Winter Running In Wisconsin

Normally I wouldn't say I like running in winter! Last year at this time I would be solely using the dreadmill in my basement. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for my Nordic Track Treadmill. It's a nice one, let me tell you! Last year I would have said, "It's too cold!" "I don't have the right clothes." "What if I slip and fall?" Now I can't wait to run outside. Throughout this month I have acquired the appropriate clothing and foot attire to make running outside so completely enjoyable, that I don't understand why I didn't just make these purchases in the first place! I now have Yak Trax for my shoes, Mizuno winter running tights that heat up as you sweat, and a saucony face mask to protect my face. My hubs even bought me texting gloves for Christmas so I can use my Runkeeper app and not have to take off my gloves! Yeah Me!!!

My first race of December was the Santa Hustle 5K in Milwaukee. This is the second time I have run this race. Last year it was just the hubs and I that went up to Milwaukee the night before. This year we brought the kids. We did some Christmas shopping, explored the hotel, and ate junk in bed. It was so much fun! The kids really had a blast! Sadly my 5-year-old Maddie got sick in the middle of the night so the rest of the family stayed at the hotel while I ran. I guess I just can't help myself. The official charity sponsor for this race was Playworks which believes in the power of play to build a stronger community. Donations were also being collected for Toys for Tots. I feel pretty strongly about kids being active so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to run. I decided that I would run my heart out for my sicky girl!!

Lovely before race selfie!!

I love the Milwaukee skyline! It was just beginning to snow as we were running! Such a nice touch for a winter run!

Love this official race photo! I'm usually smiling while I run because I love it so, but I try to smile even more when I see a photographer!

I finished the race with a pretty awesome time of 28:57 which is one of my faster times for a 5K. Positive splits yet again (I'm really starting to see a horrible trend here with these times!!). L1: 8:47; L2: 9:17; L3: 9:22; and L4: 1:32. These are very nice mile times and I was definitely heaving at the end, but I really wanted to get back to the hotel to my sicky girl and get her home. Needless to say, Miss Maddie got the rest of the family sick after this. We all had the stomach virus during the following week including Nana and my parents eventually got in the following weeks.

Luckily, I was well enough to run in race #2 of December which was the Run Santa Run in Madison on December 14. For this race you had the option of running as Santa or an Elf. I chose to be an elf!

You can't really see my elf hat as it was cold and I needed to wear my hat and sweatshirt hood!

Love this picture of my kids and I before the race. I love how you can see our beautiful capital building in the background.

This was a fun run for Toys for Tots! I wore my Yak Trax for the first time which was good because some of the roads were covering in snow and ice. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love my Yak Trax! I do, I love them!! Best investment! Anyway, I finished with another respectable time of 29:07. I didn't catch the Grinch who was also running, but I thoroughly enjoyed running through parts of Madison that I had never seen before. Times were as follows: L1: 8:57; L2: 9:33; L3: 9:27 (negative split--Yeah!!); and L4: 1:10. I love these fun runs!! People really get into the spirit for these great charities!

This is one of my favorite finisher photos! I love the smile on my face!

Here's the pic my hubby took of me finishing! I always try to finish strong no matter how tired I might be!

We got our picture taken with the Grinch!! So cool!! The kids really thought it was awesome that the Grinch was running the same race as Mommy!! They had a great time playing in the snow while they were waiting for Mommy!

My 18th race of 2013 was a virtual adventure run through Scrambled Legs Running (check them out on Facebook--they are awesome!!) called the Scrambled Legs and Bacon Adventure Run where you could run whatever distance you wanted, where ever you wanted. I love these virtual races because I can do them in my own hometown and usually they have BLING!!! I love race BLING!!

I ran this one outside on December 21. This was right after we had a little bit of an ice storm here in Wisco. The temps were crazy up and down and the roads were almost solid ice for a few days. Luckily I had my Yak Trax to help me out. Part of my adventure was on sidewalks and part on the road. I took it easy and didn't try to speed my way through the run, partly because I had never run on ice before and because I knew I was going out for some serious miles. I managed to run 8 miles in 1:28:41. I'm slowly trying to build up my distance as one of my goals for 2014 is to run at least 2 half marathons (official ones, not virtual like my first one). My times were within my happy pace and I think I only walked a few times because I was tiptoeing over thick ice. L1: 11:08; L2: 10:59; L3: 11:22; L4: 11:06; L5: 10:42; L6: 10:42; L7: 11:02; and L8: 11:30. I love how I had some negative splits at miles 2, 4, and 5. I'm still working on this. I'll get it eventually!

It was definitely cold but worth it!