Is Winter Over Yet?

Winter makes me lazy.  It gets dark so early, and is cold, and windy, and is discouraging.  I blame my laziness on winter.  I realized I have not blogged in almost a month.  Laziness (aka winter) is the only reason I can think of that's caused the delay. 

That being said, December has been a great month.  We had the girls for a majority of the time and it's been awesome having them around so much without work or other interferences.  We have done "good deeds" with them including writing holiday cards to wounded soldiers and volunteering at the local food pantry. Jess and I were also able to get away for a weekend at Oakwood Resort in Syracuse, Indiana.  It's this little resort on a lake that's about 2.5 hours away.  You would think a place like that wouldn't be much fun in the dead of winter, but we love this place because it is so quiet and peaceful. It's a great escape from all the hassles of life where you can simply rest and recharge.  This month, we also had our annual family Christmas party at our house.  This day, where my parents and my in-laws come over, is one of my favorite days of the year.  And it always amazes me how it takes over a month to plan for this day (and the holidays in general) yet the time when they are here goes by so quickly. 

However, not all of December has been lazy.  Jess and I ran our first Christmas 5k on Christmas day.  It benefited the Indiana School for the Deaf and is truly the only 5k ran on Christmas Day in Indiana.  Jess set a new PR busting almost 2 full minutes off her previous best!  It has really opened her eyes as to what she may be able to accomplish with a legitimate focus on training.  Tonight she impressed me again by doing some speed and hills on her treadmill workout.  It's also made me get a little more focused on my goals.  I realized that it appears I will end the year with about 750 miles of running.  Next year, my goal is at least 1,000 miles.  In theory it doesn't seem that difficult - just about 5 miles more per week than what I did this year.  But that's the goal - it's on the internet now so there is no going back. 

Here's to a successful 2016!

The Highs and Lows of Running

I got what felt like a great run in this evening.  Since it gets dark at essentially noon these days, we went to the gym after work.  My right hamstring was sore, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I put it at a 0.5 incline (always the default minimum for me) and started at about a 8:27 mile pace.  After a mile, it felt better, so I bumped it up to 7:41.  A mile later I bumped it to to 7:30, then the last couple miles I was all over the board.  After a total of 5 miles, I averaged about 7:48 per mile pace.  These are my favorite kind of runs - I love anything tempo, or progression, where the last 10-15 minutes is brutal.  I was a sweaty mess and I couldn't have been happier.

So this run brought good and bad out.  I was zapped when we got home, and Jess had the perfect answer - delivery pizza!  I imagine after burning roughly 700 calories tonight that I will eat a piece or two or 3/4 of the whole damn thing, along with the majority of the dessert we ordered.

But I also had a little bit of the bad - my PF is aggravating me a little tonight.  Not bad, nothing that I anticipate will slow me down soon, but enough to just kind of piss me off.  Fortunately, I bought this contraption recently called the Strassburg Sock.  It's supposed to keep the foot positioned correctly instead of letting the toes and foot fall to it's normal state, and was built specifically for PF.  I hope it works, as it wasn't all that cheap, but being my first real wear it doesn't feel too bad.

I know, it's pretty sexy.  But back off ladies - I am happily married!

Left, right, repeat.

Black Friday

Hit the gym this afternoon, and immediately felt the leftovers of Thanksgiving.  Not the good leftovers, like the leftovers that Jess and I had for lunch.  Oh no, this was the extra leftover weight and everything FROM all the Thanksgiving treats.  All the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and bread from yesterday (and from lunch today) came back and hit me.  It also made me question if eating 1.5 pieces of peanut butter pie last night, followed by the other 1.5 pieces this morning for breakfast, was a good idea.

Jess and I got to the gym around 1:30 today.  I figured it would be packed, but as we pulled up we realized there was nobody there!  The parking lot was empty and the two rows of treadmills were quiet.  As we were finishing our workouts, more people started showing up, but I'm guessing the weather kept people away.  I ran 5.5 progression miles before hitting the mats to do some push ups and planks.  I figured my body deserved it after all the crap I have eaten the last couple days.

And how do I celebrate a solid workout today?  By going to Syd's tonight and eating an entire pig, a baked potato, and a couple beers.  Guess I just will never learn...

Gobble Gobble

Jess and I did our first ever Turkey Trot today.  Not only that, but Jess knocked about two minutes off her PR.  So proud!

It was a great day to be in Noblesville and everyone was rambunctious.  This was the 8th running of the turkey trot, benefiting a location foundation.  The race was fun, with a pretty decent course - the first half of the course was bland but I always like running through Forest Park which was the last mile or so.

Here's my dilemma:  everyone talks about doing turkey trots, and how it burns off the calories early, so you don't feel as bad later on when you stuff yourself full of stuffing.  Exactly what I need because I love eating everything in sight, all day long, on Thanksgiving.  I went into the morning thinking that this race would bank me a few hundred calories and give my body a head start for what I was going to do to it later.  What a great idea!

Here's the issue:  after the race, friends talked us into going to a local diner for breakfast.  I proceeded to eat two pancakes covered in syrup, two scrambled eggs, and two pieces of bacon.  So long, banked calories.  Hello, food coma.

Oh well.  No need to fret about calories and food and all that today.  Time now to throw the bird in the oven and start thinking about the yummy goodness that will be coming in about 4 hours.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Holiday Season and lots of turkey

It's been over a week since I last wrote.  It's not that I haven't wanted to jump on here, nor is it that I haven't had anything to write.  It's just I have no idea where the time has gone!  Starting in mid November, it's like the days are a blur.  I also haven't ran in over a week and it's making me moody.  When the days are short - dark mornings on the drive to work and a dropping sun as I drive home - I find it difficult to talk myself into getting out for a run.  I am jealous of those that can wake up early or get out late for a run.  Other times of the year, I have no problem being one of those people as I don't sleep much.  But in the winter, I'm like a big bear, and all I want to do in the colder months is hibernate!

Fortunately, Jess has done an outstanding job of keeping us organized and moving along with shopping for Christmas gifts which will help with the stress in December.  And hopefully that means that we can sweat it out at the gym in December while others are getting their workout standing in long lines at stores.

It's Thanksgiving Eve and here comes a four day vacation.  Thank goodness.  Tonight we are going to go play with tiger cubs (ok, these aren't cubs - they still are big enough to topple us) and tomorrow we are doing our first ever Turkey Trot.  And the weather couldn't be better for it!  I'm looking forward to writing my second ever review on BibRave about the race.  Post-race, it's back to the house to prepare a huge meal for just the two of us that will leave me in a food coma for days.

Speaking of which, I found this great article on Active titled "Can One Day Kill All My Hard Work?" (Here is that Wonderful Article)  The answer is "no", if you are good.  Unfortunately for me, the answer is "yes" because I can't keep my hands off leftovers!  Guess that just means I will have to run a little more the next few weeks.  Small price to pay for a gut busting amount of stuffing!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mind Your Business

I'm a wimp - I don't like running in winter weather.  I don't mind the cold in the air, but it's the combination of cold + rain + 20 mph winds + occasional hail + heavy snow that I don't like.  While the temps are still pretty warm for November in Indiana, the rain and early dark nights settled in this week, forcing me to the gym.

I'm unlike most runners - I don't overly mind the treadmill.  Sure, I would prefer to be outside, but I don't hate the "dreadmill" as much as many other runners do.  Give me a basketball game or ESPN to watch, and my headphones, and I'm good to go.  And yes, I am "that guy" who sings along with the music.  Hopefully nobody hears me....

But I do have one pet peeve at the gym:

Why do people around me think that's true?  If I am running, I have a purpose - maybe it is speed that day, but it could be some long/slow miles, or maybe just an easy day altogether.  Tonight, I had runners on both sides of me watching my treadmill board more than their own.  And when I bumped it up due a speed part, they would too.  Immediately.  Look, if you want to race me, just say so, and we can make that happen.  In the meantime, relax, enjoy YOUR run, and stop staring at MY screen.

Left, right, repeat.

First Race Review on Bibrave

Recently I decided to join Bibrave.  Many of the people I follow on twitter (@jayrobwl) use Bibrave on a regular basis.  They either post their experiences with all things running (ranging from every aspect of race experience to running goods) or they use it to read the reviews of these things.  I decided to join so that I can help educate fellow runners with things that I experience, but also as a source to learn about potential future races.

I did my first review yesterday on the New Beaver Twilight Moon 5k from Saturday.  It asked me to rate everything from expo to water stations to crowd support to the race organization.  After I typed my review, my first thought was "who is going to read all of this?"  Yep, it was very wordy.  However, today I got a tweet that Bibrave picked it as the "Featured Review of the Day".  My review even made the home page of the website (that's my review on the right)!

So now I am hooked.  Excited about future races now, not only for the running part but so that I can post a review about it.  Look out world, here I come!

New Beaver Twilight 5k

Yesterday marked a big event - the first time all members of the Robinson clan received medals for completing a race.  We did the New Beaver Twilight 5k in Noblesville with Ella and Jess running the whole thing while I pushed Annabell in the running stroller awhile, and then letting her run when she felt like it.  We all finished around 42 minutes (PR's for both girls) and we all got finisher trophies.  I think the girls enjoyed running their first competitive 5k, although I feel they may have liked the post-race pizza and cookies even more.  Can't say I blame them though ... cookies are the best part of the race!

Couldn't have been prouder of my three pretty ladies!