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The one where I accidentally run .85 mi without stopping

June 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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.

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Certifiable

April 25, 2010 By 3 Comments

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.

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My first 5k!

April 24, 2010 By 4 Comments

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!

My goal was to finish in less than 55 min, with the super goal being to do it in 50 minutes or less (based on my current pace). And I DID IT!!! Of course, my knees hate me and my lungs were burning by the end, but I’m so happy with how this turned out. I was lucky enough to have the help of Rachel M as my “running” buddy. We’re both in a similar place weight and fitness-wise so we hoped our paces would mesh, which they did. It was nice to have the extra push. We ran the first 4 or 5 blocks then walked, ran a bit in the middle, and the ran the last 3 blocks or so. If you were only at the start/finish line, you would have thought we ran the whole thing, which was part of my secret plan. ;) I was also happy to see more people behind us (even if they were doing the 10k)… because being the last person to finish would have been a bit difficult for me.

As it were, I was the second-to-last woman to finish the race. And you know what? I don’t care. I finished. I didn’t give up when it was tough. I didn’t say “oh this is too tough, I’m gonna sneak into this person’s house and hide til the race is over.” I finished with a consistent pace and couldn’t be more proud.

Here’s my official stats from the race results site:

I am so blessed to have you twitter/dailymile/facebook peeps. Anne and Rochelle came out along with Mike (who I just met today) to cheer us on. I held back tears as I was hitting the finish line because there were people CHEERING for ME! It’s so amazing to experience that. Thank you guys. Seriously, that meant the WORLD to me. #lovefest The only thing missing was my family and I know they’ll be there to cheer me on at many races to come. And, well, I may or may not have forgotten to ask them to come. LOL.

Stats according to my Garmin: 15:40, 16:54, 15:46 and the last .14 miles – 14:11.

Here are a few photos, courtesy Michael, Anne and Meghan:

PS – if you have a chance, congratulate my friend Tracey. She finished 2nd female overall and won her age bracket with a time of 22:52 finish. That means Tracey did the 5k in 27:08 minutes faster than me! Of course, to be fair, she’s been running for awhile and she’s the cutest li’l thing.

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Half Marathon is just a 5k with a 10 mile warm up T-shirts for sale

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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!
Filed Under: Team Challenge WI Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Race Report: Blarney 5k Run/Walk, a PR

March 14, 2010 By 3 Comments

(The FitMilwaukee gang-notice the beers we’re not-so-slyly hiding. Photo by Anne Munkwitz)

Saturday was my first official “race” – the 19th Annual Blarney 5k run/walk in Wauwatosa. I was a little disappointed that the walkers didn’t get race bibs. I was really looking forward to getting my first race number! Oh well, next time I hope!

The walk portion of this race was 2 miles… but I logged a total of 4.5 miles yesterday because of how far I parked from the start/finish line. I mapped it out and it was about .6 mi away. I had the pleasure of walking that route twice (once to take my race packet/shirt back to the car).

While most of the FitMilwaukee.com people were running this one, Kay and Anne joined me for the walk portion. Anne, Kay and I kept a pretty good pace (I’m guessing approx. 16-16:30 min miles) but “officially” my race time was close to 55 minutes. Why? Well we kept stopping to take pictures of our running friends, we stopped to talk with Mike and Marty who just ran about 18 miles each, and then when we neared the finish line, Kay grabbed a twelve-pack of beer from the car.

We met up with the other FitMilwaukee peeps and stood around drinking beer, taking pictures, etc. As we were walking back to the clubhouse someone said, “Hey, did you guys ever cross the finish line officially?” We hadn’t. So my official time today was 2 miles in 55 min, including lots of stops, photos and a can of beer. There’s nothing quite like crossing the finish line with a beer in hand. :)

I rock.

I know you’re all jealous of my PR.

This, my friends is how you race:

(Me, Lindsey, Sarah, Cheryl & Kay. Photo by Anne Munkwitz)

Someday, I’m gonna be hot enough to wear running tights like Sarah.

Action shot. We’re taking this seriously, can you tell? Photo by Anne Munkwitz

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