Outdoor Adventures | 2012 edition

With a new baby, 2012 was light on adventures. October was a busy month as we got in a groove, but the rest of the year was lacking.

April
First Hike with Jack at Monte Sano Park | Huntsville, AL

May
Racoon Mountain Round the Rim 5k | Chattanooga, TN
Monte Sano Part II | Huntsville, AL

September
Waterfall Trail to Hemlock Falls | Cloudland Canyon State Park, GA 

October
Incline Railway | Lookout Mountain, TN
Paddling Lake Guntersville | Scottsboro, AL
Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll | Huntsville, AL
Northwest Georgia Canoeing - Jack's first paddling excursion | Ellijay, GA
Highest Point in Georgia | Brasstown Bald, GA
Amicalola Falls | Amicalola State Park, GA

I would walk 500 miles (May/June Recap)

I am way behind on blogging. We have been keeping busy with summer stuff, but I have been swamped with work so updating my blog has been on the back burner.

Several weeks ago, I woke my family up at 7:00am {including my parents who were in town visiting for the weekend} so they could go watch me run another 5K. Lucky them :) I am thankful to have family who love me and are willing to give up weekend sleep to come watch a sport that is not really a spectator sport.

Run So They Can Crawl was a race {organized run in my case} held in Stevenson, Alabama as a part of Depot Days. It was in support of the Huntsville Hospital NICU and families who have experienced the loss of a child.

My race results: my gun time was 38:08 and my net {real} time was probably 37:48. 

According the MapMyRun, the race was 3.26 miles long.

I continue to be a slow runner, but making the effort to run means that I am doing more than I if I were just sitting on the couch. I also have to admit that I am enjoying getting to know other runners by participating and training for local races. 

This was my second race this year... back in May, I ran The Round the Rim 5K on Mother's Day weekend. Happy First Mother's Day to me!

The weather has been really hot since the June race {and I have been too busy} to run any since. I am afraid that my goal of 500 miles for the year is pretty much unattainable :( Hopefully I can up my mileage once the weather cools down (September-ish?).

As of the end of June, my running stats are as follows: 4.38 miles in January >> 6.66 miles in February >> 11.66 miles in March >> 11.56 miles in April >> 19.92 miles in May {including a 5K} >> 12.82 miles in June {including a 5K} >> 67 ytd

Round the Rim – 5K

I have discovered that the best way for me to get motivated to run is to sign up for a race. I use the term "race" loosely as I don't really consider myself to be racing, more like I am attending an organized running event. I am just thankful for the ability to run, albeit at my tortoise-like pace.

About two weeks ago I noticed on Facebook that a friend had signed up for the Round the Rim 5K at Raccoon Mountain and I thought, "I should totally sign up for that."

In true Cheree fashion, I didn't have make time to train and before I knew it, I only had a week to get in a few runs. Not wanting to show up completely unprepared, I somehow managed to squeeze in four runs last week and then rested yesterday.

Logistically speaking, getting to this race was a bit of a challenge.

1) We live in Central time. The race was located in Eastern.
 

2) You have to show up 30 minutes early for this race because they close access to the rim for the safety of the runners.
 

3) I have a 6-month old baby. Did I mention that he is still nursing full time {i.e. I have never pumped or given him a bottle}?

 

Here is an overview of how we dealt with the logistics and how my run went. 

1) Daniel graciously agreed to get up at 4:50 am Central with me in order to drive me to the race. There were several reasons for him to go: He is used to getting up early for work. He could drive when I was exhausted {before and after}. He could watch Jack so I wouldn't have to push Jack in the stroller. *I actually train with Jack in the stroller, but the thought of pushing Jack up a hill that lasted for 0.4 miles was a daunting one.

2) Getting to the course by the cutoff time meant that we had to leave our house by 5:15am CST. I'm not gonna lie, this was tough.

3) Since we left so early we woke Jack up for a quick diaper change and stuck him in the car. We hoped that he could wait until Chattanooga to eat. We arrived at the starting point of the race by 7:20am EST and I nursed Jack in the car while Daniel went to find my running packet. This actually worked out really well. Jack hung out in the stroller with Daniel while I ran and then he napped when we went to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel, post race. I had to feed him in the car one last time before heading home, but it really wasn't too difficult to make work. By the time we got home we were all ready for naps.

As for the actual run... my main goals were to 1) not walk at all and 2) to finish before the first 10K person did. I met both of these goals.

Kicking off the race was a long hill that lasted for about a half a mile with 110 ft of elevation gain. Not fun. Once we reached the top of the hill, it was a full mile of flat running on the rim. And then you finish with a downhill. It was a truly beautiful run with views of the Tennessee Valley Gorge and the Raccoon Mountain Reservoir. To top it off, the weather was perfect: cool and no humidity.

 

Toward the end of my race, I was getting tired when the song, Another One Bites The Dust, came on my iPod. When you are tired, this is a terrible song to listen to. It would have been different if I was passing people, but for a few minutes I felt like I was going to be the one biting the dust.

As for finishing before the 10K. I did it. Just barely. The winner of the 10K came in right behind me. But I am cool with that. I know that am a slow runner and I am just thankful to be able to get out and run a 5K, six months after giving birth.

Thank you Daniel for making today possible! For being my personal cheerleader and giving up sleep on your only day to sleep in this week!

And for letting me indulge in breakfast at Cracker Barrel after my run!

When I got home, I checked MapMyRun to see the actual distance. According to MMR, it seemed to be more like 3.5 miles instead of 3.1. All I gotta say is that the middle mile seemed kind of long to me...

My race results: gun time was 38:18 and net {real} time was 37:58.

Outdoor Adventures | 2010 edition

This year was another really rough one for us. We spent the first half of the year living in separate states, followed by 3 months in a camper at a campground, before finally settling into a new home in a really rural part of Alabama. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of time available for adventures this year.


January - June
After one year of unemployment, Daniel moved to Chattanooga to start a new job.
We put our house on the market.
We finally sold it after 6 months.

July
Paddling the New River | New River Gorge, WV

August
Living in a Camper at Raccoon Mountain | Chattanooga, TN
Four Wheelers in the Smoky Mountains | Pidgeon Forge, TN

September
Mountain Biking at Raccoon Mountain | Chattanooga, TN
West Rim Trail | Cloudland Canyon, GA 

October
Backpacking at Bob Bald | Joyce Kilmer Slick Rock Wilderness, NC

November
Point Rock Trail | Bucks Pocket State Park, AL

December
My First 5k

My First 5K

Laura and I, freezing in the parking lot before running the Jingle Bell Jog 5K

 

As I mentioned earlier this week I spent the last five days training with a friend for my first 5K. Somehow we managed to get in enough training to actually run the race. Our goal was to complete it in under 40 minutes and I ended up finishing in 38 minutes and 47 seconds, while Laura finished in 36 minutes and some change.

At the starting line

 

The course was hillier than I expected and a blister that plagued me all week started to bother me again in the last mile {which was incidentally a long climb uphill}. I succumbed and walked part of that last mile, but still managed to finish in under 40 minutes, so I am proud of that. 

Eating Pioneer Woman's Blueberry Baked French Toast post race.

I wouldn't recommend training in five days for a 3-mile run, but Laura and I are proof that it can be done. Next time, I plan to train longer and finish without walking.

What race is complete without a T-shirt?

C25K in Five Days

So if you have ever decided to start running and you have the internet, you may have come across the Couch to 5K {in 9 weeks} running plan. Also known as the C25K. It helps you to slowly build up to running a 5K with no running experience necessary. It is great for newbies.

I actually started this plan back in January. Then, with my brother's encouragement, decided to just lose the plan and run as far as I could each day. I gradually added minutes until I had worked my way up to running for 40 minutes pretty comfortably. But then it got hot. And I got lazy and quit.

I briefly started running again in August {when we still lived in the camper}. But the hills in Chattanooga {and again the heat} did me in.

So this time around, I decided I needed motivation. Like an actual race to sign up for. I actually had my sights on participating in a Triathlon {which I still intend to do}, but seeing that it is winter, there are not many to sign up for – besides I have no desire to join a polar bear club.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked if I wanted to run a 5K with her. I told her that I was game. It would be the perfect motivation for me. In my mind, this race {The Jingle Bell Jog} was a week or two before Christmas.

I managed to run one day last week {in preparation} and then Thanksgiving took over my life. I figured I still had about 3 weeks to train, so no worries. Right?

Today Daniel told me that he thought the race was on Saturday. I told him he was wrong. And then I found my registration form and learned that I was wrong. The race is indeed on Saturday {and I skipped my morning workout to focus on a freelance project}...

Since Daniel plays racquetball on Monday nights, I decided to go to the rec center with him to put in some training time. I have 5 days of training available, so I better make the most of it...

I got on the treadmill and set it for 45 minutes and started running at a comfortable pace. If I am going to do this, I needed to see how far I can go. Amazingly I ran 3.2 miles in the allotted time. This is the farthest I have ever run {and I am essentially starting from the couch}.

To be fair, I have been alternating between a yoga and an aerobics class 4x a week for the last month, but I was still surprised that I could run the full 5K with almost no preparation. My brother was right when he told me it is mostly mental. I will probably hurt tomorrow. A lot. But if I keep running, I have no doubt I will finish my little Jingle Bell Jog and then hopefully I will be motivated to keep at it.