First of the Year!

Today was my first 5k of the year! It was the third year in a row that I have run this 5k, this was the first 5k I had run ever!
Trying to get back into running isn't east after 4+ months off.

what a beautiful day for a race day!

 

Getting back into race mode isn't always easy either. I was hoping to be more exciting and motivating, but I could have cared less. But I still tried pushing myself and completed in under 40minutes! I was hoping for at least 40, so I am happy.

I was really impressed with the volunteers today, they were awesome. There weren't many along the 5k course, but they were so energetic and it was great!

The best was at the end.
Most 5k runs do not have a finishers medal. This one did.
It was no ordinary medal.
It was a rock.

Look at all those  "medals"! Everyone got to choose their own "medal" which was awesome! Everyone is different in their own way, no one is the same when they run. We all finish with our own style!

Then it was home for a quick shower and then to my sister-in-laws for my niece's birthday party!

 

 

-Stephanie

National Runner's Month

Thank you Dicks Sporting Good's for reminding me that it is National Runner's Month. Based on my very most recent post...as in the last hour, I am going to be even more determined to get out there or on the treadmill and put in the miles.
Also I feel the need to note that I have my first race of 2014 coming up in a little over a week, a week from Sunday! This will be the third year I have run this 5k, and I would like to try to match if not beat the time from last year, so I have a lot of work in little time!

So here is to National Runners month!

*How do you plan on celebrating runners month?
*Running any races this month?

Thoughts on your commute

Do you commute to work? Well, I am sure many of you do, but if you are lucky, it is short and sweet. In the past two months, since my husband and I have purchased a home, my commute has doubled and includes some traffic. Luckily it is nothing compared to what I could run into if I were traveling on the Mass Pike.
Anyways, I do enjoy the drive most of the time. It allows me to think of things coming that day, enjoy a little more of the morning radio show I listen to or even get a few songs from a favorite cd in.

Then there is the ride home, which I can also enjoy. It allows me to decompress from my day, especially if it was a tough one. The hard part is if I am planning on going for a run when I get home, I have the whole ride home to battle with myself. I may plan on running when I leave work, but in the time it takes me to drive home, I have somehow talked myself back in and out of the idea of going for a run.
You would think that no matter what when the weather is as beautiful as it is, I would want to go out, be outside and enjoy it! But somehow my mind has convinced me to stay in and relax.
And yes, sometimes staying in to rest and relax is fine. I always feel that there should be rest time involved, but that is considering that you are actually doing some sort of exercise movement or maybe even some heavy housework. If I find myself talking myself out of running, I tell myself it is to allow more time for housework, which of course I never do as much as I plan on.

What is even worse, is after much of the sitting around and watching tv, I feel the energy and motivation to want to go running, and well that isn't possible because it is dark out! I know there are many who run in the dark, but I don't feel safe or have the resources (i.e. body lights, reflector jackets).

I am lucky enough to have a friend with a gym membership that allows her to bring a guest anytime and as many times as she wants. So I think I will take part in that and use the dreadmill only as a way to boost my mileage in hopes that I will get myself back into the running mood and wont allow myself to talk myself out of it on my way home. I have also thought about brining my running outfits to work, change and then I will be ready to go when I get home. All I will have to do it put my purse, etc inside and then turn around and go back out!

*Have you found that having a long commute has worked against you and your exercise?
*How did you get past that?
*How did you increase your internal positivity?

-Stephanie 

Getting blown away!

After breakfast....

YUM! If you like cream cheese, I highly suggest the Honey and Pecan Philly flavor!

Anyways, after breakfast, I let it all settle while watching some tv and some very light cleaning, aka, there is a piece of trash and a dust bunny on the floor...now they are in the trash, I got up and got ready for a run! Once I got out there I thought I was going to blow away. The wind was crazy! At one point it blew my ear buds OUT of my ears! It settled at one point, but of course once began a small incline, the wind was blowing against me.

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I have to say that my running "mojo" as some like to call it is slowly coming back. I think for a time, a few months that is I dreaded going outside to run and so I didn't. I do live in New England where the winter was more the ridiculously cold...and snowy. But even as it warmed up, I said "this would be a beautiful day to go for a run....or take a nap!"

Short story: the nap won.

This week being April vacation for us educators...I took it as an opportunity to get things done around the house, sleep in, watch bad tv and get out for a run...well lets make the plural!
I am going to be honest and say that I do still struggle with getting my butt off the couch to go out, but its just like work (if you actually like you job) where you may not want to go, but once you get there, you are fine and ready to work! Well, same goes with running. I may not want to go, or be happy about it, but once I get the sneakers on, Pandora on, GPS on, I am out the door and feeling good!

I have been trying to make it worth my while as well. Not just to enjoy myself, build up those endorphins...but treat myself in the end! I mentioned this the other day, and I did it again today. I plan my run so that I will end at Dunkin Donuts and cool down with a -1 mile walk back to my house.
It makes the run much better knowing that, just like when you run a race and there is a medal at the end, there is an ice coffee waiting for me....or well someone to make it for me!

I mentioned Pandora, and what I love is that you can type in almost anything you want and it will make a station for it! To shake things up a bit, I decided to make a Reggae station...well it came up with Reggaeton (spelling??). It was good for the most part, not something I normally listen to, but it was upbeat and I enjoyed it.

The feeling of finishing and completing a run, of any distance should be a good feeling.

What gets you motivated to get out the door?
Have you ever "lost" your running mojo?
How did you bounce back?

-Stephanie

Running for Dunkins

America runs on Dunkins...that is the slogan, yes?
Well today I ran on for Dunkins.

I have two Dunkin Donuts within less than a mile of me, and the both of them are less than approx. 1/4 of a mile from each other. One of which is inside a gas station...
So I figured, what a great way to plan a run than with ending it with a trip to Dunkin Donuts for a little reward.
I use the Dunkin Donuts app, so I am able to pay with my phone which makes one less thing I have to carry with me. So I planned it out so I would get at least 2 miles in before hitting DD's

Today was definitely a better run than yesterday. I was more hydrated today and I also let my breakfast settle a bit more. The only thing I couldn't find was my patella(knee) bands. I had a bag that held a bunch of my running stuff, and I found some items, but not those. That would have been helpful, but I made it through!

I went out for a run, also wearing new capris. I got them from Walmart, which I don't typically care wear the gear comes from, as long as I works and does what I expect it to do. Well it did for the most part, but the waste band wasn't very strong or did it have much elastic to it. I actually got nervous that as I ran that they would slide down and reveal my underwear! But they did not, I pretty much was pulling on them every walk break, but I eventually forgot about it.

I try to pace myself pretty evenly when I run. This time around I found that most of the fire hydrants around town were pretty evenly spaced. So I planned my running time to every other hydrant, and only walking to the next one and repeating that for as long as I could.

 

I love my ice coffee. Besides a medal, this is the second best reward I could go for after finishing a race. Dunkin Donuts should have a Half Marathon. What an idea! They do say America runs on Dunkins, why not have a race and at water stops, have water, Gatorade and maybe even some coffee stops! how Amazing would that be!!!

There could be a couple different flavors to accommodate all tastes! OMG getting very excited about this idea! And the Medal at the end could be in the shape of an ice coffee! Eeek!!
 I can think of a few people who would agree, one of which is a facebook friend named Cynthia, she just turned 60 and is running 60 1/2 Marathons this year! how amazing is she!

Anyways, so I finished my run, got my coffee and then walked my way home enjoying the icey coffee-ness and a good cool down!

-Stephanie