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A mom, a dad, and three cute kids.
Tag Archives: running
Nov 19 2010

My solo 5k effort

by amy

I was feeling a little let down after not really being able to “race” at the Turkey Trot 5k last weekend. So, yesterday, when I got ready to do my evening run, I decided that I would program my Garmin for a 5k workout and I would go and run as fast as I could.

The nice thing about setting it up as a workout is that when I hit the start button on my watch it starts the time, and then it automatically stops the time (without me having to remember to do it myself at the exact right time/place) when I reach the set distance.

I was able to keep my pace up for the first mile and a half and then it just felt soooo hard! I know that’s how a race is supposed to feel, but it was much more difficult to convince myself to keep up my pace when I didn’t have the benefit of the adrenaline and challenge of a real race against other people.

I still finished with a very respectable time. I did 3.13 miles in 28:24. That’s slower than the 9:00/mile pace that I really wanted, but it still beat my last race time by 29 seconds. In the world of racing 29 seconds is an eternity. I am proud of that!

As I was doing some reading on running this evening, I read something about the exact length of a 5k and discovered that it was actually a little bit shorter than I had thought. A 5k is 3.10685596 miles. So, my run that I just finished yesterday was actually a tiny bit longer (by .02 miles- depending on how the race director rounds the numbers). I wonder how much extra time it took me to run that extra 106 feet? ;-) I’m sure it was a lot right?! Hah!

Now I have a new time to work toward! I think it might be time to start building my mileage base to run a half marathon.

Categories: health and beauty | 1 Comment »

Nov 14 2010

2010 Chaska Turkey Trot, Part I

by amy

It snowed. A lot. Not just a little dusting, but heavy, wet snow and a nice strong wind from the north.

Nathan and I decided to head out a little early because of the snow. Marie had convinced her husband to drive her so she wouldn’t have to drive in the snow. As we pulled out of the driveway and had trouble making it up our little dead-end road, I started to wonder if this might be a bad idea. I changed my goal for the day to actually run the race without falling on my behind.

2 miles down the road, I was re-evaluating my goals again and calling Marie to see where she was and to tell her that the roads were bad. We kept going. Nathan increased our speed a little on Hwy 7 (up to a whopping 35-40 mph) and we immediately started sliding and ended up spinning around and facing the opposite direction on the highway. I prayed for our lives and we ended up safe- no cars around and we weren’t in the ditch.

There were more calls back and forth and Marie decided that she needed to be able to drive home to her kids this afternoon and with 10 inches of snow coming, we didn’t anticipate that the roads would be getting better. We opted to keep going east and because we needed to get to our own kids in Cottage Grove. Because we would be going the direction of Chaska anyway, we decided that if we could make it there in time and still drive very slowly and safely, Nathan and I would run the race together.

We arrived at the destination in one piece! Yeah! We got out of the van and into the elements and I knew beyond a doubt that we were insane. We picked up our packets of goodies and our t-shirts and killed a little time wandering around the school for a little while.

(stay tuned for Nathan’s account of the race itself!)

Categories: health and beauty, hobbies, life | 2 Comments »

Nov 4 2010

Countdown to 2011 update

by amy

Despite the fact that I’ve been going to bed by 10:00, taking my vitamins and drinking my water, I have a cold. It will pass quickly, right?

I’m thinking positively!

I ran 5 miles today. 1 mile warm-up, 1 mile at 8:52, 1/2 half mile recovery, 1 mile at 8:45, 1/2 mile recovery and than 1 mile cool-down. It was hard. I’m doubting my ability to finish the 5k in under a 9:00/mile. It’s one thing to do it for a mile or 2, but for 3 miles? I don’t know.

I had a good day with the kids. Isaac is talking more. He is starting to repeat lots of words. So fun to hear his little voice (except when he is screaming).

Categories: health and beauty, life | 6 Comments »

Sep 16 2010

Thursday Mishmash

by amy

Today was haircut day for Ethan, Audrey and Isaac. I had Isaac’s hair trimmed a tiny bit once before, but I consider today his official “first haircut”. Was fine for the first several seconds. Then, Jill sprayed some water on his head and it surprised him. He started screaming and crying and continued on and off until she finished. I was a good mom though. I didn’t “rescue” him. Once I realized that seeing mommy was making him more upset that I wasn’t picking him up, I just walked around the corner out of site. He actually settled down more that way. I took a couple of photos of the event.

I was able to get myself out of bed and run this morning. I go at 6:00 now that the weather is cooler and it’s darker. No more 5:00 am wake up calls. If I have a run that will take longer than an hour, I plan to do that on the weekend. I’m still on a schedule of only running 3 times a week. I think my training schedule changes to 4 times next week though. My 3 workouts this week are 5 miles, 4 miles and 4 x 800 meter intervals (with warmup, recovery between intervals, and cooldown, that’s about 5 miles). Today was interval day for me. Nathan also went out and ran today too.

Finally, I caught this on camera today. Audrey set up a tea party for her bears!

Categories: health and beauty, life | No Comments »

Sep 12 2010

10 weeks until our next race!

by amy

After a horrible night of little sleep, Nathan took over so I could get a nap today. Thank you, Nathan! I really needed it.

The rest gave me the energy I needed to attack my speedwork for the week. I did 2- 1.5 mile intervals and I finished them with a 9:33/mile  and a 9:54/mile pace. The goal of these intervals is to get my body used to running fast and the subsequent build-up of lactic acid. The goal is to run fast enough that it’s little uncomfortable, but not so fast that your body is unable to clear the lactic acid. In normal people language, it means that I’m running faster than I do for my endurance running, but not as fast as my race pace.

There’s your free running lesson for the day. :-)

Our next race will be the Chaska Turkey Trot on November 13. The Turkey Trot is a very professionally run race. It’s chip timed, there are about 600-700 runners, good food, prizes, and free child care! We have 10 weeks(including race week) to train. It’s the perfect amount of time to finish the Couch to 5k running plan if you’ve ever considered it. Nathan and I will be running and so will our friends Andrew and Marie. There is some money in this for Andrew’s canoe fund if he beats a certain time. Of course, he will actually have to train in order to do that (hint, hint) ;-)

As a reward for sticking with me through these running posts, I’m including a cute photo of Isaac.

Categories: health and beauty | No Comments »

Aug 27 2010

A year of running

by amy

A year ago I started up the Couch to 5k again. I had previously started and never finished. This time, I had a friend who was also doing it and I think it helped see it through (and the fact that we signed up to do a 5k race).

So, I’m going to bore you with more running stats again.  A year ago I couldn’t imagine running for 5 or 10 minutes without stopping.

Here is a report of the last 12 months (for some reason it is showing in kilometers- for a reference, I ran 63.5 miles in July):

My graph

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Aug 26 2010

Nathan is out doing his 5 mile run

by amy

I learned my lesson from the last time. I set the timer for how long I think it will take him and I’m planning to send a search party if he is late!

I did my 5 miles this morning. It was so nice out. The sun was just coming up and it was a little cool. I could definitely feel fall in the air. I even noticed that the sumac on the trail is starting to turn red. I suppose it is the end of August. I just can’t believe our summer is basically over. Today was a speed work day for me. I did 1 mile warm up and then I had a goal of running a mile at 9:28 followed by a half mile recovery and then another mile at 9:28 followed by another half mile recovery. Then I finish off with a cool down mile. Instead of hitting 9:28 I actually finished in 9:16 and 9:14. Not bad!

I just checked the timer and it looks like Nathan should be back in about 20 minutes!

Categories: health and beauty, hobbies | No Comments »

Aug 12 2010

A very late race post

by nathan

Through a bizarre sequence of accidents, I locked myself out of the blog until yesterday, when I finally took the time to get myself back in :-)

So, here’s my brief, belated blog boast.

I finished the race faster than Amy predicted. I averaged 11:20 miles for a total time of 34:59. There’s nothing like a clock ticking up to xx:59 to get your adrenaline pumping. I kept speeding up over the last block, ending in a near-spring, just so I could claim a speed faster than 35 minutes (even if only by 1 second).

I’m still not loving running, but I am getting to really enjoy the sense of accomplishment I get from doing it.

Unfortunately, probably because they were tired and sore, I tweaked a muscle in my back over the weekend and have been hesitant to run until it’s on the mend. But, since I cut a whopping 5 minutes off my last time, I figure taking a week off won’t hurt me much…

I started a new tracking sheet, though, aiming for mid November. The new goal is to run 125 miles and bike 250 miles by that time. We’ll see if I can keep on this roll. It’ll get harder as work gets busier, but running or biking is a nice escape from work.

Categories: health and beauty, hobbies | No Comments »

Aug 7 2010

Winsted Summer Festival 5k

by amy

*Warning- Long, detailed post about running our 5k. There will be lots of details you don’t care about and it may make your eyes glaze over.

Today was the day of our big race! I’ve been gearing up for today for awhile so my sleep was kind of crazy last night. I had the strangest dreams. I remember one of them was about how someone or a group of people were trying to kidnap me. It must have been the anticipation of today that had my brain all wound up while I slept!

I got up early and showered and ate my breakfast. I wanted to get some food in my stomach early enough that it wouldn’t give me a tummy ache while running. Now that I think back, I think I forgot to eat a banana. I was planning to, but I just ate two pieces of english muffin toasting bread (I’m sure you are happy to know that detail!). At a little after 7:00am, Audrey and I went to get some ice at the local grocery store and scout out the race path to see if there were signs and mile markers put out. I drove out to the section of the trail where the runners were supposed to double back and walked down the path a tiny bit to see what the sign said. Yes, I am a nerd. I wanted to know what it said!

I wanted to be at the starting place to check in and get warmed up at 8:15. Nathan drove me there and went back home to wait on Tim and Erica and Chloe. It was raining. I was hoping we wouldn’t have terrible heat and humidity and we didn’t. We had rain, and, to tell you the truth, it didn’t really bother me. If you’re going to run with much moisture in the air, it might as well be raining!

I did a little warming up, asked Rebekah (a really sweet young gal who I now call my friend because she “friended” me on Facebook and I’ve seen her a half-dozen time at our friends’ house) what time it was every 5 minutes, did a prayer huddle with Erica, Marie, Kimberely, Nathan(? were you there for that, Nathan?), and finally lined up for our start.

After a minute of instructions, we were off! The adrenalin rush of being at a race had me starting out pretty fast. The maximum speed I hit was 9.6 mph which is a 6:20/mile. I didn’t hold it for very long at all. Not sustainable for someone at my level! My first mile was finished in 8:56. I was feeling pretty good until I got to the 2.5 mile point and I thought I might die or have to walk. I walked for some of the last race and really regretted it later. I was determined not to walk even though I was tempted. I slowed a bit for a short while even though my Garmin pace alert was beeping at me. I had set it to alarm any time I started running slower than a certain pace. I wanted to conserve a little energy for the hill I knew was coming up.

As soon as the hill started to level out, I decided it was time to kick it into high gear and use up every last bit of energy I had and fall over dead at the finish line which was about 300 meters ahead of me. I was thrilled to see that I had beat my last race time. I came in at 28:38. That’s 1:12 faster than my previous best. I’m going to have Nathan post his own recap for you when he gets a chance.

It was so nice to have the Fairchild’s agree to watch the kids for us while we did our race. If it hadn’t been raining, they would have cheered us in at the end, but the rain was pretty steady and Ethan, Audrey and Isaac had much more fun at home staying dry and playing with them. They made a sign and hung it on the door to greet us when we got home. When we came in the door there was a lot of cheering!

My friend, Kimberely, came to cheer for me. She stood outside in the rain for me! Well, she sat in her car for a while too because there was no reason to stand in the rain while I was a mile and a half away! But she was there cheering at the end and I was encouraged. She joined us and the Friesens for a leisurely afternoon that included playing Wii Sports Resort, hanging out and feasting on hamburgers, brats, and other picnic-like fixin’s. We topped our meal off with birthday cake and ice cream and homemade waffle cones.

It was a lovely day. I have to add some of my favorite non-race moments:

*Chloe and Audrey doing somersaults.

*How Chloe says, “Chloe?” when she wants something :-)

*Audrey’s random assortment of artwork and trinkets that she gathered by herself and put into WalMart bags as gifts for Erica when she found out it was Erica’s birthday tomorrow.

I don’t have any race pictures, but I’ll leave you with a photo of the cake I made for Erica’s birthday:

Categories: cooking, family, health and beauty, life | 6 Comments »

Aug 6 2010

So close!

by amy

I had my official weekly weigh-in this morning and I was down 2 lbs! WoooooooHoooooooo!!!!!!! That puts me only .2 lbs from my pre-Isaac-pregnancy weight. I’m pleased with that. Also, my husband has lost more than 15 lbs in the last 5 weeks. I’m very proud of him. He has worked for this. I can see the difference in his face already.

We’re excited and nervous for tomorrow’s race. Well, maybe I’m the only one who is nervous. If the weather ends up feeling like it does this morning, it would be awesome. Unfortunately, the forecast calls for heat and humidity. I have a list of things to accomplish before tomorrow. It’s kind of funny. I have it broken down into things I need to do in the morning, things I can do while Isaac is up, things I can do when Isaac is napping, and things I need to do tonight. I love my lists! I also have a list for tomorrow morning.

Nathan’s last race time was 39:57 (a 12:52/mile pace). My prediction is that he will finish this race in 35:50. I finished my last race in 29:50 (a 9:36/mile pace). I have no idea if I will be able to beat that, but I’m going to try my best.

Categories: health and beauty, life | 1 Comment »

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