My trainer has been wanting me to RUN a 5k without stopping to walk. This is the first step in the run-a-half-marathon-without-walking training plan.

So, while I was in Minnesota this weekend visiting my sister, I decided I would do a 5k. I didn’t know anyone there, which was weird. I always know at least someone at a race. Clearly, I wasn’t in Wisconsin anymore.

So about a week and a half ago, I registered for the Independence Races 5k in Minneapolis. The course was around Lake Harriet (and would have been beautiful if I was able to see the lake during the race… but more on this later).

This race was the epitome of how NOT to organize a race. Seriously. I was so angry I couldn’t even be happy about PRing by 3:15 or running this 5k without stopping to walk.

For example:

• The only waterstop was at 2.67mi. In July. In the humid heat of Minnesota. WTF.
• They ran out of water/gatorade at the finish line (and there were more than 100 10k-ers still on the course when I finished).
• There wasn’t any food at the finish line. Well except for those stupid Flavor-Ice thingys.
• I registered online last week. They specifically asked for sex-specific shirt size. I registered for a women’s XL. All they had were Men’s S. Clearly, this shirt isn’t going to fit me.
• There was chip timing, but my “official” time was the gun time, and not the chip time. What’s the point of having chips if you’re not going to use them.
• When you tell me I’m going to be running around a lake, I expect I will be able to see the lake during the run. This race was around the lake, but it was on the parkway around the lake – not the running trail around the lake. I saw short glimpses of the lake, but it was less than scenic. Hi trees. Hi houses. Hi cops keeping people from driving onto the parkway.

While I’m happy about PRing, I feel I could have done better, but the cards were just stacked against me Saturday. My calves were tight and this course was not as flat as I was told. And while I did run the whole race, there was about 20 sec where I think I might have walked up a steep hill. My lungs were on fire in the heat/humidity.

Splits: 15:14, 15:31, 14:40, 1:40 (12:08 pace for .14 mi)

Overall pace: 14:59
Distance: 3.15
Time: 47:05

Girls On the Run plus their buddies - Bay View team

What a beautiful, hot and muggy day. LOL. Today was the big 5k run for the GOTR kids.

Pre-race cheer!

Me and Juliana pre-race

They looked a bit nervous before the race but we took off running at the start. Then the heat REALLY hit us. Juliana (Tracey G.‘s daughter) was hilarious, per always.

“Are we almost done?”

“No, Juli, we’ve only gone half a mile.”

“Ughhhhh. This isn’t fair. It’s so hot. I wish it was pouring or there was a big gust of wind.”

We did a lot of run/walking (emphasis on the walking) because of the heat and the fact there was only one water stop on the course. In this heat, with that many youngins, geeze, one more stop would have been nice.

We kept leap-frogging with Angela and her buddy, Nadia.

Nadia, Juli and Angela, Mile 1

Nadia, Me and Juliana - Mile 1

I’d give Juli little goals, like, “When we get to that big tree, we’re gonna run til the turn…” Basically, fartleks, which is my favorite word, evar.

When she saw the water stop, Juli took off running. Like, we’re talking a 10:15 pace. Which is hilarious, because we had been going at anywhere from a 15-17 pace. I could barely catch up with her. She dumped a cup of water on her head and we kept on trucking. Saw her parents Tracey G.& Jason G. shortly after the water stop and kept on going.

Nadia and Juliana - Mile 2 "We're dying"

"Are we done?"

We made little goals and I started forcing her to run, reminding her that there was cake at the finish line (she’s a girl after my own heart).

By about mile 2 I realized my fingers had swelled up to the size of sausages. It was gross. I could hardly bend my fingers.

fat fingers

Mile 3!

As we walked during the last mile, I told Juli about a trick I like to use at races. When you see the finish line close, start running as fast as you can past everyone cheering, so they think you’ve been running that fast the whole time.

Sprinting to the finish!

We blasted through the last tenth of a mile at a 9:30 pace. Then Juliana got her medal (so cute!) and we found water, cake and fruit.

Yay! We did it!

GOTR is such a great program. Had a blast with Jane S. Chelsey F. Rochelle and all the girls.

3.1 miles in 52:08 – 16:55 pace

BTW, this time includes the water stop and stops to take photos at each mile marker. If we wouldn’t have done that, I think we could have shaved about 3 minutes off the time, giving us a 16 pace, which is exactly what we’ve been having at practices.

Today was my parents very first 5k! When I started running last year, I think part of the “getting active” bug wore off on them. This winter, they asked if we could do a 5k walk sometime this spring, and of course I jumped at the chance to do it!

Lining up before the race

I was their pacer and I could tell that the first mile I took a little too fast so I slowed it down a li’l for the last 2. I’m so proud of my parents! I hope they catch the bug and do more 5ks soon! I know it won’t be running, but I’m happy to get them out there!

After the 5k! We Did It!

This race will always hold a special place in my heart – last year, the very first race I did was the Brown Deer Run. Now it’s my parents’ first 5k as well. YAY!

Oh, and a bunch of my coworkers came out and did the race too. They all ran or ran/walked so I caught up with them after the race for bloody marys. Don’t judge.

The Real Milwaukee/FOX6/Sara's Friends Gang

As you may know, The Run into the New Year 5k was supposed to be “Amy’s triumphant return to running.” Earlier this week, I feared it would be “Amy’s not-so-triumphant return to running.” In the end, it became “Amy’s really effed up return to running.”

My wonderful sister Emily K. said she would run this 5k with me, even though I told her she was free to go at her own pace and just find me at the end. She said she wanted to do this with me and that it didn’t matter how long it took, she’d be there with me the whole time. Yeah, I know. *tear*

Em & Me, pre race

We started off near the back of the pack and, well, we stayed there (hello, slow running FTW). My goal was to do intervals, but listen to my foot and lungs to determine how those intervals would be. We ran the first quarter mile in less than 3 min, which was pretty fast for me, especially for the start of a race where I didn’t know how my body would handle it. We did some running, then some walking, then some running… passed the 1 mi marker at just over 14 min, which is a great time for me – normally my run/walk pace is in the 16-17 range. My lungs were burning, my foot was starting to act up but Em kept pushing me on and encouraging me along the way.

My sister, looking too beautiful to be running. WTF

We turned the corner after going around the race track and were headed down the hill toward the start/finish line… and got very confused. The race was a 10k and a 5k and they had the first loop of the course going past the start/finish point around mile 1.2. The fast 10k-ers were coming around at this point and all the course marshalls seemed more focused on directing them than helping us. We asked someone at the water table where we were supposed to go and they blew us off.

No, YOU look crazy when you run.

It sucked because the people who were only running were far enough ahead we couldn’t see them and the walkers were far enough behind we didn’t want to wait for them to find out where to go so we just continued on south just like we did at the start of the race. We started to get worried that we missed a turn or something and I looked over and saw runners about a block away. So we cut across the street to figure out where in the hell we were. Realized we were about a third of a mile from the finish so we looped back with some other runners. Knowing full well that if we finished with this crowd, our time would be a sub-30 (more like a sub-25), we did the same quarter mile loop three times, cutting across the group of runners like a couple of fools. We saw some friends pass us who gave us looks like “how in the HELL did you pass me”… we laughed and said we’d explain later, as we took another walking break.

We got so confused it was laughable. Eventually we started to goof off and take silly pictures. We knew we would be close to the 5k mark, depending on what the last leg of the race was so after the 3rd li’l loop we headed to the finish. As we rounded the corner for the final straightaway, we made sure we were running so everyone would think we had ran the whole time (duh, we’re so smart)… and came down to the finish with a flurry. I heard some friends cheer and I’m sure they couldn’t figure out how we finished in 40 min. After we got the timing chips off our feet my friend Rochelle came and hugged us and congratulated us on an awesome time. I couldn’t stop laughing and shoved my garmin in her face… I said, “look look at the distance!” “2.62 mi? what happened?” And so we had this fun story to share with everyone as we found them post race. It was a Make-your-own 5k… complete with a choose-your-adventure option.

yay! we did it!

Afterwards we had beer and caught up with some friends.

Then we headed over to Paulie’s on Greenfield with a few people for post-race libations… Em and I had the nachos and quesadillas… and a lot of beer.

Photo: Kay

Then, we went home and decided we had to fit in the rest of the 5k we missed earlier… so we ran on a full stomach of beer and nachos a quarter mile from home and back. We had to stop to walk so many times because we thought we were gonna puke… but we did it, even sprinting the last .1 like we were sprinting to the finish line. Then I really almost puked.

Good times, great people. Happy freaking new year.

Splits: 14:10, 16:47*, 14:49 (.62), 14:32 (.48)

*this is where all the race confusion was, as evidenced by the time

Oh and PS: This was a PR for me, even with the disaster of a race!

It started off like any other hot, muggy, late-night run. I walked a .25mi warmup (about 4-5min) and waited for my Garmin to beep at me that it was time to start running. it just wasn’t turning over.

You see, I had set up this great program for myself tonight – a bunch of intervals to work on speedwork on my favorite route from my house to downtown Milwaukee. I created the workout in my Garmin training center program and uploaded it to my Garmin. What I didn’t realize until, oh 15-20 min into the run was that my Garmin never connected to the satellites, so my plan to run a quarter mile, then walk for a min and so on was never going to happen.

Hence the title, the one where I accidentally run .85mi without stopping. You should also know I did this in 9 or 10 minutes. I don’t know what happened. I really don’t.

I started the running portion near Humboldt and Ogden… and it wasn’t until I was at Prospect and Wisconsin (and running out of air – literally) that I realized that the satellite thingamabob wasn’t working. There was nooooooo way I hadn’t gone less than a quarter mile. I’ve done this route before. I just got in the zone and bam. Perhaps it was the sheriff’s deputy who waved at me as I ran past Juneau Park. Perhaps it was the desire to get this run over with ASAP because it’s so freaking humid out. Perhaps it was none of the above. Perhaps, just perhaps, I’m awesome. Your guess is as good as mine.

Regardless, I ran my longest distance ever without stopping to catch my breath or to walk. A non-stop mile is not far away. Hell, running an entire 5k without stopping isn’t far away. Speaking of which, I have one in 2 weeks.

Now I’m off to shower and cuddle with this gal.

Yep. That’s me. I’m certifiably insane.

Take a look at my upcoming races in the sidebar to the left. Yeah. what do you see on my race schedule? Three. Half. Marathons.

Two of them will be with Team Challenge for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. What? Yeah. You read that right. Not only am I training for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon in July, I’ve also been asked to join Team Challenge as a mentor in the fall! The fall training season leads up to the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. Basically, just a few weeks after the Napa season ends, information meetings ramp up for the Vegas half. I’m really excited about the opportunity to train for another half, increase my pace and do more work to help find a cure for Crohn’s and Colitis! Not to mention, being able to mentor my teammates! EEEK!

I’ve known about the Vegas half for a week or two, but another one creeped onto my radar. I had promised my sister I would do a half with her in August or September and then I saw some friends on Facebook talking about doing the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon in August. I’ve met a few of these friends, the rest are former or current colleagues. We have either worked at sister FOX stations in the past, or currently work for sister TV stations right now. It’s going to be a MyFoxHalfMarathon! There’s Steve and his wife who live in Chicago, Patrick and his wife from DC (formerly from St. Louis), Meagan from KC, Chip from Cleveland (formerly Dallas) and then me from Milwaukee. If any other current/former MyFox folks want to join us, talk to Steve B.

So, yeah. If you would have told me 4 months ago that I was going to be signing up for like 6+ 5ks and 3 half-marathons this year, I would have slapped you silly and probably laughed so hard my drink came out my nose.

Is this really happening? In the words of David, “Is this real life?”

The answer: Yes, yes it is. And I friggin’ love it. My life is turning around in a good way. I am excited for the future. I am excited to live. I am excited to run.

Today I completed my very first 5k race! It was not without some hiccups along the way, but I feel such a sense of accomplishment! Here’s how it all went down.

Last night, I went to the Brewers game and tailgated heavily prior to the game. Got to bed super late, woke up with gutrot. Tried to eat some oatmeal but I was all sorts of nervous so it didn’t go over well. Got to the race in Brown Deer and received my race bib, timing chip and tshirt. Look!!! My first race bib!

I met up with some DailyMile and FitMilwaukee peeps before the race, but to be honest with you I don’t know what we talked about. I was so freaking nervous. My stomach was all over the place. I was praying I wouldn’t fall down, pass out or throw up. And you know what? I didn’t!

It’s time for another crazy fundraising idea from your favorite blogger… I’m selling fabulous t-shirts to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.

The shirt below (which will be blue with orange design), says, “A half marathon is just a 5k with a 10 mile warmup.” This design was inspired by some of our fabulous Team Challenge mentors, who sold shirts like this in years past. It’s also a fun saying in the running world. In case you were wondering, a half marathon is 13.1 miles. or, a 5k (3.1 miles) plus 10 miles. Please consider purchasing a shirt to benefit this AWESOME cause, and please wear them for your next 5k, workout session or just to support finding a cure for Crohn’s and Colitis!

PLEASE NOTE: You can pre-order til April 20 at 5 p.m. to save $1! (just place your order and I’ll issue a refund via Paypal). Shirts will be ready for pickup April 30. Any orders placed after April 20 will be the regular price of $15-18, depending on the size of the shirt.

Click here to place your order!