Our Family Superhero 5K

I got super excited when I received an email at work about a Superhero 5K.  I had wanted to run it last year, but I was way too pregnant, with way too many contractions to consider it.  But this email said we could have a team for my school.  And the winning team (the school with the most participation) would be named the Superhero School of the Year!

The race proceeds went to the local Boys and Girls Club so it was for a good cause!

I was determined to win.  Only people weren’t as excited as me 😦

To be fair, soccer schedules conflicted with the race.  So many people couldn’t sign up because of that.  We ended up with a team of 20, which I thought was exciting since we are one of the smallest schools in the district.  A middle school ended up winning.

The original plan was for us to jog/walk it with the baby in the stroller.  But then she got sick.  Really, really sick.  And it was cold out!!  Like 30 degrees cold!  So then the plan was I would go with the older kid.  Unless it was raining.  Then I would go alone.  I was team captain, I wasn’t going to not go.  But then my friend offered to come over and sit with the baby, so my husband and older daughter got to come 🙂

Dressing up was encouraged, so we did 🙂

It was really cold!  So my husband immediately engaged my daughter in a game of tag that kept us moving.  It was brilliant!  There weren’t many people around us, and there was ample space, so we played tag.  For the whole way!  It was fun!  And kept us moving and warm!

We had a really good time!  And we finished in 45 minutes!  One of my coworkers was there and her daughter joined in on our game too.

After the race, there was a lot more fun to be had!  They had free donuts (not of the GF variety, but at least my family could enjoy), there were bounce houses and a photo booth and goodies!  All of that was indoors at the college the race was at, so at least we were warm in there too!

And the baby was home and warm with my friend- sleeping away on her and happy for the awake time she had.

Now that my daughter has done a full 5K, I think I’ll look for more races for us to do together 🙂

 

I’m dreaming of a NEW gym bag!

Do you ever sit and “shop” online?  And by “shop”, I mean, look around on websites for things you would LOVE to have, but not actually buy them right now? I always keep a wish list on Amazon to remember what I liked, and find it later if I have saved up enough money.  And a NEW gym bag is definitely on that list!

The bag that I use?  It’s a piece of luggage.  That I picked up second hand.  It’s cute, but it’s starting to fray and tear.  (And it’s not pink!) I know, I know, who cares what it looks like?  Right?  Well…if I’m dreaming of a new one, I can dream of how cute it can be!  And I have to turn it on it’s side to fit into a locker, so I’d love one that doesn’t need to be tipped over, because that causes things to move all over the place!

So I went searching on Amazon for a gym bag, and what I would love to fill it with!

Running: Where do I start?

I’m not sure how I do it, but I seem to convert my friends into runners 🙂  It really makes me happy when they start running and I see their Facebook updated with their runs!  And when they run with me! But, a lot of people wonder when it comes to running: where do I start?

I started running with my a group from my church.  A few times a year, my church has Growth Groups.  They are groups of people who get together for all kinds of reasons.  There are missions trips and there are running groups, and everything in between!  I’ve organized a few and I’ve joined a few.  The running one was one I joined on a whim.  I actually tried to sign up and it was full, so I emailed the leader and they made the group bigger to accomodate more people.  Every week, we got together as a group to run, pray and sometimes play a game or share snacks.  At the end of the group, we all ran a 5K together.  It was a lot of fun!  I made some great friends and found 2 girls who ran my speed so we stuck together and ran together throughout the week when we weren’t meeting as a whole group.

What I remember about the Couch to 5K program is that the first weeks were harder than the last.  The stopping and starting was harder than running non stop.  And for me that’s still true.  If I stop, it’s harder for me to start again.  So when we would look at the upcoming runs, we would think “whoa! we can’t run 20 minutes straight!”  But we did it, and it was so much easier than we thought it would be!

Here are my friends and I on our most recent run this past weekend 🙂

If you were to ask me where to start, keeping in mind that I am not a professional, I would say:

1. Download the Couch to 5K program on your phone and do it

2. If you are struggling with a particular week, repeat it

3. Find a race to run at the end of your program and sign up.  (Once you pay, you won’t want to back out, right?)

4. Recruit some friends to run with you

5. If you have any pain at all (besides normal soreness from starting a routine), go get fitted for shoes.  Go to a store that knows what they are talking about and can analyze your running gait

6. Stick with it!  Some weeks it will get hard!  You will want to give up and just sit down.  So sit down, but get back up and keep going!

7. Be PROUD of yourself!

8. BRAG about it!  Lol!  I know people probably get tired of seeing me post about running, but maybe that’s what convinced my friends….lol!  I have one that needs some more convincing right now….

Do you have tips for beginning runners? What got you started and what keeps you going?

Zumba by the Niagara River

Tonight I got to participate in a Zumba class outside by the Niagara River. My sisters gym does this class every Wednesday night and since I got into town on a Wednesday morning, we went to the class at night.

We had the kids with us, and the plan was they were to play where we could see them, not too far away.  Her kids are 10, 7 and 5, and they are boys…so they were climbing trees.  I warned my sister that if she saw me running, it meant one of them fell because I had a good view.

I haven’t done Zumba in awhile, but these instructors are awesome!  No one compares to them, so it’s better for me just to only come when I am here!  They were awesome as usual and the class was really fun!

Mud Run Checklist

A few days leading up to the mud run, my friend and I were asking each other what we were going to wear, what shoes to wear and what we should bring.  So I thought it would be helpful to other people if I posted a mud run checklist.

If you missed my race recap, you can check it out here: Mud Run Race Recap

I turned the checklist into a picture so you can Pin it if you want to! If you think you will do a mud run someday, Pin it now so you will have it 🙂

I was getting ready for the gym today and I grabbed my Sweat Pink tank top that I wore for the mud run and it was still dirty!  It had gone through the wash twice already.  So I took it to the bathroom and started rinsing it in the sink and there was so much mud left in it! So I would definitely recommend rinsing your muddy clothes thoroughly before washing them!

I didn’t  bring my waterproof camera, but I wish I would have!  A group of women that were close to us had one and they had us take a picture for them.  How fun will those pictures be!  I was afraid that my camera would get too beat up in the obstacles, but now that I have been through them, I know it would have been just fine.  It has a strap that I can tighten around my wrist, so I will being one next time for sure!

I have a Panasonic waterproof digital camera.  I did a LOT of research and looked at a LOT of reviews on water proof digital cameras.  I am happy with my purchase and it has worked great for over a year already!

 If you have done a mud run and I missed something, let me know!  I’ll add it to the list!

Thanks for my friend Kim and Jodi for adding sunscreen and a towel to my list!  I had those myself on the day of the race, but somehow missed them on this list!

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Running along Lake Michigan

My daughter is going to princess camp this week so I was looking forward to doing some running along Lake Michigan, without having to juggle schedules with my husband.  Plus her school is closer to the lake than my house, so it’s not as far for me to drive.  So I got dressed for running and headed to princess camp.

On the way there, I dropped my huge tumbler of water on my lap and soaked my running skirt!  That should have been a clue as to how my run would go.

Once my daughter was safe at her school, I headed down to the lake, all the while wondering if this was a good idea.  Once I got to the parking lot, I tried to use my phone to check out the radar and wasn’t having any luck.  So I messaged 2 friends and asked them to check.  They both said it did not look good.  I said “crap”.  Then I got out and started running.

I thought I heard some thunder so I tucked one of my ear buds into my shirt so I could listen better.  I was almost at a mile when I heard a huge clap of thunder and felt the first few drops.  I was in the perfect place to make a beeline for my car, so I turned and sprinted!  My arm band kept coming off while I was running so I ripped it off and held it in my hand and just ran.

The rain started coming down faster and harder, so I ran faster and harder.  When I got to my car, I looked at my phone and saw that my pace was currently at a 7:00 mile!  I’ve never run that fast before!  I usually average 9:30-10:00 miles.

See where the last turn was that I made?  From the lake, towards the finish line?  I sprinted that whole way!  Over grass, through a few puddles and up a few stairs.

And now I’m icing my ankle because that was a little much for me!  I was going to drive to the gym to finish my run, but half way there I could tell my foot was not going to allow that.  So I went home, gave myself a pedicure, and iced my foot.  Then I wrapped it in an ace bandage for the afternoon at work since I walk a lot at work and knew a little extra support would be a good idea.

Once I was settled on the couch for a little bit of peace while my daughter was still at school, I updated my Facebook status with my lessons learned today:

1. The weatherman is right 50% of the time and usually it’s when I want them to be wrong
2. I can run at a 7:00/mile pace if I need to

Have you ever been caught in the rain?  If there wasn’t such loud thunder, I would have been ok with running.  And if I had a waterproof case for my iPhone 🙂

Lead by Example- even if it means getting soaked!

So many times during my schooling, I was told, in many different ways, to never expect something from someone that you are not willing to do yourself.  So I’ve tried to apply this in my life and always lead by example.

This philosophy caused me to be soaked last weekend!  I picked up a slip and slide at the end of summer last year for $1!  So I pulled it out when my daughter had friends coming over, thinking they would LOVE it!  I acted all excited as I got it out and then I had 3 little 4 year olds looking at me like I was crazy!

Among the 3 moms standing around, we kept trying to explain to them that they needed to run, then slide onto the slip and slide on their stomach.  We tried to show them by gesturing with our bodies and it just wasn’t working!

From Running Funk to Running Groove!

I’ve been in a bit of a running funk lately.  I had a few bad runs, wasn’t feeling too great and have had a hard time staying hydrated.  So I arranged to meet a friend for a run on Wednesday.  Our plan was to run outside, around the lake at my gym, while my daughter played in the daycare inside.  But it was raining.  I thought I could run if it was just sprinkling, but then I thought about how my phone could get wet.  And I can’t run without my phone because of the music and the fact that it tracks my distance.  So we ran inside.

This was the first time I ran with this friend, but I knew we would run about the same pace because I can see her runs on Facebook.  We started out pretty strong, under 10 minutes per mile.  Somehow I got into a running groove on the track!  Inside!  That never happens!  I knew I was in a groove when I didn’t like the song that came on, but I didn’t want to interrupt my running my moving my arm over to skip the song.  It is a simple gesture, but I was afraid it would break my groove, so I just got into the song and let it motivate me to run faster.

We finished a little slower than we started, but we had a lot of people to run around.  Because it was raining, there were a lot of people walking on the track.  There were 2 groups of 3 people side by side that were walking so we had to move around them a lot.  It’s a pretty small track, so when it’s busy, it can be rough running.

But we did it!  We ran 3 miles, and I felt good about it!  My plan called for 3, so I was on track for that.  When we started out and were feeling good, we thought we would do 4, but then stopped at 3, which is fine with me!

It feels so good to be back in the groove!

Can you tell I was a little happy about my run? Lol!  Excuse my super red face- I get REALLY red when working out!

Have you been in a funk lately?  Or a groove?

Running on Pins and Needles

You know that feeling when a body part falls asleep?  It’s like pins and needles poking into you over and over again and it’s awful!  My runs have included a lot of pins and needles lately and it’s frustrating!  At about mile 1.7, my left foot falls asleep.  And it stays asleep and gets worse and worse as I keep running.  When I stop, it’s even worse!  Because then it starts to wake up!

Has this every happened to you?  It’s the same foot I have Plantar Faciitis in, and I have that under control as long as I don’t heel strike and I don’t go barefoot.  But now it’s falling asleep!  It happens no matter what kind of socks I wear.  So I’m turning to Pinterest for some ideas on how to lace my shoes.  I’m not sure if it will help, but I’m ready to try it! If this doesn’t work, I am going to have to go see a chiropractor to see if that can help.  Actually, I know it will help, I’m just trying other options first. My insurance “covers” chiropractic care, but it’s not a lot, so it’s an expensive visit for me.  I totally believe that chiropractic care is the way to go, I just need to make it more affordable.

I met someone who was on crutches not too long ago.  When I asked her what happened, she told me her foot fell asleep and she tried to walk on it.  So an asleep foot during a run makes me nervous! Especially since I am increasing my mileage and have signed up for a half marathon.  I don’t think I could run that far with my foot asleep!

I found this great pinned blog post on tieing your shoes for different foot problems.  I think I will try the one for when your shoes feel too tight. Hopefully that will help!  My last run was BAD!  I ran so much slower than normal! I even walked from mile 1.32 to 1.44 because of a side stitch.  It was hard for me to decide to walk, because I remember when I was doing the Couch to 5K program, that it was always harder to stop and start than it was to just keep going.  But the side stitch was bad, so I walked and stretched my arms over my head for a little bit.

My knee has also been hurting me too, and I think that’s just from increasing my running, so I am taking it easy.  I am not that focused on time and being faster, I just want to run the distance, so if I need to slow down and let my body get used to more miles before I work on being faster.

It’s a good thing I know what a good run feels like, because runs like this would probably make me want to stop all together.  But everyone has a bad day, or an off day, and I know it will get better again!  Next week I will be running at the ocean, so maybe if I do a run or two on the beach, I will get my motivation back!

What do you do to get your motivation back after a bad run?

Go this way, no go that way!

So…I have no sense of direction. At. All. Case in point: I used 2 GPS’s today and I still got lost.  Probably because one was saying go this way while the other one was saying go that way!

Let me back up for a minute though and tell you where I was headed and why I used 2 GPS units.  I won a ticket to a running retreat in Madison, which is about 2 hours north of me (no, I didn’t know this until my husband told me- no sense of direction, remember?).  And I had some credit on a daily deal site and found a hotel in Madison that I would get for the price of tax.  So I booked the hotel.  At this point, it wasn’t decided if my husband and daughter were coming or not- he wanted to see if he could find something fun to do in Madison with her while I was at the retreat.  Eventually he decided it probably wouldn’t work since my retreat goes until 4pm and he would have to check out of the hotel and keep her entertained for a long period of time, followed by a two hour drive. So the plan was for me to go alone, unless I could convince a friend to come too.  None of them were available- so instead, I have a peacefully quiet night alone.  In a hotel.  By myself.  Did I mention I like to watch Criminal Minds?

Well, the hotel is not a big name one but I figured the address on the daily deal certificate would get me here. So I typed it into my Google Maps App before leaving the house.  It recognized it as an address, so I figured I was good to go.  I then got in the car and tried to type it into my GPS unit and it didn’t recognize it.  So I tried searching by name.  Bingo!  There it