RUN FORREST, RUN!

Hey Everyone!

I haven't posted in about a month, but life got pretty busy and overwhelming, so I took a break!

I started a new job at the beginning of the month and was thrown into probably the busiest week ever. We had two giant events during my only 2nd week here, 1200 people through the doors in 10 hours with a small team of 6 was a HUGE undertaking, but it went super well and I am very happy to have a prestigious event like that under my belt.

NOW; the title of this entry is Run Forrest, Run! So if you didn't get that I was going to talk about running, go back to bed. (Sidebar: I'm the most sarcastic person you'll ever meet ever, so don't ever take an "insult" on here as so.)

I've always wanted to be considered a "runner". About every 6 months in my 20s I would go out for a run, die in the first few minutes, walk a bunch during my run, and come home to only realize I went 2km. I never stayed on it so I never got better. About this time last year I went through a breakup, and ran the 5km race during the Ottawa Army Run the next day. It was probably the most perfect thing to do right after a breakup. It wasn't what I wanted to do only 12 hours after, but I was doing it with a friend and knew I couldn't back out. I ran the 5km race in 37:50, which at the time I was so proud of. I remember thinking after my run "I can do this, and I should do this. I should really stop ignoring all this weight gain and actually try to do this." I think that day was my turning point in becoming healthier, I truly believe in that 37 minutes was when my mindset changed to wanting to be healthy. A year later, I am in the best shape I have ever been in my entire life, and continuing to have better endurance, get stronger and run faster.

Fast forward to a year later, and I can run 5km in 25 minutes flat. :|

In the last year, I have committed to running a few times a week. Starting in March, I started training for the Ottawa Race Weekend 10km race. I would run between 5km-8km 2 times a week, and would do a 10km run on Sunday's. The first time I ran 10km took me 1 hour and 11 minutes. My time with running 10km has fluctuated a bit, running it in 1:06 during the race weekend and being just under an hour when training. The organizers almost had to cancel the race weekend due to the extreme heat, so I am just happy I finished with that time. About two weeks ago I ran 10km in 55 minutes. So, almost 10 minutes down from my race weekend time.

I am finding everytime I run, I get a new PB. My fastest time only occurred last Sunday. Sunday's are usually my rest day, but by 7pm I was antsy to exercise and move around. I decided to go out for a brisk 5km and start off strong. I ended up finishing 7km in 35 minutes, so having ran the first 5km of that in 25 minutes. I was SO excited about this time. I have been trying to get closer to a 5 minute pace time forever. My pace is usually between 5:25 and 5:45, so to finally have hit 5 minute kms successfully was a big moment for me. I realized I just had to really push myself.

I have now signed up for the Ottawa Race Weekend half marathon. 21.1kms. I am very excited for this race and have no real expectations for myself just yet. I am going to continue with my running program (1-2 times a week) and really try to stick to that through the winter (Ahhh, winter running!). By the time March comes around I'm going to increase that, increase my distances and hope for the best come May!

I have realized in the past year that running is definetly a passion of mine that I will continue with. I am not a crazy runner, I don't have all the right gear, I don't always produce the best times, but it makes me happy so I'm going to keep running and continue to get better!

I will close this off with the most flattering photo of myself that I have (not)! This is my crossing the finish line of this year's 5km Army Run. Which is when I could really see how far I came in the past year (10 minutes better, to be exact)!