Tips for running (and training for) your first 5K

After my sister shared her guest post about her first marathon experience, and some tips that she found helpful in training, I had the idea to write a series of posts with tips for each popular race distance. I had no idea what to expect before my first race, but thankfully, I had a friend (Renee) who answered all my questions about it. She helped me with training for my first 5K, and as I increased my distances, I learned a lot of tidbits that helped along the way. So, in this series of posts, I'll write some tips that I found helpful, and hopefully, they will help someone else!

*Research your race to choose one that suits your wants and needs. Do you want a big race, with lots of crowd support? Do you prefer a small, hometown race? Do you want a medal? A t-shirt? A timed race? A fun novelty race, like a Color Run, costumed-run, or an obstacle run? Make sure you read the details from the race's website so you know (and are comfortable with) the race you choose for your first 5K.

St. Patrick's Day run

*Pick a training plan to suit your wants and needs. There are tons of free training plans online, so spend some time finding one that works for you. A very popular one for the true beginner is the Couch to 5K plan--it has you do intervals of running and walking, until you're able to run the whole distance. I chose to do my own plan, because I didn't like the intervals. Find a plan that you can stick with.

*Get fitted for running shoes at a running store. Having the wrong shoes for your feet and stride can cause a lot of problems and even injury. It's important to have someone who knows what they're doing evaluate your feet and stride, and help you pick a shoe that is best for you.

*Stay consistent with your training! If your plan calls for three days of running per week, make those runs top priority. It's okay to miss a run now and then for illness or injury, but if you aren't consistent with your training, you're going to have a very tough race, and it won't be much fun if you're not trained.

*Let your family and friends know that this race is a big deal for you! If you want them to cheer you on at the race, just ask. People who don't run usually don't understand how exciting it is to run your first race, so they won't know that you'd like to have them there, holding signs and ringing cowbells ;)

*Don't do too much, too soon. A lot of beginners make this mistake and wind up injured. Build your mileage slowly, and take it easy on the pace until you've got a good base built up.

*Work on distance before speed. If you're a new runner, it's better to increase your distance until you're running 3.1 miles (slowly), than it is to run a short distance quickly. One you build up your distance to 3.1 miles, then you can work on doing it faster.

*Buy some moisture-wicking clothing to keep you comfortable while you run. Running in cotton can cause chafing, and it gets really heavy with sweat. Clothes made with a technical fabric are meant to keep you dry and cool. Don't forget to include moisture-wicking socks, too! Your feet will thank you.

I wore a cotton shirt for my first 5K, and my friends wore
tech shirts... see how the cotton holds the sweat?

*Don't start out too fast. It's easy to get swept up with the excitement of the race, and cross the starting line in a sprint, only to burn out a half-mile into the race. It's best to hold back a little at the beginning, and pick up your pace throughout the race if you feel good. Aim for negative splits (where you get faster each mile).

*Don't set a time goal for your first 5K, but do have an idea of what your pace will likely be. At the starting line, you'll want to line up with people that are running about the same pace as you (so don't go to the very front unless you are going to be running 5-6 minute miles).

*You don't have to run a 5K. There are plenty of people who walk them! If you're thinking of walking it, you might want to make sure it's a walker-friendly race (most 5K's are). You could check the website, email the race director, or even look at the previous year's results to see the finish times.

*There may or may not be a water station during the 5K race. Unless you're out there for more than 45 minutes or so, you can probably get by without stopping for water. But it's tough to run and drink from a paper cup, so I would either practice that beforehand, or walk for a few seconds, just long enough to drink the water.

*Smile when you cross the finish line! Usually there are photographers taking photos of the finishers.

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Training for a 5K isn't too complicated, because you don't have to worry about fueling during the runs or race. You pretty much blink and it's over with! Once you complete your first 5K, you can work on improving your speed to set a PR (personal record), or you can work on your endurance and aim for a 10K.

Good luck! If I left something out, please feel free to share any tips you may have in the comments. Here are a few other (hopefully) helpful posts that I've written as well:

50 Running Tips
Running Lingo
Running (or walking) your first 5K race

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A snail's trail

We finally had a gorgeous day outside today! It was pretty cold this morning--37 degrees--but it wasn't raining and the sun was shining.

Eli was so funny this morning. He told me that he couldn't sleep because he was so worried that he was going to miss the bus today; he had a field trip, and was REALLY excited about it. His teacher had stressed to the class that they need to be on time, because the buses for the field trip leave right after school starts, so Eli was worried he'd be late and not get to go. He was ready for school by 6:30, and the bus doesn't even come until around 8:00.

I took the kids to the bus stop, then came home and had breakfast before getting ready for my run. I am going to go back to doing my long runs on Fridays instead of Sundays. It works out better (at least while the kids are in school) for me to get away; and since I'm not going to be doing Hansons', the order of my runs really doesn't matter so much. I wanted to try a different route today, just to from getting bored. So I plotted an out-and-back run on a new connector path that was completed last year.

I was really excited when I learned that they built this connector path! It links the Metropark that I usually run to three other Metroparks. Until they connected it, there was a section of about two miles that wasn't joined, and that always bothered me. It's now about 22 miles (one way) of paved bike path, and it's a great place to run!

I parked at Huroc Park, which is about 9 miles in to the 22-mile long path. I've only been to Huroc Park a couple of times, but one memory still haunts me. Jerry will never let me forget it! When we had just started dating (May 1999), we went rollerblading at Huroc Park. The park is on a little island in the middle of a river, so it's just one loop of about 0.6 miles.

The river comes up very close to the path, and at one point in the path (where the green marker is on the picture), there is a slight downhill, and then a sharp left turn--if you miss that turn, then you'd go right into the river.

I was not good at stopping myself on the rollerblades, and when I noticed that downhill section taking me right to the river, I panicked. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make the turn with my rollerblades, so instead of attempting it, I just decided to wipe out on the grass. Jerry was behind me, and said it was hilarious to see me wipe out for no apparent reason. Fear of going into the river was reason enough for me!

Anyway, I parked at Huroc Park, and then started running. About a quarter mile in, I realized that I hadn't actually entered the park, so I had to turn around and then cross a bridge to enter the park. When I started the path, I had already run 0.4 miles because of the mistake.

Once I got to the new connector path (that's the green line running to the west on the above photo), I saw a map of the path. I hadn't seen this online anywhere, so it was nice to see the whole thing laid out.

I usually run at Lake Erie Metropark, in the bottom right corner of the map, and then do my turn-around somewhere in the center of the map, where it says Flat Rock. Today, I started in the center, and ran west into Oakwoods Metropark. It was a nice change of scenery!

The new connector bridge

All of the rain we've had caused a couple of spots of flooding. One was so bad that I had to run through (what I think was) someone's yard to get around it.

Today's run felt much easier than the 14-miler I did on Sunday. My pace was right around 9:20-9:30, and I felt good. Oakwoods Metropark was kind of boring to run through--it was definitely nice to go somewhere different, but it just felt so long. Most of the trail looked like this:

Nice, but not very interesting. This was actually my turn-around point. Right after I took out my phone to take a picture, I got a phone call from the pediatrician about Eli's appointment, so I talked to her for a couple of minutes before I started running again.

I completely miscalculated the math on my turn-around point. Because I accidentally ran 0.4 miles before I started the path, the turn-around wouldn't be 5 miles in. Usually, I am great at figuring out at what point I need to turn, but today, instead of turning around at mile 5.2 (which was 4.8 miles away from my car), I turned around at 4.8. So I ended up taking 0.8 miles off of my run total. I was confused about this until I was nearly to my car, and I realized my mistake.

While I was running through the woods, I saw this little guy, and nearly stepped on him:

I've never had a snail cross my path while running, so I had to take a picture. Then I picked him up and moved him off the path, so that he didn't get squashed.

When I got back to Huroc Park, I wanted to run the infamous spot where I biffed it into the ground. It doesn't look like a hill in this picture, but I swear it is a downhill!

I had been picking up speed on my rollerblades from the downhill, and that turn was terrifying, so I chose to wipe out ;)

Just before I headed out of the park, I saw a mama goose with her little goslings. So cute!

Once I got back to my car, I had to go past it, so that I could reach 10 miles. I was really tempted to quit early, because I hate running past my car, but I figured it wouldn't kill me to finish it out ;)

I hadn't planned on running that fast (I was going to aim for around 9:45-10:00), but I felt really good, so I just went with it. It was a good run today!

Noah is having a friend spend the night tonight, and I'm supposed to take them roller skating. The roller rink is always filled with preteen kids on Friday and Saturday nights. I don't feel comfortable just dropping him off at his age, so I need to find a good book to read while I'm there ;)

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Time trial

It was raining again when I woke up this morning, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to run until later in the morning, because Eli had a doctor's appointment. I got the kids ready for school, and then took Noah to the bus stop. I had promised Eli that I would take him to get breakfast at Tim Horton's before his appointment, so we headed out a little early.

It was raining really hard! We got to Tim's, and Eli had a pretzel bagel (I ate at home, otherwise I would have been so tempted by their bagels!). It's kind of fun hanging out with just one kid at a time, because they really open up and talk a lot. He told me all about the book he had to read for school.

When he'd finished his bagel, I took him to the doctor, where we waited for a long time. I had deliberately booked the first appointment of the day (9:00), but we didn't see the doctor until 9:30. The medication she prescribed a couple of weeks ago hasn't worked on his snoring issue, so today, she referred him to an otolaryngologist at Mott's children's hospital. 

He went there once before, when he was about three, because he had a really husky voice. It was adorable, but the doctor was a little concerned about it. The otolaryngologist used a camera to see his vocal cords, which had a nodule on them, causing the husky voice. He said it was benign, likely caused from a lot of yelling ;) It went away on its own; now his voice is a little husky, but nothing like it used to be. 

I took Eli to school, and then came home and got ready to run. I was actually looking forward to running in the rain! There is something that feels really freeing about running in the rain (for a short distance--I once did a 20-miler in the rain, and that wasn't fun). I dressed in capris and a tank, and as soon as I was ready to step outside, the rain all-but stopped. It was just barely a sprinkle; I was actually a little disappointed! 

I had decided to disregard the Hansons' schedule for today, and do a short, fast run, to hopefully get a runner's high again (I've missed that feeling). My plan was to do a 5K time trial--basically, just to pretend I was racing, and see what my finish time would be for a 5K. I figured that this way, I could see where I stand as of right now, and then hopefully see it improve with 5K training over the summer. 

It.was.hard. 

I was pushing myself as hard as I could go while still being able to finish the distance. At first, when I saw my pace was around 8:30, I thought, "Okay, that's not bad!" But then I remembered that a year ago, I ran a half-marathon at that pace, and it didn't even feel all that hard. I'm just hoping I can get back to that point someday! 

The second mile was right into the wind coming off the lake, which was tough. By the last mile, my heart rate was 90% of my max, and it was all I could do to keep going. When I saw that I was going to come close to 26:00 for my finish time, I picked up the pace as much as I could to try and come in at 25:xx. When I saw 3.11, I stopped my Garmin, and saw that I just barely made sub-26:00.

So there it is: 25:57. My new starting point. Sub-26:00 was my 5K goal for a long time, and it took me a long time to finally reach it, but I was so excited when I did. My run that day was probably the best runner's high I've ever felt! For a moment today, I was disappointed in how my pace has slowed over the past year; but now, looking at a sub-26:00 time makes me remember how happy I felt when I first hit that time. I am thrilled that I can still pull off a sub-26! And now, I just hope to improve on it. I felt fantastic after my run!

I think I'm really going to enjoy doing shorter, faster runs through the summer. It doesn't take up so much time, but I still feel like I get a good workout (even better than a longer, slower run, actually).

This afternoon, I had to make a birthday treat for Noah's class. Noah's birthday isn't until July, but his teacher sent home dates for the summer birthday kids to celebrate during the school year. Noah's is tomorrow, and he requested sloppy brownies (a dessert we made up one day by layering cookie dough, mini Reese's cups, and brownie batter, then baking). The last thing I wanted to make during the month of no sweets! ;)

I bought pre made cookie dough and a brownie mix (I decided to skip the Reese's cups). Instead of making them in a 9x13 pan, I made them in cupcake wrappers, so that I could make just enough for his class (no leftovers for me!). I pressed a little cookie dough on the bottom of each wrapper, then filled in the rest with brownie batter. The whole point of explaining this is that I didn't take one single bite or even lick a finger while I was making these ridiculous brownie-cookies. 

With the exception of the ice cream on Sunday, I haven't had any sweets. It's been really hard, but I've noticed that my sweet acuity is getting stronger. Things that are naturally sweet have been tasting even sweeter, which is something I was hoping to accomplish with this no-sweets challenge for May. I've been eating a ton of watermelon, which has helped when I'm feeling snacky. At night, when I'd normally have something sweet, I've been eating a 100-calorie bag of Skinny Pop popcorn. 

There only three ingredients:

Simple, but very good! I know I could easily just make this at home, by air-popping the corn and adding a little sunflower oil and salt--which is why I rarely buy this popcorn--but I decided to splurge and get the mini bags from Sam's Club, because of the no-sweets challenge. I'm halfway through the month!

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Bringing back the 5K!

In the comments of yesterday's post, a few people mentioned an article in the current issue of Runner's World that discusses the 5K race distance. People tend to think of it as a stepping stone to longer distances, but the 5K is a respectable race on its own. I've always thought of the 5K as being the hardest distance--because it's basically a 3.1 mile sprint. When running it for a PR, you basically feel like you're going to keel over and die at the end.

Until last month, I'd done more MARATHONS than I did 5K's, because 5K's are tough! (Now I've done three of each). Anyway, I read the RW article this morning, and I love the idea of bringing back the 5K ;)  The training for a 5K is pretty much the opposite of marathon training--it's mostly short and fast runs, versus the long and slow runs for marathons. I'm feeling so burnt out on the higher mileage I've been doing, and I'd love to do some short and hard runs to feel that "runner's high" again.

After the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival next month, I'll take a week or so off of running, and then start with 5K training for the summer. I haven't really chosen a goal race, because there are always 5K's going on, so I'll wait until mid- to late-summer to pick a goal race. I'd like to aim for a sub-24:00 finish time. My best training time for a 5K is 24:04, so I think sub-24:00 is reasonable. I have a couple of half-marathons that I'm registered for this fall, but I'll use those as long training runs, rather than trying to race them. I really enjoy half-marathons when I'm running them for fun.

Anyway, I didn't weigh in this morning, at home or at Weight Watchers. I snacked way too much last night, and I felt so puffy when I woke up. My ring wouldn't even come off of my finger! So I just didn't want to see the scale today. At Weight Watchers, I paid my dues, but didn't weigh in.

I always like going to meetings because it makes me feel a renewed sense of motivation. I may even try to go to another meeting before next Wednesday, just to keep me motivated. Today, we talked about the Good Health Guidelines. The easiest one for me is probably the healthy oils. I use oil to cook, and my favorite way to get in the two teaspoons of healthy oil is to drizzle it over air-popped popcorn, and then sprinkle it with salt. The oil makes the popcorn so good! The most difficult Good Health Guideline for me is vegetables. Veggies just seem to take so much effort and time to prepare. 

On the way home from Weight Watchers, my mom asked if we could stop at Meijer for a few groceries. I picked up a few things, and then I was waiting for my mom at the front of the store, when I heard someone say, "Katie?"

It's kind of funny, because I just wrote a few days ago that while I've been recognized at races a few times, it's very rare that a reader recognizes me in a public spot like a grocery store. The woman who recognized me today was SO sweet! Her name is Yvette. She asked for a picture, and even though I was dressed like a slob (I look like I was going to head out to run, but that was actually after I'd showered, haha), of course we got a pic!

Yvette has lost 108 pounds, and she's going to be in Woman's World in July! I'm so excited to read her story. All I know is that she lost the weight through diet and walking on her treadmill. She looks amazing, and she is so nice!

Jerry and I went on a walk this afternoon, so that we could get in some steps. It's hard to get in 10,000 steps on my rest days, but it's nice to go for a walk together in the afternoons. Today wasn't hot or humid like it was yesterday, and it was actually a little bit cool while we were walking. We got 3/4 of a mile into the walk when it started drizzling. And then soon, it was pouring rain!

We were really close to my parents' house, so we stopped there to get Ziploc baggies for our phones (priorities, right?). I was already soaked, so there was no reason not to keep walking. We'd planned to walk three miles, but cut it a little short and did just two. Still, I was happy to get in my steps. 

When we got back, we were both freezing and soaked to the bone, so we changed clothes and made some tea. I recently placed an order at David's, and noticed that they had a new flavor:

I ordered some (how could I not?) and we tried it this afternoon. It was really good! I love coconut, and you can really taste it in this tea. 

I'm ready to get cozy in my pajamas and watch a movie with Jerry tonight. Today is the 15-year anniversary of our first date!

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A summer vacation incentive

All winter long, when my kids had snow day after snow day, and the temps were ridiculously below zero, I swore that come summer, I wouldn't complain about the heat. No matter what. At that time, I assumed that we'd at least have a spring! It seems to have jumped from winter to summer, with a short week full of rain and thunderstorms in-between.

Today, I had a strength run on the schedule: 3 x 2 miles at 8:50-ish pace with 800-meter recovery jogs. Plus a one-mile warm-up, which made an 8.5 mile run total. I was working on some blog stuff this morning after I got the kids on the bus, and then by the time I headed out for a run, it was after 10:00.

As soon as I stepped outside, I realized I was going to have a hell of a time trying to reach an 8:50 pace for this run. It was SO HUMID outside. After all the rain we've had, the moisture was just hanging in the air. As soon as I started my "warm-up", I decided that I wasn't going to do intervals, after all. I would just do an easy run.

It felt so hard! I was pouring sweat just a half mile into the run. I'd loaded up on sunscreen, which started to drip into my eyes, and my eyes were burning. I wasn't even sure I'd make it three miles, which is the bare minimum I even run. A half-mile in, I saw my pace was at about 10:00/mi, and I decided to try to pick it up to 9:00/mi, just to see how it felt, and I quickly realized there was no way that was happening today.

So I just suffered through four miles, feeling sticky and gross, and my legs felt like lead.

A bad run is nothing new--it happens sometimes, and I'm fine with that. But I've been having a trend of them lately, and it's getting really discouraging. Today's run is really making me dread this summer, when it's hot all the time. It also made me reconsider my sub-1:50 half-marathon goal.

I think I'm just getting really burnt out on the heavy mileage. I started following Hansons' Marathon Method last July in order to train for the Chicago Marathon, and I've been running six days a week (5+ miles each) ever since. I really liked it for a while, but I'm getting so sick of the same old running routes, and never running anything less than five miles at a time. I miss my short and fast three-milers! Since I live on a peninsula, there really aren't many options for running from my house--there is only one road in and out. I can tell you every single bump, pothole, rock, bend, and piece of roadkill along that road!

So I decided that I'm not going to use Hansons' Method to train for the half-marathons this fall. I'll write my own plan, something that I'm happy with, and I'll see how it goes. If a sub-1:50 is a possibility, then I'll go for it; but if not, then I'm willing to wait until I feel more excited about training. My best races are usually in the spring, so maybe I'll go for it then.

I'd like to cut back to 4-5 days a week of running, and less mileage. Right now, though, I just have to get through the training for the Runner's World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival--in less than four weeks! I can't believe it's coming up so fast. I'm really excited about it, but kind of nervous about how hard it's going to be.

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A lot of people have asked how I like my Fitbit, and I love it! It is SO motivating to get me out and moving. I just got a report from my first week of wearing it:

My favorite part about it is that I can "compete" with my friends who have a Fitbit. I started at the bottom of the list, and worked my way to the top throughout the week. Seeing my name climb the leaderboard motivated me to go out and walk a little extra whenever I could.

I have found the step count and distance to be pretty accurate. I can't really say how accurate the calorie burn is, but it is very consistent and from what I can tell, seems accurate enough. My main reason for wearing it, though, is to push myself to move more throughout the day, and it has definitely done that.

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This afternoon, I booked our big family vacation. I wrote about it briefly before, but we ultimately ended up deciding to go to an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana. We had been planning to go in early December, but I was waiting and waiting for the charter flight schedule to come out. My sister is pretty much my travel agent (she's traveled all over, and I can basically just tell her to find us a trip, and she'll plan something perfect!). There was a really great deal on the Dreams resort in Punta Cana, so we went ahead and booked it through Apple Vacations today.

I'm SO excited! We'll be going the last week of August, and staying for seven nights. We've been saving up for this trip, thinking it was going to cost a fortune (we've never gone on a big vacation like this before); but the total--including airfare, hotel, all food, drinks, trip insurance, etc.--is only about $3400. I say "only" because I was assuming it would be double that!

The trip gives me a whole new incentive to get back to goal weight. If I work really hard, and stop half-assing my attempts at getting back to goal, I can BE at goal when we leave. Lately, I've been doing well for about five days a week, and then I have two bad days--which is a wash, really. I've been going up and down with the same couple of pounds. Jerry really wants to get in good shape for the trip, too. He's still under his Weight Watchers goal weight, but he wants to lose about 10 pounds.

Tonight, I'm going to write up a meal plan for the week, and I'm going to try to include all of the Good Health Guidelines. The Good Health Guidelines are the meeting topic at Weight Watchers tomorrow, so I'm going to do my best to fit them in this week. The Good Health Guidelines are to get in two servings of dairy, two teaspoons of healthy oil, five servings of fruits and vegetables, choose whole grains, lean protein, six cups of water, etc., per day.

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One last thing... I found these at Kroger the other day, and because I love jalapeños, I just had to try them...

They are SO good! I like the KIND bars almost as much as my beloved Clif bars, and these ones are definitely my new favorite flavor. They taste like spicy nuts, but they're not too spicy. Very mild, but with a lot of jalapeño flavor!

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Motivational Monday #62

Happy Motivational Monday! It has been thunder storming all day today, and right now we're under a tornado warning, because there was a tornado that touched down about 5 miles from here. This morning, I ran on the treadmill because it was lightening outside. I only got about four miles into a seven mile run, and then the power went out! Oh, well, at least I got half of it done.

This isn't very motivating for Motivational Monday, but I ate ice cream yesterday, ruining my no-sweets streak for May. I had been craving it SO badly, and after running 14 miles, I just kept thinking, "It's okay to have a treat!" I don't plan to totally give up on my challenge, though--I haven't had any sweets today. I honestly don't even feel bad about eating the ice cream yesterday. It wasn't a binge, and I ran 14 grueling miles for it ;)

My proudest moment of the week is earning a badge for reaching 30,000 steps in a day (yesterday) on my Fitbit. The 14-mile run gave me almost 25,000 steps, and I was determined to reach 30,000 by the end of the day. In the time that I've been wearing a pedometer of some sort, I've never reached that number!

What are you all proud of this week?

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Alma has lost 50 pounds over the past couple of years, and ran her first half-marathon in February 2013. She did the Surf City half; she really wanted to do the OC half, but was too nervous because of the hilly course. After that, she did the Long Beach half in October, and even talked a couple of friends into doing it with her. If you do all three "beach city" halfs, then you get a special medal, so that was Ama's goal this time around. In late October, she found out that she had a cancerous tumor in her lower abdomen. She had it removed in January, and then decided that she wanted to do the OC half. She talked her mom into doing it with her, and her daughter and two friends joined in as well. Last weekend, they all completed the race! Alma finished in 3:33, which is an hour longer than her last half-marathon time, but she is very proud that cancer didn't stop her from finishing! (Alma's race report)

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In April, Kristine sent me an email to ask my advice on whether I thought she should run a marathon that she'd signed up for. She was registered for the full 26.2 miles, but during training, she injured her knee. Her longest training run was only 13.1 miles, and she wasn't sure if she should still attempt the full or if she should drop down to the half. Since her knee had healed, and she just wanted to finish the full, she decided to go for it. The worst that could happen would be a DNF (did not finish). She went for it, and SHE DID IT! She ran the full 26.2 in 5:33:03! She's very happy to cross this goal off her bucket list :)

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On Thanksgiving weekend, Liz completed her first 5K. She immediately signed up for another 5K on New Year's Eve, and realized that while she wasn't very fast, she thought she'd enjoy training for longer distances. She began to build up a base, and then in February, she started training for a half-marathon. On Saturday, Liz reached her goal! She finished her first half-marathon, and even had "Remember when you couldn't do this" written on her arm. The course included a 1.9-mile hill, and she finished in 3:20:08! (Liz's race report)

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Kasie always hated running in gym class, but her husband asked her to run a 5K with him in 2009, and she reluctantly agreed. She ended up having so much fun that she got hooked on it. She's done many races now--5K's, 8K's, half-marathon relays, etc. But she was interested in doing something different, so she decided to try a sprint triathlon. Yesterday was the big day--she swam 400 meters, biked 8 miles, and ran 2 miles in 1:02:24! She had so much fun, and said she looks forward to doing another.

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Katie just completed her longest race distance to date--an 8K! She registered for the race in November, with the goal of finishing before the course closed (there was a 90-minute time limit). Katie is used to being the last person to finish the races that she's done, and was thrilled when she finished in 1:23:18--and number 1406 out of 1869 finishers! She was so thrilled that she upgraded her next race to a 10K, instead of the 5K. She's been running for a year, and has lost 85 pounds! (Katie's blog)

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For the past few years, Kim has been interested in running, but she would only do a few minutes here or there. She decided to get serious for 2014, and set a goal to run a 5K and a 10K race. She joined a 10-week "learn to run" clinic from a local running store, and is currently 9 weeks into the program.  On Saturday, she completed her first goal--to finish a 5K! She ran/walked a race called The Fast and the Furriest, with proceeds going to the SPCA, and finished well under her 45:00-time goal with a time of 38:24!

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Don't forget to check out more stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post!

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A Keno date night

Last night, the kids stayed the night at my parents' house, and Jerry had the night off work, so we got to have a date night! Usually, our "date nights" consist of us staying at home and watching a movie or something, but we actually went out yesterday, and it was a lot of fun.

First, we went to Panera for dinner. I've heard from a lot of people that Panera's Fuji Apple Chicken Salad is really good, and I was in the rare mood for a salad yesterday, so that's what I ordered. I was so disappointed when I tasted it, though! I really didn't like it--the dressing was really sweet, and the color and texture grossed me out.

I'm sure there was nothing wrong with the salad--I just didn't like it. I wasn't going to say anything, because it wasn't their fault that I didn't like it, but Jerry politely told them that I didn't care for it, and they were SO nice about it. They offered to make me something different, so I had the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad instead, which I've had several times and really like (and it had three less PointsPlus than the Apple salad).

After dinner, we headed home, and then walked to a local bar for drinks and Keno. There are only two places (other than homes) within walking distance from my house--a little corner store and a bar. I had never been in the bar until last year, but I really liked it. Apparently, it used to be really run down inside, but there is a new owner and they did a lot of work on it. They have live music on Friday nights. I went there with Jeanie and her friend Jen the night before Jeanie's marathon, and I told Jerry about it, so he wanted to go check it out.

I'm not normally a gambler (the only time I've ever played Keno has been with my sister), but Jerry and I each decided to play $20 in Keno. I filled out my number selection (11, 25, 33, and 69) and then Jerry filled out his. When I saw his numbers, he'd chosen 11, 25, and 33 also! I told him he can't pick the same numbers as me, because that wouldn't be any fun, so he needed to hurry up and fill out a new form with different numbers.

The server was waiting to take them, so I gave her our money, and hoped she'd give us our printed ticket before the next drawing. There were only about 20 seconds until the next draw, so I figured we'd miss that one, but she came back with our tickets and we were included in that current drawing. Jerry never plays Keno either, so I was trying to explain to him how much he'd win for each of his numbers drawn.

He said, "Well, they already drew three of my numbers". I told him that's awesome, he already won $5--and I asked what number he was waiting on. As soon as he told me "38", the 38 was pulled--so he matched all 4 of his numbers on the very first drawing, and won $72! That was pretty fun. My numbers were terrible, and I only won $2 out of all 20 drawings. Jerry won $86, which paid for our dinner at Panera, our drinks, and Keno tickets! It turned out to be a free date night :)

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This morning, I had a long run on the schedule. I've been following the Hansons' "beginner" plan, but it's very similar to the advanced plan (slightly less miles for the beginner). For some completely crazy reason, I decided that I'd do the long run for the advanced plan today--14 miles (as opposed to 12).

I drove to the Metropark and parked at the Marina, which is at the very end of the park. My plan was to just run an out-and-back from there. I wore my Camelbak Marathoner vest, so I wouldn't have to worry about water. I knew I'd need water today, though, because it was warm outside and the sun was full force.

My target pace for a long run is 9:53/mile. Last week, I went way too fast, because I was in a hurry to finish, so today I wanted to stay close to 9:53. Today's run was SO tough. All the confidence that I gained after last week's long run vanished after today's.

My body just didn't want to move today. I was running close to a 10:00/mi pace, but it felt so much harder. I didn't have anything to distract me from the fact that I was running, either. Last week, it went by so fast because there were cyclists throughout the whole path. Today, it was just me and my lonesome.

On the way out, I was facing away from the sun; and then when I turned around at mile seven, I was running into it. Something about the sun just drains all my energy, and I had a really tough time for the last half of the run. When I was at mile 10, some kid (probably 16 years old) came up behind me and just sprinted past me... while talking on a cell phone. Whatever shred of confidence I had left was just gone at that moment. I wanted to yell to him, "I'm on mile 10 of 14, how about you?!" Hahaha

I was SO glad that I'd decided to bring the Camelbak with me. For the last several miles, I was so thirsty that I was sucking down water every half-mile or so, and eventually every quarter-mile. My half-marathon split was 2:08, and from there, I thought, "I could just stop my watch here and then walk the rest of the way..." but I pushed myself to keep going. Finally, I saw my car, and was SO relieved. I sat down on a picnic table to catch my breath and relax for a minute before driving home.

Judging by my selfie, you'd think that I just had a great run! I should have by lying on the grass with my tongue lolling out of my mouth ;)

I had to go into Wal-Mart this afternoon for just a minute, and while I was there, the woman who had been in front of me in line recognized me from my blog! (Hi, Jessica!) I'm used to one or two people knowing me at a race, but very rarely when I'm out and about.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, which is just what I wanted :) My kids gave me a couple of handmade gifts from school, which I love. I told Jerry I didn't want a gift for Mother's Day, because I just got the Fitbit. But he got me something that I'm really excited about, even though a lot of women might be offended by it--the Aria scale that goes along with the Fitbit! It's a "smart scale" that automatically uploads my weight to my Fitbit account. I'll write more about that another time--this post is long enough.

I hope all you moms had a fantastic Mother's Day!

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First Marathon: A guest post by my sister!

I've written my version of Jeanie's first marathon, but it went SO well that I asked Jeanie to write a guest post about her experience. She only started running in late 2012, in order to support my first Virtual 5K in January 2013. Rather than quit after that, she kept increasing her distance to 10K, and half-marathon. I wrote a half-marathon training plan for her, and I was so excited that I got to go out to Rockford to surprise her and run her first half with her.

Jeanie completely trusted me with her training, which made things so much easier on ME--but I was still nervous about something going wrong, and it being my fault. As you read from my race report, her first marathon went flawlessly! She honestly made the whole thing look easy. 

Jeanie has truly transformed herself over the past year and a half through her running. She was never very overweight like I was, but she wanted to lose some weight and get in shape. Her running helped her drop the last pesky pounds, and she got hooked on it! She looks amazing!

Here, she's written about the race from her own point of view, and then she's listed all of her tips that she found helpful in creating an awesome first marathon. Enjoy!

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First off, I want to acknowledge that I would not have been as successful at this marathon if it weren't for my sister, Katie, or my husband, Shawn. I will get into the reason for saying that later on. There are a lot of different ways I could write this guest post, but I am going to try and keep it organized into two sections: the first being my marathon experience, and the second part being the advice I was given (and used) to complete my first marathon successfully. 

RACE DAY

I would highly recommend picking a race that has a relay option and asking some friends to run the relay with you while you run the marathon. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!  

My relay team was:
1. My best friend from Michigan, Audrey- ran 5.1
2. My best friend from Illinois, Jen - ran 6.1
3. My friend, Debbie- ran 4.4
4. My brother, Nathan- ran 5.3
5. My sister, Katie- ran 5.3

Left to right: Jen, Debbie, Audrey, me, Katie, and Nathan

They each agreed to run with me--not try to get me to run faster, but to keep me motivated.  I somewhat selected their race order because I knew I would need certain support during different times. For example, Audrey is very candid and has a way of making me laugh, even in a very tense situation. So waiting for the race to start, I needed her there. I knew Nathan was dressing up in a tutu, so I wanted him to run with me when I would be getting fatigued, near mile 17. And only Katie had completed a full marathon out of my relay team, so she was an obvious choice for runner number 5. 

When I arrived at the race, the lines for the bathroom were really long! Audrey and I got in line, but it became obvious fairly quickly that we would not have time to go before race time. This stressed me out a little bit, but I knew I couldn't spend time dwelling on it, so we just got in the corral.

We were able to locate the 4:40 pacer quickly--he was really tall! He said he usually paces at a faster finish time, so he planned to pace himself off of the 2:20 half-marathon pacer initially. The first few miles were pretty congested because the marathoners and half-marathoners were running the first nine miles together. Audrey and I stuck with the pacer, although I did have to stop and tie my shoes at mile four. Those first five miles flew by and soon we were approaching the exchange point. For some reason, this made me a little nervous... but excited. It was fun to have the loudest group cheering for me and holding up awesome signs! Audrey passed the race bib to Jen and we ran on.

Audrey and Nathan

Those next six miles also flew by. Before I knew it, we were at the second exchange point. I ran up to rest of the relay team to let them know I hadn't even started running yet! (Katie's friend mentioned at last year's race that marathoners "haven't even started running yet" at mile 10. At the time, I could not comprehend what she was saying; but I get it now. Your pace those first 10 miles should feel easy! Like you haven't even started the race yet.) My pace felt steady those first 11 miles. I stuck with the 4:40 pacer to prevent going out too fast and that worked great.

Jen passed the bib to Debbie, and we slowed the pace a little. Debbie runs closer to an 11:30 pace.  Debbie had spoken to me a few weeks before the race stating she didn't want to mess up my strategy by running slower and that she would back out of the race if I wanted her to. I assured her I wanted her there--I told her I only get ONE CHANCE to run my first marathon and I wanted a good experience more than anything else. Finish time was not important. (And Debbie even ended up running her fastest pace of 10:58 during her leg).

During that leg, I decided to use one of the port a potty's. I really didn't NEED to go, but mentally I kept thinking about how I didn't go at the start of the race, etc.  So, the first port a potty I tried had the green symbol on the door, indicating it was free. When I opened it, I found a lady sitting on the toilet.  I quickly apologized and kept running. The next port a potty was available, but as I reached for the handle, a lady walked over with an orange in her hand and said she was "in line". Okay, so we kept going.  Finally, the next one was actually available and I was able to make a quick pit stop. Debbie's leg was over and she passed the bib to Nathan, who was attracting a lot of attention in his tutu and headband.  

Finishing Debbie's leg

Nathan immediately told me we were two minutes behind the 4:40 pacer.  I let him know I was good running at the current pace and I didn't want to try and catch the pacer. At this point it became VERY WINDY (over 20 mph winds). And that particular leg was not very pretty. It was along the side of a road almost the entire time. Nathan offered to run in front of me to block the wind, but I told him no, and we just ran side by side.

There were several drivers who rolled down their window and yelled out to Nathan about his outfit.  That was fun. I was starting to get fatigued when I saw we would be changing directions. I was so relieved that I would not be running directly into the wind. However, when I turned the corner, I swear the wind direction changed and we were again running directly into it. I didn't worry about pace, but just focused on getting to the next water station (which I knew the locations because it was taped to my wrist cuff--more on this below), and ultimately, to the last exchange point.

Nathan about to hand off to Katie

I was very relieved when Katie starting running with me. I knew I only had 5 miles left and was going to finish. I felt pretty good overall, considering I was 21 miles into this race. My feet were getting tired, which surprised me. I never remember that happening during training. I kept thinking how good a foot massage would feel.

I told Katie my feet were tired and she said "Well, if you walk, that isn't going to change how your feet feel." So we kept at our pace. Katie was a great support, occasionally asking how I was doing but not pushing me past the pace that was comfortable for me. About a mile from the stadium, she said you could hear the announcer announcing the runners crossing the finish line. I took off my headphones, wrapped them around my wrist and listened to see how close we were.  

I remember asking Katie a few times, "How much farther?" My watch was about 0.3 off from the current location (due to weaving in/out of people, etc), but Katie's watch was accurate. I think I started to cry when we got into the stadium, but kept it together until after we crossed the finish line, holding hands and raising our other arm up in the air.  We had practiced this at mile 21--LOL, but true!  

It was amazing to cross the finish line, to see Shawn with flowers in his hands, and my family and friends on the sidelines. I can't even describe what the experience was like. I can't imagine anyone having a better first marathon than the one I had. It had nothing to do with my actual race time, but everything to do with the experience of 18 weeks of training coming to an end, surrounded by all the people I love.  AMAZING!!

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Here is some advice that, based on my experience, worked really well:

1. If you can afford to do so, make an appointment and get a runners' assessment done by an atheletic trainer or physical therapist. This was $99 in the area I live, and the trainer was able to make some corrections to my running form that I think had been contributing to a hamstring problem. Once I incorporated those corrections, my hamstring felt much better. If you can't afford the assessment then read about correct running form online or in a running magazine.

2. Read a marathon training book. I read Hal Higdon's marathon book (just a few pages at a time over several months) and learned a lot about how I should prepare myself both physically AND mentally for the race.

3.  Find someone who wants to talk about running with you. I found that it consumed a lot of my thoughts and time, and I wanted to talk about my splits, how I felt after runs, what I could do differently, etc. This is where Shawn and Katie were a huge part of my training. 

4. Tell your family and friends how much this means to you. If they are non runners, they will not have an appreciation for the effort you're going to be putting in. Ask them to call you once a week and ask you about your training. If you want them at the race, ask them! They won't be able to read your mind, so just ask.

5.  If it is not posted online, email the race director and ask at EXACTLY which mile markers will there be water, Gatorade, Gu, bathrooms, etc. Ask what flavor of Gatorade is being served. Then, when you practice your long runs, you can practice exactly what you will eat/drink on race day at exactly which mile marker. I did almost all of my long runs at the gym (yes, on the treadmill.. 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 mile long runs on the treadmill).  I taped an index card to the treadmill which listed listed the mile markers of water stations and what my plan was for that station. Then at each "water stop", I would hop off the treadmill and "walk through" each station and eat or drink whatever was scheduled.  This really helped me simulate the race course.

6.  Buy a wrist cuff (ie. wrist sweat band) and secure an index card to it with what you plan to eat and drink and at which mile marker. You can use this during your training if running outside, and on race day. My husband kept calling me Peyton Manning, but hey, it worked. This also helped me out a lot mentally during the race, because I could just glance down at my wrist and know how far it was to the next water station.

My wrist cuff, listing where each water station is located and
exactly what I will eat/drink at each station

7. Open up your shot blocks and place them in a small baggy to carry on race day (I used a SPI belt). That way they were easily accessible during the race.

8. If you need an extra energy source before you planned on taking it, then just take it early. I noticed I needed to this 2-3 times from mile 19-26.   

9. Drink water or Gatorade at every stop, even the very first water station. You won't feel like you need it, but walk through each station and drink something. You will never replace all the calories/hydration you will be using during the race, so stack the odds in your favor early.

10. Don't try and run and eat Gu or drink at the same time. More of it will end up on your shirt, hands, and face than in your mouth.

11. Don't set a time goal! Hal Higdon emphasizes this a lot for first time marathon runners. If you set a goal of 4:40 and came in at 4:42, you will feel disappointed! And you should feel elated that you just finished something that less than 1% of the population will even attempt.

12. On the other side of the coin, have a race day strategy. Maybe stick with a pacer so you don't start off too fast. Remember, you "haven't even started running yet" at mile 10. Your pace those first 10 miles should feel easy, like you haven't even started the race yet. Keep that in mind when planning your race day strategy,

13. Get to the race early enough to use the bathroom. The lines are very long!

14. Run a short distance before the race to see if you tied your shoes too lose or too tight. I didn't do this, and I immediately felt my shoes were too loose and had to stop and retie both of them. 

15.  If you can afford to do so, treat yourself to a massage every now and then during training.  Even the 15-30 minute massages offered at the mall are really helpful. If that is not in your budget, invest in a foam roller and use it after your runs. I found both the massages and the roller helpful with sore muscles.

16.  Read this Runners World article on how to PROPERLY carb load before the race.  I read and re-read that article several times in the weeks leading up the race so I knew how to properly fuel before the marathon. 

17. Celebrate when it's all over!

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Basketball game

Yesterday, it ended up getting up to about 90 degrees--that's 120 degrees hotter than it was on Eli's birthday in January! ;)  We went to the basketball game last night, and it ended up being a lot of fun! I didn't really know any details about the game other than what my brother, Nathan, told me. He called just a couple of hours before the game to tell me that I should take the kids.

The Fraternal Order of Police was playing a charity game against six players from the Detroit Lions football team. My kids like sports, so I knew they'd have fun. Nathan's friend was the one who organized the whole thing, and he asked Nathan to play on the FOP team.

We got there about a half hour before it started, so I could talk to Nathan before the game. There weren't a ton of people there, which was good--it felt hot in the gym. I didn't know this until I got there, but the main purpose of the event is to support special needs children. I saw a lot of people with special needs there to watch the game, and it made me wish that Mark was around, because he would have loved to go!

I can't tell you who the Lions players were, because even if the greatest football or basketball player of all-time came up to me and introduced himself, I still wouldn't know who he was (I hate sports!). But anyway, they introduced all the players, and then started the game. It was a very non-serious game, which actually made it very fun to watch! Any time the ball went out of bounds, it was always called against the Lions; the Lions randomly grabbed kids from the bleachers and brought them down to play for a minute; they really interacted with the kids a lot, which I liked.

All of the Lions' players were current players of the team, except for one man named Cory Schlesinger (I looked him up because I really liked him), who retired in 2009 (I think). He was my favorite part of the whole game--he was amazing in his interaction with kids. I wish I could hire him for a kids' birthday party or something ;)

Anyway, I tried to get some pictures of Nathan playing, but they all wound up looking like this:

My brother is the yellow blur in the middle of the other blurs, between the two blue blurs who are about twice as tall as he is ;) My iPhone doesn't do so well with action shots, as you can see.

Noah was really excited to get autographs from the Lions' players, who were really great about signing, and taking photos. He got five of their autographs during intermission, and was really hoping to get the last one before we left. Noah is VERY shy (I wonder where he gets that? ha) and he was really nervous to go up on his own and ask for an autograph. I told him he just needs to be bold and go ask, because the players were really nice. I was so proud of him when he did it!

I'm glad we ended up going to the game. The kids really enjoyed it, and I (surprisingly) did, too. I think it's awesome that the players were so great with the kids.

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This morning, it was already 70 degrees when I woke up. Lately, I've been preferring to run in the late morning, after I get the kids on the bus, eat breakfast, have a couple of cups of tea, respond to emails, etc. I'm probably going to have to start going first thing in the morning if it's going to be this warm outside, though.

I had a five-mile easy run on the schedule, and I headed out a little before 10:00. I did a run around the neighborhoods, and felt a little tired, but good.

I checked my Fitbit to see the accuracy of the distance. It was spot on today, showing that I ran five miles. Yesterday, it was off by about 0.6 miles (it showed that I ran 5.4 miles instead of 6). I think that was because I ran faster yesterday, and my stride was longer than today's easy run. Yesterday, my stride length was 1.07 meters, and today it was 0.97. I set my stride length on my Fitbit to be 1.0 meters for running (that's about average for me), so I think it's pretty accurate for the calibration I set it at. I like that you can input your stride length for walking and for running. I think that's why the Wii U Fit Meter was so inaccurate in distance; it counted all of my running as walking.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening reading my book tonight. I love it when I find a book that I get really into, and it's hard to put down. A lot of my reader suggested I try reading Harlan Coben, and I'm glad I did! I'm currently reading Hold Tight, and it has me hooked :)

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