Saturday, August 30, 2008

Another 5K Day

So we've sort of turned into a running family over the last year. The Composer started it, then Felix started, then Giles joined in, and the boys were sort of in and out but Giles has trained steadily since April. I started a little in January, ran my first 5K in the spring, then fell in love with it through the summer, while the girls have been in and out with me.

Today was a 5K race day for the Composer and Giles and me. Those fast guys were trying to break 20:00, and came very close--the Composer was over by seven seconds and Giles was over by only three seconds. I took a massive several minutes off my previous race and finished in 30:15. Which leaves lots of room for me to gain speed before our next outing in October.

It's so much fun to do together. I say "together" but we don't really do it together since we trade off our running mornings so that someone's on cocoa duty for Daisy, not to mention that the boys run too fast for me. But we write down our times in the same notebook. And talk about it all. A lot.

15 comments:

  1. Wow, congratulations! That's quite an accomplishment!

    "Cocoa duty"--I love it. :)

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  2. The races are very addictive, aren't they? Since Giles is going to SCAD, you might want to check out the Savannah River Bridge Run (5K, 10K, and Double Pump) on Dec. 6th (you can google it). I have only done a 5K, but am training now for the 10K bridge run. I think it will be really fun! :)

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  3. Sounds like AWESOME fun to me = )

    Talk about it all you want on your blog...feel free to post your running stats!

    Congrats on the new PR!

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  4. How excellent! Running can turn into a full-fledged love affair, that's for sure. My husband was a college track/cross-country runner and now runs competitively in local races. PR 15:59 but these days he's somewhere in the 17s for a 5k, though he runs 15 miles in the mountains on the weekends.

    Me? I am fine with finishing in the 27s, thankyouverymuch! :)

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  5. PS If you or your guys are interested in really smoking it and getting technical, check out the running book by Jack Daniels (Daniels' Running Formula, I think?). My husband has only recently started dabbling with it, but my cousin won a fairly large city half marathon by training *mostly* on these principles.

    As an aside, we get a lot no-pun-intended mileage out of talking about how much Jack Daniels helps us run, especially when my husband talks to me on the phone at work. "A little Jack Daniels really helps me get through a hard run," etc. We like to imagine what neighboring cubicle-dwellers might be thinking.

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  6. My husband and I just joined the YMCA and I was very proud of my 25 minute bike ride! I like the idea of running but I am always too scared to try.

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  7. What a fun day! Congratulations on your time!! I am a want-to-be runner who isn't very good at it at all!

    I LOVE your blog and am continually inspired!

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  8. Congratulaions to all of you Anna! We've taken up bike riding here and are trying to increase our distance while we take a bit of time off as well. However, the blazing hot summer has put a bit of a crimp in our progress.
    You did a great job!

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  9. I love that you all are doing this as a family! Congrats on shaving so much off your time...what an accomplishment! I've always wanted to be able to at least jog, but I get frustrated so easily when I can't "just do it"...know what I mean?

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  10. Our school has been doing the Nike challenge, where the kids wear wristbands that record how far they run each day. Jack (being a ststistical minded guy) has been averaging a little over 10km a day. Very impressive for a boy who didn't do running before.
    His teachers and I are hoping that it becomes a habit.

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  11. So how did you get started? What was your training to build up to the 5K?

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  12. I have nominated you for an award. Com by and check it out. Oh I miss running. I would love to do a marathon, just one last time!

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  13. So it is possible to 'learn' to run??

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  14. How fun! I got into running back in college and when I met my hubby I was overjoyed to find out he loved running, too. We love to run together, but he is way too fast for me. So mostly he runs and I try to catch up!

    We do the Turkey Trot here every Thanksgiving. It's an 8k, which can be bad for my knees. But it's fun to see the crazy costumes!

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