It’s been awhile since I’ve sat down to write. I’ve been non-stop busy with Christmas prep, family, and a busy work schedule. Therefore, blogging unfortunately has taken a back seat.
I am finally sitting down to write about my last 2 races and what I’m doing during the off-season.
After finishing the Madison Marathon in November, I took 5 days off afterwards to just walk. I didn’t do anything else. It was really nice and a nice break mentally and physically. I started running short distances after that. The farthest I’ve run since the marathon is 8 miles. That seems like such a low number after training for 26!
Anyway, I ran in my little town of Milton’s Turkey Trot for the first time this year. It’s only taken me living in Milton for 9 years to run this race. It’s an unofficial race and it’s free. You just have to bring in a non-perishable food item for the food pantry.
So I woke up early on Thanksgiving morning to run up to the park where it began. This was difficult carrying a bag of canned goods and I kept thinking to myself, anyone who is driving by must think I am nuts! I didn’t really mind it until my bag broke and my cans spilled all over. Luckily I was very close to the park so I made due until I got there. We waited around for a bit until the race directors thanked everyone and started us on our way. The course is really easy. It’s the one and only main loop around our tiny little city. And I run it all the time! It was just really nice to run it with other people for once. I am usually so concerned with getting my miles in that I never run with others. I need to find more enjoyment in my running and not worry about pace or speed or how fast everyone else is going. However, the one nice thing about running in a race-like atmosphere is that I tend to run faster! Imagine that! I am pushed to do better based on the other runners around me. It’s my competitive side that wants to beat everyone else or at least those right around me. What floors me every time is that I can actually run faster and maintain a faster pace for much longer than I think I can on my own. This is one of my goals during the off-season--to gain speed and to maintain that speed for longer durations.
I ended up not timing myself for the 5K since I ran up to the park and was planning to run back home. So I ended up with a distance of 6 miles for the day. It was a wonderful 6 miles and miles that were quicker than I had run in a while. One good thing about running this many miles was that I did not feel an ounce of guilt for what I ate for Thanksgiving dinner. Not that I was going to feel guilty anyway, but I had a little bit of everything and did not deprive myself. I didn’t feel overly full and I enjoyed spending the afternoon and evening with my family. I didn’t even feel the urge to snack during the Steeler game that night.
About a week later Maddie and I ran in our 2nd Santa Hustle 5K. This was all she talked about the week prior to the race! EJ couldn’t wait to spend the night in the hotel! We drove up to Milwaukee Friday night to pick up our packets and to check into the hotel. Mad was so excited to get her new Santa Hustle shirt! We got to the hotel and we always have to explore and get late night snacks. The kids always have a blast running around and jumping on the beds.
We woke up somewhat early and got ourselves ready for the race. The boys were not too happy to stand out in the cold but it wasn’t as bad as years past. Maddie and I met up with my friends Larisa and Lisa at the starting line. We took a bunch of pictures and then got ready to run. Maddie was a little worried about running with my friends. She was very worried that she wouldn’t be fast enough, but I assured her that she was the one setting the pace and we would follow her.
She did amazing! I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome she was. She ran non-stop for the first mile and a quarter. She really didn’t stop until the first water / cookie station. She was a trooper. She started to slow down after that but we didn’t mind. Larisa and I were chatting away, catching up on lots of things. We had a great time. There were several times that we were too busy chatting and Maddie went on ahead of us. She would have to turn around and ask us if we were coming or not. Totally cute.
We finished the race with a new PR for Maddie. Her time was 43:02, which is 4:10 faster than last year. She was a total rock star. My friend Lisa was ahead of us and she waited at the finish line to see Maddie’s finish. So sweet! We got lots of pictures at the end with everyone! My parents had driven up that morning to see us in the race as well. Everyone was cheering for Maddie and it was just so special!
Maddie and I can’t wait to run this race again next year.
As for the off-season, I’ve been bumping up my strength training and taking the time to enjoy my runs again. I’ve been using the treadmill more for some short speed runs and trying to get out as the weather allows. It’s been a struggle with the cold Wisconsin weather, but I am enjoying whatever time I am able to be outside.
Sorry this update took so long. I am going to work on writing more and being more descriptive in my writing. Working with 6th grade language arts kiddos this year has inspired me to work on my writing technique more. I’m excited to grow as a writer.
Until next time, RUN On, Write On, Be You!!
Laura
Comments
Post a Comment