The John Theissen Freaky 5k

As a lover of Halloween, when I started seeing ads for this local race, I was intrigued. A skeleton tech tee, trick or treating, and only 3 miles from my apartment? Well, I was sold. So I texted some friends to assemble a crew, and both Mike and Carson agreed to join in. 

Mike was just two weeks away from the NYC marathon, and I was trying to get on track with training for dopey in January, so we had more miles on our schedule than a 5k calls for. So, we decided to take advantage of this being a local race, and run there and back. 

I rolled out of bed just before 7 am on race morning, and Mike ran to my apartment from his house - he had to get in 12 miles, and I had to get in 9, so the little extra distance would bring him to his goal. It was the first cold morning of the season, in the low 40s, and I was excited to pull out some of my favorite cold weather gear. Since it was a Halloween race, I also pulled out my x-wing pilot costume as well, and used it as my top layer. 

Mike got to the apartment just as I stepped outside, and after a quick stretch we were on our way. We chatted about life, the dopey challenge, and how Mike had done so well with training for his first marathon, which was fast approaching. I kept an eye on my watch as we went, as Mike had to sign up for the race when we got there, so we needed to be there before 8. 

Once we arrived, we were able to get Mike all registered, then we stretched out as we waited for Carson to arrive. When she got there I passed her a race bib and shirt, as I had been able to pick up her race day gear. While there was day of registration and bib pickup, they also offered advance bib and shirt pickup, so Den had swung by the John Theissen store front the day before to pick up Carson and my bibs, since we had pre-registered. I quickly used Carson’s car as a changing room, and lost some layers before it was time to start the race. 

The three of us headed towards the start line, stopping and putting our raffle tickets into various bins before the race - they had some great prizes, from sporting events and concerts to headphones and Apple products. As we prepared to get moving I told Mike and Carson I was gonna try to really race this one, since my knee had been feeling better. I put on my headphones, and when the start horn went off followed the crowd to see where it would lead me. 

My first quarter mile clocked in faster than expected - I hadn’t been looking at my watch, and as the crowd thinned out I checked my pace, and it was sub-7. Whoops. I governed my speed a little bit, and settled to a pace right around an 8-minute-mile, since that was what I was hoping for. The course was easy enough to follow, and my first mile rang in at 7:57. My stomach was a little knotted, but I felt good otherwise. 

There was a water stop just after the first mile, and a candy stop during the second mile. We were running through residential areas, and it was cute to see kids outside in their Halloween costumes, spectating the race. Mile 2 came in at 8:14, and while the pace was hard, there was only one more mile. I could push it for one more mile. My knee felt good, even if my stamina was feeling like it had faded a little. 

One mile to go, and I was going to try to keep pushing it. I turned up the volume on my headphones, and followed the beat of the songs that were playing. I had made a short playlist on Spotify the night before to get me through the race, and I was glad I had it playing. There was another water station in the third mile, and as it came to a close I could spot the train station in the distance, which was right near the finish line. Two more turns, and I would be able to see the race awesome finish line. I kicked up the pace a little, and pushed it as I finished the last bit of the race - 3.1 complete, in 25:35, at around at 8:09 pace. 

I was really happy with my finish time, thrilled that my knee felt fine, but mostly glad that they were handing out water at the finish line - I needed it! I walked towards the runners that were turning the final corner and plopped down on a curb, to watch for Mike and Carson, as I figured they would be coming around the corner soon. When I spotted them they were all smiles as they headed for the finish line. 

The three of us reunited, and headed towards the post race refreshments- they had quite the spread! Bagels, hot soup, candy, cookies, brownies, breakfast bars, and more! I opted for a banana and grabbed some Halloween candy for later. We were waiting for the race results to be posted, so our next stop was to look at the raffles, which had been pulled while we were running- and to my surprise, I won an iPad mini! I collected my prize, and then headed to the soup line. 

When the race results posted, the three of us crowded around the lists- Carson and I had both placed 3rd in our age group, and Mike had placed 5th in his! Woo hoo! 

When the award ceremony started, we learned that the awards went five deep in each age group, so we would all be getting medals. When they announced Mike’s age group, it turned out that he had actually came in fourth! We were all excited to have placed in our age groups, and once we collected our awards it was time for Mike and I to start running home. 

We took it easy as we finished up our miles, three more for me to make it to 9. The one eventful part of the run home? Mike spotted a frame that he wanted, so we called Carson with a mission to retrieve it since she had her car. 

By the time we made it back to the apartment I had totaled about 9.6 miles, and my knee felt relatively normal - my legs were tired, but more from being less used to long distances that I normally am. 

All in all, it was a great morning for a local race, and I had a great time spending Sunday with my friends. 

Chicago marathon week 7

On Sunday afternoon I got a message from Tara, asking if I would be down for a early bike on Monday morning. I normally start my week with a run, but the offer was tempting. I warned her that I would be slow, but she said she didn’t mind, and I agreed to meet her at the park at 6:20 a.m. the next day. 

I packed up my bike stuff, and got everything into the car, and after a frantic moment when I couldn’t find my Tri shorts, had everything together and ready to go, so when my early alarm clock went off I just had to roll out of bed, get dressed, and be on my way. 

The alarm went off Monday morning, and I was greeted with a dreary day. I hopped in the car and under gray skies headed to cedar creek park, where a few members of the Tri team were waiting for me to get going. Of course, my bike had lost air in one of its tires, so I had to fill it up before we could get on our way. 

The ride itself was uneventful overall. I thought about how much I prefer running, was thankful that Tara had gotten me out on the bike, eventually was unable to keep up with the rest of the team, got rained on a little bit, and cursed at the bike, which was refusing to switch gears properly. When I turned around at 7.5 miles my teammates continued on, going all the way to tobay, and I rode back to the parking lot solo. 

That night I brought my bike to dad to check out- apparently my derailer wasn’t lined up correctly. I’ll add “learn more about bike maintenance” to my to do list I guess. Once that was taken care of I headed home and hopped in the pool, swimming 500 yds in an effort to flush out my sore legs. 

Monday rolled into Tuesday, and when my alarm went off my body was not having it. I was still recovering from a cold, and every part of me screamed for more rest. So, after checking the weather and making sure the temperature would be tolerable after work, I rolled over and opted to sleep in a little. 

Tuesday night I stopped and picked up my race packet for the Jamesport Triathalon, which would be my first official Tri, and then headed home to get in the miles that I had promised myself. Dennis and I were planning to head to his parents for dinner, and we decided to take alternate transportation over there- he would be biking as I ran. We took the long way out of our neighborhood, and managed to make it a 5 mile trip. Despite the cold I was still dealing with, this run felt great. We chatted a little, and I just let my legs do the work. It felt difficult at times, but I reminded myself that running marathons isn’t easy, and that I needed to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We had one hill and one overpass that were less than stellar, but I managed some sub-9 miles and was pleased with myself. 

My excitement of Tuesday night was short lived though, when I rolled out of bed on Wednesday morning to head to the track. As I was running Tuesday night I had considered backing off the pace a few times, but I felt so good that I just let my body roll with it. Well, when I got to the track it quickly became clear that I could have used a little more rest between runs. 

I had a ladder workout planned, which would start at a 400m repeat, go up to a 1600m repeat, and then come back down. A total of 7 hard steps, and then a run home. While I hit my paces for the first two repeats, the rest just weren’t happening at the paces I wanted. Dad had met me at the track, and thankfully brought along some water in a cooler, which helped on that hot morning. By the time I was on the last repeats I was going slower than I should have been, but was giving it all the gas I had. The cooldown was arguably the hardest part, because by that point I just wanted to be walking. But I trotted along, getting in a total of 7 miles. 

I knew I was in need of some recovery, so on Wednesday night I met up with Den’s sister, Liz, and we headed to yoga together. We picked out a Yin-restorative class, and I was ready for some relaxation. It was as if the teacher was aware of my chronically tight hamstrings, as she propped us up into deep releases. Did I fall asleep during the class? Well..... yeah. But you try to stay awake when you’re feeling that relaxed!

Thursday morning called for another run, but an easy one this time. I headed out before work, and met up with Dad as I weaved through the neighborhood. My brother Tom was planning to meet us, but we got a text from him moments after his planned start time that it wasn’t happening for him that morning. I was a little bummed, but it enabled me to get my full prescribed distance in within the pace range I wanted, so we just kept looping, slowly shifting away from my parents house and back towards the apartment. My watch buzzed as I hit 8 miles right in front of the complex, with the average pace coming in around 10:40. It was a solid morning run, and I was glad that I wouldn’t feel like I needed to make up miles later. 

The final weekday run was to be a tempo run, and I decided to plan to run after work. I had races planned for both Saturday and Sunday- which meant early mornings all weekend. So, I let myself sleep in more than usual Friday, and after work only procrastinated the run for a solid two hours before getting out the door (I mean, it was hot out! I had to wait for it to cool off a little, right?). 

When I got out the door I debated which path to take. I needed to warm up for about a mile, then the goal was for 6 miles at a pace between 8:30-8:45, followed by a cool down. The thought of picking directions gave me a feeling of major decision fatigue, so I did something unusual for me- I ran towards the track, even though I wasn’t doing speed work. I figured it was a good central point between the apartment and my parents house, so if I decided I needed water I could run either way, and it just felt like an easy choice. 

By the time I got to the track I was up to a mile and a half, and my second miles pace was tracking in the high 8-minute-mile range, so I decided to start see if I could bring the pace down a little and count the second mile towards the tempo miles. My efforts paid off, and the second mile rang in at 8:37. A good start, I told myself. I listed to music as I ran laps around the track, one mile flowing into another. I kicked a soccer ball back to the group playing in the middle of the field a few times, ran into Mike’s brother, who was also running some laps, and found a really great groove, where I just felt good. I did wish that I had brought some water, but I managed without. At 9:00 on the dot the lights shut down at the track, just as I was midway through the lap that would finish my 6th tempo mile. I panicked for half a second, as the teenage boys that had been hanging out hooted and hollered into the darkness. I called dad on the phone to have some company and reassurance as I left the area, and got on the road to run back to my apartment. I took the long way, that was I would have a two mile cooldown. 

When I reached the apartment I immediately chugged a bottle of water, and then sat outside as I sipped a second. I had run 9 miles at an average pace of 8:57, with the tempo miles coming in at 8:37, 8:27, 8:30, 8:36, 8:39 and 8:41. I was super pleased with myself, and glad that I had eventually got my butt off the couch to get the work done.

The weekend was full of races- which will have their own reports up soon! To give you a little preview, on Saturday I completed the Retro Run 4-miler with the New York road runners, and on Sunday I did something I swore I wouldn’t do: I completed my first Triathlon, at the Jamesport sprint distance Tri. 

Kelly’s Goofy Plan: Week 7

The week was off to a good start, with a Monday night yoga class with Emily and Sophie. We headed to Vanessa’s late class, move and meditate. She kicked our butt with an intense series of core movements and lunges, and I was blissed out by the time I reached savasana. I got home with enough time to eat dinner before promptly passing out.

Tuesday morning was a struggle. Kasey got out the door before me as usual, and before I even got out the door texted me that she had wiped out.... and then promptly proceeded to not answer my texts. But the “find my friends” app told me she was still moving closer to me, so I headed out the door to find her, and she was just up the block from my house.

We continued on with our run, which I was very overdressed for. I slowly began to melt, but at least we chatted about the impending holiday as we got through our miles. I kept telling myself the run would get better, and pushing myself forward. I just couldn’t seem to catch my breath though, and then I remembered the air quality warning that my phone had sent me.

Kasey finished her miles, and as I moved forward from her house it started to rain a VERY cold rain. And you know who didn’t have a hat? Me. At this point I was just really over this run. It sucked, I was sore, I couldn’t breathe, and my apartment was miles away. So I did something I don’t often do - I ran to my parents house, and I stopped. I was supposed to be doing a track workout anyway, and with how I was feeling the paces I wanted to hit weren’t going to happen, and it still sucked after two miles, so I called the run, and hung out with my dad for a bit before hitching a ride back to my apartment. I told myself that I would head to the gym after work, and get the track workout in then. 

So I made plans with Sophie to head to the gym when we were both done with work. I got on the treadmill, and committed to getting my speed work done. It was hot in the gym, and I quickly became a sweaty mess, but I stuck to my paces for the most part. The plan was for a 1 mile warmup, then 1 mile at a 7:43 pace (1:30 jog), 2x800 @ 7:29 (2:00 jog) then one more mile at a 7:43 pace before a cooldown. I managed to hold the pace for both miles, and the first 800m repeat, but had to back off of the pace a little for the second 800m repeat to avoid puking on the treadmill. I got a total of 5.6 miles in, and Sophie hit her goal too- 5 continuous miles so that she would feel ready for the turkey trot we were running later that week.

I had good intentions of going to yoga on Wednesday night, but while Emily, Kasey and I were on our way to pickup the turkey trot bibs we got a call from the studio letting us know they were cancelling the class that night. So instead we just took it easy and had a girls night in at the apartment, and Sophie joined us as well.

Finally Thursday rolled around, and it was time for the third annual running of the Garden City Turkey Trot! It was the third year for Ryan, Hallie, and me, the second year for Kasey, and Sophie’s first year joining us! It was COLD on thanksgiving morning, like less than 20 degrees. So we layered up, and sat in the car for as long as possible leading up to the race- we may have had to run to the start line to avoid getting run over by the front runners.

When we did get to the start line, we began our race almost immediately. Kasey and her siblings quickly pulled ahead of Sophie and I, who stuck to a pace around a 10 min/mi. For me, holiday races are usually about spending time with your people rather than finish times. About a mile into the race I had to fanagle removing a layer while running, because I was overdressed, as usual.

Sophie and I ran along together and just before mile 2 I got a text from Kasey asking where we were- she had ran ahead of her brother and sister and was bored of running alone. We were running through the first water station, and told her as much, but by the time she got it we were passed it, and spent the rest of the race trying to spot each other- Kasey finished less than a minute after Sophie and I, so I’m pretty sure she was right behind us as we tried to find each other.

Hallie and Ryan came in a few minutes later, racing each other to the finish line in full force. We stopped to take a few quick photos together, then quickly headed for the warm car, happy to get out of the cold weather.

My next run was on Saturday night, on a treadmill. I managed to put this run off all day. When I woke up I started working on some Christmas gifts, and told myself that I would go out to run at 9. At 8:45 I called dad to see if he felt like biking, but he was in the process of hanging Christmas lights alone, as my brothers were still asleep. I had a pretty free schedule all day, so I agreed to help him hang lights, and we did that until Sophie and I headed to yoga at 12:30.

By the time we finished yoga I was hungry, and headed back to the apartment to grab lunch. I then continued to procrastinate, and made 4:00 the new time that I needed to get my butt to the gym. I was successful this time around, and my plan for the treadmill was a threshold run- 2 mile warmup, 2 miles at 8:54, 1 miles at 8:06, 1 mile cooldown.

I’ve been listening to Harry Potter and the deathly hallows during easy treadmill miles lately, and tuned in as I got the warmup done. When I switched to the harder paces, I flipped to a fast paced playlist on Spotify, and got moving. It was a little rough at times, more mentally than physically, but I got through the three times miles at the prescribed paces, and then trotted through my cooldown, happy with myself for getting to the gym and putting in work.

The last run of the week? Sunday Runday.

Dad agreed to ride along, and Mike needed to get an 11 mile run in, so the three of us made plans to head to jones beach. I needed to run 18 miles, so Dad and I headed to the beach about an hour before Mike, so we could get the first 6 miles done. I managed to keep them at a sub-10 pace, so that I would have a little buffet when I inevitably slowed down at the end of the run. We headed west first, returning to the new area we had run the weekend before, then back to the parking lot to find Mike. A quick Gu stop, and we were headed out on the path towards tobay beach.

The miles slipped away, as they always do with Mike and Dad, as Dad encouraged us to keep moving. The weather was perfect, with not too sunny skies and a nice breeze (did I manage to get a sunburn? I don’t want to talk about it.). When we got to tobay it was time for a quick bathroom stop, and another round of Gu. As we headed back towards the boardwalk I marveled over the sky, which was a beautiful blue with picturesque clouds. 

When we finally made it back to the boardwalk we only had two more miles to go, and as Mike started to feel fatigued I encouraged him to take one more Gu. I felt better than I had in a long time running this distance, and was coming up on 18 miles feeling strong. We started the final decent to the car, hit our mileage, and then discovered that the underpass we needed to go through to get to the car was entirely flooded. So, we wound up with a nice long walking cool down, as we took the long way to get to the other underpass.

I had been nervous going into the 18 mile run, but finished it feeling strong and optimistic about the marathon that my future holds.