Auntie Em Goes Running

Frosty 5K

Previous MonthRecent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesAuntieem's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewYear View
Graph View
Next Month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
200920102011
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Member Since:

Jun 03, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PRs:

MacDash Duathlon, Sept. 10, 2011.  1:29:48.  Second woman overall, third racer overall, and first in AG.  

Mt. Ranier Duathlon, May 1, 2011.  3:05:00, 1st in age group.  5.1 mile run, 28 mile bike ride, 3.78 mile run.

5K:  Fun With the Fuzz, April 23, 2011.  21:59,  1st in age group.

Marathon:  Paris, April 10, 2011.  4:05:24.  

1/2 marathon:  Geoduck Gallop, February 2011.  1:42:23, 1st in age group.

Waterfront 15K (September 2010), 1:14:43.  3rd in AG.

Lake Padden Duathlon (July 2010), 1:36:something.  1st in AG .

10K:  Smelt Run, La Conner (2010)  47:14.  2nd in AG. 

I have fun every time I run, and have recently overcome the "I can't go fast anymore" hurdle.  I'm having fun going faster and working towards becoming even faster.  

I have raised two running children, one competitive and one not.

I have learned to run in ice and snow and I don't complain. 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Work towards a faster marathon by Spring 2012.

Get my 5K down to 21:30. 

Place in my division at duathlon and triathlon.

Train for biathlon.



 




 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Joining Forrest Gump


 

Personal:

I'm a 52 year old mom of two ex homeschooled teenagers. They both think I'm nuts.

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Bike Shoes Lifetime Miles: 2225.45
Pearl Izumi Trail Shoe Lifetime Miles: 139.33
Marathon Shoe Lifetime Miles: 244.33
Blue Brooks Launch Lifetime Miles: 223.68
Mean Green Shoe Lifetime Miles: 318.72
Blue Kinvaras Lifetime Miles: 207.12
Brooks Defyance Lifetime Miles: 361.34
New Kinvara Lifetime Miles: 275.90
Hattoris Lifetime Miles: 41.29
Addidas Lifetime Miles: 168.97
Nike Vortex Shoe Lifetime Miles: 64.50
Orange Newton Lifetime Miles: 36.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
105.080.008.6111.0533.20157.94
Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 22.81Mean Green Shoe Miles: 64.04Saucony Treadmill Shoe Miles: 8.69Pearl Izumi Trail Shoe Miles: 15.30Brooks ST Something Miles: 7.60
Night Sleep Time: 221.60Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 221.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.350.001.360.003.0010.71

Very complicated workout this morning; it happened in this big blur - on and off the bike, in and out the door for the running bits, changing shoes each time, oh, yeah, with lunges, squats, burpees, planks, crunches and push ups in between the bits.  Good thing I did that before I was fully awake, or it would have been confusing.

PM run - easy 4.6 with some girlfriends on the trails.  

 

Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 3.11Mean Green Shoe Miles: 4.60
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

No running today.  I had yoga early in the morning, went right to the pool and did my swim practice, which consists of drills, not real swimming.  It is really fun, though, and the 45 minutes just flies by.  Can't wait until the next practice!  

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 6.20
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Went skiing!  Couldn't resist; it was beautiful and sunny, with a few new inches of snow.  Very cold.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Race: Frosty 5K (3.1 Miles) 00:22:58, Place overall: 16, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.200.000.003.600.006.80

I just decided at the last minute to run this race.  I just needed a race!  It has been so long since I've raced, and unfortunately, it has been way too long since I did any speed work.  But, I've been doing strides pain free for a week now, and I just decided to take this one nice and easy, focus on form, and be chill and relaxed about it.

It was my perfect running weather:  32 degrees, and dryish cold air.  No rain, no wind.  The course begins and ends at a park.  All the elevation gain is in the first 1.25 miles, beginning with a 1/2 mile gentle uphill along Chuckanut Drive, then, at the 1 mile mark, a series of steep switchbacks taking the course onto the interurban trail.  Luckily, the switchback section happened early in the race when I still had some adrenaline. From there, the course cruises slightly downhill for about a mile and ends with 3/4 of a mile of flat, back to the park.  

Mile one I just focused on relaxing and breathing evenly (7:24).  Mile two began with the switchbacks, and they felt pretty easy, but slowed me a bit (7:38).  Mile three was just a cruise on to the finish line.  I still felt pretty relaxed, with good form, and might have pushed it a bit harder if I had been looking at my watch (7:17).  I am very happy that this last mile was my fastest! 

This race was so relaxed that I actually had conversations with people during the race!  That's a first for me.  My friend Dan came up behind me at the top of the switchbacks, we chatted a few minutes, and then he sort of loped on ahead, looking very casual indeed.  For a moment, I thought we were all just out jogging, then I realized that he just made it LOOK like jogging.  I didn't try to catch up.  

No pain whatsoever!  There is really no doubt that my hamstring healed while I was not noticing too much; I think the swimming helped.  Now I am ready to get some speedwork under my belt again and get some better times.  I am SO HAPPY to be racing again!

Since I can't get up to the mountain to ski this afternoon, I am going to do tomorrow's swimming workout this afternoon, and ski all day Sunday.



Mean Green Shoe Miles: 6.80
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.006.506.50

After yesterday's race and swim practice, I rushed up to the mountain, so that I could spend my Sunday skiing.  Snow is actually getting pretty good, not so many rocks and stuff.  Still have to dodge snowboarders, though.  Luckily, I am faster than most of 'em.  

I downhill skied all morning, which is hardly enough exercise to keep warm, unless you hike instead of using the lifts.  Then I had lunch and switched out for my new skate skiing gear.  Skate skiing counts as crosstraining!  I did this for about an hour and forty five minutes, up and down a groomed road here at the mountain.  Its not ideal skate skiing territory, but good enough.  There is a steady skate up for about a mile, then back down (and up again, etc.).  Gave me a chance to try and remember everything I know about skate skiing, which is not very darn much.  I think I'll need a lesson, but it was a good workout!

Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Tired, tired, tired  today.  Taking a much needed day off.  I went to yoga, thinking maybe I didn't even want to do yoga, but it turned out to be "restorative yoga"!  Perfect.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.240.000.000.000.004.24

Easy run, through Whacom Falls Park.  No plans, no goals.

Onwards to swimming for 40 minutes.  I am starting to really look forward to these pool sessions, seriously!  The water feels so comforting, and I think the chlorine makes my itchy skin better.  I guess chlorine is actually good for me.  

Busy day; my youngest chick turns 18 today, and I've got a lot of cooking to do.  I feel kinda old.

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 4.24
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.200.000.001.750.004.95

Track workout.  Warm up, 2X800 at I pace, then 5X200 at R pace.  Its been so long since I did a track workout that I could barely remember my paces, and I screwed  up and did the 800s at the same pace as the 200s, because I did the math wrong!  So, 800s were at 6:26 and 6:28 mile paces.  200s were: .43, .47, .49, .51, .50.  

The weather last night was rather hideous:  not cold, around 48 degrees, but absolutely torrential rain!  Raining so hard that huge puddles formed on the track, and the infield was a soggy mess.  The ground just could not soak it up fast enough.  It is really pretty fun to run in hard rain, once you are all wet; it was only miserable afterwards.  

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 4.95
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.600.001.300.003.207.10

A combo workout:  wu on the indoor bike, some weight exercises, some easy running, then more weight exercises, bike intervals, more weight exercises, running intervals, and a bike cool down.  Tiring on the legs, and many changes of shoes are required.  Kinda fun though.

Saucony Treadmill Shoe Miles: 3.90
Night Sleep Time: 6.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.50
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Day off to enjoy the freshly fallen Baker PowWow on the mountain!  We gotta' race up there and get it when it happens; it doesn't last long!  Ripped it up until my quads were about to melt right off of my legs (and that would look really strange in my running shorts).  

 

Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.000.000.000.000.007.00

Today was the 5K event that I've been training my Girls on the Run group for.  Very exciting day for these girls.  They each have a "running buddy" to run with, a family member or friend, or, in some cases, one of us coaches.  In addition, a lot of people from the community come out to run with us, often in costumes.  The course this year was along Bellingham's beautiful South Bay Trail, an out and back.  I was the running buddy for one of the girls that I have coached.  I knew she could sprint, but really had no idea if she could run for an entire 5K, since in our practices, they often take walking breaks.  This is a non competitive event, but my little runner wanted to dart in and out in the beginning and get up in the front of the pack!  I told her I would match HER pace the whole way, and helped her get up to the front.  Well, she finished like third girl in the whole run - totally impressive.  The last 1/2 mile, she said "this is where I feel like quitting", so I encouraged her to do what she could, and she actually sprinted the finish!  Fun run - and in under 27 minutes too!   Really a rewarding day.

After the little celebration party for the girls, I did my own little run, back out along the South Bay Trail.

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 7.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.003.500.000.007.50

Epic run.  Flood warnings all around our county, so we decided on a mountain run in the Chuckanuts!  Torrential rains, plenty of mud, water rising over trails in many places.  Spectacular waterfalls!  Crazy but fun.  The climb up into Fragrance Lake is over 2000 feet elevation gain in two miles.  My goal is to run slowly enough that I don't have to walk the final few steep switchbacks.  Made it to mile 1.75 today.  From there, the trail undulates around a small lake (we run around it several times), then ascends to a ridge line and undulates along the ridge for a couple of miles before dropping steeply back to the main interurban trail.  From there it is just over a mile of flat, fast finish.  A relatively short run packed with adventure.

Pearl Izumi Trail Shoe Miles: 7.50
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.790.000.000.000.004.79

Short run before daylight in Whatcom Falls with buddy Pat.  We started at 6:00; by 7:00, after I had finished post run drills and driven home, there was hail and thunder and lightning.  We finished barely in time to avoid it!  Exciting.

I did a 40 minute swimming practice, and then went on a 5 mile hike with my Dad and his dog, Allie.  Intermittent wind and rain all day, no sunshine at all.

Very tired now.


Saucony Treadmill Shoe Miles: 4.79
Night Sleep Time: 5.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 5.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.001.251.600.005.85

Nice hike today with my Dad and his dog.  My Dad is 78 and he walks fast like me!  I'm thinking that this is a good thing.  There was NO RAIN today.  To go outside and not get wet felt just strange.

Evening track workout.  About 30 people were there, wow!  Last week, when it was absolutely pissing rain, about 10 of us were there.  Hmm....

Anyway, wu, with dynamic stretches, jogging, and strides.  I added some drills, because I still need them!  Then 2X1000 at tempo pace, 2X800 at interval pace, and finally, 4X200 at repetition pace.  Dynamic cool down with a couple laps of jogging.  Super fun workout; last week was my first track workout since injury, and it was a short workout and kind of hard.  This week, a decent workout and I felt absolutely great!  Wish it were more, but it is a start, and my paces are right where they should be.


 

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 5.85
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.007.507.50

Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.600.000.000.000.004.60

A little running and a bit of roller ski training in the street.  Love the roller skis!

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 4.60
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.700.000.000.000.003.70

Drills, a little very slow jogging, more drills, and strides.

Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 3.70
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Race: 12ks of christmas (3.1 Miles) 00:24:24, Place overall: 14, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.200.000.003.100.006.30

Drove down to Seattle for this one (Kirkland actually).  The weather was a real treat; several degrees warmer than Bellingham, about 35, and SUNNY!  Could not believe how many people were running in holiday costumes!  Dogs too.

I didn't feel "on" from the get go this morning; been fighting a cold, and kind of low energy.  Warm up was good; left quad tight from the car ride, but I got it worked out.   The first mile was a long uphill, then a downhill, then a flat section along the lake to the slightly downhill finish.  In the end, I was passed by a 15 or 16 year old boy in elf ears and a green hat, who tried so hard to beat me!  It was very funny when he blew by me.  My husband was waiting for me, and he said "looks like you got your butt kicked by an elf". 

We waited around forever for awards, and it was cold, and I forgot warmer socks, so we sat at a really good coffee shop for awhile and then walked around Kirkland.  It was sort of stupid to wait all that time for a silly ribbon. 

Since we had driven all the way down to Seattle, we had lunch and did some shopping before heading home.  Tomorrow I've got to be in town for some meetings, then its back to the mountain, hopefully until New Year's!

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 6.30
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Comments(9)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.200.000.000.005.009.20

Easy jog and a little biking (indoors).

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 4.20
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

Backcountry ski day!  I did a little run first, although it really is not necessary.  Backcountry is a workout in itself.  I don't count it as crosstraining, though, just because.  We skinned up to ascents and did two beautiful descents in surprisingly good powder.  It is supposed to warm up and be wet tomorrow, so good to get the hiking in today!

Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 3.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
5.800.000.000.000.005.80

Trails and mud.

Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 5.80
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.200.000.000.004.0010.20

Easy jog and then some downhill skiing and an hour and a half of skate skiing!  I am really loving this skating; its a great substitute for running (even better than classic XC), and it is so beautiful to be out on the trails!

Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.500.000.000.000.004.50

Epic, muddy, wet, technical and cold trail run with my son.  He is an absolute beast these days, and there is no way I can keep up!  We wore our matching bright orange saucony jackets.  Good Christmas!

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 4.20
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.600.000.000.004.0011.60

A little skate skiing and a long run in the woods.  It was an hour and 45 minutes, but only 7.6 miles!  Sometimes it is better to not look at mileage on these trail runs.  Its not frozen here at the cabin (we are only at 1000 feet in Glacier), and still quite muddy.  Also raining quite hard.  It felt nice to get back to the cabin and get in the sauna!

Brooks ST Something Miles: 7.60
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Hmmm... I have no memory of doing anything at all this day.. And my notes are blank. 

Day off?

Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Another backcountry ski day; lots of hiking; no running.

Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.800.001.201.000.007.00

A speed workout, of sorts.  Kind of hard to do on muddy trails; I tried to pick relatively flat dry spots for the VO2 max bits.

 Lift assisted downhill skiing in the afternoon.

 

Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 7.20
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
5.100.000.000.000.005.10

Came in to Bellingham to swim and go to track workout.  We did a 5K time trial; track was so icy on the corners I found it rather scary.

Mean Green Shoe Miles: 5.10
Night Sleep Time: 7.60Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.60
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

I've been missing from the blog so long that I am daunted by the prospect of filling in all the training miles and minutes while I've been gone!  Suffice to say I've been running, skating, swimming and skiing ALOT, but away from internet land.  Today is a day off, only some strength and stretching stuff.

I hope everyone in blogland is still enjoying the holiday season!  I know I still am, although from home now, so the regular routine is restored.  We have crisply cold and sunny weather here today; a rarity for us in winter.  The sun feels heavenly!

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.800.000.000.000.007.80

Celebrated New Years Eve with a bunch of women; we ran the Chuckanuts, some of my favorite trails.  Steep and icy, very cold.  23 degrees at the start, and undoubtedly a few degrees colder at the top of the mountain.  The lake was frozen!  Beautiful run.

I skedaddled home and straight up to the XC trails on the mountain.  They groom on Fridays and I wanted to skate while the track was fresh.  Started out at 21 degrees, but by the time I finished at 5:00, the sun had gone, and temperatures had dropped to 12 degrees!  Several key parts felt quite cold.  This colder weather is a real treat for us here on the West side of Washington; it just doesn't happen very often at all!

Pearl Izumi Trail Shoe Miles: 7.80
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
105.080.008.6111.0533.20157.94
Blue Brooks Launch Miles: 22.81Mean Green Shoe Miles: 64.04Saucony Treadmill Shoe Miles: 8.69Pearl Izumi Trail Shoe Miles: 15.30Brooks ST Something Miles: 7.60
Night Sleep Time: 221.60Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 221.60
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: