A 10k Race and A New Nephew

The past week has had its ups and downs. Mostly they have been ups, but there have been a few moments of downs. Most of these were when I thought about the Polar Dash 10k which was this past Saturday. The past two weeks we have had massive amounts of snow, then negative forty degree windchills which highs in the negative twenties then rain and forty degree weather. This drastic weather change caused massive sinus issues for me. I was functioning but not at the normal 100% that I had been before the holidays. On Thursday of last week, my parents and my brother in law were would of town. Parents on a fun hunting trip and brother in law on a work trip. The fear for the weekend with them out of town was that my sister would go into labor. Luckily this did not happen. Her baby was just not ready to come out into the big, scary world just yet.

This past Saturday was the Polar Dash which is sponsored by Team Ortho. This is the first of four races that Team Ortho sponsors in Chicago. I thought when I signed up for this race, I would be ready to run and I would be in full training mode, which would make a 10k easy no matter what the conditions were on race day. Well, race day came after forty degree weather and melting snow and ice. I signed up for the Polar Dash after a friend convinced me to about two months ago. At the time, it sounded like a great idea. The path was icy in spots, wet most of the place and kinda slippery. I was more successful than I thought I would be. I did not have any true expectations for this race knowing that I had not run since Thanksgiving. Sure, I had a three mile run here or there, but it was nothing serious or consistent. The advantage I feel I had was from having the training schedule of three times a week lifting with a trainer. I attribute the amount of time I actually ran to being consistent with my lifting. Hey, its better than nothing. About mile 4, after the turn around and on the way back to the finish my ankle started to flare. I was currently at about a 12:30 min mile pace, which I was happy with. I had some faster miles and some slower miles, mostly because of the ice and puddles. After my ankle started to flare up, I saw the lady I signed up with. I decided that I would run/walk with her to kinda give my ankle a rest and to keep myself from pushing too hard and side lining myself. Well, for as tough as my run was, the lady I ran with set a PR for a 10k race. I am so proud of her because it was a goal for her to break a 15 min mile and she killed it. You can see in the below picture from after the race that she is beaming from crushing her goal.

As we pull into the garage to park before the race I get a call from my little brother telling me that my sister in law's water broke and they were at the hospital waiting to go to labor and delivery. At about 10:45 as we are about a mile from the finish, I get a text from my brother that my sister in law was expected to have the baby about 1:00pm that day. We got changed after the race, dropped my brother's car off at his office and back to the hospital about 45 minutes before my nephew was born. Thankfully, the lady I was with for the race didnt mind sitting in a waiting room till the baby was born. My nephew was born at 12:21 on Saturday afternoon. After meeting Clark Roscoe, we headed out of the city. I got to spend some time with my brother and sister in law on Sunday before the rest of my family came into the city. It was really awesome to have a few hours to just hold my nephew and catch up with my little brother.

Meet Clark Roscoe born on Saturday, January 11th at 12:21 pm. I am so excited to spoil this little guy as much as possible. Having met Clark, I cannot wait to meet my sister's soon to be born son as well. Two new nephews in a very short time span. . . What more could I ask for?

Today I decided to figure out how many and which races I have signed up for. It ends up that I have run one 10k already and am signed up for 6 more races with the possibility of three more. Currently I am signed up for:

Polar Dash 10k - Jan 11th 
Get Lucky 7K - March 19th (4.34 miles) 
Shamrock Shuffle 8k - March 30th (4.96 miles) 
Soldier Field 10 Miler - May 24th 
 Rock n Roll Half - July 20th
 Fort 2 Base 5k- August 24th 
Women's Rock 10K - September 20th
Monster Dash Half - October 19th
Hot Chocolate 15k - November 2nd

With these three that I am most likely going to register for just havent yet:

Illinois Marathon 10k - April 26th
Fort 2 Base 5k- August 24th
Hot Chocolate 15k - November 2nd 

I love the fact that I have for once planned my race schedule for the year out. I would love one race a month for the year, but as of right now, I am missing February, June and December. If it doesn't happen that way, it is okay in my mind since this will be the most races I have done in a year time span. I am still considering running a full marathon, but not this year. This year I am focusing on myself and my base mileage and will decide next year. I have thought a lot about this and think I will build the base in 2014 then start training in January of 2015 knowing that as the months go by and we get closer to October, when the Chicago Marathon is run, I can sign up if that is really something I want to do. Having these races already planned really helps me to focus on my running, training and eating options to become the best me I can be. 

Running as an Outlet

Running is something that I have learned to love. It makes me feel like I am on top of the world with no real reason to feel anything but amazing. Running lets me do things that other people either dont want to or believe they cant. Everyone can run . . . it is a constant internal battle to find the motivation and desire to keep going. I was at a party for friends of ours and everyone asked how I lost the weight. For me, its running and lifting that have made the biggest difference.

I started running a year and a half ago because my trainer believe it would be a good goal to complete a half marathon since the scale moving and smaller clothes size was not motivating me anymore. It was so hard at first, I can't lie. I had about sixteen weeks to train for Rock 'N' Roll half in July of 2012. I could not get through a long run without crying for whatever the reason may be. I finally ran an eight mile run and walked into the gym to stretch, shower and change for work. When I walked into the gym, my trainer asked how it went. My response was that it was the first long run I didnt have to walk for any part of and it was the first long run that I didnt cry at any time during. It was a huge accomplishment and even during the tough runs now, I hold onto that feeling.

Since I started running in April of 2012, I have run multiple 5k's, 10k's and three half marathons. I ran Rock n Roll in July 2012, Rockford Half in May 2013 and Rock n Roll in July 2013. These are the biggest accomplishments I have had with my races. Each half has gotten a little bit faster. This year the goal for Rock n Roll in July 2014 is to break a 2:30 half marathon. I have never been a runner. I hated every minute of running, but now I find myself craving an hour outside by myself to sort out my thoughts. I honestly feel myself craving a run when things are hectic or chaotic or just stressful. Running has become an outlet for me that I never want to lose.

The most frustrating part of running is the sprained ankles for me. I rolled my right ankle at mile 9 during Rockford Half last year. This took the eight weeks I had between Rockford and Rock n Roll down to only four weeks of running, after two weeks of nothing and two weeks on the bike. This was one of the hardest things for me since I was looking forward to Rock n Roll. I was still faster than at Rockford, but not as much as I wanted to be. It was a learned lesson for me to pay more attention to my surroundings and be aware of what I am doing while running. I have gotten into the habit of letting my brain shut down while running. I have since learned that no matter how much I have on my mind, I still need to focus on my form and my footings and my surroundings.

The past year and a half have taught me that I am capable of anything I put my mind to given enough time and the right coach. Sometimes I forget these details and doubt the training or the plan but I know deep down that as long as I trust the plan, I will be fine and ready and successful. It has been hard to trust the plan because it is not a plan I have created. It is usually a plan that was designed by my old trainer and as much as I trusted him, I doubted myself more often than not.

Running has helped me deal with death, depression, divorce and many other things. Running has allowed me to find myself and realize that I am good enough and I deserve to be happy no matter what I am doing in my life and that I deserve to have the support to be successful in any task I put my mind to. I hope everyone will be able to find the things that make them happy and the people who support them. It is important to do what makes you happy and healthy and makes life enjoyable. Once you have those, the rest fall into place. It may take more time than we want it to, but it does happy one step at a time.