Tag Archives: 5K

where did i go???

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i have had a few people ask me where my blog posts went…i have to admit i have been uninspired to write anything…mostly because i don’t have any real profound things to say lately and if i do i post on my facebook page. <–run on sentence right? ;)

i shall update you all on a bit of what i have been doing in the last month and what’s coming up…:D

1> we put our house on the market :) we are hoping to sell this ‘too big’ house and downsize. too much space since both boys have moved out! it’s a drop out basement so much bigger than it appears (3200 sq feet)0

2> we have been ridding ourselves of extraneous material possessions as of late. no, i’m not turning all hippy dippy on you; i am however, wanting to simplify my life even more so than it already is. we have been selling items on craigslist and sorting out stuff for our impending yard sale <—can’t wait for that one—> ‘will you take a dollar for this?’ (insert knowing eye roll here)

3> i have signed up for the 10K Goddess race in Victoria…really need to start running more to train. GODDESS

4> i took a SPIN class and loved it so i signed up for a 4 week session and will probably sign up for another 8 week session :)

all smiles here...AFTER the class lol

all smiles here…AFTER the class lol

5> i have been trying to stay off of the computer HAHAHA…yah, so not working out that well. i need to get back to reading more and am half way through ‘the dirty life’ loving this read. makes a romance out of farming and dirt ♥ 
http://www.kristinkimball.com/

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6> i have been fantasizing about retiring and travelling for 6 months to a year…more on that in a later post :)

7> i have an upcoming 5K fun run on march 23rd. i like this run…it was my 1st official race in 2010. news_416

8> looking forward to trail runs…starting back up on march 28th :D :D :D nothing like free 1 hour runs through the trails of the comox valley led by awesome volunteer leaders who know said trails!I'm in the purple :)

9> i am also looking forward to my trip home to NB in may to visit family :)

10> and finally, i have been sorting through some seeds to plant another garden…if we sell then the new owners will have free food. if we don’t sell then we will have free food ;) 014

well folks, i guess this post means i’m back :)

thinking a guest post is in order…i hope she’ll do it. i’ll let you know who once she says yes… http://www.tri-ingtobeathletic.com/ <— who put that there…

in health

denise ♥

 

Running in the Rain ;)

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We were visiting our son 1 hour south of home this weekend :) . Just before we left I threw in my running duds not really thinking I would go for a run since I have not been running consistently these days. BUT from previous experience, if I don’t bring the stuff then I say ‘darn if only I had my running gear’.

I woke up before everyone else and all I wanted to do was go for a run…go figure :/ . So I got up, had my requisite sip of coffee, a banana for energy and got dressed to go running. I leashed the dog, opened the door and ‘insert record schreech’ here, we were met with a downpour :( . I had two choices, take Lily out for a quick bathroom break or just suck it up and go running! We went running :) .

Can we go inside now?

IT.WAS.WET. lol, Lily was not at all impressed with this run I can tell you. She did her business and was certain I would go back inside lol. If only dogs could talk!

Funny thing about this run…it felt awesome, even the hills! I was sure I would not have a great run because of the aforementioned inconsistency AND the rain but I was in top form this morning. I have been walking a lot to work and running a few short, 3K runs so I believe this was a contributing factor in my great run today! The rain did not bother me at all and I even flung off my hood part way through. Surprisingly I met several other runners out there braving the rain. We are a funny lot us running people ;) We shared the familiar phrases like “can’t let a little rain stop ya” and “sure is wet eh?” lol Oh how I love runners!

            WET!

I had planned to just do 3K but since the run was going so well, and Lily had resigned herself to being out there and we were both soaked anyway, I decided I may as well get 5K in. At one point it really started to rain heavily and there was no way to tell the difference between rain, running nose and running eyes! ;p

When I finally returned I fully expected my husband to tell me I was crazy, especially considering how dripping wet I was but instead he said ” you make the right choices; good for you” :D

I got out of the wet running clothes and squishy running shoes and enjoyed the best cup of coffee ever. So well deserved!

Lesson for me is: do not let the weather deter you from a good run…within reason of course!

are you a fare weather runner?

what’s the worst weather you have run in?

in health

Denise ♥

 

Besting my 5K and now it’s time to slow down???

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Last friday I clocked a 28:22 5K. My personal best!!!
I had been trying to run a sub 30 minute 5K for, well, forever! Since I started running with some consistency about four years ago I have always been over 30 minutes, usually at 38 – 40 minutes. Then this year I made it my personal mission to run it sub-30 at least once. I managed to get down to about 32 minutes consistently by the summer, keeping in mind here that I don’t have anywhere to run a flat 5K. Where I live there are hills no matter what route I take. I suppose I could drive to a high school track..but then I may die of boredom! ;)  

Anyhow, last Friday I felt good and ready to run so off I went to run to the beach. I wasn’t planning to run sub 30 as I had achieved this earlier in the summer and was happy to have done it once. But I did anyway and I beat my previous sub-30 by 1:03 minutes! Very happy with this time especially as I wasn’t even trying! :) :) :)  

Now when I run I find my pace is automatically faster but I’m not so sure I like this! I feel a little more exhausted at the 4K mark where before I usually felt really good here. I suppose it’s just my endurance needs a boost! Any increase will force you to exert yourself until your body becomes accustomed to it. ;)

Another issue I have been dealing with is a sore hip! I also attribute this to the increased pace. My hips have always been tight and I have added yoga into my weekly routine but I think it’s sciatica more than anything else. :( Thankfully I have a great chiropractor)

I think I need to slow my pace back to the 32 minute/5K in order to stay un-injured. The average pace lately has been hovering around 5:37 – 5:45 so an increase back to 6:05 should even me out. My worst nightmare is to be injured and unable to workout!!! When you’re 25 say, you recover much quicker than when you’re 47 like me :) . My pride and personal competitiveness gets in my way though!

My last run on Wednesday was at 30:10 for 5K but I also stopped and walked for .3 of a Km at, you guessed it, the 4K mark! See, fatiguing at 4K is not making me happy!!! lol I would have sub 30′d if I hadn’t walked! Geez, first I HAD to increase my speed now I want to decrease it…never satisfied are we!?!

I’ll let you know what my next time is…possibly running today! ;)

have you increased your pace only to find it’s NOT working for you?

do you compete with yourself? is this a positive or negative thing for you?

in running and health

Denise ♥

 

 

 

 

I ran twice today! Crazy!

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Since January I have had a lot of firsts because I have changed the way I eat and live. Well today was another one of those firsts for me! Today was the first time I ran twice in one day! I don’t usually run in the morning but I did 5K before work. I was happy to have that out of the way for the day and coupled with my biking to work and home twice I had a pretty good fitness day.

Run #1

After dinner we went out for a drive to the ocean and walked in the water for a bit, watching the kayakers and boaters out on the water.

nice summer evening

We also chased bunnies around ;) disclaimer- no bunnies were harmed during this activity!

:D

I should have been satisfied with my day as it was pretty full with the fitness and the regular workday.However, around 8:00PM I began to feel restless and wondered if maybe I shouldn’t just go for another run…it kinda felt a bit crazy to even think about it but then of course I threw it out there on my FB page and was encouraged to go for it. Well I had to go then didn’t I? I fiddled and fussed avoided the thought for another hour then decided I may as well just go. It started out really sluggish and my legs felt like deadweight and after 1/2 K I wondered if I should just turn around and go home. I decided to stay pretty close to home so I went up and down hills…those damn hills…and got my wind by about the 2K mark. I managed to clock another 5.5K tonight making my total 10.5K for today and 12K of biking! :) I will admit I did stop a few times to catch my breath change my music! lol.

Run #2!

When I got back home my husband told me I only had so many heart beats in me. Huh, well I guess I am using them up wisely then and I couldn’t feel better!

I’m not so sure I would make this a habit, I know there are people who routinely run twice daily but they are usually athletes training for races etc. Well, I’m not an athlete but I am training for GutBuster Ascent on July 28th :)

As a side bar? I got to eat a lot of good food today! The benefit of exercise is increased calories! :D Well, just make sure you are choosing nutrient dense calories though.

post run snack after run #2 (that’s almond butter on the banana!)

I have a feeling my legs will feel a bit tired tomorrow and I will definitely notice this on my bike ride to work!!! I will probably whine about it too ;)

Do you run more than once a day?

in running and health

Denise ♥

 

 

Re-cap of my 1st Virtual Fun Run

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I signed up for a virtual Fun Run last week and decided today was going to be the day to run it.

ready to rock it!

I even printed out a bib and wore it for the run…I had some interesting looks, especially from the cyclists that passed me who could actually read it. :)

I haven’t run since Sunday when I did the GutBuster and that was probably a very wise choice given how my quads felt after that race ;)

I started out with a great line up of tunes on my IPod and a happy attitude. My husband made fun of me light-hearted of course…(right? It was light-hearted right?) for wearing the bib but I really wanted to get in the spirit of things and feel like I was in a ‘real’ race. I coerced said husband into driving down to the ocean to take a couple of action shots and to drive me home when I finished. I even set a timer to go off 25 minutes after I left the house so he would get there as I was finishing…;).

almost finished :)

The run turned out to be my best 5K thus far…I PR’d :) I ran a time of 30:41 my fastest so far and closer to my goal of sub 30 minutes.

this is my WOOHOOOOOO photo after seeing my time!!!

I felt awesome during the entire 5K and my pace obviously increased a bit. I am very happy with my results. Now I am thinking I will do the 10K run on Sunday…hmmmm, maybe I could PR that too! :)

my bib, my asics runners and my Garmin timer ♥

This virtual 5K and/or 10K run is ongoing until June 25/12 so you still have time to participate. Go to :
http://networkedblogs.com/yToHI to sign up! If you sign up from my blog post, please tell Toni you heard about the run from www.FitPsychology.com. ;) There are great  prizes to be won too! I have my fingers crossed.

I will definitely participate in other virtual runs in the future. Maybe I can convince my fellow runners in town to run with me. :)

have you ever run a virtual run?

will you sign up for this virtual run?

in running and health

Denise ♥

 

GutBuster recap and My 1st Virtual Fun Run!!!

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So I had my first GutBuster experience this past weekend and it did almost bust my GUT! haha. I had an awesome drive down with another runner, talking up a storm and arrived to the event nice and early. By the time we got our bibs and chatted with a few people it was time to line up. I love the excitement you feel at the start line of a race. Runner’s nervous energy is infectious and really pumps you up to race.

so many happy people :)

Now, it’s one thing to be told it is an uphill climb from the start and quite another to actually have to do it! The first 1.4K was pretty much straight uphill a residential road then it was into the trail for an easy 1/2K then bammo, uphill and I mean uphill! lol I was seriously questioning my sanity and even convinced myself that I was pulling out of the next GB race in July because this was hard. I walked…a lot! I even considered not finishing for a millisecond. At the 3K point I fell smack onto both knees and since it was on a slight decline I did the old fall into gravity shoulder roll. OUCH! I bounced up, checked for blood and kept going. I looked at my Garmin watch at one point and saw that I was already 4.5K into the 9K race and was so surprised and happy that I was half way through. I then felt my positive energy return and started to just have fun.

feeling good here :)

Once I convinced myself that there is no shame in walking up the steep sections, I relaxed more and enjoyed the scenery which included an amazing waterfall. At 6K I was greeted by the angels holding cups of liquid gold aka volunteers with water ;) . Water never tasted so refreshing! The next 3K was a nice, easy downhill run where I picked up a lot of speed and bombed down to the same 1.4K asphalt road we started on. I felt like I was flying and my quads felt like they were on fire!

I finished the race with a time of 1:09 which I am happy with considering I was aiming for 1:30 :) . Gotta love that! I didn’t place in my age group but guess what? I won a prize…a North Face tech running T. Oh, and I won’t be pulling out of the next GutBuster race in July ;)

:) I won a door prize! :)

Next up? Well I signed up for a ‘Welcome to Summer’ Virtual Fun Run  5K/10K put on by running loving living. There are awesome prizes to be won and all you have to do is go to her website at http://networkedblogs.com/yToHI to sign up. I even printed up a bib:I will probably run the 5K on the weekend, you have from june 18 to June 25 to run it, and submit my time and cross my fingers that I win a prize ;) This is such an awesome idea and I am happy I follow her on FB and found out about it. I’ll keep you posted on my result!

 

I thank every volunteer I pass on the race route…do you?

have you ever participated in a Virtual Run?

in racing and health

Denise ♥

Photographer 1st 3 pics – https://www.facebook.com/denophoto?ref=ts

GutBuster webpage – https://www.facebook.com/denophoto?ref=ts