January 9th - Race - Freeze Your Buns off 5k!

I woke up this morning at about 7:30. Got out of bed at about 8 and woke up my dad. I ate my signature, toast with peanutbutter for breakfast with a glass of OJ. It made a huge difference because after todays race, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out. Phewwww!!!! As I made my way towards mile one I noticed that I was going way too fast. I had done a 27:20 the day before, and I was on pace to do a 24 minute 5k. I slowed down towards the very end of the mile so that I would be able to give more in the next two miles. As I was making my way around the first loop of Nashua High School, the lead guys past me. (It didn't bother me at all.) The lead girl and then my dad also passed me. (NO JOKES JASON!!!) I went around on my second lap as they were on their third. I started chatting with a woman named Kim and we were together that entire lap and then a little into the third. I soon took off and we said good luck to each other and that was that. It was about 2.6 miles into the race that I was done my last lap and straight onto the finish. I had been taking it slow the entire race so I could give a little extra at the end. My dad had been running back to get me and we ran in together. At about one tenth to go, I picked it up and took huge strides to finish the race strong. Even the guy I passed right at the end said "WOW!!!" as I ran by him. That was a great race and I'll be looking forward to doing it again in 2 weeks.

(I think my stride was about double that!!! jk!!!)

January 8th - Race - Fudgcicle 5k

This morning was awesome. I ran the first Fudgcicle 5k of the season and it happened to be my first Fudgcicle race ever. It was an awesome turn out. There was a record of 87 runners tonight, WOO HOO!!!
http://coolrunning.com/results/11/ma/Jan8_Fudgci_set1.shtml ... You can check the race results there.

This race was really nice. I stuck with Jess for a little bit. Then picked up the pace a tad around mile one but fell back to about 9s - 9:30s around mile 1.5.... I have been doing slow training runs, so I thought I'd be able to compensate today and pick up the pace. It wasn't a SUPER SLOW race, but it is much slower compared to the 5ks I'd been doing in the summer. I felt great the last half mile. I picked up the pace a lot and at mile three when my watch reset to my new pace, I was doing a 6:46 pace to try and catch Jessica. I had told her that if she beat me, I'd buy her breakfast. Damn!!!! She beat my by 15 seconds. Oh well!!! It was a fun race and the breakfast was awesome! This is an awesome race for only $1. If anyone is interested in running this race, it's every Saturday at 8am located at 320 Pleasant Street, Tewksbury, MA. (Tewksbury High School) Come and join us, it's only one dollar per race and the breakfast at deli king is delicious and affordable. Let's try to make the record and reach 100 people.

(They cook a good breakfast. I can't wait til next week!!!!)

January 7th - Training - Another 4 on the boulevard

I met up with Kelly again at about 4:30. I made sure I had our vests and head lamps so that we could be seen while on the other side of the Rourke Bridge. We almost got hit by a car. We were blinking, we reflected, and not to mention my head light was blinking right into his wind shield...

(There should be more of these signs out on the road!!!)



After we hit the Hess Gas Station, Kelly had to walk a little to catch her breath. Her asthma was kicking her ass, well techinically it was kicking her lungs. hahaha!!! Anyway, she rested up a little while I stayed in front but not too far ahead. We made our way over the School Street Bridge and onto the other side of the river. It's an awesome feeling once we get across the School Street Bridge because now we know we are almost done. This would be so boring and tedious on the treadmill. I like the scenery. It's so much easier when you are outside. We made our way down, and onto the path. About a quarter of a mile on the path, I always say, "I see Dunkins," because it's my way of knowing how close I am. We made our way down the path and finished at a little under 48 minutes. This was a slower run than yesterday; however, it was so much colder. I kept telling her, "it's going to be even colder for tomorrow's fudgcicle race at 8am!!! We had a great run and I'm glad we got in the miles.

January 6th - Training - 4 on the boulevard

Again, Kelly and I did the boulevard loop. This time, we added half a mile to make it 4 by running right from the boat house parking lot. I enjoyed this run. We took it nice and easy, which is what I needed after my 8 miler yesterday. We only had to stop once, that damn traffic. Coming off the rourke bridge is probably worse the the highway traffic during rush hour. I'm glad we don't have to follow the stop lights and stop signs. It's not very fun stopping in the middle of your run. After we crossed that traffic jam, we continued down middlesex street up and passed UMLowell.

(That's more of an obstacle course!!!)

We hit one mile on that road and Kelly kept on going. Just a little passed the Hess gas station Kelly said, she was pushing for two miles straight through and I said "Great, we are very close to two miles." The two mile mark hit and she continued running as if she had never stopped. We made our way over the school street bridge and onto the side walk. The beginning wasn't bad but as we passed McDonalds, the ice covered the sidewalk. The other two days we ran, we jumped over the guard rail and ran on the shoulder of the road. I figured it would be melted by today. It wasn't. We ran on it for a little bit and I kept slipping around so I jumped the guard rail and continued on the road. Kelly stayed on the sidewalk. Once we passed the snowy, icy part of it, she said, "that gave me a chance to slow down."

(Good Job Kelly)



 Props to her for going this far all in a row. Shortly after, we hit the three mile mark and she continued on running. We hit 5k at 35:22 which is good for her. We kept running down the boulevard and we hit the path. It was so nice. The lights were bright and shining and it looked awesome. Kelly said, "It's so romantic, should we like hold hands lol." I thought that was funny. We made our way down the path and hit the boat house parking lot at about 3.87miles. We ran across the parking lot and back to make the 4. This was an awesome run for Kelly. SHE MADE IT THE ENTIRE WAY WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of her. I love this loop. IT NEVER GETS OLD!!!!!!!!!!

(GREAT RUN TODAY KELLY!!!!!!!!!)

January 5th - Training - 8 in my town

This morning, I woke up at about 8:30 AM. I laid there a while waiting for 9 o'clock to get up and out of bed. I texted Amanda to see if she was coming over for a pre-run breakfast. She had just woken up, so she ate at home and I had some toast with peanut butter.

(It was so yummy!!!)

I had a glass of OJ with it, and that was it. Amanda soon arrived and we streched a bit before our run. She had 3 shirts on, long spandex pants, gloves and ear muffs. I wore two shirts, a wind breaker, long layer 8 pants, gloves and ear muffs. We began our run from my driveway. We made it onto the main road and about a half a mile into our run I had taken the gloves off. For some reason, my hands just get too warm while running. I put the gloves in my pockets and continued running. We made the first mile in 9:25, about 35 seconds faster than I had planned. I could deffinitely feel that last few days of running after the first mile. We slowed it down after that. We did anywhere between 10 and 11:10 for the next 3-4 miles. At about mile 2-4, I was feeling pain in my legs. If Amanda wasn't there, I deffinitely would have wanted to cut the run short and just go home. Thanks to her, I continued my run. We were chatting the whole way which made the run more enjoyable. Around mile 4 I started forgetting that we were running because I was completely into the conversation. It was then that I looked at my watch and realized we were already at 4.6miles. It felt like we just started that mile. That's always a great feeling. Especially after hitting the half way mark. After that, it's all down hill. Well not literally. We didn't have too many hills in this run. On or two decent inclines. The rest were slow inclines but not much of a hill to us. Even towards the end of the run we didn't feel the inclines that much because we were moving much quicker. We picked up the pace in the last two miles. It felt great. Towards the end of the run I was feeling slight pain again; however, as we were only 1/4 of a mile away from the finish, we picked up the pace a lot and finished our 8 miles strong. I didn't feel any pain immediately after. It wasn't until I sat down in the chair at home and had to get up again that I was a little sore. All in all, it was a great run and I had a great time. I'm glad I got that in. Now I just need to work on a little speed and I will be golden.

January 4th - Taining - Boulevard Loop

Today, I did the blvd loop again with my cousin Kelly. This time, we stretched a little bit more before and after. We did our normal walk to and across the bridge and across the street. We do this as a warm up, and so we don't have to stop to wait for the traffic.

(Wouldn't want to dodge that while running!!!)

Kelly is just getting back into running, so we are taking it very slow. These runs are nice for me because I feel great and refreshed. I loved running slow with her because it gives me a chance to help someone who is slower than me (not too many people) pick up the pace or reach a goal. Today, she was able to make it the first full mile without stopping. That is a great accomplishment for someone who hasn't run in over two months. While she walked, I used the opportunity to run ahead and run back to her to increase my mileage as well. The entire loop is approximately 4 miles. We walked the first .57 miles and then ran the last 3.5. I'd say she ran 1.75-2 miles of it and walked the rest. But hey, she said she would have been rolled up on the couch watching t.v. if she wasn't out there running, so credit is deffinitely deserved. These days are getting longer very slowly. Both times we've run, we have been caught in the dark towards the end of our run. Luckily, at that point we were on the path; however, one of these days we will be starting at a later time, and we will need to wear our reflectors.

(Already?!?!?!)

January 3rd - Training - Boulevard Loop

Today, I ran 3.5 miles with my cousin on the Boulevard Loop. We started at the boat house on the blvd in Lowell and walked across with Rourke Bridge and crossed the street as a little warm up. Then we began our run from there. We made our way all the way to the School Street Bridge (Pawtucket Bridge) and went over it and back onto the blvd. We made our way to the path and ran on it the rest of the way. This totals 3.5 miles right to where our cars are parked. Kelly, my cousin, is just getting back into running, so we took it slow and averaged a little over 11s on this run. I don't care how slow I go, as long as I get my miles in.