2015 Race for Roofs 5K = A New PR!

Springtime in Indiana

The 2015 Englewood Race for Roofs was another cold one, but at least the sun was out.  22 with a wind chill of 16 at 9am.  Might be time to think about moving this race back to June?  It didn't seem like there were as many people there as in the past, which is too bad because it really is a great local race.

You know you want one

Proceeds from the race go into a housing scholarship fund which benefits neighbors who need short term help with the cost of housing, so that's already awesome.  Then add in some great SWAG, including really yummy homemade granola bars, and a long-sleeved tech shirt.  If you are so jealous that you want a shirt now too, they did have some extras which they are selling for $15.  Send me an email if you want one (tphazel (at) anderson.edu) and I will get you in touch with the person handling those sales.

My 1st AG Win!

 My training plan for the Carmel Marathon had me running for 4 hours on Saturday, so I considered running the 5K easy and then going on with my long run.  I also considered running hard and doing my long run on Sunday.  But with rain in the Sunday forecast, I decided to fit it all in Sunday.  I felt really good so I ended up running the race pretty fast for me.  I would never go out that fast for the first 3 miles of a long race, so I hope I didn't mess up my training.  But it paid off, as I ended up with a new 5K PR!  My previous PR was 34:04.  I beat that by 17 seconds, finishing in 33:47 AND winning my age group!  First Place Female 40-54.  I know I said in my blog post last week that I was going for the AG win, but I was actually kidding.  I didn't really expect to win.  Maybe the cold worked in my favor & kept the faster old ladies at home.  

5Ks to Run With Us

There are two races coming up that we hope to see you at.  One's in Indy, and one's in WNC, so we've got you covered in either state.

Englewood Race for Roofs 5K, March 28 in Indianapolis

This is one of my favorite races for several reasons: 

1. Proceeds go to a rental scholarship fund for people working toward more healthy and permanent housing. All people deserve a safe, affordable place to call home, so this is a cause well worth my support, and yours too I hope.
2. This was the first race that I ran/walked in 2012.  Who could've guessed then that I would get hooked on running?
3. Homemade cookies in the SWAG bags!  Seriously, local races are the best.  You don't have to drive far, your funds stay right in your city helping out your neighbors, and you get to appreciate streets and neighborhoods in a new way after you run through them.
4. Bonus: I just found out this year's shirts are long-sleeved!

You can register for only $25 HERE.  You can also use that link to make a donation, if you can't make it to the race.  You can read my recap of previous years' races HERE.

Friends of the Lake 5K, April 4 in Lake Junaluska, NC

This race is very special to Laura.  She runs here often, and it's where she first ran with Mark.  All proceeds from this event go towards the annual maintenance and improvement of the recreation areas at Lake Junaluska.   You can register for only $25  HERE. 

2014 Friends of the Lake 5K photos taken by Kendra Taylor, Justina Goodman, and Urban Athletic Training Center

A Tale of Two Races

Last Saturday I had two St. Patrick's Day race events: running the Lucky Clover 4 Miler in the morning, and volunteering at the Shamrock 5K Beer Run/Walk in the afternoon.  Weather was perfect with temps in the 50's.   There had been rain earlier, but it stopped around 8:30 that morning.  There was still a cloud cover and a slight breeze as well.  Perfect running conditions.

Training Tuesdays: Run Injury Free

Welcome to another installment of Training Tuesdays with Tips from Jeff Galloway.  If you are interested in learning more, visit his website at www.runinjuryfree.com. 

Check out his tips below in blue, and as always please let us know what you think.

Most injuries experienced by my runners are due to 1) pacing long runs too fast, 2) increasing the weekly mileage too quickly, 3)lengthening stride and 4) stretching.

The principle in staying injury free is to balance gentle stress with the right recovery periods-allowing for rebuilding. (for more information, see my book RUNNING INJURIES)

Finding the right Run Walk Run strategy from the beginning of a run has been the best way I've found to stay injury free, come back from an injury and in some cases, continue to run while the injury heals. (See my book RUN WALK RUN)

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• Are you concerned that running will damage joints, and other body parts ? I was told this regularly, from my first week of running over 50 years ago but the research shows the opposite result: Runners have healthier joints, etc. than non runners as the decades go by.
• While researching for my book RUNNING UNTIL YOU'RE 100, I reviewed dozens of studies and could not find one showing that running harms legs, feet, joints, etc.
• It may surprise you to know that many studies show that runners have fewer orthopedic issues compared with non-runners as the years go by.
• A respected and large population study out of Stanford following thousands of runners over 50 who had run for more than 20 years concluded that runners had less than 25% of orthopedic issues compared with non runners of the same age.

 

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As long as you stay below the threshold of irritation you can often continue to run while the injury heals.

Runners from Austin, Duluth, Denver, Metro Dc, NW Indiana, and Montgomery County, MD - We are coming to you! There is a Galloway Training Program starting near you in the month of March! Check the calendar for more information.

March Galloway Program Kick-offs

 

Yeti or Not? NOT!

Just a quick update on how my training is going, plus reminders on a couple of fun races I hope to see ALL my Indy friends at.

The Carmel Marathon is 46 days away, and I'm starting to question both my sanity and my preparedness.  Oddly enough, though, most of these questions come when I'm doing something else and the thoughts just pop in my head.  When I'm actually out running, I feel just fine.  I haven't been running as much as I had planned to by this point, but I'm still doing a lot of strength training and hitting the elliptical when I can't get out and run.  And every time I do run, I feel pretty great.

Foot Rx Yeti or Not

And speaking of running, I went to WNC this weekend for an early birthday celebration for Laura.  We were hoping to run the Yeti or Not? 25K trail race together, but sadly the race had to be postponed due to the weather.  I understand why they postponed it, but I'm still disappointed.  It is ironic, though, that a race named for the Abominable Snowman was snowed out.  I was looking forward to seeing how I could do on the mountain trails, and I was really looking forward to doing a fun race with Laura, Mark, and Alice.  Plus the logo is super-cute, so I wanted that shirt and socks.

Since the race was not happening, I just went for a run from our parents' house into town, running all around town looping over several different routes so I wouldn't get bored.  Once I'd been running for 90 minutes, I turned around and retraced my route backwards.  I ended up doing 14.8 miles, with the return trip taking just a little longer since I had to run back UP Smathers Hill to get back to their house.  My legs were still really sore from taking Kendra's Group Active class at Urban Athletic the day before, so I feel good about being able to run that long and tackle a few hills on tired legs. 

Funfetti Cake Batter Dip

Laura wanted a stir-fry for her birthday dinner, so Momma and Daddy cooked that up deliciously.  In lieu of a birthday cake, we had Funfetti Cake Batter Dip with various cookies (and by the spoonful).  So easy to make, and so delicious!  The picture does not do it justice.  We were disappointed Cindy didn't make it for the celebration, but we definitely had no problem eating her share of dip.

Coming up for Indy-area runners:

• Shamrock 5K Beer Run: a fun 5K with a local brewery beer sample every km, a full pint at the end, plus shirt, medal, and pint glass.  You can get all this SWAG for HALF PRICE if you register using discount code SUPPORTBONER.  And since the John H. Boner Community Center will receive $5 for every use of the code, please spread the word?  Online registration ends March 7, so you still have a few days to get in on the fun.
• Englewood's Race for Roofs 5K: one of my favorite races every year.  Proceeds go to provide rental scholarships to residents of the Near Eastside of Indianapolis.  Plus I have it on good authority there will either be homemade cookies or homemade granola bars in the SWAG bags!

Disclaimer: I am receiving a free entry to the Race for Roofs in exchange for promoting it.  All opinions, however, are totally mine.  I really do love this race!