Global Running Day

It's Global Running day today and I am jumping on the bandwagon and doing a question and answer kind of blog post today! Hop on over to this link to learn more about the importance of celebrating today!  Let's get to the questions!

After my very first 5K .  Notice the huge smile and abundance of cotton clothing.  Yep, addicted.

Why do YOU run?

I started running in 2009.  Honestly, I was tired of paying for gym memberships, burning out, and then losing money.  I wanted something that was "cheap" to do (hahahaha joke was on me), and that I could do any time of the day, anywhere with minimal gear.

 Bella AKA Hell's Bells

I also at the time had a super high drive aussie that needed to burn off energy.  We had done trick training and agility training with Bella, but that wasn't enough for her.  Every night (and I cringe writing that), we would head over to the concrete track that encircles our rec complex and walk/ run.  I finally got to where I could run a full lap (which I later found out was about 8 tenths of a mile) and walk a full lap 2-3 times before she was adopted out to a wonderful active family.  That successful start fueled the fire to make my run/walking more of a continuous run, and I found the couch to 5 K program to help me accomplish that.  Unfortunately, that was before I had a smartphone, so I did most of my running on a treadmill with sticky notes next to the timer, so I could see the times for my intervals.  I finally migrated back outside when I was running bigger chunks of time, but that was quite different than running on the mill.  I repeated a week in the process to acclimate to running outdoors, and signed up for a local 5K  for the end of the final week.  I ran that first 5K and was HOOKED!

Running is my "me time", my time to let my brain take a break from thinking so much, my time to bond with my BRFS and of course stella ella.  Running makes me a better mommy and a better wife, even when I am getting up at 4 am to run and have to live off of coffee the rest of the day.  I also LOVE goal setting and while dog showing use to help me with this addiction, now running fills that gap.  I can set a goal of running a race or completing a new distance, train for it, and execute that plan and reach that goal.  That is hugely satisfying for me.

How do you plan to celebrate Global Running Day?

Well, since I am bit behind and am already on the day of celebration, I can tell you that my BRF Melly Mel and I drug our butts out of bed at 4 am, and hit the road by 4:30 for 6 glorious, humid miles.  We didn't get any pictures since it was dark when we started and finished:(

How many miles have you run so far this year?  Do you have a mileage goal for the year?

Since my foot acted up starting in February, I have had to cut back a bit, but thanks to starting my 50K training and working with an awesome Chiro, that number will be rising.  I think so far I am at around 375 miles for the year.  I don't have a mileage goal for this year.  I did that last year, and while I met it, it scares me to put a number out there again.

What races have you run so far this year?

Wicked Half marathon, Run the Parkway Half marathon, Garmin Half marathon, Running with the Cows Half marathon, and the Paw Valley festival 5K.

What big events do you have on your race calendar this year?

I guess my biggest event is the 50K in October, but I also think as hard as Konquer the Konza is, even if it is a 25K, that one is pretty big too.

Before I leave for a run I must have?

COFFEE!   I need it to get the system going and void of contents (sorry TMI).  If I am doing a long run, I either do coffee and UCAN, or coffee and some belvita blueberry crackers.

Do you track your runs?

I use to use mapmyrun as my GPS, but now that I have a garmin, I use it more for logging my runs and less for tracking.  I do use mapmyrun for tracking if I am by myself or I get nervous about an area because my hubby can watch the live tracking and figure out exactly where I am.  I started using mapmyrun when I very first started running to actually map out my runs and now I feel like it has so much data stored from all of my years of running that i can't leave it switch to any of the new apps like strava.

Who is your favorite running partner?

I have four that are very, very important to me.  Miss Melly Mel, Miss Robin and Baby D and Miss Stella Ella!

If you gave someone one piece of running advice, what would it be?

I see this given over and over again but it is SO true.  Every workout has a purpose.  Your slow days should be SLOW.  Your hard days should be at your prescribed pace.  If you aren't doing a speed workout or aren't given or following a specific pace by a coach or by your plan, GO SLOW!  Running fast every single workout makes no sense and will lead to injury and burnout!

Describe your relationship with running in one word.
Addiction:)