Running Update

I guess it’s been awhile since I last posted a blog, since my last one was about my 4th of July 5K. Anyhow, I’d like to provide an update on my running activities…

Disneyland 5K

To recap, I began running in September of 2009 with a goal of running my first 5K in March of 2010, which I did… at the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend at Disney World’s Epcot Center on March 6th. My goal was to do a running event approximately monthly, so I did the Ringing in Spring 5K in nearby Valparaiso, Indiana on April 3rd, then on May 29th I ran in Kent’s Run 5K down in Boone Grove, I was pretty busy during the month of June, that brings us to the aforementioned Run for Riley 5K on the 4th of July, and then a busy August, which brings us to September...

Since then I ran the 5K at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend in September, a Trick-or-Treat Trot 5K in Chicago on Halloween, Turkey Trot 5K in Valparaiso on Thanksgiving morning, and the Rudolph Ramble in Chicago just the other day. Following are a few thoughts on those past few events.

Disneyland 5K

The Disneyland 5K on September 4th during the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend was AWESOME! The course was simply magical; it took us through Disneyland Park and through Disney’s California Adventure. In my inaugural running event at Disney World back in March, I was too serious about running to stop for pictures with characters. I didn’t make that mistake this time. I stopped every chance I got! I stopped my watch whenever I stopped for pictures, which some may say is cheating, but without counting those stops, my time was 29:20! Pretty darned good. Probably couldn’t have achieved that time without the quick photo breaks though!

Disneyland 5K

You may be wondering why I went to Disney World and Disneyland all in one year. Well, my sister and bro-in-law were in the process of achieving the “Coast to Coast Challenge”. If you run a half or full marathon at Disney World and the Disneyland Half Marathon all in one calendar year, you earn a Coast to Coast medal too. I tagged along for the 5Ks, and then bought a Disney pin lanyard and called it my Coast to Coast medal!

Disneyland Half Marathon

That brings us to October and the Trick-or-Treat Trot on Halloween morning in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. I spent plenty of time prior to the event working out as well as crafting to produce my amazing “from scratch” Wonder Woman costume! My sister adopted the superhero theme and put together a Bat Girl costume for herself, and she made my bro-in-law a Cap’n Crunch costume (‘cause the Cap’n is every chubby kid’s superhero!). Cap’n Crunch went on to win a $25 Fleet Feet gift certificate in the costume contest!

Trick-or-Treat Trot 5K

It was a very cool morning along the Lake Michigan shoreline on Halloween. It was probably in the low 40s. For future reference, if you’re going to run a 5K in a costume, you may want to consider something with more coverage than Wonder Woman’s outfit provides. I was fine while running, but the standing around before and after the race were pretty chilly!! It was a great event and we had a lot of fun, so we decided to sign up for the Rudolph Ramble 8K that is organized by the same groups! My official finish time for the Trick-or-Treat Trot was 30:16.0…one of my bests!

Trick-or-Treat Trot 5K

November 25th was a big day for two of my amazing friends, Lori and Kristen.  After much training, they were participating in their first-ever 5K, the Turkey Trot in Valparaiso, Indiana! I’m very proud of my trainees, as they both set records that day with personal bests… their best event times ever! :) Kristen ran with me throughout the whole course until I ditched her toward the end… I told her “I got you this far”, and then I took off. Her legs are significantly longer and I knew from running with her in training that if we got to the point where we liked to sprint into the finish, her long legs would beat my short legs, so I ditched her. It’s a good thing I did too, because she managed to catch up on her sprint to the finish and end up just a few seconds behind me!! My official time for that one was 30:10.9, that’s about as good as I can do!

Turkey Trot 5K

Just the other day, on December 12th, my sister and I ran in the Rudolph Ramble 8K in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. I thought I was cold in the lakefront park on Halloween, but I learned that was a beautiful day compared to what we experienced for the Rudolph Ramble! The northern wind gusts were strong and were plastering the snow into my face as we set out northward on the out and back route! The return leg of the run was more pleasant, with the wind at my back. The hosts did a great job of clearing and salting the path, but it was snowing so much that by the time I was closing in on the finish, the outbound side of the trail was already re-covered with snow! Following the run I decided that my sis and I were either crazy or totally badass for having participated! My time was 55:36.5, which was just a bit over my goal of 55:00, but considering that I usually don’t run that distance and the weather was insane, I’d say I did pretty well!

Rudolph Ramble 5K

My next 5K will be at the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas in February when I join my sister the doc for a Vegas vacation. Until closer to then, I’m taking an off-season… I’ll still hit the gym nearly every day for workouts, but will limit my running to once per week rather than three times. My legs need a change of pace!