Group Pictures!

The first three are from before the race and the last was after we all finished. 

I did it!!

The full 5K...3.1 miles. I was able to maintain my run/jog for 3.1 miles! Without stopping or walking! I wasn't sure if I could ever get there, but I did! I averaged a run of a 16:21 minute/mile pace and finished it in 50:50 minutes. My goal was not to focus on my time but just to keep running the whole thing. And let me tell you, I'm pretty proud that I could do that. It wasn't easy. 

First of all, the course wasn't 'mostly flat' as the website made me believe. It was very hilly! And I felt like we were constantly going up! Never down. There were fast steep hills and slow gradual hills and little jerk hills who seemed to mock me.  

There was also an issue with cars. Since I was in the back of the pack, the cops were pretty lax about letting the cars go on the route. There were times the cars were right on my back and one time a cop let a car turn in front of me! I was not happy about that. 

Other than that, my biggest struggle was keeping up my mentality. The first mile was hard. I kept thinking, "Well, surely I've passed it and didn't see the sign." But I didn't. Once I finally passed it, I felt more in my groove and the rest of the race went faster.  After the two mile mark was the very long gradual hill. Luckily, Kelly Clarkson came on my iPod and told me, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." And that was enough to motivate me up that hill. Thank you, Kelly.

All in all, I feel pretty good. And I'm glad it's over. Ellie finished her race in 36:04 minutes and Juloa finished in 50:16 minutes. Below are pictures of me coming to and crossing the finish line. I will have close ups of our 5K Derby Gal costumes soon. We had tank tops made with the logos designed by Joe! They are so cute. 

 

Two Miles!

I am in Boston with Ellie and so excited to finally be here. It's been a long three months preparing for this weekend. With Ellie at work, I wanted to get a run in today. She suggested I go to a near by cemetery to keep away from the traffic. It was lovely. Such a crisp, cool fall day with all of the beautiful fall colors you'd expect from New England. Plus the cemetery was so peaceful and haunting. Perfect for late October. 

For my last run, I just wanted to run a mile. So for this one, my goal was to run two miles. And I did it! It took me 34 minutes. This is the longest distance and time I have ever run by a lot! Honestly, I could have probably run a little further but I didn't want to overdue it so close to the race. 

Julia arrives tomorrow and Ellie is taking us to her favorite running spot, the Esplanade. I plan to run 2.5 miles and then the whole 3.1 miles on race day. I feel encouraged enough today that I can actually do this!

Plus, I really enjoyed running today back at sea level. I felt as though I could breathe easier and go further. My breathing only got really hard when I ran up the hills in the cemetery. Not bad!

Can't wait to see what the weekend brings!

Rock & Roll Marathon

The Denver Rock and Roll Marathon is going on today so I decided to walk downtown to catch a glimpse of the action.  What's great about this event is that participants can do the full or a half marathon and there is even a bike route and a race similar to the distance of a 5K.  I got there about 3.5 hours into the race, so I got to see a lot of happy people crossing the finish line.  It was so inspiring knowing these people just completed 13.1 or 26.2 miles.  It makes me put my 5K next weekend into perspective.  If I start to feel like it is getting tough, I can think back to the people I saw today and the mileage they covered.

I also got down there in time for the headlining musician and I watched Atlas Genius perform.  Even though it was a little chilly, it was still fun.  After I had enough downtown, I walked back up toward my place and met Joe for lunch.  At the end of it all, I got about 4 miles under my belt today!

So the question is....do I want to do the Rock and Roll Half marathon next year??  I have walked a half marathon before and I did not enjoy it.  I hit my wall at 10 miles and was just miserable after that.  BUT, I also didn't really train for it.  If I had a year to plan....I don't know.  I will see how next weekend goes first.

Just Run A Mile

Look at what I woke up to this morning!  Beautiful snow...

I wanted to get a run in today, but I was worried about how the cold air would effect my breathing.  Also curious to how my mile time is going, I decided to just get out there and run a mile and to see how long it took me.  So I went for it and while I was right about it being harder to breathe, I was happy to be able run the whole mile in 16 minutes.  It was in the 40's today and it is supposed to be in the 60's tomorrow, so I hope to get out there tomorrow and to be able to run further than a mile.  Since I have been able to run for 20 minutes in the past, I know I can do it.

Here is a picture of me in my new winter headband. This cold can't stop me!

Eleven Days

Eleven days until our 5K race in Boston!  Ellie, Juila, and I have really surprised ourselves and stuck with our training.  I will admit that my last running day set me back and I really didn't want to try again.  But once again, the support and inspiration I get from Ellie and Julia made me get my butt back out there.  I did my 20 minute training again and this time I finished it and didn't have to stop due to mucus issues.  It felt good to complete the run and to be honest, I don't feel as exhausted as I have in the past.  I'm sure my walking everyday has helped me stay in shape this last week even though I wasn't running.  I am so thankful to my teammates for sharing their successes with me.  Julia just ran 28 minutes straight and Ellie ran 2.5 miles in 28 minutes!  Amazing!  And here I was feeling bad about my 20 minute run.

I can't tell you how excited I am to meet up with them next week in Boston and complete the 5K with them.  We have been working on our costumes and can't wait to show you all pictures of us together!

On Tuesday, I walked over to the Metro CareRing Food Pantry for my first day of volunteering.  I loved it.  First of all, it's a good walk over there (a little over a mile) and then once there, I was on my feet for 3 hours helping customers pick out their food for a week.  Everyone I met from the staff to the other volunteers to the customers were so nice.  It's such a great atmosphere and I love being able to connect with my community.  I was surprised with the 3 hours was up because it all went by so quickly.  I look forward to returning next Tuesday for another shift.  

It was snowing when I walked home from the pantry!  Unwilling to give up my walking to the winter, today I went out and bought some longer workout pants, long sleeve shirts, and a warm head/ear band.  If I have the proper tools, then I won't give up.

Gravity

There are days when gravity makes me feel like I can't move out of my apartment.  There are other days, like today, when Gravity, makes me get up and walk over two miles to the movie theater because everyone is talking about it.  It was a lovely, crisp day here in Denver and my brisk walk with Joe to the downtown theater was just lovely.  We got there in 2.289 miles (4.5 meals) and in 2.294 miles (4.5 meals) back.  In between walks we quite enjoyed the movie Gravity in 3D.  We had lots to talk about on our walk home.

Other days, I feel the gravity of what tasks I have taken on.  For instance, I am a mere 2% into my feed the hungry goal and I'm wondering if I set my sights to high.  I know I am only 2 weeks into the task, but sometimes trying to look at a whole goal or a whole year that lays ahead seems quite daunting.  I know I will make this goal, I just need to focus on my little successes, like earning 9 meals in one day.

The other situation that I am unsure about is my running in a 5K in 2 weeks.  My last run attempt scared me and I haven't 'gotten back up' since.  I realize that if I am able to run any part of a 5K and keep my time under 56 minutes (my last official 5K time) then it will be a success.  But I did hope I would be in better condition at this point in my training.  I feel like it only makes me see how much I really don't like running!  Which is probably why I made this new goal for myself that allows me to walk.  I enjoy walking.  I, of course, won't give up on running just yet...I just hope to have that urge to run one day like I have the urge to swim or walk like I do now.

Back to Running Week 7 Day 2

For a week now, Joe and I have been battling colds.  It hasn't been pretty.  Lots of tissues have lost their lives to the cause.  Because of my cold, I haven't been out running since the 1st.  I took a few days off and then slowly started back with 2-4 mile walks the last two days.  This morning I was feeling pretty good.  The sun was shining and the temperature was back up into the 60's.  I decided to do my 20 minute run and then complete the 5k distance.

Well....maybe I wasn't quite ready for all of that.  15 minutes into my run, I had to stop due to a massive mucus build-up (gross) happening in my breathing canal.  I know 15 minutes is still really awesome and something I couldn't do just a few weeks ago, but I can't say that I'm not disappointed.  I realize that I was probably a little too optimistic in getting right back out there after a week of being sick, but I hoped for better seeing as the race is just 19 days away.  I was nice knowing that I was over 1 mile in when I had to stop.

I did finish out the rest of the 5k and tried some power walking, but by the time I finished, I was coughing and wheezing.  Not cool.  I finished the distance in 56 minutes....on par with all my training.  I will go for a more relaxed walk tomorrow and hope to be ready for more running on Wednesday.  I did get to add 6.378 meals to my Feeding America goal, so as always, there is a victory I can feel good about.

My Journey and New Goal

I find it interesting how we stumble upon certain things in our lives.  How one thought can evolve into something new and start us down different paths.  When we look back to how we got 'here', isn't crazy to see the many side roads and detours and new highways that we've taken?

For example, my journey began in March at Green Mountain in Vermont.  My month there taught me that my lifetime of dieting had led me to have low self-esteem and an unhealthy body.  I learned to stop dieting and to focus on listening to my body.  I finally understood that I needed to feed myself 'real' foods and not the processed/preserved foods I had been eating for years. When I returned home from GM, I became obsessed with trying to get as much information as possible.  I watched a number of documentaries and read many books.  These led me to understand the term "Nutritional Starvation".  I was a classic example of someone who routinely starved herself nutritionally by not giving my body the proper fuel it needed....vegetables and fruits.

While I focused on my eating, I struggled to include the right amount of exercise into my new lifestyle.  In talking with my friend Julia and sister, Ellie, we agreed to start training for a 5K and to meet up at the end of October in Boston to complete a 5K together.  During our training, Ellie introduced me to the Charity Miles app that donates money to the charity of your choice for every mile walked or run.  I decided to join in the fun, because who doesn't like to help charities?

Meanwhile, the documentaries I was watching began to veer away from 'how to save yourself' and became more 'look at what's happening in America'.  I was learning more and more about 'Food Deserts' and 'Farm Subsidies' and 'Childhood Obesity Due to Nutritional Starvation'.  One documentary in particular ("A Place At The Table" on Netflix) really spoke to me.  It motivated me to sign up to be a volunteer at a local food pantry (Metro CareRing) and my volunteer training begins on Wednesday.

Also happening at the same time, I was looking for a topic to write a paper as part of my application to graduate school.  I have made the decision to apply to the University of Colorado, Denver to work towards a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning and a Masters in Public Administration.  While the application is looking for a writing sample that was probably written during undergrad, I have found myself in a unique situation, 10 years out of college, that I don't know where any of my old papers are located.  (Most likely in a garage or basement in Indy or Mulberry...)  So I decided to just write a new paper to get myself back into school mode.  Inspired by my recent journey, I chose the following title for my paper, "Food Deserts & Nutritional Starvation in America: What Can Be Done".

And now to finally get to my point....I went to the library today and checked out some books on my topic and in my readings I was just moved to do more.  What else can I do to help those in need in our country?  I don't have much money and I don't have any political influence...how can I possibly make a difference?  And how can I make a difference now while not neglecting my original goal of bettering myself?

The answer came to me in the form of an app my little sister turned me on to.  Charity Miles.  One of the charities I can and have been earning miles for is Feeding America.  For every mile I walk or run, Charity Miles gives $0.25 to Feeding America which is the equivalent to giving 2 meals to a hungry person.  ($1.00 = 8 meals)  I was already excited every time I did my 5K training and saw how many meals I had earned.  While I am walking/running off my meals, I am earning one for a hungry person in America.  How cool is that?

So here is what I plan to do:  I plan to walk/run 1,000 miles in 365 days to earn 2,000 meals for Feeding America as well as volunteering my time one day a week to the Denver Metro CareRing Food Pantry.  This comes to an average of over 2.7 miles a day or around 20 miles a week.  I know there will be days I won't walk/run at all and there will be days I walk well over 2.7 miles.  By giving myself a year to reach this goal, I will be able to balance out the high mile days (summer, spring, fall) with the low mile days (winter).  I will have running days when I train for my 5K's and leisurely walking days when I need to take it a little easier.  In the end, it won't be easy to walk 1000 miles, but I know I can do anything I set my mind too.

I will be tracking my progress on this blog and my only stipulation is that every mile has to be recorded into the Charity Miles app.  If I forget to turn it on, it doesn't count....because then the meals wouldn't actually be going to the charity.  I have decided to start my calculations on October 1st and will need to meet my goal by October 1, 2014.  I did my 5K training for Feeding America on the 1st and today I logged 4.9 miles in walking.  Check out my progress on the side bar and keep checking back as I strive to reach my goal!