Lady Track Shack - making a comeback!

The Lady Track Shack 5K is one of my favorite races of the year! Lu, Maddy and I registered months ago to celebrate our comeback after Lu's baby, and Maddy's first 5K - together! It all felt like a bit of a fantasy after a whole year of not racing but I completed my Couch to 5K training on schedule and managed to complete a couple of practice runs. I laughed my head off when I saw the email that Track Shack sent out this week to promote their next event...

I thought it was one of those clever personalized emails until I got a whole bunch of texts from people who got it too. How hilarious!

On the big day I felt really nervous and out of sorts but ready to try a race again. It felt so strange to get ready at 5 a.m. when it was still dark and I was thrilled that Maddy decided to come (I wouldn't have blamed her if she had wanted to stay in bed!) and Lu pulled off the small miracle it takes to leave a 2 month old princess and get out of the house!!

The T-shirts and tutus were so cute and it felt really great to be among 2,700 amazing pink ladies running to provide free mammograms within our community:) And to be back with Lu was really special - we took a million pictures just like the good old days!

And with Maddy too this time!!!

 I have waited so long to share a day like this with my baby...

The weather couldn't have been more perfect and I managed to run (slowly) the whole way just like I had planned. We had beautiful medals at the end and I was super happy with my performance:)

But Maddy stole the show and managed to pull in a sub-40 minute 5K without trying or training!  We were all really proud of ourselves and each other!

What an amazing day!!! Now I need to take my own advice (!) and "Stay Motivated" - it's going to be a great year!

Back to Basics in 2015!

Happy New Year to you all! A fresh, new start to a lovely, perfect, unspoiled new year is one of my favorite times of the year. It's a time to set new goals, dream a little and start over. I love it and it's exactly what I need to kick start my activity levels right now. 2014 was disappointing from a running perspective:(. I'm not going to go over all of the goals I missed for a change - I didn't do so badly in all areas and I've decided to just be kind to myself and look forward instead :). I am very happy to say that I did manage to end the year much more committed than I started it, and I've been running regularly again lately and am nearing completion of the Couch-to-5K program! I feel super proud of the training plan on the fridge with sessions actually crossed off to schedule!

I'm not sure that these goals won't change but feel like I should write them down anyhow so here goes for 2015...

1. Work out more often (3 times a week at least)
2 12 events
3. Any of the following: 10K, sprint tri, bike 25 miles
4. Increase my walking
5. Lose 15 lbs!

 

These seem to be in line with where I am at right now and I know how to do this so it's time to get back to basics and make it happen! Happy New Year!

Running Gadgets

I have been following another blog written by a lady who is doing the fabulous Couch to 5K (http://www.c25k.com/) program. Apparently there is an iphone app now and she loves it! Here are some of the things that she said on her blog:

The Couch to 5k (aka: c25k) app will ease you into running a 5k in 9 weeks! It is designed to be 3, 30 minute workouts a week, so it is easy to fit into your busy schedules. It’s a really easy app to use too. It integrates with the music you already have on your iPhone, iTouch, or Droid, so you can listen to it as you workout. It tells you when to start walking, running, and when to turnaround at your half way point too. All you have to do is get off the couch and get moving!

Each workout is timed, and it will alert you when you are at your halfway point. It gives you a warm up period and a cool down time too. You can record your workout history and update your results to Facebook (if you want it too).

I don't have an iphone but I thought this was a genius gadget. Two of my friends have bought the Garmin Forerunner GPS watches too and both love them. Think I'll treat myself to something when I've made some more progress - a nice little reward for myself to look forward to :).