This past Saturday was my very FIRST official 5k run of my training program. Now I've WALKED a lot of 5k's before, but this is the first that I've ever run...and definitely the first one since I've started the whole process of training for the half. Needless to say I was slightly nervous. I'd been running a 3 mile distance for the last 2 weeks so as far as distance goes I wasn't concerned, but everyone says that race day is different. The adrenaline and such can throw you off.....well let me tell you they are RIGHT
Race time was at 8:15. I was up by 6 and getting out the door by 7. We arrived in Woodinville at Redhook Brewery by 7:30am. I picked up my race packet, including my bib and tracking chip (I felt SO official! Dorky yes I know but it was COOL! ha). And then I had a good half an hour till race time. Lots of stretching and looking around. It was a much larger race than I had anticipated. There was a 10k portion with about 400 people, a 5k run with 55 runners, and then a 5k walk. Not sure how many walkers but there were a LOT of families and strollers!! The run benefited Seattle Children's Hospital (kinda fitting given the week we'd just gone through).
Starting the race I think I made my number one mistake.....starting with the bulk of the pack. It was VERY crowded, and so I ended up trying to dart up past the crowd and make a break for it. BAD IDEA. My pace to start was most likely WAY to quick. Also - it was a lot warmer out than it had been over the last month or so of my training. I'm not one used to running in heat...or humidity. Makes a big difference. I also learned as I started my run that my iPod had not synced up that morning....meaning the two new songs I'd REALLY wanted to add to my playlist were not there...DAMN
BUT I made it the first two miles without stopping. At a really great pace...but then my tank started to run out. Throughout the third mile I had to stop a few times and do 20 second intervals of walking. Regain some strength and energy. But I finished the full last portion of the race from the last turn on the road to the entrance back to Redhook Brewery, and picked up to a nice sprint to finish it off.
Overall, I finished at 30:05, a pace of 9:41/mile, and placed 19th of 55 runners. Given the fact that I had to walk a portion of the third mile, I'm pretty damn impressed with my timing. Shows just how much I'd set the pace at the beginning. And overall, the race itself was a huge learning experience. Made me fully realize the importance of doing some races before the big day in December.
My next 5k run is on September 11th around Greenlake. So close to home! End goal for this 5k is to run the whole thing and pick up the overall pace time. :-)
I've posted links to the race results as well as my Athlinks account! Given that I'll be running more races I learned about Athlinks from a friend (thanks Ryan), in which I can claim my race results all in one spot :-D
Check it out!
Covey Run 5k Race Results
http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php#racetop
My Athlinks Account
http://www.athlinks.com/racer.aspx?rid=101108156
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Team Alex - Running for a Cause
As most of you know, I have been training for a half marathon that I will be running in Las Vegas on December 4, 2011. Originally I began this training and decided to also challenge my friends and family to help me raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Well, some of you may or may not know, but last week my nephew Alexander was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
The week started like any other week. I went to work, getting back into the swing of the week and prepping myself mentally for my 3 mile run that night. And then it all changed. With a simple email from my mom telling me that Amanda was bringing Alexander to Seattle Children's Hospital. I immediately freaked out. My mind went to the worst possible scenarios. How could something be wrong with my handsome little man?! He doesn't deserve to feel any kind of pain, and my sister and brother-in-law do not deserve to go through this, to watch their son deal with illness....
So of course my mind was going a million miles a minute. And then another email telling me they were testing for potential diabetes. Still my mind kept going, it wasn't as bad as I had originally made it out to be, but still....this was not something that they should have to deal with.
The next 3 days were spent at Children's Hospital. With the first night being spent in the ICU, Alexander hooked up to an IV and having his blood sugar levels checked every hour. I'm pretty sure the hardest day was the first, at least for me it was. Alexander having IV lines in both arms, being hooked to a machine and all he could do was look to each of us and give the saddest face I'd ever seen. He just wanted us to help him, to take them out of his arms, let him be free. Crying. And we all had to look at him and tell him we couldn't do it. That they were gonna help make him all better. My heart just broke. Over and Over and Over.
After the first day he was able to have the IV's taken out, and we roamed the hospital. Rolling his cars/trucks all over the place. Nurses would laugh and comment that Alexander was quite the roamer! Going ALL over the hospital. He especially loved the Giraffe statues in the hospital. Wanted to be lifted up and touch their noses. During the next few days we all went through a LOT of education. Checking blood sugar levels, counting carbs, insulin injections and the list goes on.
Alexander is home now and everyone is adjusting to the new way of life. And Alex is....Alex. The happy, smiley, laughing, goofy kid we all love. The one that brings more joy than we could ever ask for in our lives. And so he makes it all worth it.
Throughout this whole process I have to say that the thing I'm proudest of is how our family came together. We were all there for each other, as much as we could be. Because I know that there are things that I can't do to make the situation better. No matter how much encouragement we give, support you offer....sometimes there are things that no one else can help you get through. But we can try.
And so with everything that’s happened in the last week with Alexander’s diagnosis, I can’t ignore that there is a new cause that I am determined to devote my time and effort too.
I am still maintaining my fundraising for St. Jude; however, I have decided I can’t wait till the next race to start fundraising for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). So I will be splitting the total campaign effort of $1,500 between St. Jude and JDRF at $750 a piece. I have set up my fundraising page for JDRF and you can now start putting your donations up!
I am so grateful for the amazing family and friends I’ve been blessed with, especially my little man Alexander. And I hope you will take a stand with me and help do all that we can to find a cure. He deserves nothing but the best life that we can give to him, and this is one way that I know I can help support not only him, but Amanda and Nick as well.
I ask that you please support me and more importantly Alexander.
TEAM ALEX ALL THE WAY! SO STRONG!
The link for the website is
http://jdrfevents.donordrive.com/campaign/amybodnar
Love you all
xoxo
Ames
The week started like any other week. I went to work, getting back into the swing of the week and prepping myself mentally for my 3 mile run that night. And then it all changed. With a simple email from my mom telling me that Amanda was bringing Alexander to Seattle Children's Hospital. I immediately freaked out. My mind went to the worst possible scenarios. How could something be wrong with my handsome little man?! He doesn't deserve to feel any kind of pain, and my sister and brother-in-law do not deserve to go through this, to watch their son deal with illness....
So of course my mind was going a million miles a minute. And then another email telling me they were testing for potential diabetes. Still my mind kept going, it wasn't as bad as I had originally made it out to be, but still....this was not something that they should have to deal with.
The next 3 days were spent at Children's Hospital. With the first night being spent in the ICU, Alexander hooked up to an IV and having his blood sugar levels checked every hour. I'm pretty sure the hardest day was the first, at least for me it was. Alexander having IV lines in both arms, being hooked to a machine and all he could do was look to each of us and give the saddest face I'd ever seen. He just wanted us to help him, to take them out of his arms, let him be free. Crying. And we all had to look at him and tell him we couldn't do it. That they were gonna help make him all better. My heart just broke. Over and Over and Over.
After the first day he was able to have the IV's taken out, and we roamed the hospital. Rolling his cars/trucks all over the place. Nurses would laugh and comment that Alexander was quite the roamer! Going ALL over the hospital. He especially loved the Giraffe statues in the hospital. Wanted to be lifted up and touch their noses. During the next few days we all went through a LOT of education. Checking blood sugar levels, counting carbs, insulin injections and the list goes on.
Alexander is home now and everyone is adjusting to the new way of life. And Alex is....Alex. The happy, smiley, laughing, goofy kid we all love. The one that brings more joy than we could ever ask for in our lives. And so he makes it all worth it.
Throughout this whole process I have to say that the thing I'm proudest of is how our family came together. We were all there for each other, as much as we could be. Because I know that there are things that I can't do to make the situation better. No matter how much encouragement we give, support you offer....sometimes there are things that no one else can help you get through. But we can try.
And so with everything that’s happened in the last week with Alexander’s diagnosis, I can’t ignore that there is a new cause that I am determined to devote my time and effort too.
I am still maintaining my fundraising for St. Jude; however, I have decided I can’t wait till the next race to start fundraising for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). So I will be splitting the total campaign effort of $1,500 between St. Jude and JDRF at $750 a piece. I have set up my fundraising page for JDRF and you can now start putting your donations up!
I am so grateful for the amazing family and friends I’ve been blessed with, especially my little man Alexander. And I hope you will take a stand with me and help do all that we can to find a cure. He deserves nothing but the best life that we can give to him, and this is one way that I know I can help support not only him, but Amanda and Nick as well.
I ask that you please support me and more importantly Alexander.
TEAM ALEX ALL THE WAY! SO STRONG!
The link for the website is
http://jdrfevents.donordrive.com/campaign/amybodnar
Love you all
xoxo
Ames
Training Week #6
I'm going to start off this week's update by saying that this was probably one of the hardest but most rewarding weeks of my training so far and for a multitude of reasons. All of which I'll explain below
The training schedule this week ended up going quite differently than originally anticipated. I had planned to get in 2 nights of hot yoga, plus maybe a hike or even a 3rd evening of yoga....but the world works in mysterious ways. Monday afternoon my nephew Alexander was admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital, and was ultimately diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. He spent the next 3 days in the hospital to take his blood sugar levels down, to monitor him, and also to introduce my sister, her husband, my mom and myself to the new lifestyle he was going to live. Training us on testing his blood sugar, counting his carb intake, giving insulin injections, etc. Needless to say a VERY overwhelming week especially for my sister, Nick and Alex. I'll write more detail on the week in another post, as well as the new cause I'm running for.
So given that we were spending majority of our days at the hospital my training schedule went in a slightly different direction. I kept up with all of my run nights, taking in 3 mile runs on Monday and Wednesday, but my crosstraining went to walks around Greenlake. A LOT OF WALKING! I pulled in 15 miles walking this week (6 of which was pulled in on Thursday evening). But it was exactly what I needed...should we say it was what the doctor ordered???? Anyway - my training this week definitely served as catharsis for my overloaded mind. Giving me time to focus on everything my family was going through....and just life in general. More to be discussed on the clarity of what came through in a post to be made at a later date, but all in all much needed think time.
And then I brought in the new addition to my training....CYCLING! Yes thats right. Its one of my new favorite cross train activities. Pulling in 6 miles on the bike in just 2 rides...I'm very proud of my little accomplishments. I know its not a HUGE mileage, but hey! I haven't biked in I don't even know how long, and with all the other activity I'm doing I'm trying not to push too hard. There is no room for error or accidents in this training program!
Also completed during this week was my first official race of the program! The Covey Run 5k run in Woodinville. Another post will be entirely devoted to all race day activities and thoughts. But a very big moment for me in my training program.
At the culmination of the week I felt like I'd made quite the accomplishment. It was a second straight week in which life threw curveballs into the rink and I was able to modify/adjust my training and still come out accomplishing the overall end goals, and in ways surpassing goals I'd had in my own mind. Versatility baby. People always say that trainings and goals can go off course, sometimes never to be returned to because we don't plan for the unexpected. Well hopefully the last two weeks is proof enough in my own mind that I can keep myself focused and reach my end goal....even if life decides it has other ideas for me.
WEEK 6 STATS
Total Miles Run - 9.1
Total Miles Planned - 9.1
Total Miles Walked - 15
Total Miles Biked - 6
The training schedule this week ended up going quite differently than originally anticipated. I had planned to get in 2 nights of hot yoga, plus maybe a hike or even a 3rd evening of yoga....but the world works in mysterious ways. Monday afternoon my nephew Alexander was admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital, and was ultimately diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. He spent the next 3 days in the hospital to take his blood sugar levels down, to monitor him, and also to introduce my sister, her husband, my mom and myself to the new lifestyle he was going to live. Training us on testing his blood sugar, counting his carb intake, giving insulin injections, etc. Needless to say a VERY overwhelming week especially for my sister, Nick and Alex. I'll write more detail on the week in another post, as well as the new cause I'm running for.
So given that we were spending majority of our days at the hospital my training schedule went in a slightly different direction. I kept up with all of my run nights, taking in 3 mile runs on Monday and Wednesday, but my crosstraining went to walks around Greenlake. A LOT OF WALKING! I pulled in 15 miles walking this week (6 of which was pulled in on Thursday evening). But it was exactly what I needed...should we say it was what the doctor ordered???? Anyway - my training this week definitely served as catharsis for my overloaded mind. Giving me time to focus on everything my family was going through....and just life in general. More to be discussed on the clarity of what came through in a post to be made at a later date, but all in all much needed think time.
And then I brought in the new addition to my training....CYCLING! Yes thats right. Its one of my new favorite cross train activities. Pulling in 6 miles on the bike in just 2 rides...I'm very proud of my little accomplishments. I know its not a HUGE mileage, but hey! I haven't biked in I don't even know how long, and with all the other activity I'm doing I'm trying not to push too hard. There is no room for error or accidents in this training program!
Also completed during this week was my first official race of the program! The Covey Run 5k run in Woodinville. Another post will be entirely devoted to all race day activities and thoughts. But a very big moment for me in my training program.
At the culmination of the week I felt like I'd made quite the accomplishment. It was a second straight week in which life threw curveballs into the rink and I was able to modify/adjust my training and still come out accomplishing the overall end goals, and in ways surpassing goals I'd had in my own mind. Versatility baby. People always say that trainings and goals can go off course, sometimes never to be returned to because we don't plan for the unexpected. Well hopefully the last two weeks is proof enough in my own mind that I can keep myself focused and reach my end goal....even if life decides it has other ideas for me.
WEEK 6 STATS
Total Miles Run - 9.1
Total Miles Planned - 9.1
Total Miles Walked - 15
Total Miles Biked - 6
Training Week #5
WEEK 5! I'm approximately 24% of the way complete with the 21 week training program. 16 weeks left!
When I say it this way it sounds like there is still so far to go....and there is, but at the same time I look at what I've completed and I think wow its already been 5 weeks?! It honestly doesn't feel that long yet. It does not feel like I have been training for over a month! Is it really possible? I guess so because thats what the calendar says. I think its a positive thing though that I can look forward at the next 16 weeks and still feel totally pumped about the race. That I can still look forward to my nightly training and that I'm actually excited to get into my upper mileage runs. A month or two ago and I would've looked at like you as if you'd been sniffing glue or doing SOME kind of drug. Running was NOT my thing....and it kinda feels like its starting to be.
Anyway - this week was the start of another bump up in the mileage. Weekly run nights are now at 3 miles and weekend long runs are at 4 miles. I also tried out a different hot yoga studio (not bikram). It was a 60 minute class....COMPLETELY different than bikram but was still 'oh so good' in oh so many ways. Challenged me to do yoga positions I never thought I'd be able to do (the crow....holy COW! or should I say crow??? Probably, but you get the gist of it). Its one of my three yoga groupons I've purchased to keep me on the yoga train throughout my program. Gotta say I'm still a yoga lover! Whod've thunk!?
We had our first 4 miler on Sunday August 14th and let me tell you I was WAY nervous. I do not believe that in my entire life I've run over 3 miles at any one point in time.....so adding a mile onto that was kinda freaky. Not to mention that throughout the whole week I still felt like I was recovering from the 3 day trek up the west coast and failing. AND...I had signed up to help my brother-in-law build a deck in his front yard.....yeah me...the NOT very handy girl :)
So Sunday night's run came after two days of labor, followed by a beer and some of Nick's famous hot wings....I was thinking my mind, body (especially tummy) would NOT be ready for the run. But I proceeded to Alki Beach to meet my running partner Jenny at 8pm. Not gonna lie...first 2 miles I was constantly thinking I was an idiot for the beer and the wings and for starting so late in the evening....I kept going "we haven't even made it HALF way! HOW am I going to pull this off?!" Not to mention Jenny was kicking my ass! She was way out in front and looked to be faring much better than I was.
And then we hit the half way mark...FINALLY! My mind started turning toward the positive...you're HALF way there. Keep it UP! My legs for the next half mile protested majorly and I continued to trail behind Jenny. But then the glimpse of Alki Beach shops came back into view and I KNEW we were getting closer. And then my stride kicked in. The legs no longer hurt, my iPod had some GREAT tunes keeping me going, and the lovely shoreline reeled me in. It made it even MORE abundantly clear to me that my real obstacle is my HEAD! Freaking mental blocks are the WORST in a run!
But we finished our first 4 miler with an average mile time of 10 minutes/mile. Pretty stellar! We've been able to keep it at the 10 or under pace since our first start week, and typically only bump up to the at 10 minutes/mile mark when we up our mileage.
That run marked the completion of week 4. Onto week 5 and still going strong!
WEEK 5 STATS
Total Miles Run - approximately 11
Total Miles Planned - 10
Total Miles Walked - approximately 6.5
Hot Yoga Classes - 1
When I say it this way it sounds like there is still so far to go....and there is, but at the same time I look at what I've completed and I think wow its already been 5 weeks?! It honestly doesn't feel that long yet. It does not feel like I have been training for over a month! Is it really possible? I guess so because thats what the calendar says. I think its a positive thing though that I can look forward at the next 16 weeks and still feel totally pumped about the race. That I can still look forward to my nightly training and that I'm actually excited to get into my upper mileage runs. A month or two ago and I would've looked at like you as if you'd been sniffing glue or doing SOME kind of drug. Running was NOT my thing....and it kinda feels like its starting to be.
Anyway - this week was the start of another bump up in the mileage. Weekly run nights are now at 3 miles and weekend long runs are at 4 miles. I also tried out a different hot yoga studio (not bikram). It was a 60 minute class....COMPLETELY different than bikram but was still 'oh so good' in oh so many ways. Challenged me to do yoga positions I never thought I'd be able to do (the crow....holy COW! or should I say crow??? Probably, but you get the gist of it). Its one of my three yoga groupons I've purchased to keep me on the yoga train throughout my program. Gotta say I'm still a yoga lover! Whod've thunk!?
We had our first 4 miler on Sunday August 14th and let me tell you I was WAY nervous. I do not believe that in my entire life I've run over 3 miles at any one point in time.....so adding a mile onto that was kinda freaky. Not to mention that throughout the whole week I still felt like I was recovering from the 3 day trek up the west coast and failing. AND...I had signed up to help my brother-in-law build a deck in his front yard.....yeah me...the NOT very handy girl :)
So Sunday night's run came after two days of labor, followed by a beer and some of Nick's famous hot wings....I was thinking my mind, body (especially tummy) would NOT be ready for the run. But I proceeded to Alki Beach to meet my running partner Jenny at 8pm. Not gonna lie...first 2 miles I was constantly thinking I was an idiot for the beer and the wings and for starting so late in the evening....I kept going "we haven't even made it HALF way! HOW am I going to pull this off?!" Not to mention Jenny was kicking my ass! She was way out in front and looked to be faring much better than I was.
And then we hit the half way mark...FINALLY! My mind started turning toward the positive...you're HALF way there. Keep it UP! My legs for the next half mile protested majorly and I continued to trail behind Jenny. But then the glimpse of Alki Beach shops came back into view and I KNEW we were getting closer. And then my stride kicked in. The legs no longer hurt, my iPod had some GREAT tunes keeping me going, and the lovely shoreline reeled me in. It made it even MORE abundantly clear to me that my real obstacle is my HEAD! Freaking mental blocks are the WORST in a run!
But we finished our first 4 miler with an average mile time of 10 minutes/mile. Pretty stellar! We've been able to keep it at the 10 or under pace since our first start week, and typically only bump up to the at 10 minutes/mile mark when we up our mileage.
That run marked the completion of week 4. Onto week 5 and still going strong!
WEEK 5 STATS
Total Miles Run - approximately 11
Total Miles Planned - 10
Total Miles Walked - approximately 6.5
Hot Yoga Classes - 1
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