Training for a 5k

Tyson at the Lacamas Lake Kids 1k

For a while now, my 9 year old Son Tyson has expressed his interest in running and has asked me quite a few times if he can run a race.  I kept putting him off and had every excuse in the book to not get out there with him... "I have a race this month, so next month we can start training", "it's too hot, so once it cools down, we can start".  When really, the truth was I didn't want his training to interfere with MY training...  Selfish, much? :(

Since September, my "season" was officially over, I had nothing to "train" for and my mileage had been cut big time due to the Nike study... I was bummed out and really wasn't enjoying running like I usually did.  I blamed it on the Nike minimalist shoes that I am doing the study for, but I really had no desire to run, at all.

A few weeks back a friend asked me if I wanted to do a 12k with her... I could pull that off so it wouldn't mess up my Nike mileage and it would be fun to do a race again!  YES, I'm IN! She had a discount that would give $8 off each entry and as I'm signing up my husband said he would like to do the 5k. As I keep looking, I see they have a special rate of only $18 for kids under 18 and with the $8 discount that would only be $10 for Tyson...  light bulb... I should sign up Tyson!  So I did... but I didn't tell him.

Next day I asked if he wanted to go on a run with me... of course, his answer was "YES!" We went slow, took a few walk breaks and ended up walking/running 3 miles.  We chatted the whole time and he told me all about his school, friends, teachers, recess and some random-ness (of course). 

Tyson is the typical talk to much about random-ness, acts like he knows it all 9 year old boy AND he has 2 younger siblings that require a LOT of attention from me... so needless to say, he doesn't get the attention that he needs and deserves from me on a daily basis.  But just spending this 30ish minutes of just him and me on the the pavement (in the rain), I was spending quality 1 on 1 time with him while doing something he knows I love... That sparked a connection between us that I cannot explain, but I know he "gets it".

I asked him the next day if he wanted to run a 5k and he was ecstatic!  He couldn't wait to get back out and start "training".  Now, we go out 3 days a week and run at least 3 miles... The whole run, he talks all about his day at school, his friends and of course, there is some random-ness... But I feel like I am getting to know my son more and more each day. 

As soon as he gets home from school, he's asking when we are going running...  Its so cute to see him in his running clothes and grab his fuel belt with his quench gum and his iPod to get out there are hang with his Mom!  It's a special gift that I get to share this with him and I hope its something that he will want to continue and something that we can do and share together for a long time! :) So proud of my little runner-man!

Nike Study - Week #1 (AKA, Hell Week)

So there is not much going on right now in my running life, except my Nike Research Study.  I have spent the last few Monday’s at the Nike Lab getting my feet measured, my running and walking gate analyzed (from the same machine that I had to wait for LeBron James to finish using… Yes, His famous foot goo touched mine!), and my ankle strength measured.  My legs have been  colored on with sharpies and little metallic dots have been stuck all over my legs, belly and back and I run around and around a teeny tiny track with a million camera’s taking my picture as I run past.  WEIRD!

So the study officially started on October 1^st, I get my pace sheet and my 10-week training workout plan.  This requires an IQ of 4.2 billion and a master’s degree in mathematics or something… It seriously takes me more time to figure out what pace and how long I am supposed to be running instead of actually running.  2x100-600-800m at 97% VO2, 1:67… HUH?!?! I honestly had to download a MPH pace sheet so I could figure out what speed I needed to go for my Vo2 Pace... bladdy, blah! ;)

Nike Workout ~ Week #1

My Nike Free's... Complete with the non-removable awesome black velcro dots only on the 1 shoe for easy attaching of the metallic dots! AWESOME, huh?!?! ;)

I just completed the first week in my Nike Free Runs 3.0, I have re-named this the “Hell Week.”  I have never been in so much pain from running in my LIFE!  My entire left side from by lower back, down my butt to my calves is so incredibly sore that even walking is hard!  I checked “Dr. Google” and shockingly enough, you are supposed to “ease” into more minimalist shoes instead of just busting out 20 miles your first week in them… but I guess Nike dude didn’t get that memo!

I went to lab again on Monday, fully intending to tell the Nike Dude ALL my issues with the shoes and get some advice…  All I got was “Let us know when you fill out the survey, but can you run today?” ummm… OK, Yes… I will hobble around the track with my belly hanging out and little sticky things all over me so you to take pictures of my running form… all for research (and free stuff)! ;) 

Starting week 2 today and PRAYING that my body soon accepts these new shoes and my new running style and the pain lessens with each step.  I’ll let’cha know!

Trip to Medford for the Rogue Run Half Marathon

About 3 months ago, my Sister Theresa told me that she wanted to start running and do a race... I talked her into a half to start things off... and I also picked the race for us to do together. She lives in Medford so the Rogue Run sounded like the perfect fit!



Sportin' our new shirts for the fam!

We planned on leaving early on Friday to head to Medford since it’s a 4 hour (5 with kids) long drive. But we got delayed as usual and ended up leaving around 2. We ended up getting to Medford around 7 that night so it was perfect to get a quick soak in the hot tub and hang out for a bit and then head to bed. The next morning, we dinked around in the backyard all morning.  The kids did some fossil digging and then headed to the Rogue River to do some gold panning. We all had a blast digging in the river for tiny gold flakes that we started calling "ORLANDO!!" (My Mom planned a trip to Disneyworld while we were there). Theresa and I left the river early to hit the packet pickup and get our goodies. Only to find out this has to be the BEST race swag EVER... I FINALLY got a tech shirt that I will wear (I’m wearing it right now ;), a Kleen Kanteen, and a super cute LuLu Lemon bag along with a bunch of other goodies. We got home, started carbo-fest dinner... Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Bubble Balls (meatballs wrapped in bread, mmmmm) hung out for a bit and then headed to bed around 9.

Surprisingly, I slept really well, even though I had all 3 kids in the room in a different bed and a different place... But we woke up at 6 for race day... Showered and headed to the fairgrounds to be bused to the starting line. The whole bus ride was freeway... and the whole way, the trail ran by the freeway.  It was so fun to see the distance that 13 miles really is!

They finally tell us to get in our pace groups... I go halfway between 9/mm and 10/mm, thinking these are the 9:30'ers and my sister heads off to the "I don’t care" pace group. I actually start crying because I wanted to start the race with my sister, but there was NO way I would find her in the group now. We had talked before and decided we were going "run our own race but see ya at the finish!"

Freezing our fannies off waiting for the race to start!

Mile 1 (8:56): Super Stoked to get going!  We run through a neighborhood for about a half mile then we are on the trail that will lead us back to the fairgrounds.  I remember looking at my watch and telling myself to SLOW DOWN!

Mile 2 (9:07): First Aid station at a park and there were these OLD ladies in Cheerleading outfits doing a cheer for all of us.  It was hilarious!  I kept telling myself to slow down, slow down, slow down… I wanted to do some 9:30’s for the first 10 miles and then still have gas left in my tank to finish strong so I was freaking out that I was going too fast.

 

 

Mile 3 (9:16): Finally was able to start slowing it down for these next few miles, I found an older woman that didn’t look like she was working too hard and then paced off her.

Mile 4 (9:28): Ran next to some rivers, and occasionally we could see the freeway and people driving would honk.  So fun!

Grandpa and the kiddos waiting for Mommy and Aunt TT

Mile 5 (9:15): The older lady stopped and walked the next aid station, so I lost my pacer.  I passed a bunch of people at the aid station and then found a group of guys to stay behind… Until one dude kept blowing snot rockets and I got scared he was gonna hit me with one… So I passed them right quick!

Mile 6 (9:12): Got a text from the family that they were waiting for us.  I didn’t know where but I got really excited to see the kiddos… I have never seen then on the course, just at the finish so I was really excited!

HI Guys! Just what I needed!

Mile 7 (9:21): Turned the corner and saw Tyson clapping and yelling at me… I was so excited and he ran with me for a while.  My Mom and Dad, My Sister’s boyfriend, Hubby and the kiddos were all there to cheer me on… It was so awesome!  Except that Evelyn did not like that Mommy kept running past her and started screaming L poor daddy!  Another aid station with Animal Crackers (Weird, but good) and I was re-energized from the family visit and feeling good!

Tyson ran with Aunt TT for a while!

Mile 8 (9:30): I remember this as the only part of the race that had a hill, and some weird turns so I felt like I kinda lost my groove on this mile, but the mascots and people cheering on the side of the road really kept me going!

Mile 9 (9:14): Another Aid Station, with Mario high-five and some M&M’s gave me another boost because I was starting to get really tired!

Mile 10 (8:59): This is where I told myself before the race that I was going to pick up the pace… So I did… and this mile HURT… Couldn’t seem to get my breathing right, I had a stupid blister that was starting to hurt and my legs were HEAVY…  But I knew I could do it… there was only a 5k left!  I heard honking coming from the freeway and looked up to the see the family in the Minivan waving! That meant they were heading to the finish line… YAY!

Mile 11 (9:00): I was still hurting and came to another aid station.  I didn’t get the electrolytes on accident so I decided to take some fruit snacks.  It seemed like everyone had turned up the speed at this mile because we all were really breathing hard.  Mile 11.5 was the table of temptation…  Wine shots and chocolate truffles… I did the wine shot, but passed on the truffles… NOT a good idea… My tummy started to hurt after that wine.  But I remember looking at my Garmin and saying to myself “You’re gonna do this… You’re gonna beat your sub-2 goal, so don’t slow down and don’t quit!”

Mile 12 (8:53): I felt like my lungs and legs were on fire… My blister on my foot was SCREAMING at me but I just kept looking at my watch, figuring out the math and telling myself “one more mile”

YES!!! THE FINISH LINE... and yes, I am totally looking at the clock! ;)

Mile 13 (8:52): Turned off the trail and onto the main road to head back to the fairgrounds…  And there was gravel.  Gravel and I are NOT friends and I immediately trip on a huge rock and almost fall over.  I hear people behind me gasp cuz they were sure I was going down!  It hurt a little, but thankfully I didn’t twist my ankle or anything.  The gravel was short and then onto to main road to the finish.  The streets were lined with volunteers every 50 feet or so, clapping and cheering us on…Those volunteers are the only thing that kept me going, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, my legs were DONE and my blister was huge… I was DONE! But I turned a corner and saw the finish line, looked at my watch and went for it… I sprinted to that finish line and crossed the first timing mat right at the clock ticked 2:00:00 (1:59:48 officially)

I ran right into my Hubby, and instantly started crying… I got my medal and sat down on the curb as quick as I could. Evelyn was there and she was still a little pissed about the running by her incident so she was pretty clingy and not too happy with me.  I sat on that curb for a while but then I needed to pee, so I got up and headed to the bathroom.  On my way over there, my Dad tells me that Theresa just texted and she is at mile 12. 

Theresa at the Finish Line! A great place to be!!!

She was speeding to the finish, faster than anyone (mainly herself) had thought, so I hurry up and go pee.  I got back to the finish line, just in time to see her coming down the Shute to cross the finish line in 2:29:48, AMAZING!  I cannot believe how well she did for her first race, with only 10 weeks of training!  My sister rocked her first half! I got an e-mail from her not 24 hours after the race, asking me to make her a new training schedule to help her get faster for her next race…  can you say, addict!?!?!?! ;) YAY!  I cannot WAIT to do another race with her and watch her continue her running journey!

The Rouge Run is one of those races that I will do EVERY year that I can!  It had it all… awesome swag, awesome course, awesome volunteers… Awesome everything! J