My First 5k

I did it.  I completed my first 5k on July 24. The race began at 7:30am.  The temperature was fine, but the humidity seemed a bit high and I have decided that I really dislike humidity.  But I did it. I completed it in 36:43, although the clock time was a bit higher at 37:35. I realize this is not a particularly speedy time, but I am pleased with the results seeing how this was my first experience at a group run, not to mention I had barely practiced for the previous 2 1/2 weeks due to a cold and vacation. There were 600 finishers.

Race Results

Vacation Runs

Unfortunately I did not get in all the hikes and runs I had intended on vacation recently. Partly the weather was too blame and partly the fact that I had a cold a few days before vacation and the entire first week of my vacation.  I did however manage to get in a couple of short runs and record them on my garmin and I even have a photo that my husband took from the hotel room window which was on the 14th floor. Pretty cool. Be sure to click on the photo for a larger image.

Here is my run in the historic district of Philadelphia. This was the first run I had done in about 10 days, the weather was hot and muggy. But it was a lot of fun running past the Liberty Bell and other historic sites.

I also managed, thanks to my brother, to get in a run in Central Park in NYC.  I would have really regretted not doing that.  I am sure he would have preferred to go further and faster, but I appreciate that he stuck with me as I plodded slowly along. 

We walked a lot on our vacation, but I have no idea how many miles or how far we went.  I really need to wear my garmin regularly if I want to keep track of these sorts of things.

Practice 5k

I woke up and decided I needed to run a practice 5k to see where I am at for the real 5k that takes place in a couple of weeks.  I have a 5k route mapped out in my neighborhood.  I was hoping to finish it in 40 minutes...yes, I know that is slow to most people, but I have to start somewhere.  I was pretty happy with the results.  3.13 miles in 36.51, not bad, considering I am still walking 1 minute after every 3 minutes of running. I did run the last 6 minutes or so this time though.

Training Update (again)

ok, so plans have changed a little. Originally I had intended to do a 5k on July 3.  I am perfectly capable of completing a 5k now, yet I was not all that excited about the race I planned to enter. I found one that sounds much more fun and it is only a couple weeks later.

So the new goal is to complete the 5k at Waunafest in Waunakee on July 24.  It is a larger venue with a good number of participants. I think the range of skill levels is wider for this run and that is what I am looking for. A crowd of a few hundred people or more with a wide variety of abilities from beginner to the very experienced runner.  I have registered and am committed to participate.  Of course, it is only a few days after I return from vacation, so I need to make sure I keep up the training while traveling.

Now for an update on where I am at for my planned half-marathon.  I am pretty pleased with my Monday morning run this week.  Check it out:  7 plus miles

I still have two and a half months to train. Plenty of time to add another 6 miles or so.  I hope!

6 miles

Today I met my goal of completing 15 interval sets (3 minutes running/2 minutes walking) and went a distance of 6 miles.  It felt great.  Of course there is a long way to go before I am ready for the half-marathon.  When I was done with today's training I realized that I was just under half the distance I am training for.  I plan to add about 10 minutes to my time each weekend which should keep me on pace to be able to finish the race in September.

Here is a record of today's training run:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35750423

Ice Age Trail -- Whitewater segment

May 29

Today we went for a pretty decent hike on another portion of the Ice Age Trail.  This time is was near Whitewater. The trail was in pretty good condition, there were few people out there when we were, but the mosquitoes were swarming all around us.  Luckily for us, Deep Woods Off lived up to its promise.  I think we came home without one bite. 

The trail was close to 9 miles total out and back.  The hike took just under three hours.  Of course we stopped here and there for some photos.

Ice Age Trail -- Table Bluff Segment

May 24

We hiked a  portion of the Ice Age Trail called the Table Bluff Segment located just west of Madison early on Monday morning.  The weather has been unseasonably hot so far this year, so the hike was a bit difficult at times.  Although the overall distance of this particular segment, out and back, was just 5 miles.


more to come

Perrot State Park

May 19-21 -- Our first tent camping trip in about 20 years.  Great fun.  We went with some friends of ours, who stayed at the site next to ours.  The camp ground was not very crowded as it is still pretty early in the season, so that made a pleasant first venture back into camping after such a long break.  The weather was absolutely beautiful.  High 70s, 80ish and lots of sun.  There was some rain the second night, but not until we were tucked inside our tent.  The rain drops on the tent made sleeping very easy.  The first night I had a difficult time getting used to the sounds of the forest, not to mention the freight trains racing along the river.  But on the 2nd night the rain made it very peaceful.

So what did we do at Perrot State Park?  There were some very nice hiking trails in the bluffs.  One, Brady's Bluff was a great hike.  The view was spectacular.  I did the hike twice, once with a friend and then an hour or so later, I did it again from the opposite direction with my husband. 

Besides the hiking trails, the Great River State Trail runs right alongside the park.  We did a little biking along the trail. Next time we go back to the park, I will definitely be riding much further on the trail than I was able to fit in this time.

My husband was able to take a few good photos of a bald eagle on a little patch of land out in the river.  It was  fun to watch the eagle as he ate while keeping a hungry black crow at bay. 

Photos coming soon.

Indian Lake County Park

May 15

On Saturday, May 15 we went to Indian Lake, a county park that has very nice hiking and cross country ski trails and of course, a lake.  The weather was great, but we just felt like doing a casual walk around the area, rather than any real hiking.

Here are some photos.

5 Miles

I increased my intervals to 12 from 9, but I also changed the for each interval slightly.  Last week I did 9 intervals at the ratio of 3:00 minutes running and 2:30 walking.  Today I lowered the walk time by 30 seconds, so I run 3 and walk 2.  Today was 12 reps plus a 5 minute warm-up and about a 3 minute cool down.

I was really hoping I would be able to cover 4 and a half miles or so today and was pleasantly surprised when I uploaded my data and saw that I was just over the 5 mile mark.  Makes me very happy.

Another Sunday Run

I plan to run/walk a half-marathon in September so I have to keep on track with my training. Today was my weekly "long" run.  I went just over 4 miles. I need to increase the distance of my long run by 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile each week in order to get me up to the 13.1 mile needed to finish. I am pretty early into my training, so I am feeling pretty confident that I will be able to finish the run in approximately 3 hours. 

Also, I am still training for that 5k run in July.  My original goal for that race was to complete it without any walking time, but I am sort of reconsidering.  I seem to like this run/walk routine I have gotten myself into.  My average pace has been about a 13.30 minute mile even though I have been walking about half the time, or just less than half. 

My training plan is to do intervals of 3 minutes run and 1 minute walk for the entire length of the course.  I figure this is my first season of jogging ever...if I can complete a course at the ratio of 75% run to 25% walk, I will be happy.  As of today, I run 3 minutes and walk 2:30, so I have not gotten to my goal ratio yet, but this is only the beginning of month two. I have plenty of time before the half-marathon.

Governor Dodge State Park

Finally a nice weekend.  The past few were cold and rainy, but today was perfect. Sunny, upper 60s...a great day for hiking in Governor Dodge State Park.  We went on portions of various trails within the park for a little over a 4 mile loop around Cox Lake.

More photos soon

Nordic Walk over lunch

 Today was a cross-training day. I don't want any overuse injuries to throw my training plan off. I need to limit the running to every other day for now. Eventually I can go 4-5 days a week.

Using google walking maps to map my route, I just did approximately 2.2 miles or so for about 25-27 minutes of fast paced nordic walking.  The temperature is in the low 50s and a bit breezy. Lots of sun...pretty nice overall.

It is nice to have today's workout out of the way. Tomorrow it is back to running. 

Training Update

It has been a while since I have posted.  We haven't been able to hike the past couple of weekends because the weather has been too wet and cool. Rain, wind and cooler temps.  Of course today, Monday, it is beautiful. Back to work so here comes the sun.  But that is ok. There is always 'after' work to play.

So today I went on my longest training run yet.  I changed up my timing a little. I decreased my walk time from 3:00 minutes to 2:30 and kept my run time the same (2:30).  I had scheduled 6 intervals on my Garmin, but when the buzzer went off I was still energetic and wanted to keep going.  I started the timer again and went another few laps.  So today's total is 4.3 miles.  My total time was 57:17.  My first 5 minutes and .3 miles was a casual walk for a good warm-up, which I too often neglect to do.  So I want to subtract that 3 tenths of a mile and 5 minutes from my overall time to see just what I did as far as the interval training goes.  Looks like I went an even 4 miles in 52 minutes.

So if I stick to my training plan, this was my long run for the week.  The rest of this week I will concentrate on trying to increase my run interval to 3:00 minutes while leaving my walk interval at 2:30.  I want to run longer than I walk.  I also have to keep in mind that I have a long ways to go and do not want to jump ahead of schedule and injure myself.

Nordic Walking

I almost forgot, today was the first day I used my new trekking poles for a nordic walk during my lunch time at work.  Went about 20 minutes along the lake shore path.  It definitely adds to a walking workout.  Well worth it.
If I can do this everyday and then my run 4 to 5 times a week, my endurance should dramatically increase. Can't wait to see how I feel at the end of summer. Off to a good start already.

I just reviewed my training log and see that I have done my run/walk interval training 12 times over the past three weeks.  It is easier already.

Windy weekend

We wanted to hike in Blue Mound State Park on this past Saturday, but it was cold and windy. Just went for a walk around the park a little, had a picnic, took a few photos, came home.

Went for a run instead of hiking.  I did my usual interval training on Saturday, Monday and today.  Today's felt pretty good.  Here is the data from today's after work outing.  It was 70 degrees and sunny.

Bicycle ride

I guess since I plan to bike on some state trails this season I really should get out my bike and make sure I remember how to ride.  After Glenn got it in riding condition for me (air in the tires, oil on the chain, tighten up the mirror and whatever other magic he does) I took it for a brief spin tonight.  20 minutes and 3.71 miles...kind of pathetic but it was my first ride of the year...actually my first ride in a few years.

Everything I have been reading about training for running, or in my case, jogging, cross training is important. Biking, swimming, weight-training.  I have my work cut out for me.  Should be a good summer.

Walk at Work

Just did a quick 20 minute walk outside.  The temperature is currently 75 degrees. A bit warm to walk in a long-sleeve shirt and long pants.  But it felt good anyway.  I didn't have my gps watch with me, but based on my average pace from previous walks, I am guessing this walk was right around 1.6-1.7 miles.  Ok, back to work.

Fitness Team Captain

One of the nice things about working within the health sciences community on campus is that they really support and encourage health & fitness.  There is a program that takes place each year that I am taking part in this time around.  The program is Spring Training Finishing Fit and I volunteered to be the team captain for the team that any of my colleagues can join.  So far I have gotten 13 people to join my team.  Amazing since I was expecting/hoping for at least 3 people to join me due to the minimum requirement of 4 per team.

The program is a 6 week introduction to fitness.  It is all about aerobics. People can choose one of the following five goals:

• walk 10,000 steps as measured by a pedometer
• 30 minutes of aerobic exercise
• 45 minutes of aerobic exercise
• 60 minutes of aerobic exercise
• 90 minutes of aerobic exercise

Once they choose a goal, they have to complete it 5 days a week.  I have chosen 45 minutes of aerobic exercise as my activity.

As the team captain, I will collect everyone's fitness logs and submit the team results, as well as send out encouragement and reminders.  I have a few ideas that will hopefully help people meet their goals. Of course I have to meet my own!

The program runs from April 19 - May 30. 

Walking and jogging

I am only going to post a weekly update as to how my training for the 5k is coming along.  I plan to walk every day and run/walk every other day.

Even though I record everything with my Garmin GPS, I will only put links here occasionally, like today. The temperature for today's outing was about 68 or so.  I feel pretty good about today's distance and time.

New Glarus Woods State Park

April 10, 2010

New Glarus Woods State Park is just a few miles south of the village of New Glarus. It has a small campground and several hiking trails.  The temperature for our hike was around 58 degrees.

View more photos  or check out the route, distance, time, etc.

Devil's Lake State Park

April 2, 2010

Devil's Lake State Park has got to be one of the most beautiful state parks in the entire midwest.  There are several hiking trails at this park, with the most popular being either the East Bluff or the West Bluff, with the east being the more difficult of the two.

We chose to do the West Bluff for our first adventure in Devil's Lake in several years.  The temperature was around 70 degrees, which is above average for early April in WI.

View more images here or if you would like to see the route, distance, time, etc, click here.

Learning to jog

 April 1, 2010

My goal is to be able to complete a 5k on July 3 by continuously jogging without any walking. I plan to enter the Slow Pokes for Strokes fundraising 5k.

Here is my first effort, as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner.

Natural Bridge State Park

March 31, 2010

Once again the temperature was above average for this time of year, it was right around 60 degrees for our hike through Natural Bridge.

I had never even heard of this state park even though it is less than 60 miles from where I live.  We recently purchased a book called 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Madison.  Apparently there are a lot of nice parks and hiking trails nearby.  I guess we will have plenty of choices for our next trail hike.

Just beginning the hike. Looks pretty easy at this point, but the trail does have some pretty good hills.

That's me standing near the sandstone bridge for which the park gets its name. View more photos or the data I collected using my Garmin Forerunner.

Picnic Point

March 28, 2010

We walked on the Picnic Point path. Nice day for March. A little windy, but nice temps.
Although I guess with all the ice washed up on shore it doesn't look all that nice, but it is in the 60s. Really.

For more photos of Picnic Point and Cherokee Marsh

Cherokee Marsh

March 22:   I went for a short little nature walk in Cherokee Marsh. The weather was beautiful for March so I decided to get out and do a little walking.

2010

It is within this blog that I will track the activities my husband and I will do over the course of the year. I will include hiking, biking, kayaking, motorcycling, rollerblading, etc.