Tuesday, December 29, 2009

One Year Running Anniversay...how did I almost forget.

I was getting an awesome massage on my shins last night when I remembered that this week is my one year anniversary when I started running.

Running has brought my husband and I together in a whole new way (not that we were lost before), it has given me peace when I needed it most, it has opened a new world full of new friends (both online and in person). What I forever must be greatful for is my health. Running has provided me the avenue to breathe deeper, live longer, and respect the body I've been given.

It wasn't an easy road to get to this point. I found out I wasn't only a high maintenance kind of gal, but I'm also a high maintenance kind of runner. After numerous different shoes, PT appointments and tears I found my running legs.

I have to believe Chris had some doubts I'd even like running, but he continued to support every crazy fad I tried to just get started with running. Love ya honey and you inspire me everyday to just keep on moving.

Thanks for reading everyone I appreciate all the support and I hope I can return it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Stevi

Monday, December 28, 2009

All I Want For Christmas......

When I last left you I was excited about logging a new weekly mileage high of 29 miles despite a failed long run. I was hoping Santa would bring me some fresh legs, and allow me to hit my goal of 30 miles in a week for Christmas. I won't make you wait in suspense by wondering if I got it or not. Nope Santa decided that this wish was not happening this week, and it was made evident pretty early.

Monday was a planned rest day, and after the somewhat successful Sunday run that I had I was very hopeful for Tuesday evening run. I was planning on getting 6 miles in, and set myself up nicely for the 30 mpw goal. My gut was telling me it might be a good idea to run past the CRC store (about 1.5 miles into my run). Good thing I did since my shins tightened up so bad it hurt to walk. I decided I was being told I needed another day off so I called Chris to come get me. So Monday was a planned rest day, and Tuesday and Wednesday I had two unplanned rest days.
Now here is the point that I must interrupt your normally scheduled programming about my running life to share some not so scheduled programming. Wednesday was a short day at work. I left the office after having gotten a good deal of work done, and also finding a massage therapist that was familiar with working on runners (I made my appointment for the Monday after Christmas). I was excited to get home, and begin my long holiday weekend. No more than 3 minutes after leaving my office I was sitting at a red light and then I heard it....crunch!

Well wouldn't you know Santa thought I needed a new bumper. The girl behind me thought she had a tad more room than what she did when she tried to switch lanes. So I got out of the car and asked if she was fine. Looking at the damage I was lucky my whole bumper hadn't fallen off, but it was going to need replaced. Then I began the process of gathering information. I was a tad nervous about screwing up and not getting what I needed (I'm a paralegal and it would not look good). Lucky for me I dealt with two nice insurance adjusters (maybe it was the holidays that had them in a cheery mood). The other driver accepted liability and lucky for me she had full insurance. Now I am just waiting for the body shop to call to schedule the care repair.

Christmas eve I ventured to a local park trail with Chris and tried for 3-4 miles ( I really needed to burn off some sugar and stored energy from the day before). The first two left me cursing my legs, but the last two miles things began to turn around for me (I finally had some hope). I decided after the somewhat successful run to rest again Friday in hopes I could get more than 5 miles on Saturdays long run day.

Christmas eve evening was a family get together. As Chris and I were gathering up everything to hit the road, he went to put on his watch and wedding ring (which he normally only wears when leaving the house). After checking all the normal sports he puts it, we began to scan the floors. After 15 minutes of searching and coming up with nothing we left. Three plus days later and even the trash was searched, but sadly the ring has not been found. I'm not mad, but just sad that it may be gone forever. Chris has really beaten himself up over the losing the ring, but these things happen. We are already looking for a replacement, but regardless it is just a ring that was lost not our vows.

Back to running, Christmas morning was wonderful. Like usual Chris spoils me, and even gave into a little item I had been asking for in PINK.

These calf sleeves are awesome!

After a day (or two) filled with family and food....lots and lots of food. I was ready for a longer run on Saturday morning. Lucky for me I got 7 miles in, and all were completed without any real pain. I tested my luck again on Sunday and got 5 miles done on the park trail. Even with the injury, holiday craziness, wrecked car, and lost symbol of love this week I still got 18 miles total for the week. Today I am going to see a massage therapist, and yesterday I ordered a new pair of shoes. Later this week I'll post about my thoughts regarding WHY I get stupid shin splints, and actions I need to take to prevent this in the future.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and now it's time to look forward to a New Year (along with a post on a reflection of this past year).

Week Four: Honaker's Road to Boston



Week four was not derailed due to the holidays, but carried on as planned. The total mileage logged for the week 70 miles. In addition to the new mileage high Chris has logged over 50 days straight of running (some call that awesome, I call that crazy).
His week looked like this:
M- 9.05 Fartlek
T- 12 Med Long
W- 7.01 Recovery
Th- 9.01 Tempo
F- 7.2 Recovery
S- 1.13 Recovery
15.03 Long
1.16 Recovery
Su-8.46 Recovery

Saturday, December 26, 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS READERS!



Chris and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas (sorry a day late), and a Happy New Year! I'll be back on Monday to share some running and not so running related tails from this past week. Injuries, crashes, lost symbols of love my-oh-my what an adventure it has been this past week.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Push Ups, Ouch!

This week was the start of week four of the 100 push up challenge. As evidence by the below video's we are progressing along, sort of.

Although you will see me getting to a whopping 19 push up at one time, I have stalled at this stage. Unable to get past 19 push ups, I have gladly repeated the week 3 schedule, and will continue to do so until I can complete all three days.

Chris on the other had found an interesting way of getting an injury from push ups of all things (let me remind you the man runs over 60 miles a week, and has never had a major running injury). So last week what began as a bothersome achy big toe, ended up as tendinitis. How does one get a big toe injury, you ask? Take a close look at the video.



Yes the form could use some improvement, but ya know I'm a beginner.


See the stress his poor toes are put through? Someone needs to be wearing shoes when he does his push ups.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Just keep on moving, right?

After last weeks oops, this week was all about "just keep on moving". I was pretty mad about only getting 24 miles last week, so I set out early in the week to make sure that didn't happen again.

Taking Monday off, I went out on Tuesday after work and got in a pretty quick 5.5 mile run. Again I had not planned it, but I managed to accomplish a good progression run. Average pace was 9:38 for the run, and then the next day was 5 miles on the treadmill. Thursday I went out for 4 miles, and got to my driveway at 3.9 miles. Instead of running circles around my street (like I normally do) for the last .10 mile I just called it a day. I was a bit more tired on this run and really felt it in my shins. I still ended the run with a 9:40 average pace, but I had a feeling I was going to pay for this last month of fairly fast runs.

Saturday morning I was excited about having my first long run in the snow, and I was planning on getting 11 miles completed. Mile one was cold and the legs just felt heavy. I tried to focus on my surroundings and relax. 1 1/2 into the run and I knew I was in trouble. I stopped to stretch my shins, and when it hurts more when your standing, then I knew this shin pain was the real deal. It has been a very long time since I had shin pain bad enough to make me stop running.

I knew if I kept on moving the tightness may lessen. I just told myself to keep moving and it would get better. Mile 2 1/2 the tears just started streaming, and all I began to think about was how I am less then two weeks away from my one year anniversary. My one year anniversary of consistently running is coming up, and I also began discussing my plans for training this year for my half and full marathon. I have so many goals for my next year of running, that it was just easier to cry as I tried to run back to the store.

After passing my house and fighting the urge to call it a day after only three miles, I saw Chris running with a fellow running pal. I focused on the two of them and just ran. I had stopped crying and was just trying to think of something else other than the discomfort in my leggies. As I got closer to the store the pain started to get weaker and weaker. I got back and the store was filled with other runners getting ready to start their own runs and I just wanted to crawl into a hole. I wasn't sure if I could go back out running, but I knew if I stopped for the day and only got 4 miles in I would be a wreck for the rest of the day (yep it frustrated me that much).

As I sat there waiting for 8:07 the shins didn't feel so tight, so I began to think if I just went back out slower then maybe I would be OK. That is what I did, I stuck with a great group of runners that normally run a tad slower than what I do on the long runs. I was hoping the slower pace would work, and I could make something of this long run after all this frustration. Each mile I was ready to toss in the towel if the legs felt bad, but they never did. I ended with 9 1/2 miles with a nice average pace of 10:17. The pace is a far cry from my 10 at 9:37 last week, but I think my legs were saying they couldn't take all the pounding and that I needed to respect that. Lesson learned, respect your body!

Today Chris and I enjoyed another snowy run, but this time at a local park. The trail had so much snow I ended up running on the road leading to the parking areas. I tried my newer shoes out too, hoping that would help my shins and vowed to keep the pace really slow. I wanted 5 miles to get a new mileage high week, but I knew if I was to do it pain free it would have to be a real recovery run. As long as I kept on moving I was going to make this week a success, and I managed to do just that. Two miles into the run the legs actually felt good and I kept the pace at recovery level, and then added two hill sprints at the end of the run. 29 total miles for the week, and another mileage high.

5 days until Christmas and I am hoping that I will be able to give myself a nice Christmas present, which only I can give. If I treat my legs right, and they in turn treat me right. I will attempt to log 30 miles this coming week. It would mean so much too me to have this goal accomplished....maybe Christmas miracles can happen.

Week Three: Honaker's Road to Boston

Note: I corrected the last post on Honaker's Road to Boston. This is the actual third week of training.

Mileage for week three of training......67 miles, which is a new all time mileage high for Chris. He also had two good quality runs. A fartlek, and general aerobic progression run which both went well. The biggest improvement was his long run this week. He took the first 10 miles easy and then the last 30 minutes moderate. Unlike previous long runs (which he was running a tad to fast), he didn't feel total drained the following day. This should make some difference in his energy level for this next week of training.

Some great news came in this week. Two of the top US men's long distance runners will be racing at the 2010 Boston Marathon, Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi (the 2009 NYC Marathon winner)will be trying to take the men's title. I have already offered my legs and feet to stand in line at the expo to get any racers autographs if they so desire. It is sure to be an exciting race!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Boston Training

I figured I would appease the wife and write up a quick post about the Boston training program that will be taking over my life until April. I’ll give a little bit of background about my running life so far before getting into the nitty-gritty.

I ran for a few years for fitness off and on. For Christmas of ’08, Stevi bought me a Garmin Forerunner 205. It was the best gift I never knew I wanted. I didn’t do much with it until March or so when things started warming up and I was starting to run more often. Around that time, a business associate of mine was talking about running a half-marathon. I thought about it for a awhile and decided I wanted to run a half-marathon also. We started looking for smaller races and I signed up for a 5k in July 08, my very first race. I had no idea what I was doing. I remember being nervous (which Stevi thought was amusing) and I remember them not having my registration which compounded the situation. I ran my first 5k in 22:25. Hey, I might actually be good at this. It was around this time I started training for the Columbus Half-Marathon following a SmartCoach plan from Runner’s World.

Fast forward to the half which I ran in 1:37. Not bad, but not what I wanted. I ran an average of around 20 miles/week. I decided very soon afterward that I wanted to run a full marathon. I began training almost immediately after the half, building mileage and again following a SmartCoach plan.

I ran another half-marathon in the spring and got a 1:35, but I still didn’t hit the 7:15/mile pace I thought I should have gotten. I figured out too late in the game that in order to get where I wanted, I needed to be running more. I ran an average of 37 miles/week for the marathon and finished in 3:38. There are a ton of things I should have done differently, but I’ll leave that story for another time.

After the race, I set up goals for fall 2009. I wanted to break 20:00 in the 5k, I wanted a 1:33 half-marathon, and I wanted to get a 3:20 marathon. I followed a Pfitzinger 18 week 55 mile/wk peak plan, and added a few miles here or there when I could. I’ve learned over time that the key to building your aerobic capacity (which helps you sustain speed at longer distances) was to run as many miles and your legs can handle, and building that number safely over time. For this last training plan for Columbus, I ran an average of 51 miles/week with a peak of 65. All of my race times dropped substantially. I went close to 19:00 in the 5k, 40:00 in the 10k, 1:27 in the half, and finally landed a 3:08 in the marathon. I ran faster than that 7:15/mile I wanted for the half for the full marathon and Boston Qualified.

For Boston, my plan is to run more mileage and start to add a little more quality than the previous cycle. This time I am following a Brad Hudson inspired plan. This is basically a “write your own” plan as opposed to the cookie cutter plans I followed before. The plan is based on an adaptive strategy. You write your plan “in pencil” and make changes to the plan along the way based on progress and setbacks. It also incorporates some additional workouts that I have been lacking in the past.

Starting with a mileage increase similar to what a Pfitzinger plan has, I then filled in the key workouts.

Building aerobic capacity – overall mileage, medium long runs, long runs, progression runs, and threshold runs.

Building muscular strength to increase stride power and economy – hill sprints and strides.

Specificity of training for maximal effort over the marathon race distance – marathon paced runs.

The workouts will be adjusted based on self assessments of my fitness in each of these areas as the plan progresses. The goal is to get to the starting line for Boston injury free and ready to break 3 hours in the marathon (or come as close to it as possible). If you want to see my original plan and how it is progressing, you can see it here.

Mr. Jinx: Take One

We will take a pause from our regular scheduled programming to bring you this sort of cute, maybe funny video of Mr. Jinx tearing it up:



Thanks CJ for the inspiration!

P.S. On a running note, I have about 10 1/2 miles logged so far this week. I will have a 4 miler tonight before attending "Meet the Coach" night at our local running store that does training groups (personalized plans too). I'm ready to talk about what blood, sweat and tears I will be shedding during this training cycle.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Oops Did I Do That?

Well this week ended with a new PR and then a sad failure (depending on how you look at it).

On my quest to hit 30 miles a week I went out hoping at minimum for 28, but would have liked 29 miles. Opps, missing Wednesday due to a late night at work ruined that one. I had to squeeze in my miles on a very windy Thursday, and then some more on Friday before I had 10 miles for my long run on Saturday. I put 5 miles on the treadmill Thursday and 4 miles on Friday (I never run on Friday and was worried about how I would feel if I did any more than that the next day).

I then planned on my 10 Saturday morning before heading out for a day of Christmas shopping with a girlfriend. Sunday I hoped to get in 4 miles to give me my minimum of 28. Well Saturday the temps where in the teens when I started running at 7 am. I went out for the first 5 miles alone, and then would do the last with the other Columbus Running Company runners. The first two miles were ok (9:30 and 9:40), but then I hit the down hill. 9:13, 9:09, and 9:06 for my final 3 miles back to the CRC store. I saw the times, but I was just so cold and wanted to get back to put another layer on. I kept telling myself that my last 5 miles would be slower since I would be with the group.

Well I was able to dial it back into the 10 minute pace for two miles, but the other three were again in the 9 minute range. I didn't think to much of it till I got home and saw I ran 10 miles in 1:36, ummmmmmm that doesn't sound right to me. I'm the worse person to do math in my head, but I was pretty sure that was faster than my half marathon 10 mile split. Opps....should I really be running that fast so soon after the half, I couldn't have gained that much fitness to warrant such a speedy run. I was certain my leggies where going to revolt against me on Sunday.

24 hours later, yep the leggies where screaming profanity my way and begging me to stay in bed. I did so for a bit, and even tried to will them into submission for one more 4 mile run. Opps, this time I lost and the leggies won. Try as I may to give them some rest and wait till later today to run, they had a stronger will power to fight my pressure. So I lost, and decided to nap with the furbaby and then address some Christmas cards instead (sadly I found I do not save addresses very well and have so many I wish I could send a card to). So I end this week with a mere 24 miles.

On another note I finished week two of the 100 Push-up Challenge. Monday I did 48, Thursday 53 and then today 60 (mind you this is all done in 5 sets with 1 minute breaks). 161 push-ups for the week, now that is a good opps.

Happy Holidays!
Stevi (& Chris)

Week Two: Honaker's Road to Boston

Week 1-2 recap of Chris's Boston training:

Week One: 65 miles
Week Two: 65 miles

Week two of training brings Chris too 37 days straight of days running (I call that a tad crazy, but that's just me), and a few note worthy training days. Monday was an 8 mile fartlek run, where he had a range of 6:34-4:56 fartlek paces (an Average of 7:37). On Thursday he had a 10 mile GA run with an average pace of 7:48. He topped it off on Saturdays long run with the Columbus Running Company group with a 17 miler and a 7:47 average pace.

An end to another successful week

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Old Man Winter & Week 2 of "Honaker's Road to Boston"


Old man winter has arrived, but the running must continue (at least that is what Chris thinks). The last two weekend long runs have required tights, hats and gloves. I am still learning what level of layering I need, but over all it hasn't been too awful, YET. However, one lesson my dear readers I have learned while running in the cold. It is not the best idea to allow your body to cool down and then go back out to finish a run when temps are in the 30's or below. Let me just say the fingers turn into ice and the teeth chatter like a rattle.

As far as Boston training goes (I've titled it "Honaker's Road to Boston" since he is the only Honaker registered), Chris appears to be doing well. I am still trying to get him to write a post regarding his training, but until there you will have my observations. A month ago he decided to go from running 6 days to 7 days a week. He hasn't had a rest day in a month, and of course in good old Chris fashion everything seems to be going well. His weekly mileage is at about 62ish miles, and aside from hearing about nearly getting hit, or another dog chasing him all appears to be coming along. Since I'm talking about Boston, a great friend Chris has met was shut out of Boston when it closed so early in November (she was waiting to hopefully submit a faster time for a better placement after the Philly marathon). Well through some great connections her incredible story made its way to the BAA and she is in as a qualified runner. In a few weeks I will devote a whole post to her story, which includes running the Boston to Big Sur challenge for charity, her devotion to our country as a Marine, and her next venture as a business women with the development of "?" (I can't tell you yet, but let's say I was treated with an early sample of this product and my leggies couldn't have been more thankful after the half marathon).

Christmas is not far off, and surprisingly most of our shopping is complete, well except when Chris decided that he doesn't like what he got me. Every year it is the same story.....I try to find a present(s) that he would have no idea I would get for him, and he constantly says "oh I don't like what I got you". It's this cat and mouse game of expectations I have come to love this time of year. What has made it harder this year is that we are both out of creative ideas and had no choice but to rely solely on our Christmas list (which we provide with links to the cheapest place to purchase). On my side Chris has already seen the name of one box and knows exactly what's in that, and then ordered something I already got him. Chris being the ever so thoughtful gift giver he is, decided that I was in need of a gift more now than later, and he wanted to give me something else......thus explained why a pair of Nike running tights came flying at me a few days ago (which would made for a wonderful early Christmas present….thank you my dear). All of this wouldn’t be so funny if Chris and I didn’t LOVE shopping for Christmas presents for each other, it is what makes our Christmas special. So as the brave soul that I am, I will venture out this weekend into the vast oasis of crazy Christmas shoppers. With a great pal, we will tackle (and conquer) our last minute shopping needs. Now if only I can get my Christmas cards out this weekend.....I'll really feel accomplished.

Happy Holidays!
Stevi (& Chris)

Monday, December 7, 2009

Fastest Marathoner

When I registered Chris for the Columbus Marathon, I also included him in the Corporate Challenge. The company I work for paticipates in this program, and spouses where eligible to be included too.

Well weren't we surprised when an email was sent naming Chris the "Fastest Marathoner" for his division. We joked about this little honor, and then said I wonder if there was an award...yep another neat little plaque to remember the Columbus Marathon from.




So with that and the rest of his bling this past year, I think I need to revise my list of goals. We really need to set up a "running room" for his awards and goodies from the races.

Happy Monday!
Stevi

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Stevi

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The "List" is complete.....with one "Long Distance" goal

EDITED: Just added some notes about why I have certain goals.

A few weeks back I decided that instead of dreading turning 30 in January I was going to celebrate it. This past year has been a pretty big year for me, as far as testing my physical and mental strength. I wanted to go into 30 feeling stronger on the inside and outside than I did when I was 25. Lucky for me, I think I am.

So as a measure to continue this inward and outward growth, I put together a list that I call: 30 Goals in Celebration of Turning 30.
Rules: Each item listed must be completed and/or accomplished no later than midnight on 01/13/2011. For each goal reached I will post a review of the accomplishment on my blog.

1. Complete the 100 Push Up Challenge (actually do the final 100 push up routine since I have just started this challenge this week).

2. Begin and routinely do the 100 Pull Up Challenge (can’t even do one right now, so I need the 100 push ups to help me get too 100 pull ups).

3. Run a race with a friend(s) (actually run with the friend(s) just for fun. Racing for time, all the time can take the fun out of running. I want to love all of running, and that includes races).

4. Run a race with Chris (he may have to slow down a tad for me, but maybe by the fall I'll have gotten fast enough to make it above a jog).

5. Run a sub 2 hour half marathon (ran 2:08 this fall, and I know I can break 2 hours but by how much is the unknown)

6. Run a sub 24 minute 5k (eke that is going to be hard, but I'm hoping putting int the mileage will get me there).

7. Run a 10k (this is double the pain of a 5k, and that does not sound like fun at all).

8. Run 150 miles in one month (this just sounded like a good number; I should take a bet on how long it will take for me to get there).

9. Run 1200 miles in one year (again pulled this out of the air. Not sure with my training mileage if it will be possible. Guess I will see.)

10. Do Ab Ripper X routinely (I hate ab work, and never stick with it)

11. Get a promotion at work (sounds lofty, but I'm hoping a little focus and hard work will show enough to get this done)

12. Get a raise at work (goes with goal 11).

13. Learn to grill (I am not a cook, and grilling should not be just a mans job).

14. Cook dinner at least once a month (something different each month, again I am not the cook in the house).

15. Learn to make a signature desert (Chocolate-Whip-Berry Cake a.k.a Heaven Cake).

16. Read- To Kill a Mockingbird (nope never did read it in school).

17. Read- Catcher in the Rye (another classic that I never was asked to read)

18. Read- The Time Travelers Wife (now this one is a pure pleasure read, I have heard great things)

19. Watch- Casablanca (again another classic I want to be able to say I have seen)

20. Watch-Citizen Kane (and another classic, I feel like I have been missing something over the past 30 years).

21. Watch the TV series X Files (My love of the new show Fringe has me excited about this one).

22. Write in a journal (at least once every few weeks. I've said I was going to do this again for years, but never do. I'm hoping to recount my life story, kind of like the "I’ve been everywhere man" song).

23. Keep the Honaker Blog up-to-date (I failed at this before, so a great challenge over the next year).

24. Hike (walk or run) the 10 miles of Grandma Gatewood Trail - Old Man's Cave to Ash Cave (we did this foolishly almost 5 years ago and I thought I would die. It would be a blast to go back and do it again. This time enjoying the whole thing).

25. Travel to a state I have never visited before (I've got one on my list I should be going to in April).

26. Go to the Renaissance Festival (sounds silly, but I have a bad habit of saying "oh I want to go to that", and then never going. I have been thinking about going as an adult ever since I went to one when I lived in Sarasota Florida. It was in school and I was all dressed up in a big old dress (we were told to dress up). I'm going this year I swear).

27. Host a “family” get together at our house (Ok now I am sure this one has you saying "what?". It seems to be not such an easy thing to get visitors to our house. I am still clueless on how this goal will be accomplished, but I have the dream of a cook out, with family talking and having fun, ummmmm does this only happen in the movies?).

28. Have date night with hubby once a month (We were doing well for a few months, but then stuff happens. I think our definition of date night needs to be looked at, and included activities that don't always cost money. Hoping to find more creative ideas).

29. Paint, and decorate our master bedroom (bonus points for the hallways and extra bathroom. Going on our third year without working on these last remaining rooms in our house).

30. The final goal …………………………………Drum roll please…………………………………………………………………………………………………train………………and……………………run………all 26.2 miles………………of the 2010 Chicago Marathon!!!!!!

Well that's the list, and now I have to stick to it. The most note worthy item my 100% decision to train and run the Chicago Marathon. I had been avoiding the thought of doing a full marathon until I had a few years of running under my belt....well as they say I'm not getting any younger. It only seemed fitting that such a major challenge be included (heck I am sure I would have been called out had I left it off).

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Thankful Thanksgiving Holiday

It is fair to say that 2009 has been a trying year for many. It has also been full of blessings, blessings that Chris and I will forever be thankful for.

This years holiday celebration brought family together (some that had been apart for far too long). I will always be thankful that I have been given the chance to introduce my husband to this special family. In addition, to our new experience we revised a new tradition started last year, and got up early Thanksgiving morning to run in a good old fashion Thanksgiving race. Our pick for 2009 was the 4 miler Pilgrim’s Progress Run. Chris was excited to race a 4 miler (a first for him), and I was out on a mission for a fun run (having had two fast races in the last three weeks).

We met up with a great running pal, Doug from CRC, and met his wife and kids before the children’s ½ mile race. It was cold, but we all had fun (some more than others. I'll try and post my video later). Chris walked away with a pretty good race, it was at least enough to get him first place in his age group and a $100 Dick Sporting Good’s gift card (final time 25:24). I ran with a running pal Patty and pushed her to a new 5k personal record in the middle of the 4 mile race (her previous time the weekend before was soft). After that point I hung with her for a bit until she wanted to walk and told me to take off. After a few up hills through the mall parking lot I finally found my fast gear and turned it on. Coming around the last curve I was passing people I had been cheering on several miles back, and then I saw Chris coming towards me (he always likes to run back and find me on the course). I yelled something like “Ya, ya honey I’m coming”, and a group of women laughed at me. I told them my husband was coming to tell me to get a move on. They said to tell him to shut up, I was busy taking pictures (they had been around earlier in the race when I was trying to run and take pictures). I laughed and stepped it up as I ran past Chris. Saw a few more people I thought I could pass, and then went straight into the finish line. My total time was 36:49 (my last mile was 8:30, I was happy with that). Collected our medals, and then put in a few more miles around the mall before heading home.



Saturday was our big day of cooking. We got up extra early so Chris and I could get our long runs completed, in time to head home and prep the turkey. Chris completed 15 miles, and I had a fantastic 10 mile run. It was a cold morning, and I got to pull out the running tights and gloves for the first time. Although I thought I would have a hard time running that long alone, it felt great to be out before the sunrise. I was kind of like a silly school girl smiling and having a blast. Once home Chris set to working on another fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Family arrived later in the afternoon, and we all stuffed ourselves to uncomfortable levels.

The holiday season is officially in full swing at the Honaker house. We purchased our grown up tree, and decked the halls (and house) with bows, and wreaths. Chris began his official Boston Marathon training plan on Dec 1 (I’m going to try and get him to post some details on what he is planning for the next few months). I am still working towards reaching 30 miles per week, and ended this week with a new weekly PR of 28 miles. In addition, I also finally hit 100 plus miles for a month. I have been really close for the last few months, but always ended a few miles shy. Total November mileage was 108 miles for me, and Chris has a crazy 235 miles logged for the month of November (he doesn’t know the meaning of “taking it easy”).



Stay tuned for a post later this week regarding 2010 goals, and my list of 30 accomplishments for 2010.



OK this was my first attempt at video on the run.....I need some practice.