Gravity

Running and I have gravity, because I keep coming back to it even when I’ve been gone for what feels like forever. I guess me and this blog have gravity, too.

Here I am, realizing just now that I never even posted about the two races I did in 2022. They weren’t PRs or monumental occasions, so there was no real urgency to document them, I guess.

When I first started running, and for the first several years, I kept all my bibs in a binder and labeled them with the time I ran and the date of the race. I haven’t done that in so long. I guess 13 years after I started running, the novelty of races wore off. Especially as I have grown older and had a baby and life has gotten in the way.

But, here I am again, wanting to come back. We are in the midst of months of excessive heat every single day, and the opportunities to walk, much less run, seem so few. I could finish a 5K right now but it would involve a lot of walking and likely be my worst time by far. Even so, I find myself itching to try, to embrace the fall season coming up that I love for so many reasons.

First, I want to go back and just have a link on here noting the races I did last spring. I was really motivated for a time trying to get back into running and these races were part of my goal. I didn’t particularly enjoy either race, sadly, because I still wasn’t really trained for them. They felt harder than I remembered running being, and I was embarrassed of my need to walk during the 5-miler. Alas, doing them and finishing them, even slowly, is better than not trying at all.

First, in April 2022, I did the Great Gator 5K.

This was about five minutes from my house, so it was super easy to get there on that Saturday morning, do the 5K, then go home. No fanfare, nothing special. Despite it still being April it was really chilly, which is why I wore long sleeves and pants. I was surprised they used the old school resuable chips that you have to zip tie to your shoes – I always struggle with those!

I’m surprised to look back in my emails and see that my time was 29:51. That’s not bad! Breaking 30 minutes is not something I’ve always been able to do for 5Ks. That was nothing to be upset about.

Then in early May 2022, I did the Uptown 5-Miler. I chose to do the 5-mile rather than the 5K because I wanted to challenge myself to go a little further in a race, and it did turn out to be a challenge.

I remember having to walk in the last mile, and the guy who had WON the race was walking in the opposite direction as me, already going home. He gave me some verbal encouragement, which was nice, but it made me feel embarrassed. I have run 5 miles speedily and with no struggle so many times, and for a RACE I couldn’t even just not walk.

But again, I know that I shouldn’t have been ashamed. I was trying to get back into running after pregnancy and a long first year of motherhood, and that in and of itself was worth celebrating.

My final time was 51:24. Again, nothing to be mad about.

I haven’t done any races since these, but I think I really want and need to try and embrace this time of year coming up and get back into it.

And even if I have to walk during, even though my times aren’t going to be what I’ve managed in the past, just the fact that I am doing it at all needs to be enough for me. Better than letting another year pass me by of not running when I am physically capable and healthy enough to do it.

I never have wanted to take that for granted, but all too often I have.

Race wish list

Planning to participate in races has long been a motivator to help me stick to a training plan and run consistently. I have not run a bonafide race since 2019 – the virtual races I did in 2020 during the pandemic don’t really count…

So I am excited to be eyeing some local races throughout 2022. They increase in distance as time goes along, so hopefully my training will increase in distance as well.

April 9 – Great Gator 5K

May 7 – Uptown 5 Miler

July 4 – Firecracker 5K

October 1 – Revel Run 15K

October 15 – Heroes Run Half Marathon

October 22 – Autumn Breeze 10K

December 10 – Log Jammer Half Marathon

Mother runner

The last time I posted here was approximately two weeks before I found out I was pregnant! It’s been a life-changing 18 months since then, and running definitely took a backseat… (running might have even been in the trunk). 

After having a baby in May, I slowly started trying to get back into running in July/August. This of course is the worst possible time to start running, as it is the hottest and most humid time of the year. I gave up somewhere around Labor Day, and am just now getting back to some semblance of consistency in the last month.

I have gone running/walking every weekend for the last five weekends. It’s harder during the week because I have to get the baby right after work, but on days when the weather is suitable for him, I take him on walks around the neighborhood in the stroller. I would like to eventually get a jogging stroller, and once it warms up and after daylight saving time, maybe we can go running on the river path after I pick him up! 

Right now I am keeping my expectations and aspirations mild, but I am looking at a 5K in April and 5-mile race in May as goals for my current “training.” Really right now I just want to get back to a life where I run regularly, even if it doesn’t have any notable “accomplishment” attached to it. 

The one thing I have let myself do since I’ve proven for a month that I’m recommitted to running is buy a new pair of shoes. My last new pair was purchased in the fall of 2019! This is how I discovered that the Brooks Ravenna has been “rebranded” to the Brooks Launch GTS. I know it’s just a name, but this was kind of a sad discovery for me! The Ravenna 2 was the pair I purchased to train for my first marathon in 2011. I have gotten countless pairs since then, including the last pair (Ravenna 10s). I even wrote a post about it once! 

As long as I am capable, running will always be a part of my life. I am excited to explore what I can do in this new stage of my life.

Summer progress

I took the first half of this year off from regularly running, so starting back up at the beginning of June was almost like starting from scratch. At least physically – mentally I know everything I need to do, but my lungs and legs have needed time to catch up.

So for many weeks now, I’ve been mostly walking/running, with pretty abysmal final paces. This was okay with me for awhile anyway, especially considering how hot it has been. I wasn’t capable of running long or fast, and I didn’t really want to either.

This is slowly starting to change, and the handful of virtual races I have signed up for have really helped me to commit to goals to get better at running more and longer.
For the first time all summer, I really felt like I was finally seeing progress last week! It’s not much, but compared to how I was doing in June, and especially compared to what I was doing January-May – nothing – it’s a lot!

So last week I ran 3 miles under a 10-minute pace, then ran 2 miles at a 9:36 pace. And on Sunday, I ran 5 miles for my virtual race 8K (including a few walk breaks) under an 11-minute pace!

This is serious progress from where I started, and it makes me excited to keep getting faster and go longer once the Hades-level heat in Louisiana gets better (it was a heat index of 104 when I finished the 5-miler).

This week I didn’t get out to run yet until Wednesday, but I ran 4 miles at a 10:10 pace with just one short walking break.

I have done this so many times now over the last 10 years – I build up my conditioning and endurance, run regularly for a consistent amount of time, meet goals and feel accomplished… and then inevitably get in a slump where I don’t run much or at all. Then, when I finally get motivated to start running again, it’s like having to start all over. How many times will I do this?

I guess I should focus on the fact that I always come back to running and always start to see results again once I maintain some semblance of commitment and discipline, rather than feel disappointed in myself that I keep going through these slumps at all.

I suppose the most important thing is that 10 years later, I’m still doing this running thing, whatever it looks like in the moment, and I haven’t given it up for good. That is what counts.

Friday Faves

Random things I’ve been loving lately…

1) Virgin River on Netflix — This series on Netflix is based on books by Robyn Carr, and it’s like Hart of Dixie with a way less annoying protagonist (Sorry to Rachel Bilson). It’s just 10 episodes, but season 2 was picked up by Netflix, and I think they filmed it pre-Covid so hopefully that will pop up soon. This series feels like a comforting blanket.

2) Salmon Teryiaki Bowls — I saw someone’s picture of their salmon teriyaki bowl a couple weeks ago on Instagram and it looked so good, I found a recipe and made one myself. Since then I’ve done it two more times because it is so tasty! Hunter said it’s like eating an unwrapped sushi roll. There are plenty of different recipes but I used this one.

3) Skinny Taste Bagels — Another recipe I had to try out, my first batch of these were a little flat, lumpy, and salty (so I didn’t take any pictures of them), but still good and I ate them all over the next few days! I need to give it another try and attempt to make them more visually appealing, plus use less salt. They are only about 152 calories each. Here is the recipe.

4) Reading books on my Kindle — I got really used to reading ebooks on my iPhone Kindle app, but I must admit that when I do that I am way more tempted to get distracted and interrupt my reading to check out other stuff on my phone like Instagram, Twitter, etc. So I found my charger for my Kindle paperwhite that I’ve had about 6 years, and I have been trying to read more on that instead, keeping my phone out of reach for less distractions. I read three books last week, and am now reading the “Finding Freedom” book that came out this week about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

5) Buying clothes on Amazon — I have been able to find some really affordable, cute clothes to wear to work on Amazon over the past year! My favorites, which I have ordered in many different colors, are these patterned skirts; this top with the frilly collar and shoulders; and this peplum top.

My latest purchases are these simple tops that will go with various colored skirts for work, and this faux leather jacket that I hope will be cute to wear this fall when it finally gets cool enough.

Five months to go

Five months left of 2020, the weirdest year. March and April seemed to last forever, but the summer has gone by quickly for me.

Because the future is so uncertain and it’s hard to plan anything out very far, I’m trying to live in the moment and focus on what I can do today, this week. Not worry about what things will look like a few months from now.

Virtual race, part 2

I signed up for another virtual race, this one an 8K (or 5 miler) to encourage myself to continue trying to run longer without walk breaks. We had a stint in July where every single day was a heat index of over 100 degrees, and that made this goal very difficult. I’m not sure that we are completely past those temperatures for the year, but it’s been significantly cooler lately and I can almost smell the pumpkin spice around the corner. Well, maybe not quite. But Labor Day will be here before we know it.

Vacation, all I ever wanted

It had been seven months since I left the Shreveport area at all – a pre-Christmas trip down to Luling in late December. I just didn’t happen to go anywhere the first few months of the year, and then Coronavirus hit and we didn’t have anywhere to go. When things started opening up a bit, we planned a trip in driving distance to Oklahoma – a vacation cabin in the woods, where we could stay and be away from people as much as we wanted. The local attractions include Beavers Bend State Park with hiking and other socially-distanced activities available.

Another plus was that we could pay a deposit to bring our cat, who is diabetic and needs shots twice a day. I didn’t want to have to try and board him or ask someone to give him shots for us, so being able to bring him was such a nice perk for my peace of mind.

We went July 24-26 and just enjoyed some time away in nature. The weekend went by quickly and we mostly just hung out in our cabin, sitting out on the back deck, and using the hot tub. We did go to the park on Saturday for most of the day, driving around looking at the scenery and hiking. I’d love to go back in a couple of months when it’s cooler, too.

DietBet

I first tried DietBet back in 2013 and was able to lose 6 pounds, meeting my goal. Then in 2016 I needed a jump start again after gaining weight, so I ended up doing DietBet three times over a five-month period, losing weight and meeting my goal each time. Fast forward to 2020 and pandemic/quarantine weight gain hit me like it did a lot of people. I did a DietBet last month and once again met my goal – I’m undefeated! I signed up for yet another one this month.

The thing about DietBet for me is it’s not a fad diet or some trick that isn’t lasting… I know how to stay in shape and lose weight, it’s just a matter of motivation for me. Knowing that I’ve put money into this and that if I meet my goal I’ll get my money back plus a little more is very big motivation for me to eat healthy and exercise regularly. It’s why I’ve won every single time. (Hope I’m not jinxing myself for this current game!)

DIY

One benefit of not being able to do very much besides go to the work and the store is that I have gotten some projects done around the house – mostly just organizing my closet, pantry, cabinets, cleaning, etc. I’ve sorted out so many clothes, shoes, books, DVDs, random stuff we don’t need that I can toss or donate.

Picnic table – Before

I also decided this weekend to paint our picnic table that has gotten pretty weathered and ugly. I bought wood stain and white paint, as well as a weather-resistant protective sealant from Lowe’s this weekend. Then I spent Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours sanding, priming, painting, sealing.

Picnic table – After

I like the new look! I also want to get a canopy or umbrella of some kind so we might actually want to sit out at the table without the sun beating down on us.

10 years of running gear

I totally missed my 10-year anniversary from when I began running — this was such a crazy spring that it just didn’t even register in my mind that I started running that long ago! It seems like just yesterday I was posting about the 5-year anniversary.

The date was May 3, 2010, and I count that as the beginning because that was the day that got me started on a running journey, even if I didn’t know it yet. May 3 was a Monday, which is the typical day to start a diet, right? I had committed in my mind that I was going to start eating healthy and walking that day, keeping track of my food intake and exercise. I wanted my husband to go walking with me, but he was not satisfied with just walking and insisted we at least run a little bit of the time. I wasn’t crazy about this idea, but agreed anyway.

What that started was a very hot and humid summer of us slowly increasing the distance we ran versus the distance we walked each day. We’d go around a 1.3-mile walking path a few times, running about a quarter-mile each lap.

It went up from there, and by the end of the summer I was running 3 miles nonstop. I did my first 5K that fall, and the rest is history — including one 50K, 11 marathons, 18 half marathons and countless 10Ks, 5Ks, and random distance races.

I have never, ever been a super fast or competitive runner — I’ve won or placed in my age group in a few smaller races, but that’s about it. My competition is always with myself. Sometimes I have a time to beat, sometimes I just want to finish.

But in 10 years of running you’re inevitably going to try a lot of different products that make the task better or easier, so I’ve definitely pinpointed some of my favorites over the years. Here are some of my must-have running accessories of all time:

Size of new Nathan water bottle vs. size of old one.

1) Nathan handheld water bottles

For the first few years I rebelled against carrying a water bottle with me when I ran. I was afraid it would be too awkward or mess up my running posture holding one thing in one hand, and so I tried one of those waistband water bottle holders and a CamelBak before just working out a system where I could either loop back to my car for water breaks or hit up a water fountain in the middle of a run. This worked out when we lived in Baton Rouge because the main lakes where I ran had water fountains in convenient locations, and I also parked right in the middle so I could go back to my car frequently for water or Gatorade breaks.

Then we moved to DeRidder and I no longer had this option. I had to get creative with my running routes, and because it gets so hot, I ended up deciding to try out the small Nathan QuickShot handheld in 2014. To my surprise, it was so easy to carry, with the strap fitting snugly over the hand and staying in place. It didn’t even feel like I was carrying anything. It didn’t affect my running posture or the way I held my arm at all, and when I upgraded to an even bigger version of the bottle for longer training runs, the result was the same. I recently recommended this bottle to a first-time marathon trainer this past fall, and he loved it. I have not been without mine this summer as 2+ miles between water breaks just isn’t going to work.

2) Garmin Forerunner

When I first started running, I didn’t care about pace at all and barely cared about distance. After runs I would use Gmap Pedometer to try and figure out how many miles I had actually covered. Then I got a BlackBerry at Christmas 2010, my first ever smart phone, and started using a GPS app on that to track my running. Finally, right before I ran my first half marathon in the early spring of 2011, I got my first Garmin Forerunner. I have not looked back since. I’ve gone through a few different models, but I’ve never had any desire to try another running watch. The battery on my first Forerunner only lasted about a year and a half before it died, so that was not optimal, but I have had the 230 now for almost 3 years and it’s still working great (knock on wood). I sync my activities from the Forerunner to the Garmin Connect app on my phone, and that syncs everything to my Strava. I love being able to look back at my individual lap paces, the map of what I ran, etc. Simply put, it’s always a great investment if you want to keep track of your runs, paces, and progress.

3) Brooks Ravenna shoes

I have had so many pairs of Brooks Ravennas, I’ve lost track (the picture above is from 5 years ago). I have veered away to other shoes here and there, either because of discounts, getting them for free from somewhere, etc., but I always come back to these shoes. They are what an overpronator like me needs for extra support, they are light and comfortable, they are never ugly, and they usually have some fun colors to choose from. The type of running shoe best for each person definitely varies, but these have been a staple of my running life since I first got fitted at a running store in the summer of 2011.

 

Picture of the Koala Clip from their website

4) Koala Clip

This is my newest find, thanks to reading about them in Runner’s World in the fall of 2019. I have tried a few different ways of carrying my phone and/or iPod during a run. Arm bands are uncomfortable and sometimes slide down my arm. Running belts are good for gels and little things needed like ginger chews or medicine, but my iPhone XR in a belt is usually just a bouncing disaster. With the Koala Clip, I put my phone in the pouch, then clip it inside the back of my sports bra. The pouch does get sweaty on the outside, but it doesn’t soak through the fabric to my phone. It doesn’t irritate or chafe my skin whatsoever, and it doesn’t bounce. It’s also pretty easy to get out and put back in, in the event I need to get my phone out during the run. I ended up getting two this past fall and I just ordered a third one. They are great!

There are so many other items I have purchased, used, hated, loved, through my running journey, but these are some of the accessories that have stood the test of time and/or have made running so much easier!

Running Brings Us Together 5K

I got my virtual race packet in the mail Friday, so I set out to do my own personal 5K – officially called the Running Brings Us Together 5K (benefitting Girls on the Run) at 8 a.m. Sunday.

It has been brutally, terribly hot this two weeks. I have gone out to run usually in the late afternoons after work, and the heat index is usually above 100 degrees. It’s unfortunate that I’ve lost all conditioning and am now trying to regain it by run/walking in what feels like the bowels of hell.

But on Sunday morning it was about 78 degrees, with a heat index of just a little over 80, so it was much more manageable. It was still super humid which caused a lot of sweating, but I could deal with it.

I haven’t run 3 miles straight in, oh, seven months – my “running” the past month has included a lot of walk breaks. For my virtual 5K, I ran 2.4 miles straight before taking a walk break on an uphill climb. I was breathing a bit heavy at that point because of the humidity, and it seemed like a good idea to catch my breath.

After I hit 3.1 miles, I stopped my watch and then walked about .3 back to my car. I posed with my medal for a picture as if it was a real race 🙂

Not a good time at all, but since my paces have been 11-13- minutes per mile thanks to walking a lot, this was something to build upon as I try to work my way back to no walking at all.

Doing a virtual race was a nice motivator to run more, and I would like to do another one next month that’s a little longer as another way to challenge myself. I’ll probably forego buying a T-shirt next time to knock the price down a little, too.

Virtual racer

2020 has been a heck of a year. I can’t believe it’s more than half over, especially since this spring seemed to last an eternity and also doesn’t even feel like it really happened.
I didn’t run much in the beginning of the year following my half marathon, for a few different reasons. I was eyeing some spring races to maybe give myself a motivator for starting training again when all of a sudden we were in the middle of a pandemic that has yet to let up.

Even if there are any local races that take place in the next few months, it’s hard to imagine when I will feel comfortable actually partaking in one. I’ve been doing some run/walking on my own for a while now, not really feeling any particular motivation to get faster or start running for goals, so I decided to do something I have never done before – sign up for a virtual race.

I never did one of these before because I like real races with other people around, a physical finish line, the after-race food and drinks. Why do a virtual race when I can find a real one to do? Well, since there won’t be any real races in my future for quite a while, I am grateful that virtual ones exist as a backup.

I took a look at Gone For A Run which seems to do a few different races at a time to benefit different charities. The one that stuck out to me (yes, because of the cute medal and top) was the “Running Brings Us Together” 5K. I like the theme name of the race and that it benefits Girls on the Run. I also am capable of doing a 5k at least, with hopes to do longer runs (without walking) by the end of the summer.

My little race packet is scheduled to get here in the mail on Saturday, so I’m planning to do the virtual 5K on Sunday. After that I will see what else I might plan to do to hopefully reinstall some motivation to run for goals. It’s super hot right now, too, so anything that will inspire me to really run right now is needed!

Log Jammer Half Marathon Race Recap

That wasn’t so bad!

Two months ago I decided after over a year of lackluster running/walking that I wanted to do a half marathon again. I never saw quite the level of progress that I would have liked in my speed and endurance over the past eight weeks, but I am proud of myself for (mostly) sticking to my training plan and pulling out a not-even-close-to-my-worst time today!

This past week I didn’t run at all. Several days I felt light-headed and had chills when I got home from work, and I was actually concerned I was going to come down with the flu or something. Thankfully that never transpired, but by Saturday I was looking at doing the race after having done no running for 7 days. Oh, well!

Local races are super easy, so I picked up my bib Saturday afternoon and got all my stuff organized Saturday night, but there was no stress about the race morning process. On Sunday morning I got up and had half a bagel with peanut butter, a small protein shake, and vitamins for breakfast. And coffee!

The weather was in the high 40s/low 50s, overcast and cloudy with the sun hiding the whole time. It was pretty great running weather!

I haven’t done this race in four years, but the course was just as I remembered – leaving downtown Shreveport to run through some nearby neighborhoods before getting on the running path along the river and heading back toward downtown. I ultimately had no time goal, except at some point in the race, maybe mile 9 or 10, I decided to try and break 2:20.

I did just that, finishing with a chip time of 2:15:47. This was my 18th half marathon and I can think of at least 6 that were worse times than that. So I’ll take it!

After the race I went home, showered, and then we went to get brunch. It has been a year and a half since I’ve run a half marathon distance (and longer since I’ve run further than that), so I felt pretty happy!