Race Planning

It is time to make a rough schedule of races for 2014! Here is what I am thinking so far:

• Meet of Miles (1 Mile), January 13: This is an indoor meet held at the University of MN. It is only $5 to run! I've never done it before but my understanding is that you sign up in heats according to your estimated finish time. 
• Securian Winter Run 5k, January 25: You get a mug! Perfect for filling with coffee and Bailey's after a cold run. 
• Irish Run St. Paul 8k, March 24: I don't think I've run this one before- the 8k distance is kind of unique and this is in my neighborhood.
• Get in Gear 10k, April 26: I've done it before, it is a fast race, and I love 10k races.
• TC 1 Mile, May 8: Fun stuff.
• Gary Bjorkland Half Marathon, June 21: Hopefully I get in. My sister wants to run it again and shoot for a 1:30 finish time
• TC 10 Mile, October 5: Love this race.

Of course, this is preliminary. But I like having an idea of upcoming events to train for. 

Goals:

39:30 for 10k
5:25 or faster for 1 mile
1:30 or faster for half marathon
1:05 for 10 mile

Do you schedule races out far in advance or are they last minute decisions? Do you have a favorite race distance?

Running Bucket List

Does anyone use Flotrack at all? I used to go to this site every single day- to log my runs and to get inspiration by watching the pros or top collegiate athletes in workouts. Although I don't go there as often I still get updates and the one today is a new blog post by Nick Symmonds.

 

He is not just a hot nutella spokesman...he is a hot & fast runner too.

The post is called "My Running Bucket List" and is a list of the goals he drew up when he started as a professional runner. While his list includes trivial things like make second Olympic team, win a world medal, and win an Olympic medal, he also includes some very legit goals, like run sub 5 for the beer mile. Seriously, the beer mile is a real thing.

Despite being nowhere near the caliber of a runner that Mr. Symmonds is, I thought I would write down my own running bucket list. So, here goes nothing:

1. PR in the 5k : My current PR is from an indoor race. I would LOVE to beat this time in a fast road race.
2. Run sub 1:25 half marathon. This is 6:39 pace... I think this one is for sure doable.
3. Run a marathon! I have always resisted the marathon because I *hate* when people assume that if you haven't run a marathon you aren't a "real runner". I have always considered myself a "real runner" despite never having run a marathon. But I am thinking about running Chicago this year. It is supposed to be a nice flat course so I could potentially run a good time....we will see! I only have 7 days to decide though because sign up starts on the 19th!
4. Run a destination race. College track trips do not count. When Mr. B and I were in Puerto Rico last month we found out about the World's Best 10k...how fun would it be to run a race like that during vacation (okay maybe not fun...but still)? It would be a great way to experience the city and be part of the running world far from home.

I guess that completes my bucket list for now.... Although it would be fun to get my old beer 4x4 team together this summer to see if we could PR.

Have you ever run a beer mile (or 4x4)? Was it as fun or as terrible as you imagined it would be?
Do you have any big bucket list goals for running?

It's happening.

Well...that was a longer break than I intended!

My Birthday + The holidays + Family Problems+Winter + Living in Minnesota = not motivated for running.

But! That is all going to *have to* change....

My youngest sister Sarah and I are going to run the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in June (if we get in)!!!!!

This is us at happier times at the start of the race....(don't hate on my not-purchased pictures...those bad boys are way too expensive!)

Sarah and I ran this together last year. It was her first half marathon ever! I think we finished in about 1:44 or so? The course is point to point- you basically take a bus from Duluth that drops you off 13.1 miles from the finish on the highway, and go. It is a cruel design in that you can see the finish about... 4 or so miles away? (that may be totally inaccurate but certainly it seems like that). Once you get into the actual city of Duluth, you go all the way through the little downtown area, and then you think you are turning to the finish...but again! No! It is a few more turns until you finally get there and get your free beer ticket.

Towards the end, by the big boat that means you are so close!

Running story time. The first year I ran this race was my first summer out of college. Even though I had taken a month or so off to let myself recover/celebrate entering the real world I decided to run the half. My friend Meg gave me a course description, and said, " once you are in town you just turn left and then it's the finish!" in such an authoritative voice that I believed her. Never again.

I made so many mistakes that race, and the first was listening to Meg. My second was not training, my third was ignoring most of the water stations (because I am TOUGH and did I mention it was a million degrees and humid that day??), and my fourth was being overall too confident. When I did get into town and turned left, I started to increase my tempo thinking I was close to done! Well I wasn't. To make a long story short...once I staggered across the finish line I collapsed, had to get wheeled away to the medical tent, and had to get an IV to cool off my 105 degree body. My very concerned boyfriend checked on me and took my free beer.

Don't worry. I bounced back, took a nap, drank my weight in water and Gatorade and rallied enough to hit up the after party (I sat and watched people make poor decisions).

Anyway. This year I think Sarah wants to run 1:35 so that would be a good PR for her! As her pacer, I am of course obligated to get in shape to run it with her. So that is my next Big Goal.

What are you next Big Goals?
Have you ever run the Grandma's Marathon or the Gary Bjorklund 1/2 marathon in Duluth? Thoughts?

The ghost of runs past....

I almost didn't even make it to the gym this morning. My key fob thing (is that what it is called? ) was missing. I was resigned to sneak in to the gym using the mister's key fob but it turned up in the back of the car... so I was one part relieved (they charge $35 to replace those bad boys!!) and one part annoyed because I had spent 20 minutes tearing the house apart looking for it.

Anyway. The gym was less packed than anticipated for a Saturday morning. I hopped on a treadmill and thought up a nice little workout to make the run less than torture. I figured I'd do 10 minutes warm up, then five times three minutes hard, two minutes easy. The warm up was fine so I turned the pace to 7:13 (just starting to get back in shape...this used to be a long run pace....) and put my towel over the time/distance/pace screen. The treadmills at the gym each have a TV on them so I switched mine on just in time to catch the greatest show ever- SportsNation Turkey's. This show featured some goofs and misses that made me actually laugh out loud, at the gym, during a workout- and made my first three minute repeat turn into six minutes total, without even realizing it. So the workout changed to six minutes hard, three minutes easy (twice) followed by three times three minutes hard, two minutes easy ( I think?). Whatever- it was 5 miles total in 37:47. 7:33 pace overall.

I checked my running log from 4 years ago and I ran 6.5 miles at 7:23 pace. Thinking about how easy running so fast used to be usually makes me frustrated.   I know why I not as fast as before (helloooo weeks off at a time...) and I know what I need to do to be at that level of fitness again. It is just that actually committing to that again is not easy- which is part of the reason I started this blog.

I love to run. I love to be fast and I love to work hard to be fast. I want to again challenge myself to become the best runner I can be.