You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man!

Last month, I ran the Santa Race 5k in Gahanna with a few of my friends. It was definitely the worst weather I've ever experienced during a race; it was cold, rainy, and windy. We still managed to have a lot of fun! :)

Splits -

Mile 1: 8:41

Mile 2: 8:56

Mile 3: 8:58

.03 on Garmin: 0:27

Official Time 26:46, an average pace of 8:41

This race was a new 5k PR for me! I was so excited!! I won a gift certificate for my adorable outfit (ugly Christmas sweater and sparkle skirt... always a good combination). I also won first place in my age group -- they announced my name for the award but looking at the results now, I actually came in second place. The other girl must have left before they gave out the awards. Anyway, I'm not telling the last part of that story, and my first place plaque is hung proudly on the wall. :)

Run, run, fast as you can!

It's been a busy week! I finally got caught up on quite a bit of cleaning early in the week, so Charlie and I were able to decorate for Christmas!

I did a 5k race on Saturday, and for the first time ever I placed in my age group!! My sister Ashley got engaged over the weekend and I am sosososo excited for her and Jeremie! :)

Monday - 1.03 miles at 11:10 pace Tuesday - 3.12 miles hills at 10:48 pace
Wednesday - 1.74 mile run at 10:50 pace
Thursday - 5.75 miles at 10:36 pace
Friday - 1.05 miles at a 9:31 pace
Saturday - 3.10 mile race at 8:43 pace
Sunday - 1.03 mile run at 10:52 pace
Totals! - 16.82 miles at an average 10:20 pace I'm 11 days into RW Run Streak with 25 days left, which means I'm already doing better than last year! 

14 in '14

At the end of 2013, I set a goal to finish 14 races in 2014. Today, I finished the fourteenth race! I'm having the hardest time picking a favorite race because I'm so proud of myself for every single one! I can honestly say I gave all of these races 100% effort and had so much fun during all of them!!

In 2014, I PRed 5k, ran my first half marathon, and starting training for my first full marathon. I did my first virtual race, joined a running club, and gained a pretty collection of running medals. :)

Now, it's time to start thinking about my 2015 races. I don't want to race quite as much as a did last year, and instead would like to focus on marathon training and building my mileage.

Finish my first full marathon!
Sub 1:00 10k
Beat my first 5k time of 36:07 by 10 minutes
Race with Charlie
Run my first 100+ mile month
Explore different parks and trails
Run a sub 8:00 mile
1,000 miles in 2015! (This is possibly unrealistic)
Consistently run 4x a week

Month One! :)

This week is extra fabulous for a few reasons.

I'm so happy to be home for Thanksgiving! Losing my Grandpa on Thanksgiving last year has been really hard, but reminded me what this holiday is all about (hint: it's not about wasting money on things you don't need to impress people you don't even like!). I have to include something here about how thankful I am for my family, friends, fancy grown up job, fast little legs, and my puppy. Meb said it best:

It’s nice to be able to give thanks on the fourth Thursday of November, but it’s important to realize that every day is an opportunity to be thankful. Be thankful for the air you breathe, the food that’s on your table. Be thankful for the opportunity to run, whether it’s one mile, 10 miles or 15 miles. Often we take running for granted, and when it’s over we just move on with our day. After a run, I like to take a few minutes to be thankful for my health, beautiful surroundings, and the opportunity to inspire others through the gifts that have been given to me.

My Aunt made this! (Seriously!)

Only 146 days until I am a marathoner! Earlier this week, Country Music Marathon posted a picture of the medals and I am sosososo excited!!!

I finished my first full month of marathon training with 80.06 miles at an average 10:29 pace. That's the most miles I have ever run in a month! This is what my Thanksgiving week looked like:

Tuesday - 5.41 miles at a 10:06 pace

Thursday - 2.59 mile tempo run at a 9:31 pace

Friday - 1.12 mile run at a 10:11 pace

Saturday - 10.50 miles at a 10:12 pace

Sunday - 2.39 mile run at a 10:27 pace

Weekly total - 22.01 miles at an average 10:05 pace

I'm making a serious attempt at Runner's World run streak this year (running at least one mile a day from Thanksgiving day through New Years Day). Last year I did 8 days so my goal this year is to do better!

Week 4!!!

Monday - Spinning (10 miles in 40 minutes), 2.01 mile run at 11:23 pace

Wednesday - 3.02 miles of hills on the dreadmill at a 11:15 pace

Thursday - 4.46 mile run at a 10:38 pace

Saturday - 9.81 mile run at a 10:50 pace, PiYo core

Running Totals - 19.29 miles at an average 11:01 pace 

Monday, the weather was perfect to try out my new YakTrax (i.e. the weather was not perfect), so I went for a short run after spin class. It's been very cold, snowy, and windy, so I ended up on the treadmill Wednesday which was perfect because it was hill work day and there aren't many good hills around me. I felt slow this week! I'm happy we have some better weather coming in the next few days :)

Week Three :)

This week's exercise:

Monday - 4.05 miles at a 10:47 pace

Tuesday - 1.01 miles at a 10:45 pace

Thursday - 4.78 miles at a 10:23 pace

Saturday - 8.51 miles at a 10:32 pace

Sunday - PiYo core

Total distance: 18.35 miles at an average pace of 10:34.

I'm proud of myself for doing all of my runs outside last week! It was snowy and cold but I'm trying to avoid training exclusively on the treadmill like I did last winter. Tuesday night I took Charlie to the trails right after work but it was already too dark to run. I gave up mentally on my long run Saturday; I even stopped to walk for a few minutes, which I rarely do. The cold really got to me! I've been meaning to start adding PiYo into my weekly routine, so I'm glad I finally started getting back into that. I also did yoga three days. :)

Week 2!

I'm a whole 2 weeks into marathon training! I only ran three days last week since I raced last Sunday, and I was feeling kind of antsy on my rest days. I did manage to get my steps on Fitbit every day. I made up for my rest days by taking Charlie for long walks.

Charlie and I went to Antrim Park over the weekend!

Anyway, my runs for the week :)

Tuesday - 4.17 Miles at a 10:26 pace

Thursday - 2.08 Mile run with my friend Bri at a 9:54 pace

Saturday - 8.11 Miles at a 10:09 pace

Totals - 14.36 Miles at an average of 10:10 pace

Yay for being fast last week! I felt great on my long run and I'm ready to start adding more distance. I also did yoga I think 4 or 5 days last week.