Finally! A 2015 run.

Perfect winter running weather.  Surprisingly warm at 28 degrees.  I just could NOT let this opportunity pass me by.

Put in 1.5 miles.  Could have done more but I'm not really interested in pushing my luck after being pretty sedentary for the last month.  

Oh my gosh I'm so ready to run!

And now the after.

Super duper.

I saw a post last winter about putting Duct Tape on your running sneaks and I gave it a try.  Definitely much warmer!  And with all the new tape colors, they are oh so stylish as well.

Snazzy!

Enjoy the snow! Thank you for reading!

2014 !!! What a year for Mama K!

2014 was a big year for Mama K!

684.2 miles

18 races INCLUDING;

9 5Ks

4 4-milers

1 10K (my portion of a team marathon)

1 15K

1 Trail half marathon

1 Ragnar Relay

and

1 Marathon!

1 33rd Birthday 33 day running streak

3 pairs of running shoes

2 sticks of body glide

A bunch of new running accessories

and 10 toenails later...

 

What a year.  I'm really proud of myself.  Committing to running a marathon was a huge decision and it had a really big impact on how my year went.  It was terrific, focused and best of all; full of fun, friends and memories!

I liked my goals and how they helped to structure my year.

My first goal was to run 40 miles each month in order to not let myself drag into nothingness.  It worked!  I only missed my goal in two months.  The first month I missed the goal was June and that was from a overuse injury from the May marathon.  Then I missed by 7 miles in Dec. because while I had 4 days left to complete my goal (totally do-able) I became really sick.  Boo.  Otherwise great.

My second goal was to participate in at least one race/event each month.  I made this goal as well.  In the cool months I only participated in one race each month, but in the summer I had up to 3 events in a month.  I'm also really pleased that I was able to participate in so many different events.  Basic 5Ks and cold weather 4-milers, color runs, some charity events, a team relay, a Ragnar Relay, a trail half marathon and a marathon.  Wow.  It was awesome!

I know it's February and that I have already missed an entire month of running this year.  All I can say is oooops.  I'm not going to dwell on it.  I'm going to move on and do some more fun stuff and just keep on doing what makes me feel happy and well.  (you should all do the same!)

As always, Thank You for reading!  Have a great rest of the week!  Do something amazing this year.  There is still plenty of time!

The December Recap

Oh man am I behind.  It's February and I haven't even told you about December... Oooops!

I've gotten off track.  I'll jump the gun on January and tell you that I didn't run even 1 mile in that entire month.  Never got my gear on and decided not to go.  Nothing.  Sometimes when you fall off the band wagon you just lay there under the wagon for a while until you pull yourself back together.  Sometimes it takes a month.

Back to December!

Goal 1:  Run 40 miles/month.  I missed it!  I was SO close and then I got really really sick the last 4 days of December and I just didn't make those last 7 miles.  I thought for sure I had it in the bag.  I was dreaming about the brilliant post I would make about my month and then my year and then we just all fell apart.  The kids were sick and when they weren't sick I was sick from what they had.  Darren had a fever for like 4 days.  Believe me it like longer.  He didn't sleep very much for those 4 days, and therefore Mommy didn't either.  But I did manage to push out 33 miles despite being pretty busy with Christmas festivities.  I used to be a perfectionist, but as a mom and as I've gotten older I've gotten so that I can accept best efforts.  I know that I really was trying hard to juggle all of the things I needed to do in Dec. and still get my running in so I'm not too disappointed.

Goal 2: Run a race each month.  I ran the first of the 4 race Frozen Foote series in Canton on Dec. 13th.  It'a s a 4 month series race that I also ran last winter.  Last winter I missed the Dec. race but ran the Jan., Feb., and March races. It's an almost 4 mile out and back race with some gentle rolling hills.  It wasn't easy for me.  I hadn't been running outside and it's not so easy to figure what to wear when it's 15 degrees out when you have been running on your treadmill in your not really heated (but warmer than outside) garage.  I didn't walk at all though and I kept a pretty good pace -for me.  It seems to me that only really awesome runners do these things.  I don't think I'm that pathetically slow, but I'm always at the back of the pack.  Oh well!

Here are the stats from the run:
 
First mile: 9:51 min/mile
Second mile: 10:20 min/mile
Third mile: 10:08 min/mile
Fourth mile: 10:16 min/mile

A 10:10 overall pace isn't too bad I don't think.

Last year, my first run in Jan. 2014 was an 11:56 pace (and by the third one in March 2014 I was super proud to get down to a 9:51), so yup, 10:10 isn't bad!

Here's to getting back into the swing of things!  Happy 2015!