and I took that as a sign he needed me out of the house on Saturday morning so he could finish up Christmas shopping for me?


5K recap:
I ran the Arthritis foundation Jingle Bell 5K

I take my time waking up on Saturday and getting ready as the race didn't start until 9 (I had to leave by 8 or a little before). The weather had turned COLD and I contemplated just staying home and doing a tempo on the TM. But I bundle up and head to the race to register. Since I didn't pack anything the night before like I usually do, I grabbed an extra shirt, pullover and gloves to layer with before and after the race. I forgot my ipod shuffle though. I felt pretty disorganized but oh well.

Due to roads being closed, It took me a little bit longer to find where I was going, I get to the race at 8:40 and only have a few minutes to register and warm up. After I freeze my biskits off registering I get in an easy mile to "warm up"(I was cold the entire time and even during the race). As I get to the line, I see my friends Amy, Virginia and her fiancé Brent making their way up. It was a pleasant surprise!! Races are so much better with friends!
A small crowd gathers by a small yard sign that says "start".
I spy a super speedy gal and knew she was going to win so my goal was to keep her in my sights for at least the first mile.
mile 1:
I'm up front behind Fast gal and Brent, A police escort is leading the way. I see mile 1 at
6:19
There is a turn around point somewhere before or soon after the first mile, I get to see who is behind me and get lots of cheers headed back through the course. I knew we weren't at the half way mark though at the turn around. Some of my momentum was lost there but I did see the 3rd place gal trying to gain some ground on me so I made myself try and stay at a speedy clip. I catch glimpses of Brent and lost sight of the lead gal until the 2nd turn around. After I make that turn around my momentum stopped. I knew I had secured my spot as 2nd OA female, not many people were around me and I was pretty much running alone the entire race. My motivation to keep pushing hard left me so I just keep moving my feet but didn't try to push the pace. Close to the finish line Brent is yelling at me I only had 30 seconds left to sprint it out so I could go sub 20. I pick up my pace and miss a sub 20 by 7 seconds. I finish in 20:06
I see 6:27 for mile 2
6:37 for mile 3
and a 6:28 pace for last 0.12
I get a cool finishers medal in the shape of a snowflake!
I grab Brent for a cool down back through the course to find Virginia-we don't find her and ended up running 3 miles for the cool down.
We find both Amy and Virginia when we get back and then grab some hot chocolate and get to our cars to change clothes and get dry gloves on. Brent and I miss our awards but were able to get them a few minutes later. Amy ended up placing in her AG, so we both got 2 medals!

I also won a $20 gift card to Blue Sky Endurance a local store for endurance athletes.
I wish I could have stayed longer to hang out with friends but I had to drop off some medicine to the puppies. Take a look at these sweet babies!!!!!

They will be ready for adoption next week!

please click HERE to get more information about them and the rescue they are in!

Sunday was supposed to be a long run but I felt like I got hit by a truck so I didn't run. I did get a lot of last minute Christmas stuff done that's counts as a workout, right???

I'm hoping I can have an easy taper week, as the last race of the year is this weekend--and it just so happens to be a goal race!

Are you planning a holiday themed race this weekend?

How do you recover and taper for a goal race?

I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link. Check it out and read the other posts here.

Post college 5k PR

Before the recap, a brief rundown of last weeks workouts:
Nov 28-Dec 4
Monday-rest
Tuesday-3.5 miles easy
Wednesday- 4.5 miles including 8x400's
Thursday-rest
Friday-4 miles easy
Saturday- 7.5 miles including a 5k
Sunday- 9.3 miles (was planning 10 but my treadmill died!!!!)

After thanksgiving week bout of food poisoning or whatever illness I had, I took Monday off completely and didn't worry about running. Tuesday I was feeling a little better but still didn't have an appetite. Wednesday I actually had a decent lunch and that night was probably my fastest track workout of the year, but felt harder than it should. It was unseasonable warm and humid, but thankfully I had Dan to pace off of. Misery LOVES company! Best part of the workout was when we were done and most the crew went to the local pub. Its always nice to enjoy food and drinks with those you sweat and suffer with. Good food, good times, with good friends!

I was sore Thursday and Friday. I started to feel normal again Friday morning in regards to my stomach and being sick the week before.I did an easy 4 miler to shake out my legs and tried my best not to work myself up for the race. This was my goal race for the year. I had a mini panic attack the day before as I was decorating my running tree. My dog decided that my favorite prized ornament (that I was going to use as my tree topper) would make a great snack. My heart SANK when I found my very first running related Christmas ornament in pieces. In all my years I have been running I have NEVER been given a running  ornament and The first one I do get, this is what happened to it:

I was hoping and praying this was not an Omen!I can get in my own head sometimes so I tried not to put any expectations on this race other than to go fast if I felt good. (Spoiler alert-I felt good, so I just rolled with it)

5k recap:
I know the title of this blog is "Post college 5k PR".
Let me start off by saying I was never blazing fast in college. My 2 PR's from back in the day include an 18:47 and a 19:52. A large majority of the time I ran between 20-22minutes (practices were a completely different story but will save for a rainy day-lets just say I was faster in practice).
Having said all of that, Ive been trying to chase the all illusive 19xx for the past 7 years.

Friday night I tried to block any self doubt that creeped in my mind. Amy shot me a text that read
"Good luck tomorrow!......let the race come to you". I heeded that advice and woke up Saturday morning before my alarm, wide awake and excited to get to the race course. (which is RARE-usually I roll over and stay under the covers for a few minutes trying to talk myself into getting dressed and ready,lol!)The weather would be cool, the course was flat and fast and my training and conditioning were there. All I had to do was show up and see what would happen. This is a large race that brings out the fastest runners in the Carolinas. I knew I had no chance of an overall placing but was hoping to make top 3 in AG. Honestly, I didn't care about placement. I just wanted to get the official 19:xx in the books.If it was going to happen, now would be the time.

I get to the race site an hour early so I could find a parking space in the parking garage. I find it easy and make my way to Marions, a fancy event venue owned by one of the CRC members. We got to use this facility to store our bags, stay warm, stretch and use the nice indoor restrooms (no porto potties,yay!) We really felt like VIPs and as an added bonus this facility is literally just a few yards from the start line. I see my friend Kendal and Rea from the track crew and just have to smile. Kendal was out to win the costume contest again!

I see Mrs Rockstar Kerri and we get in a 2 mile warm up. She points out all of the speedy runners and introduced me to her friends daughter Sinead, a 24 year old just turned professional runner (runs for Zap Fitness).We get back and line up to the start, right behind the faster than fast people. The music is playing loud, the DJ is getting everyone pumped up and we are given a 10 second countdown. Everyone is joining in and 3,000 people shout in unison "10,9,8,7,6,5,4......

My goals going into this race
1) 19xx
2) Staying with Kerri as long as possible
3) Top 3 in AG
4) Negative splits
5) Faster than last year
 (Kerris goal is a 6:10-6:15 pace. My plan was to pace off of her  for at least the first mile and see how I felt.)
"3,2,1......"
Gun goes off and everyone takes off like horses out of the gates. I have to force myself to slow down as I knew race hype would get the best of me if I didn't. I keep a few strides behind Kerri and my legs are feeling surprisingly light and good. I see mile 1 at 6:14

Not bad, now I just had to stay with Kerri as long as possible. But then a funny thing happened.
I wasn't paying attention to my pace and ended up passing Kerri shortly after mile 1.
At first I was like OH NO! I better slow down, I know I'm not faster than Kerri! But then I told myself-- if your legs feel good, roll with it, run your own race and let the race come to you!
So I put my head down and tried to see if I could get to mile 2 by 12:30
I see mile 2 at 6:21 (12:35!)

After this mile, there weren't many people around me except for a female and 2 guys ahead of me.
I started to try to do mental math. If I ran a 7 minute pace for the last mile I had a chance to break 20, I could see 19xx. BUT if I ran a 6:30 last mile I could see mid 19's....
I knew I  was going to see the 19s, but how close to 18:59 would be determined by how fast I could go the last mile.

The last mile wasn't fun.
Last year I was able to go on a rabbit hunt and chase a lot of people down at this point. This year I was faced with a strong headwind. The last mile of this course is beautiful but I didnt see it. I literally put my head down to keep my hat from blowing off my head and just tried to hold on to whatever pace my legs would move at. I started to feel tired 2.3 miles in.I was hating the wind and told myself to keep moving my legs. I cursed out loud as I felt myself slow down with every wind gust. I didn't want to check my watch so I didn't until it buzzed at me for mile 3.
6:31
Oh WOW I needed to sprint if I wanted 19:30 or faster!!!
I TRY to give a good kick that last 0.1, but it wasn't very much of a kick. I do manage a 6:27 for the last stretch and cross the line at
19:38
(I finally caught a glimpse of the allusive 19xx!!!)

Kerri finishes about 20 seconds behind me and I immediatley ask if she is OK. (She is, is just wasn't a great race for her.) I see Shannon from the last 5k, and we ended up doing a little over 2 mile cooldown. She cranked out a 17:37 and was 4th overall female. Sinead ended up taking 1rst place female with a time of 16xx. In fact 2nd-5th place females were all in the 17's. Top 3 males were in the low to mid 14's. Yeah....a very fast field of runners to say the least!!
Shannon and I enjoy the scenery of Charleston including the battery, waterfront park and of course Queen street.

We get back to the post race festivities just in time for the costume contest. Kendal ended up placing 3rd and still won a lot of cool stuff!
I go back to Marions and get my things and loose Shannon. I did find Adam and cheered him to the finish line.

This guy is as cool as the other side of the pillow and  the type of person you want to be around. Go check out his goals and mission HERE, like right now, click on the link!
After a quick high five and hug,
I go and check my time and placing from the race

I got 2nd in my AG and the guy manning the results desk informs me that there will not be age group awards, only awards for top 5 overall and top 3 masters and overall grandmasters. Apparently last year, not many came forward to accept their award so they did away with them and gave everyone a finishers medal instead (this race never did finishers medals before). I was under the impression that top 5 male and females would be recognized. They weren't!!!!!! It was just top 5 runners across the line and since all the top were males, this REALLY caused a problem. Top 5 male and females have always won cash prizes ($500 for first!) since the race's inception-and every year both male and female winners have been recognized. Kerri was the first to raise a stink about it followed by all the overall females. I loved hearing Kerri give the directors a piece of her mind. The more upset she got, the thicker her accent became. From what I gathered, the females would be mailed a check but I am not certain how the race will be handled next year. I do know that all the charm I felt from last years race, was GONE. While I LOVE this race and this fast and flat course, I hate the women got the short end of the stick and even the age group winners! I am not sure I will run this race again next year.

On my way back to the car, I passed through the snack tent and grabbed a box of donuts with only half a dozen in it. I should have grabbed 4 boxes and used that as my age group award. I did grab a lot of fruit and granola bars to bring home to the kiddos. Perhaps the sweetness of the donuts and fruits would get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth?

(I won a free pair of Smartwool socks for finding a match to my sticker!)

At least the finishers medal makes for a good Christmas tree ornament!

 And speaking of Christmas trees, this is the very first year I put up a running tree. I got the idea from Amy.
Next year marks my 25th running anniversary. In all my running years, I have NEVER thought of using my racing medals as ornaments. This was my first attempt:




Then I added some more medals to it so it wouldn't look so Charlie Brown-ish:

I used a heat sheet as the Christmas skirt and medals for ornaments. A race bib fit nicely as a tree topper. Every medal holds a memory. Some are finishers medals, some are age group and overall medals. There's even a few of my fitness/figure competition medals as well. Some medals represent running for those who cant, running in memory and honor of friends and loved ones who faced the battle of their life, some represent post baby PR's, some represent the struggle to get back in shape after having children, some represent running through grief, running through medical diagnosis, running an out of town race during an evacuation not knowing if there would be a house to come home to, and some medals represent sheer joy of exceeding expectations. Some represent finding courage to step out of my comfort zone, but all represent a part of me and stand for so many different things.
My little running tree means so much more than running. Its about the journey.
(Even though I will never be an Olympic athlete,)I think this quote sums up things nicely:



Have you finished decorating for the holidays?
Do you have any more races lined up for the year?

I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link. Check it out and read the other posts here.