Santa Shuffle my DIY 5K

I opted to participate in Mcfatpants do it yourself 5K aka the Santa shuffle last week so I knew I wanted to fulfill my promise and get a solid run in sometime during Christmas week. I think the idea was great and encouraging us to workout especially during a busy holiday week where we may consume more calories is just perfect! I did my own run on Thanksgiving day so I wanted to keep my holiday running tradition going :)




Well I thought there is no better day to do it than Christmas Day! I chose this day because I had the entire day off and the weather was actually pretty mild. It was a brisk 30 degrees outside when I set out for my run. I turned up my MP3 player and away I went. I planned to do at least 4 miles and just decided I would run until I felt I did not want anymore and then turn around run home. Usually the course I run is about 4 miles so I had to push past my "comfort zone" to extend the run a bit longer.

Normally during a run I feel great and the first 1-2 miles are a breeze. However this day for some unknown reason it felt like a chore. I felt myself checking my time and getting frustrated because my legs were not moving as fast as i wanted them to. This led to me just becoming frustrated during the entire tun and insecure about it. Usually I love my runs and I was kind of bummed out about this one not being as enjoyable.

I ended up doing 4.5 miles in 45 minutes. Not my best time ever and I was again disappointed and frustrated with myself. I have been averaging 8.5-9 min per mile runs and to have a 10 min mile per minute run was a bit silly to me. But I guess I need to learn that not every run will be perfect and fun! I need to learn that sometimes it will be tougher and to push through and finish and look forward to the next one and try to make it better.

Well that was Christmas day. Today I went to the gym and had a date with the treadmill. We got 2 feet of snow, so I was unable to run outside tonight but the treadmill made up for it. I am not a huge fan of running on the treadmill but after tonight I realize that at least one or two of my runs each week should be on it. The reason being this: I push my speed faster on the treadmill and it helps me condition my body for that half marathon I intend to run at the end of February.  I set the treadmill to a brisk pace and set out to do a 3.1 mile run, my own 5K. I guess I just needed to see if I could redeem myself after the horrible run I had on Christmas day.

Well I set out to do that, and I was successful!!! I set myself  a new fastest time of 25:10. It was fast, it was hard, and I sweated my ass off, but it was totally worth it! I was amazed I could run that fast. The hardest part honestly was the first mile, for some reason on the treadmill especially that first mile is always the hardest. I find myself struggling to get into a rhythm. Maybe this is due to me increasing pace during the second and third miles, I always have the first one slower. I am not sure but after that first mile I was comfortable and had a good run.

So there you have it my Do It Yourself Santa shuffle 5k was completed today in 25 minutes and 10 seconds! Great idea McFatpants :)

I stayed at the gym after that and gave myself more of a burn by lifting some weights. Then I ended the night with 15 more minutes on the treadmill alternating between an incline of 15 for 3 minutes and 8 for 2 minutes. That is a burn lemme tell ya folks! I ended the workout happy to see I burned 537 calories :)