Durbin Classic

My left foot has been bothering me all week, but yesterday I decided to test it and test my speed.  Jess, Chuck, and I met Jonathon and Ian for the Durbin Classic 5k.  It was about 34 degrees with a slight breeze from the south which just made it feel colder.  I had noticed in the past that the winning times for the 5k were just faster than 20 minutes, so I had planned to run somewhere around 21 - 21:30 and come in the top 3 or 4.

What pre-race jitters?

I made my way to the front of the group and started right behind a group of guys and about 10 kids under the age of 15.  I figured out right away, with the race being for the benefit of the Durbin Elementary School, that these kids were going to go out hard and have fun.  And I was right.  Gotta give them credit - many of them stayed up there for the first half to 3/4 miles.

About that time, four of us guys took off.  The race had both a 5k and 10k and I had no idea who was running which race.  The overall leader took off - he must have been running just over 6 minute mile pace.  After a mile or so, I made my way up to second place after running the first mile in 6:26.  Then the breeze kicked me.

My second mile dropped to almost 6:40 and I was sucking that cold air hard.  Just after the second mile marker, someone passed me and I could tell another guy was on his way.  That was about the time I could see the school and the race finish in the distance and it set in that nobody else was going to pass me.

I kept the second place guy in my sights and then made my move in the last quarter mile.  With just a couple hundred meters to go, I passed him and strided out to the finish.  It was at that point that I found out the guy who was in overall first was running the 10k - which meant I had just won the 5k in 20:27!

Striding hard to the finish

I went back to the course and cheered everyone else along.  I saw Jess and Chuck coming down the road.  I ran with Jess the last little bit, and while trying to provide inspiration to help her to the finish line, she essentially told me off.  She told me she had nothing left in the tank.  However, what she didn't know until later was that she had ran some of that second mile at a pace faster than she has done before (thanks Chuck!) so it made sense.  When all was said and done, she had actually ran a new PR in a time of 31:54!

Jess and me after the race

Not too bad for either of us, considering we only got about 5.5 hours of sleep after staying up for the entire IU game the night before.

Left, right, repeat

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!

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!