March 2017 Running Challenge

Kicked off week 2 of "back to running" with a 3 mile hilly route. I planned out a nice short run nearby on some hilly cross streets I had never run before. They were a lot steeper than I thought, but I made it with nothing worse than just muscle fatigue.

The snow is gently falling, no accumulation yet. It smells like rain, not snow outside.

3/4 - 3 miles
3/5 - 1.5 miles
3/6 - 1.5 miles
3/7 - 1.5 miles
3/8 - 1.5 miles
3/9 - 1.5 miles
3/10 - rest
3/11 - 3 hilly miles

13.5 of 38 miles total

WK: 3/6/17 - 3/12/17
M - Off
T - 10.6 m. 9:50 pace.
W - Off
T - 11 m. 9:27 pace.
F - 7.1 m. 8:15 pace.
S -
S -
Total -

@HRKinchen - we KNOW you're gonna kill it today! Have a great time!

I know many of you will have already seen this, but, by goodness it made my eyes leak: https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10154842721935659/

Ok, so now I'm hooked.
My first 5k was a blast, and I set a new PR, to boot, running 3.22M in 44:45! (according to Runtastic. I haven't seen official race stats yet, but I definitely crossed the finish line with less than 45:00 on the race clock, which was my stretch goal for this race.)

It was a beautiful morning: ~60*F, partly cloudy, 6mph winds, and no rain despite predictions. The race began and ended beneath some of the prettiest moss-covered live oaks on campus at one of my alma maters. The route was well marked and dotted with volunteers who cheered us along and humored my request for "fives" as I passed.

My husband and 3yo son also came out and cheered for me. The start/finish line was about two blocks from the midway point on the loop, so they were able to see me off, then cheer me on at the midway point, and make it back to the finish line to greet me there. (One benefit of running slow as a turtle! Lol)

I did the same intervals I had practiced - walking warmup for one song (my way of ensuring I didn't start too fast due to excitement), then 3 songs running + 1 song walking, on repeat. Set a PR on Mile 1 of 13:03, followed by 13:52 and 14:40 on miles 2 & 3. That's pretty fast for me, so I'm definitely pleased. Max speed 8.9 mph, average pace 13:54, also a PR for this distance. I did so much better than I could've imagined when I started running with C25K on Jan. 1!

Overall, I'm pretty stoked and looking forward to the next one! By year's end, I'd like to run one straight through, without walk breaks. Hoping to get at least two more 5Ks under my belt before the summer heat arrives.

Great job @HRKinchen - glad you had a great time and glad you are now hooked

Date :::: Miles :::: March MTD (goal = 95)
03/01/17 :::: 2.3 :::: 2.3
03/02/17 :::: 6.7 :::: 9.0
03/03/17 :::: 5.1 :::: 14.1
03/04/17 :::: 3.1 :::: 17.2
03/05/17 :::: 2.6 :::: 19.9
03/06/17 :::: 4.4 :::: 24.2
03/07/17 :::: 0.0 :::: 24.2
03/08/17 :::: 2.7 :::: 26.9
03/09/17 :::: 2.6 :::: 29.5
03/10/17 :::: 3.5 :::: 33.0
03/11/17 :::: 2.7 :::: 35.7

As predicted, I decided to pass on the long run this morning but I replaced it with a hot power yoga class at a new studio that just opened, then a warm treadmill run, then a freezing cold dog walk. I should have done the opposite order on all of that because now I'm still trying to warm up and get my fingers back to normal color. It's bitter out there and now the snow is really coming down too. C'mon March, let's pull it together.

Going to try to do a long run indoors tomorrow if I can find a track open.

And now it's time for my favorite part of the week, curling up on the couch - tired human and tired dog relaxing and napping.

Pizza always helps!

Wednesday's run really sucked, but I'm happy with my runs Thursday and today.
Thursday was a prime example of all the things that don't happen on a treadmill, the good and then bad.
The bad came first: I had planned to run some repeats on a nearby hill, but recently people with two dogs moved into the house next to it. They are sometimes at the fence and bark at me when I run by; but as of a few days ago, there's a hole in the fence One of the dogs got out and started growling and running after me; fortunately he stopped when I turned towards him, waved my arms and yelled. I walked until I felt I was a safe distance away; hoping the owners would hear the noise and come out to catch him. Instead, when I turned around to look back, the second dog had gotten out as well. That ended my plans to run repeats there - I had pepper spray with me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to provoke an incident by running past that house five more times when I already know the dogs are loose...
Instead, I just ran some rolling hills, enjoying the mild evening. It's like spring arrived two days ago. The best moment was when I suddenly realised I was smelling blossoms. I stopped and looked around, and true enough, the hedges next to me were covered in pink blossoms. They smelled wonderful, and looked really pretty against the night sky. I think I was smiling for the entire rest of the run


Today I ran the "Run the Solar System" virtual race. My 10k PR from last year is 58:27. I didn't expect to beat that (not running on my own, without race day adrenaline), but I was still pusing it, hoping to finish in one hour or less. According to the race app I ran the 10km in 58:47.
I'm really happy with that. Especially since my route was net uphill (82m/270ft elevation gain). I didn't really thing it through, so all the uphill roads and flat-but-muddy fields were in those 10km. I still had ~2km to run to get home after that; all of the resulting downhills on paved roads, so my "cooldown" run ended up being the exact same pace as the race