Getting over illness, Turkey Day 10K, and a new goal

October was rough! I did the Beach Dash and the next week I got sick...really sick! I waited for 10 days and was still sick so I went to the doctor and found out I had a sinus infection. It lasted almost 4 weeks! Then I was exhausted all the time for another 2 weeks. So that was 6 weeks that I hardly worked out and I even missed a 10K!

So for the past couple weeks I've been OK to workout but I've had a hard time getting motivated (again, I know!). The first time I tried to run again on the treadmill after getting better my lungs BURNED and I could only go like 0.15 miles straight! I was at 0.75 miles straight before so this was really frustrating.

A few weeks ago I signed up for the Bay Area Turkey Day 10K (on Thanksgiving) but I hadn't really been training for it, so I was nervous about my finish when I got there. It was a little cold (around 60 degrees) and REALLY foggy. I also kept wishing that I hadn't been so bold and I had signed up for the 5K instead! But I didn't! By mile 2, I was already tired and didn't think I could finish my faster than my Kemah 10K time. At mile 3, a family passed me - 2 girls around my age and their parents - and it pushed me to keep up with them for the next 2 miles. After that I slowed down a little but kept pushing myself. And FINALLY I crossed the finish line and looked at the clock and realized I beat my time. I was so excited! So I finished 1:34:12, 4:20 faster than my Kemah time!

Isn't the shirt we got funny?

Getting my butt kicked by this race really made me realize that I want to get back on track and start working out again. Since July, I have made a goal to run/walk at least one race a month and I have been kind of alternating the months between 5K/10K. I was planning on doing a half marathon in March but I forgot to sign up in time before the price increased by $15 so I was reconsidering that. I realized that my training and focus was all over the place - am I trying to go for distance or speed? I decided that my most immediate goal is to be able to run for a length of time, and I would really like to be able to run an entire 5K! So I will focus on that!

Wanting to waste no time, I started with my new goal yesterday (the day after my 10K) and went to the gym with Jen B. I got on the treadmill and a few minutes in I decided that I WAS going to run a mile...and I DID! So that is my first mile straight since college! YAY!

I can't wait to see how much I can accomplish in the next month!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie