HBBC Week 1

This week started the HBBC Holiday Challenge.  The challenge runs through January 3rd.  I signed up in hopes to keep myself motivated over the holidays & not pile on the pounds.

The other thing that I started was Runners World #RWRunStreak.  Run at least 1 mile every day starting Thanksgiving through New Years.  Most days I will stick to 1 - 2 miles to see how I feel & hopefully it doesn't aggravate my hip.

Monday: 60 minute Spin class - 6 points, 7 Freggies (Fruits & Veggies - saw this on a HBBC post & thought it was a prefect abbreviation!  Of course I can't remember who so I can't give proper credit) - 1 point
Tuesday: 60 minute Swim - 6 points
Wednesday: 25 Mile bike ride w/Steve who happened to fix my flat at 5 mile along with my rear derailleur that we messed up when we re-installed the rear tire.  Fun times. - 8.33 points

Steve fixing my bike

Thursday: 3.5 mile run - Virtual Run for TNT (#RWRunStreak Day 1) - 3.5 points, 1.5 mile hike w/Steve in Red River Gorge - 1.5 points

Always too close to the edge

Friday: 1.05 mile run (#RWRunStreak Day 2) - 1 point , 75 minutes Yoga - 3.75 points
Saturday: 1.35 mile run (#RWRunStreak Day 3) - 1.35 point , 60 minutes Yoga - 3 points, 5 freggies - 1 point
Sunday: 2.5 mile run (#RWRunStreak Day 4) - 2.5 points, 55 minute swim - 5.5 points, 5 freggies - 1 point

Bonus Points:  HBBC Badge on Blog (2), Daily Facebook Check-in (7), family activity on Thanksgiving (2)

Week 1 Total Points = 56.43

My goal for next week is to eat 5-7 servings of fruit & vegetables daily.  In the winter it just isn't my go to food.  I much prefer heavier snacks this time of year.

In other holiday news - Courtney over at Third Time's a Charm is hosting the 2nd Annual Secret Santa Sock Swap.  I participated in it last year & was spoiled by my Secret Santa!  Check out my post HERE.  Looking forward to participating again this year!

Run4NYC & Glow in the Night 5K Reports

I have participated in two 5Ks over the past couple of weeks.  First was the Run4NYC virtual 5K.   This one came about at the time the New York marathon was cancelled.  A website was setup to run a virtual marathon, half marathon or 5K to raise money for Sandy victims.   I mentioned it on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to join me for a weekday evening 5K through downtown Lex.   It never ceases to amaze me that there are always people ready & willing to go for a run.  We picked a day, time & location to meet.  I then plotted the 5K loop from John's Run/Walk shop.

Gotta love the LexRunLadies & dudes!

It was a perfect evening to run & the company was great.   We ran an easy pace through town & was back to the shop before we knew it.  That is one cool thing about running with a group.  Time flies on the run.

Virtual runs are getting pretty popular.  It is a great fundraiser & a lot of them have medals.   There is even a Facebook page you can join that is dedicated to virtual runs.  

Run4NYC 5K Time - 35m28s

The second 5K I ran this month was the Glow in the Night 5K.  I ran this one with a few of my TNT peeps.  This run is very similar to a Color Run except you run in the dark.   These runs are not for speed.  In fact, they didn't even have a timer setup.  Basically you wear a white shirt, some glow sticks & you get color thrown on you.  Then you stand next to some black lights & marvel at how crazy you look.  Sound like fun?  We thought so - it's one of those things that make you feel like a kid again which is exactly what I needed.

Ann-Maria, Audrey, Ruth & me - Before the run

All the color in the air

Ruth, Me, Audrey & Ann-Maria - After the run

Audrey throwing all of her green color in the air

October Excuses / November Goals

Oh October, you do it to me every year.  Shorter days, allergies that almost always leads to a sinus infection, a need for an excessive amount of sleep - it all leads to a major lack of motivation.  I have been unmotivated to blog.  My first age group win didn't even motivate me to write a race report!  

The other issue this month is that my right hip started bugging me.  This is how my last injury started so I decided to back off spin & to stick to short runs only.  So far that is keeping the pain at bay.  Maybe I will never be able to go long again.  That thought bums me out too.  

This is also the second month in a row that I didn't get a N2U challenge in.  I just couldn't get motivated for this one either.  I think the reasoning for this is because my new job is pretty much wiping me out - there is so much new stuff to learn & people to work with that at the end of the day I need to decompress.  I need activities that I can do on autopilot.  I don't have the mental bandwidth or desire to learn a new activity.  I realized this the last time I went to the West Sixth Run club.  I usually love running in groups because of the social aspect.  All I wanted to do was run on my own.  So instead of the beer run I have been hitting the Arboretum on my way home to get in a solo run after work. 

The Run to Remember kicked off Firefighters week in Lexington.  This run was 4.03 miles honoring the 403 New York civil servants that lost their lives on 9/11.   I never saw my official time since the results were never posted but my Garmin time was 38m06s.  Below is a picture of me coming into the finish.  I was more thrilled that Steve got a picture of me that looked like I was really running as opposed to walking than winning 1st in my age group.

Run to Remember - 1st AG

I did start back up with Masters Swim in October.  I joined Sundays only for now.  It is so nice swimming in the UK pool again.  It is great having someone watch me swim & giving feedback for improvements.  I have been swimming alone for over a year now & although I have made good speed improvements on my own I need additional coaching to get me to the next level.  What that level is I have no idea but I know I can't get there without help.

Below are the numbers for October.  They aren't terrible but not great either.

October Stats:

• Swim (Goal/Actual) - 8 / 7 miles
• Spin / Road (Goal/Actual) - 100 / 32 miles
• Run (Goal/Actual) - 40 / 36 miles
• Pilates Reformer (Goal/Actual) - 4 / 3
• Yoga (Goal/Actual) - 4 / 4 
• Xtreme 30 (Goal/Actual) - 0 / 2
• October N2U CT Challenge - Nada 
• Races (Goal/Actual) - 1 / 1 - Run to Remember 4.03 miles - 1st in Age Group!
• Rest Days (Goal/Actual) - 4-6 / 8  

Total Miles = 75

Total Time = 22.5 hours

2012 Nike Go the Distance Challenge (Goal / Actual) - 200 miles / 92 miles - At this point I will be thrilled to hit 100 miles in the pool!

In order for me not to get too out of control this holiday season I decided to join the 2012 Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge.   I saw a lot of bloggers participate in this last year & thought it would help me with getting / staying motivated throughout the holidays.

Here are my November goals:

• Swim - 8 miles
• Spin / Road - 60 miles
• Run - 40 miles
• Pilates Reformer - 4
• Yoga - 4
• Xtreme 30 - 4
• November N2U CT Challenge - Who knows?
• Races - 1 - Probably a Thanksgiving 5K
• Rest Days - 4-6

Have a great November, a Happy Thanksgiving and Remember -