That Feaster Five Thing

Pre-race packet pick-up for the win

Ayyyy all our good plans for the Feaster Five Thanksgiving 5k went out the window when a cold steady rain decided to hit our drought riddled state on Thanksgiving morning. Chip had been beating back a cold earlier in the week, and driving an hour north to Andover to run in the rain was not appealing to him. So instead, we decided to pivot and run a Virtual Feaster the following day, Friday November 29th, instead.

Except that didn't go as planned, either. Chip, (who is training for a triathlon with his friends sometime in the undetermined future), chose to sleep in the next day... promising to run with me when he returns home in December for his Christmas break. Lol.

(Note: I haven't gone on a run since November 29th, so that's not happening either.)

My renamed Virtual Feaster Five was done alone -- a rail trail out and back, a bit short of the full 5k, but it felt good. Unfortunately, life has gotten hectic since the holiday and all good intentions have gone off the rails. Maybe 2025 will bring another running re-set.

Virtual Feaster 5K, rail trail edition

Cinco de NoNo

5K Cinco de Mayo QuaranTeam Virtual Run

Ohhhh dearie me, I made a big mistake. With gyms closed for the State's coronavirus shutdown, I joined B&S Fitness for online Zoom bootcamp the last week in April. Lila is doing it as well, and it's been great getting back into a regular workout routine with one of my favorite trainers, Betsy Caliri. (I've taken bootcamp with Betsy before and she's awesome.) I saw that other B&S athletes were participating in Ashley's QuarranTeam Challenge, (raising money for several local charities), and I signed up as well.

The virtual 5 mile/5K/5min plank Challenge (choice of, not all three combined) seemed doable to me. I suffered a sore knee a few weeks ago after my first run since taking a sheltering-break -- because I jumped the gun and took on too much at once -- so my plan was to run/walk the 5K in intervals. I figured that would be the best way to do it.

I was soooo freaking wrong.

I started feeling some pain around a mile in, so walked a little more than ran. At two miles, the pain was a little stronger, but I only had a mile to go, right?! So I continued on alternating run/walk intervals. I was sore a few hours later, but didn't think much of it.

Until my knee swelled up like a balloon. The pain was intense. Ice, Tylenol, rest, elevation... I've been doing it all for a week now and it's still bad. For several days after my run I could barely walk and the pain would wake me up at night. The swelling subsided a few days ago, and I'm moving a little better, but damn.

I really messed up.

Run, not walk

Running dates with Mike and Chip

Despite little snow on the ground, I've been cycling a lot less than previous winters to make room for running. Honestly, I don't know how my squad trains for triathlons season after season because doing a brick workout, (in this case, run and bike), on the same day exhausts me. I can't say I've been lazy this winter, but I have been tired. Mike and I have had weekend running dates since last Fall, and there are times when I want to skip the run before he motivates me to head to the track anyway -- as long as it's above 35 degrees. That's my threshold and I'm sticking to it! On a few occasions, Chip has joined me.

It was exactly a year ago that I stepped up my running game to train for Alaska, and it took me four months to be able to run beyond a 10K. I don't have any run or cycling events on my calendar this year, but will start filling that in soon. It's always helpful to have targets.

Run cool down at the beach. Cold.

Turkey Chase 5K

22 degrees is too cold for this

Post-run coffee and cool down-warm up

OMG it it took a lot of effort to head to Danvers at 7 a.m. for the Turkey Chase 5k in sub-freezing temps. It’s much too cold. While I should have been able to run the full 5K had I stuck to the original C25K training schedule I’m following,  I’m only now into week 5 (not 8) of my training plan. I’ve repeated a few weeks. It’s been a slow and steady rebuild since October.

The race went well — I followed my scheduled workout (8 min run, 5 min walk, repeat) for the first half+, and then ran with a friend of KHaff’s (Pam M.) for the second half. Pam was also doing run/walk intervals, 90/90, so that worked out well and I enjoyed her company.

Back at the finish, I met up with friends for some coffee and finish line festivities. Judy placed first in her age division and got a medal. Yay! Fun morning and I’m glad I got out of bed.

Irony is finding wild turkeys roaming near home after
 running the Turkey Chase 5K

That time we ran a 5k together

Family run squad

The Winter Classic 5K
Mike, back in run action... 

Donna's first 5K walk/run... 

and Chip beating us all. 

Sisters!

Mike and Chip, ready to go

The Winter Classic, December 6th

Nutty Irish 5K Cocoa Run....err... Snowshoe Walk

My Nutty Irish 5k did not go quite as planned. I knew I wasn't quite ready for the full run on the challenging course, but I planned to run/walk it, which was a suggestion from my friend Julie Haynes. Her idea was for me to go out and get that first 5k done and out of the way, and then have something to improve upon from there -- mentioning I'd set a PR the second time out. For crazy reasons I liked that plan. :)

Well... obviously my plan was derailed.

Since I didn't get the MRI results on Friday, I took a PTs advice and didn't run. She mentioned that the swinging motion of my arms while running, plus the impact from the ground up, could damage the shoulder further -- and until I got clearance from the MD, I should just relax and not make things worse.

But I woke up Saturday bored... and discouraged... and as the clock ticked closer to 10am I was getting antsy. OMG. I couldn't stand it!! I decided that if I couldn't run the 5k, I could at least walk it with minimal arm movement. So I threw on some winter gear, (because of course it was snowing), grabbed my snowshoes, and headed off to the golf course where the run was taking place. (Yes, it's completely covered in snow.)

I was a little late to the start, but got an encouraging send off from Michelle and Julie, who were volunteering. (Yaaaay, friends!!) I only did one loop of the two loop course, because it took me 30 minutes to snowshoe 1.75 miles. But it was at least something. I got to see Chris Crowley wearing a kilt (so awesome) and enjoyed hot chocolate with Bailey's at the end. So, not quite what I had in mind for my first 5k, but all was not lost and it was a pretty great morning. Good to get out there.

Spring Melt, Finally

Aw geez, I feel weak! I'm back to doing weights and core work with Keli and Christine, but arm and shoulder soreness is holding me back. (It's been persistant since I landed on the pavement a few weeks ago.) This week I got out on the bike mid-week, (on the MTB), and also headed to the Y for a few workouts, but I took it kinda slow all week. A friend sent me an article about the inevitable decline in athletic performance after a certain age... and I'm at that age... so that was depressing.

On the plus side, we had spring-like weather early in the week and I got in a ride that didn't require bundling up like the kid in A Christmas Story. It was wet and messy, and the melting snow has uncovered massive potholes, (and I caught a glimpse of a curb!), but it was good to get out for a spin. Cold air is back, but at least we've had the promise of Spring.

The 5k I signed up for, The Nutty Irish 5K Cocoa Run, (which all of my girlfriends are ditching), is just 8 days away. I have not been running -- which is actually the least of my concerns, because I can always run/walk and that's fine -- but the race is on a golf course currently buried in snow. It's going to be a muddy mess and... OMG... I don't want to ruin my new running shoes!!! (For real.)

Gotta think long and hard about this one.