Santa Hustle 5k Race Report and Pix

Monday, December 05, 2011

My family talked me into doing this one, I thought I was finished with race season for 2011, but once I heard you get a Santa beard, a hat, a tech shirt that looks like Santa's shirt, and cookies and candy on the route and Christmas music streamed in, well, I was hooked! Plus a coupon for $5 off entry and I was set.

I was so excited to run this race was going to be my sister Kris' first run since having her daughter, Stella. Kris is the one who got me into running 5ks, and I was so excited to be able to run her first race back with her! Also my husband was going to join in the race with my Dad as walkers.


Left to right, me, my hubby, my dad, Kris and Baby Stella


My sister and I

This was my second race at Montrose Harbor, and I swear this place is cursed for me - it was raining AGAIN! Really cold rain that comes down slanted. I usually never wear a running jacket running unless it's very cold out, but I took out my Hot Chocolate jacket and I was actually still cold!


Me and hubby in our beards.


Me and Kris - we are not gonna let this rain beat us!

And we met up with my cousin Kim, and her husband John, who were running it, too, along with their friends Michelle and Ed.



We met under the bait shop, which I remember well from my first 10k, huddling underneath that.

The start line was insane. There were thousands of Santas all lined up, it was amazing to see them all! The Travel Channel was there to film as it's the largest event of its kind with so many Santas.



As we started off, my headphone cord got stuck in my beard, LOL. Then some of my beard flew in my eye. I ran with the full beard for about a mile, then I'd had it.

I told my sister beforehand that I would stay with her, run or walk. She hadn't trained for it, and I knew we would be going at a slower pace, but I didn't care. She ran my first 5k with me and didn't leave my side, so no way was I gonna leave hers.

It was nice to run by the lake, and the awesome thing about this run - other than the chocolate, which yes, I did have 2 Hershey's kisses, bringing them up to the air in a fist punch and saying "hell yeah!" (I am not ashamed, lol), the awesome thing was that I was not winded at ALL. I was casually talking with my sister and my cousin throughout it. I felt FIT! I felt HEALTHY! And I realized - this was actually EASY for me! Who would have thunk it?

We ran the first mile and then stopped for water (I had to pretend I needed water, my sister was too proud to stop for herself, lol). Then we started running again, and then walked a bit and then ran. After mile 2 my sister said she was going to walk the rest and to go on ahead. I told her no. I was not there to beat any times (and, hehe, I already met two PRs in Nov) and I didn't care about my time. I really didn't. But the funny thing was, I did want to run just for running's sake, which I think is awesome and still surprises me that I like to RUN!

We saw my Dad and hubby walking but they didn't hear us screaming.

So we walked a bit, and she got a little peeved at me for not running off...and then decided that she would run to the end, and she did! I'm so proud of her!

We finished in 41:30 which I think is darn good for all the walking breaks we took and for stopping for candy and water.

It was a FUN time. It was chilly, very chilly, it took me a while to warm up afterward. But it was simply heaven to run along the lake with my family.

We waited at the finish for my dad and husband, and my cousin had already finished up.

I recommend this one. Very fun!

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November Progress Report and December Goals

Thursday, December 01, 2011

I'm starting back doing my monthly reports.



Start weight: 198
End weight: 199.5 (as of yesterday, but at my last weigh in I was 203.5...)
Weight lost: Gain of 1.5 lbs.
Total weight lost this year: 26.5 lbs.
Goal weight progress: 21.5 more lbs. to go to reach goal weight!
Total weight lost: 98.5 – (WAS 102 lbs. at the end of October)

WEIGHT GOALS:

To lose 4-6 lbs. this month. (Yes, I know given my track record around holidays I should just be happy to maintain, but I will not be happy with that. The holidays are no excuse to overeat).

FITNESS GOALS:

My yearly fitness minute goal was go reach 11,871 fitness minutes for the year.
I’m at 10,448.

There are 30 more days left in December.
I need to reach 1,423 fitness minutes this month in order to reach my goal.
That’s about 48 minutes per day.
I can break that down into 24 min. in the morning and 24 in the evening on my non-running and non-boxing days.
For my running and boxing days I’ll log 60 minutes vs. 48, so on those non-running/boxing days I can slack off a bit.

But I need to move every day.

I can DO THAT.



I also started back doing the Spark boot camp, I’m finished Day 4 today. It is my goal to finish it out and have that trophy on my Spark page.


I also want to incorporate yoga back into my routine.

FITNESS ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

I reached 762 fitness minutes in November. My goal was 1,000 – need to step it up.

It’s been a month of PRs for me!

New PR met at Hot Chocolate – ran a 5k race in 35 min. 25 seconds.

New PR met at Bonfield Race – ran a 5k race in 34 minutes, 5 seconds.

New PR met in running group – ran a 5k in about 34 minutes.

Now I have my sights set on doing a sub 30-min. 5k. I love having new goals!



I used to look at boxing as something I couldn’t do. It intimidated me. Now I’m in a weekly boxing class and I LOVE it and am noticing changes in my body. I actually think since boxing is an endurance sport that is what has helped my running time improve. And all the core work has helped me to stand, and run, straighter.



NUTRITION GOALS:

1200-1550 calories
8 – 10 glasses of water per day.
Only 2 cups of coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
NO dairy – going cold turkey. (working on this!)
Get all of my freggies in.
Popcorn – break out the air popper and make it truly healthy. Then I can have 2 bowls.
Wine – only 1 – 2 glasses on special occasions (Thanksgiving, Xmas). No more casual drinking.
Track all of my food into the fitness tracker and check my stats nightly to see where I need to tweak anything.



NON-SCALE VICTORIES:

My size 14 jeans are too big on me.

Sweaters from last year (size 14) are too big on me.

I now wear a size small shirt.


THINGS I’VE LEARNED:

That this is truly a journey and that the focus should be inward and outward, but not downward at the scale.

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Bonfield Express 5k Race Report - a PR and a lot of Blessings

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

This year I ran my first "Turkey Trot" as they call them, people that get up early on Thanksgiving morning and brave whatever the elements may bring, and just run. I was excited to run near my hometown, and this race was HUGE for a suburban race - over 5,100 people ran it! (And my town's day after Thanksgiving 5k was cancelled due to low participation).

The Bonfield Express started 8 yrs. ago when a local High School Dean, Coach and Teacher passed away due to complications of Hodgkin's Disease. The Bonfield Express Foundation is a fast-growing local charity working to build character and community commitment in high school students. They host programs and provide scholarship assistance to high school seniors, building future community leaders.

The excitement was in the air and I was looking forward to running this route. It goes through the main streets of the town, which was all decked out for Christmas, but also goes through a nice woodsy area that you would never know was there unless you were looking. I had trained on this route with my Saturday morning running group and met up with several of them before the race. Unfortunately there was no gear check, so I had no camera to capture the group. But a local photographer was on hand and got some overall shots.

Here's the beginning of the race. It started with an actual train whistle vs. a blow horn or regular whistle, it was pretty cool. Also a High School senior sang the Star Spangled Banner before takeoff. It was beautiful.



AND in another shot I caught a glimpse of myself! I knew the pink Bondi band would come in useful some day! Here I am!



As we started off I quickly lost track of my running gals. The autumn colors were wonderful! The community really comes out for the event, too. One family gives out "Power Donuts"!



(No, I did not stop).

This race felt hard to me because it was so hilly! And while I'd run the course before, we usually take a different route - this went through the woods the opposite direction and I felt winded pretty quickly. But it was amazing to see the streets of the town next to mine filled up with so many people! At the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago there are so many people the streets are filled, you can see almost a mile ahead at the crowd running - this was very similar to me. It was surreal.

As I approached the finish line I was surprised there was such a crowd! It was very cool.



I had forgotten to start my Garmin as I started the race, so I had no clue how I did. I felt like I did pretty good though. However, it wasn't until I got home and checked results after watching the Thanksgiving parade with my girls that I realized I hit a NEW PR!!! My time was 34:05! That's more than a minute and a half better than my Hot Chocolate race (which was also a PR for me then) earlier in the month! That is an average of a 10:59 mile!!! ME!

I was so excited.

Then it was off to my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner and I realized how amazing my life is, and how blessed I am. There are so many new lives...

The Twins, Rachel and Paige


My sister Missy holding Rachel (I think, they are identical hard to tell them apart)


My God son Owen being the proud older brother!

And there's the newest baby, Stella


My sister Kris and Stella, and Ben (yes he is watching the football game, lol!)

...And also new beginnings, my sister and her boyfriend Jan just got engaged.


The happy couple!

And I have my parents who are still healthy and awesome grandparents



And an amazing husband...



Wonderful girls....


Lucy with her cousin and my nephew, Tony


Lucy and Marlo fawning over baby Stella


Lucy and Marlo playing around on turkey day


Me with the girls at the local parade

Yes, life is GOOD.

And I have an amazing support group of Spark friends who have become my family.

Thank you God for it all.

I feel healthy, strong, and just unstoppable.

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Plan for Motivate!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Here's my plan for the new season of the Done Girls Seasonal Challenge, Motivate!

Fitness (260 minutes):

Monday- Boxing (60 min.)/ST (all over)
Tuesday- Run (60 min.)
Wednesday- Walking or Dancing DVD (30 min)/ST (arms)
Thursday- Run
Friday- Walking or Dancing DVD (30 min)/ST (core)
Saturday- Morning run (60 min.)
Sunday- Yoga (20 min.)
Friday- Catch up day if I missed any previous days.

Fitness goals:
ST 3 times per week
Burn 1500 calories per week
Reach 1,000 fitness minutes per month

Nutrition:

1200-1550 calories
8 – 10 glasses of water per day.
Only 2 cups of coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
NO dairy – going cold turkey.
Get all of my freggies in.
Popcorn – break out the air popper and make it truly healthy. Then I can have 2 bowls.
Wine – only 1 – 2 glasses on special occasions (Thanksgiving, Xmas). No more casual drinking.
Track all of my food into the fitness tracker and check my stats nightly to see where I need to tweak anything.


Motivation:

I have a few things that are motivating me:

1. I WANT to reach goal weight. I have 18 more lbs. to go. I had hoped to reach that by the end of this year, but that is not looking likely.
2. I want to be fitter so that I can train for the half marathon in 2013.
3. I want to have lower life insurance. When I reach 185 lbs. (11 lbs. away) – my premium will be cut in half. (and that money can go to save toward Disney in 2013!)

To motivate me I’m bringing back my monthly progress reports. I usually track NSVs on that report, and it helps me to see how far I’ve come, even if the scale isn’t moving. I stopped doing these in the summer and I miss them. So I’m bringing them back to help motivate me.

Challenges:

Nights and weekends are difficult for me. Some days I am so busy at work (don’t have time to take a lunch) and I come home and just want to veg out. Some nights I turn to a glass of wine to relax me, and then that leads to eating something I don’t necessarily need and that leads to the scale not moving. Weekends same thing, except usually popcorn is added into the mix.

Also TIME. Being a full-time working mom to two young children is a challenge to find the time for ME to workout. I’ve been getting up early in the morning to run, but boxing is right after work and I have to fight the guilt to attend that class. Also the times I do workout at night after they go to sleep I have to fight against my exhaustion. Try to work out a plan where I still have time for me, for my writing, for my family, and not get overwhelmed.

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Hot Chocolate Race Report - Nov. 5, 2011

Monday, November 14, 2011

Last year, after waking up at an ungodly hour to get on two different el trains to make it to the 7:40 a.m. start time of the Hot Chocolate race, I decided that the following year I would stay at the Congress Plaza Hotel, located directly across from Grant Park. My cousin stayed with me, but I found out that DAY that this is one of the most haunted hotels in Illinois. I am not a haunted hotel kind of gal, so I got virtually no sleep the night before, coupled with the fact that I couldn't reach my husband and our daughter has been having some health issues, so I got ZERO sleep.

So I was up anyway and ready to go the morning of the race. My sister, Kara and her fiancee' Jan met us at the hotel. (Doesn't it look a bit like the hallway in the Shining? LOL).



Then we stashed our stuff at gear check and got ready to run.





One of the photographers for the event caught us as we were walking to the starting corral and took quite possibly the best race picture I've ever seen! Had to purchase this one.



We ran into some friends in the starting corral and she snapped a picture of us with her iPhone.



My sister and her fiancee' and my cousin thought they might need to walk some of it, so I was going to run it on my own. We were off! The first mile was very crowded, I felt like I was running faster than my pace since I was doing a lot of weaving in and out of people. I also felt GREAT. I felt the best I've ever felt during a race! I felt strong, fast and like a runner!

It was a cold morning, but I run hot so I had my thermal sleeves on and a new Hot Chocolate T I picked up as a reward to myself. Have you heard that advice about running in a new piece of clothing before an actual race? I usually abide by that, but this shirt was TOO cute. However, it kept floating up on me during the race, so I had to tuck it into my pants, lol. Also toward the end I needed to pull down the thermal sleeves, the sun started to come out and it was hot for me.



This race marked my fastest 5k race time ever! I especially love seeing the results against last year's Hot Chocolate:


Last year: 41 min., 38 seconds.
13 min., 24 sec. pace.

******


This year: 35 min., 25 seconds.
11 min., 26 sec pace.

That's is a full SIX minutes (and 13 seconds) shaved off of my time from last year! (Disregard the 37 min. 08 second time, the race got off to a delayed start due to a semi truck stuck under a bridge and the race was re-routed and we ran further than 5k, so RAM Racing adjusted the time afterward, thus my 35 min., 25 second time.)

I was so excited and happy. I felt FIT! Not only did I reach a PR, but I could really FEEL that I was now healthy. I recently got a full physical exam and my numbers are just amazing. I am so healthy, I am so blessed. I have really changed my life around, and this race to me marked a milestone of that new lifestyle. Also I used to be afraid to run races alone. Now it is my norm and even my preference. I am no longer scared, and I am embracing the runner I have become.

Then it was time for the chocolate!



AND the HOT Chocolate, of course.



I love the jacket that came in the goodie bag. It's called a "warmup jacket" and it is very light, but as I run hot, I loved it and will use it in upcoming runs when the weather gets colder.

I missed seeing my good friend Jenn (KITHKINCAID), due to having to catch an early train back home. She ran her first 15k and I am so proud of her!

Who knows, maybe next year I will join her in that distance....

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