Medal Day

Monday night's run was definitely not medal-worthy.  I felt pretty good for the first two miles or so but then my legs turned into lead and my left quad started hurting and I just wanted to be done.  Of course, my Garmin didn't catch a signal until after the first 1.5 miles so it didn't even record the parts where I felt strong.  Blah.  At least the company was good since I was running with my running club.

So, instead of focusing on runs that didn't garner any fruit, I'm sharing what I do with my race medals for Mag Mile Runner's photo challenge.

Above is the very first race medal holder I ever got.  I showed the website to my mom shortly after the 2010 Chicago Marathon and she ended up buying me this medal hanger for Christmas.  Until then my medals were just hanging on the door handle of my home office.

I very quickly outgrew this medal holder, though.  Running 30 races in one year will do that to you.

So, towards the end of 2011 I was gifted with two more medal holders.  My mom gave me this one:

And then Kim gave me this custom one:

I now have all three hanging in my office at home.

 The one on the far left has my half marathons and my marathons (other than Chicago).  The next one has all my races that I ran in the actual city of Chicago (plus 2011 Ragnar that ended in Chicago).  Then the next one has all my other race distances and age group place medals.  

There is one other medal that isn't on my medal rack.  And that's the medal from my very first half marathon.

The 2009 Illinois Half Marathon.  That one hangs in a shadow box in my office at work.  It's also my first race medal ever (if you don't count my keychain) so it got some special treatment.

I haven't added any medals since December 2011.  The marathon section of the one medal rack looks a little sparse.   I'd like to add some more but until then it's one day at a time.

My Favorite Beginning

 

In September 2007 I ran my very first 5K: the Women’s Fitness 5K in Urbana, Illinois.  I’d been training for the past 8 weeks with the Beginning Womens’ Running Group as part of the local running club.  I was now able to run for 30 minute straight, a feat I’d only ever come close to once before on a treadmill and never outside.

I had no idea what to expect.  Okay, that’s not entirely true.  Our coach and her husband had given us the run-down on race etiquette, a reminder to lay out all our stuff the night before, how to pin on our bibs, and all the other things they though we should know before race day.  But as for the atmosphere or my own performance?  No clue.

I crossed the finish line in just over 33 minutes.  I had no idea if that was good or bad.  I just knew I wanted, no, NEEDED to do it again.  I stood at the post-race awards ceremony chatting with another member of the Beginning Women’s Running Group.

“Look at all these other runners!” 

“Some of them run marathons!  Would you ever run a marathon?”

“I don’t think so.  A 10K or maybe even a half marathon.  But a whole marathon?”

How little I knew back then.  I signed up for another 5K race less than two months later.  And so it began.  Now, here I am, 60 races later (including those 3 marathons I didn’t think I’d do) and I’ve cut almost 10 minutes off my first 5K time. 

The keychain pictured above is the running skirt medal they put around my neck on a ribbon when I crossed the finish line of that first 5K.  I use it as my every day keychain.  It reminds me of how far I’ve come.  How lucky I am that I found running and racing even if I’m not currently signed up for any races and only running 10 miles a week or so.

Maggie asked us to choose memorabilia from our favorite race for her new photo challenge series.  Was the Women’s Fitness 5K my favorite race?  Of those 60 races I’ve run I’ve had some I loved more and some I loved less.  Choosing a favorite is almost impossible.  But my very first one holds a special place in my heart so that’s my choice. 

 

What a Difference

Source


Back in September 2009 I ran the PAWS Run for Their Lives 8K race and Robert, one of the members of my running group, paced me to a finish with an average of a 9:07 pace. I struggled in that race and pushed myself so hard I almost puked.

Yesterday morning I ran with Robert. We weren't racing. He wasn't pacing me. And we were running substantially more than 5 miles. In fact, we ran just over 8 miles together. And while the first few miles were my warm-up, the rest of those miles we ran side by side at a sub-9:07 pace.

Robert told me I looked like I was running easy. And while 9:00 minutes per mile isn't my easy pace quite yet, it's getting there. It definitely feels easier than it did in September 2009.

Yesterday morning was a perfect indicator of just how far I've come in the less than 3 years I've been keeping this blog. I ran a total of 9.39 miles at an average 9:20 pace (I walked the last tenth of a mile or so). Two years ago I did my very first 10 mile run at a pace one minute per mile slower than I ran on Saturday.

What a difference two years makes.

OPRC Saturday Morning Run by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

A Wellapalooza of Running

It's only Wednesday and it's already been a week full of running-related events!

On Monday night I did the "8" mile loop with the running club (we cut off a bit so it's really more like 7.8). The run was fine (and even a tiny bit faster than last week) but my shin was a little achy afterward. Today the PT told me I should definitely ice it after runs when it feels achy so I'll have to start doing that.

Monday Night OPRC 8 Mile Route by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

After Monday night's run a group of us went out to dinner. Of course, we talked about running but we also talk about other things. It's always a good time and I got to gorge myself on sweet potato fries. Win win.

On Tuesday night I coordinated a booth for my running club at a local health fair. The Parent-Teacher Organization for one of the local elementary schools put together an event they called "Wellapalooza" and invited health, nutrition, fitness, and environmental organizations in the area to promote their wares. I believe the idea was that it would expose people to the different resources available to them if they wanted to make changes to their lifestyle.

We brought fliers for our 5K race, our youth mile race, our 5K fitness walk as well as a brochure I made about the club itself. I also printed out copies of the Couch to 5K program which caused some controversy among my other booth-manners. Did I mention I was the youngest person at the booth by at least 35 years?

I figured that since this was a fair designed to encourage people to exercise or eat healthily or just start paying attention to their carbon footprint a handout on learning to run would be a great thing to have. Apparently the old school of thought on running is just to get out there and do it. Run til you can't run anymore, then walk, then run again until you hit 30 minutes. I'm sure that works for people who aren't particular fans of structure or who have a certain level of self confidence. For other people, I think the Couch to 5K plan has been instrumental when beginning running.

I know when I started I couldn't go for more than 15-20 minutes on the treadmill. I'd run for as long as I could and then I'd stop and feel defeated. Outside I couldn't even go that far. It wasn't until I joined the Beginning Women's Running Group and learned about building up using a method similar to Couch to 5K that I made any progress.

Unfortunately not many people were interested in our booth on Tuesday night. The set up for the fair was odd so not many people made it where we were located. And those that did stared as us warily as they walked by. Some laughed and said "I don't run!" Most people were not interested in hearing more about our fitness walk (I could practically see them thinking 'why should I pay money to walk around the neighborhood?') and even the kids seemed skeptical that they could run a mile. Which means we didn't give away much information. Still, I'm hopeful that perhaps just seeing us in our red shirts may have planted a seed in someone's mind. And someday one of those people will decide to try that Couch to 5K plan. And someday that person will find themselves running almost 8 miles as a regular run.

You know, like me.

Countdown from 30

My little countdown widget on the side of my page is finally no longer showing months. It's now telling me there are 30 days until my very first half-marathon. I am both excited and terrified by this.

Since Tuesday night is cross-training night and I don't have anything fun to report (other than that it was hot as blazes in the cardio room at the gym!), I thought I would take this moment, 30 days out, to talk about why I chose to run this particular race as my first half-marathon.

Before I lived in Chicagoland, I lived in Champaign, Illinois. If you've clicked on the link for the Illinois Half-Marathon under my Race Calendar section and read a little bit about the race you'll know that this race takes place partly in Champaign. You'll also know it's the inaugural marathon/half-marathon event for the town. One of the sponsors of this event is the Second Wind Running Club. This is the running club that hosted the Beginning Women's Running Group that got me hooked on running in the first place. Even though I've since moved away from the area, I felt it was my duty to give back to them in the form of participating in this event.

My parents, my sister and her family, and some of my friends all still live in Champaign-Urbana. Many of them have supported me in my running and are looking forward to cheering for me as I run this race. The thought of having such a support group was too wonderful not to pass up.

Kristen asked in my previous post what it's like to run with no elevation gain. I can't really answer that because I've only ever run in the flat lands of Illinois. As I mentioned, I began my running hobby in Champaign which is just as flat, if not more so, as Chicagoland. If you're going to attempt your very first half-marathon, why not do it somewhere you're familiar with? I may not have run the exact roads this course will traverse, but I've run on ones in the same area.

Overall, I want this event to be everything the Second Wind Running Club is hoping it can be. Silly as it may sound, I think my participation is one little piece of putting this race on the map.

Shut Up and Run

Last night's tempo run kicked my butt. I spent the first part of it trying to figure out why I hate tempo runs so much. It's not the treadmill since I've failed at both treadmill and outdoor tempo runs. It's not the day of the week since I can do my Wednesday speedwork runs with little issue. So, I'm concluding that it must be mostly mental.

I was supposed to do one mile warm-up, four miles at between 9:25 and 9:55, and one mile cool-down. I think I ended up walking at least half a mile out of those four middle miles. I had to put the incline on the treadmill down to nothing. I struggled and struggled and almost started crying until I remembered how much energy crying takes. But somewhere in the middle of mile 5 I found a groove. Have I really become that person who takes several miles to "get into" a run?

While struggling and whimpering and debating quitting last night I felt like a failure. I just ran 8 miles on Sunday at the same speed I only had to run 4 last night. Why was it so hard? Why did I hate it so much? Why was life so horrible?! Just when I almost gave up (somewhere in mile 3 or 4....it all blurs together as one big pile of YUCK), I thought about some of my friends, both people I know in person and people I know online, who are going through rough spots in their lives. Spots much rougher than having crappy tempo runs. And I realized that I needed to stop whining and just get on with it. And I finished my run.

Yesterday (before my run) I compiled a list of my running milestones. Looking back over it today I've decided that I'm allowed to hate tempo runs. That doesn't mean I'm a bad runner. Kate asked me a few days ago how long it took me to be able to run 8 miles. I thought some of you might be interested in my running time line so far.

January 4, 2006 - Ran .5 mile on treadmill, speed unknown
February 18, 2006 - Ran 1 mile on treadmill, speed unknown
April 18, 2006 - 1.3 miles on treadmill, speed unknown
April 20, 2006 - 1 mile on treadmill, approximately 12 minutes
May 27, 2006 - 11 minute mile on treadmill
June 25, 2006 - Stuck at one mile on treadmill, can't run one mile outside
July 31, 2006 - 1.5 miles on treadmill at 11:32 per mile
April 30, 2007 - 1.5 miles on treadmill in 20 minutes
May 9, 2007 - 25 minutes on treadmill at 4.7 MPH
May 17, 2007 - 2.25 miles in 30 minutes on treadmill
June 11, 2007 - 30 minutes on treadmill at 12:45
June 21, 2007 - Ran 90% of a 5K on the treadmill in approx. 40 minutes
September 15, 2007 - 3.1 miles*
September 29, 2007 - 3.4 miles
October 2, 2007 - 4 miles
October 13, 2007 - 4.6 miles
November 18, 2007 - 5 miles
December 2, 2007 - 5.5 miles on treadmill
December 16, 2007 - 6.2 miles on treadmill
January 27, 2008 - 6.4 miles
February 9, 2008 - 7 miles
March 1, 2008 - 8.9 miles
April 5, 2008 - 9 miles -still longest to date
April 2008 - Present - nothing longer than 8 miles

*If it doesn't say "treadmill" then it means it was outside.

So, as you can see, it's been a process. I've come a long way. I just have to keep telling myself that when it gets hard.

But I still hate tempo runs.

P.S. Thanks Aaron for the link to figure out a treadmill's incline. I haven't done it yet, but it's the simplest one I've seen. So, yay!

P.P.S I've had a few other new commentors this past week. Thanks for commenting and I hope you stick around.

P.P.P.S. I didn't do my two mile run on the treadmill this morning. Let's not dwell on it.