Assault

While I should be sleeping I am finally blogging.  Tomorrow I am attacking the Assault on Black Rock.  3.5 miles up (approx 3000 ft elevation climb) then race back down.  While I mostly just want to finish I must admit the competitor in me wants to beat the 101 challenge.  Special prizes given to anyone who can complete the course in less than 101 minutes.  Thats over 14 minute miles....no girl did it last year and only 2 the year before.  What have I gotten myself into. I know strong runners who havent made it yet.  So 101 minutes or 5 hours, be cheering me on, and hoping for a safe race.

Winter Miles Bring Spring PRs

Winter Miles Bring Spring PRs.  It's a saying that I first heard in the Winter Miles Challenge on Run With Jess, and it certainly seems to be coming true.  I haven't run any races yet this year, so I don't have any official times or new PRs yet, but my training pace is more than 1 min/mile faster than I was training last summer for my first half marathon.  I ran that one in 2:50:08, and I am hopeful that I will significantly improve on that time when I run the Mini in May.  I haven't set a definite goal time yet, but I will soon.

I wrote last December about needing to sign up for events and commit to training so that I wouldn't end up taking the winter off as I had done in the past.  If I had known Indianapolis would have the 3rd snowiest (so far) winter on record and the extreme cold of the polar vortex, I might not have been so eager to keep at it.  But now, with Spring finally close, I am glad I did.  Besides the increase in speed, I feel stronger.  I actually did come to appreciate the beauty of winter, & took some nice pics along the way.  I didn't get cabin fever or the winter blues, nor did I gain any winter weight.  I have several races coming up, and I'm ready for them.  How did I do it?  Three main things that helped me are:

Birthday Miles Results & Winner!

Robin's fieldtrip walk

Thanks to everyone who participated!  Laura has been running the longest of the 3 of us, and she runs the most often and the farthest (marathon, anyone?) so we really wanted to show her how much she inspires us.  And the grand total we gave her was 62.1!  Wow!  We hope you all had fun.

Jessica's treadmill run

Lorri Dunwoody is the winner of the Jamberry Nail Wraps!  Congratulations Lorri!

Thanks again to Joyce Evans, Independent Jamberry Consultant, for donating the awesome prize.  Please check out her page at http://joyceevans.jamberrynails.net/ or on Facebook.

Birthday Miles for Laura - Our First Giveaway!

We will be celebrating Laura's birthday Thursday, March 6th!

The birthday girl, through the years

And we wanted to invite you all to celebrate with us so we are running our first giveaway!  

Let's see how many miles we can give Laura for her birthday.  You don't have to be a runner to play either.  Log your miles running, walking, biking, cartwheeling, prancersizing, or whatever; and come back here to report them.

We aren't saying how old Laura will be, but we'd like to give her at least 44 miles, so even if all you do is clip on a pedometer and track your steps through the day, your miles count!

The Giveaway will open on Laura's birthday, and stay open through Saturday.  If Thursday happens to be your rest day, log your Friday or Saturday miles instead.  After you've reported your miles, post a pic - scenery or a selfie - from your run/walk/ride to our Facebook Page if you'd like.  Or Tweet or post your pic to Instagram using the hashtag #bdaymiles.

One random entry will be selected to receive a free 1/2 sheet of Jamberry Nail Wraps from our friend Joyce Evans, Independent Jamberry Consultant.

Jamberry Nail Wraps will add a little pizzaz to your fingertips that, when properly applied, can last up to 2 weeks on your fingers and 4 weeks on your toes.  With over 300 different designs, there's something for everyone.  You can learn more about Jamberry by visiting Joyce's website at http://joyceevans.jamberrynails.net/ or by visiting her Facebook Page.

Joyce loves to send out free samples of Jamberry Nail Wraps, too.  All you have to do is Like her Facebook page and send her a message to get a sample.  If you don't have Facebook, you can email her at jevans81275@gmail.com

If you want us to count your miles but don't want to enter the Giveaway, just post a Comment to report your Birthday Miles for Laura.

Baby sis is finally blogging again! (Part 1)

What to blog, what to blog?  I know, it has seriously been a very long time, and I won't try to give you excuse, because there is none.  So should I write about finally running an entire 5K without walking on Thanksgiving?  Rate/review the 5K training program app that I used?  Discouragement after 5K?  Tour de Toys Bike Ride in December?  More info on the Yellowstone Half Marathon that I posted on January 1?  Starting a 5K-10K running program?  Second time I ran an entire 5K race in February?  How about a little bit of all?

Bad Example, Good Run

The Tardis covered in snow after work Friday

I was initially going to title this blog post Half Marathon Training in the White Room, although only Helix fans would get that reference.  We had another 6 inches of new snow last Friday evening, before our Saturday training run.  I'm beginning to think we will never get out of the White Room. 

But instead, when I thought about all the mistakes I have to confess to, I had to call it Bad Example.  Yet I still ended up with a Good Run, so hopefully this encourages you to get out & do your activity of choice anyway, even if you think you aren't doing it "right".

Treadmills: Maybe They're Not That Bad

Another snow day

When better than a snow day to blog about treadmills?  Lots of runners call them dreadmills, & I've probably said that once or twice myself.  But since I committed to start training for the Mini with Team Blue Mile, and we have had LOTS of snow days so far this year, I have been hitting the treadmill at the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center twice a week.

Treadmill selfie

At first I really struggled - running 30 minutes on the treadmill seemed a lot harder than running 30 minutes outside.  But I wasn't out of breath, my legs weren't tired, & I wasn't in any pain anywhere; so why was I struggling?  After really thinking about it, I realized it was because I was bored.

I switched from listening to music to an audio book, but even though it was a really good book it still didn't change anything.  Then I tried a funny podcast, and listening to something funny seems to work for me.  So there's my first suggestion: change up what you are listening to and see if that helps.  Here in no particular order are a few of my fave podcasts (links go to their websites, but all are also available on iTunes):

1. Brant Hansen from Air1
2. Nerdist
3. Nerd Lunch
4. Nurture and Support

   

   Workout summary

My second suggestion is to change up what you are doing.  I read an article which I can't find now to link to, but it said that you get a lot more out of a treadmill workout by varying the speed and/or incline every few minutes.  You can find plans online, use a preprogrammed workout on the treadmill, or do what I've been doing & just watch the timer & change the speed, incline, or both every 2 minutes.  It really does make the workout seem faster, definitely more interesting, and more challenging physically.

I still much prefer running outside, but I no longer hate the treadmill. Anyone else?