Fitness Christmas

The 2013 winter "fun run" season didn't go QUITE the way I planned.  Mom, Kate and I kicked things off with the North Shore Turkey Trot 10K.  And it was COLD.  So cold, in fact, that Kate and I had pretty much unlimited access to the port-a-potties before the race because no one else was stupid enough to be standing outside for 20 minutes before the race started.

brrr, it's cold out here

But we all still managed decent performances (Kate despite a bum knee).  I finished in 1:01:06, which is about where my 10K time seems to be stuck these days.  Maybe one of these days I'll actually train specifically for one again ...

Post-trot second breakfast

After the Turkey Trot, I was planning to go for a holiday 5K trifecta.  But life intervened, and I ended up missing the Yulefest 5K when a family emergency kept me home for Thanksgiving longer than planned, and then missing the Jingle Bell Run when a winter storm forced them to push the date back a week to Dec 22, when I was once again home in IL.

But I did still run the Winter Classic 5K in Central Square.  I of course forgot my watch in my rush to get out of the apartment, so I just ran with no idea of my pace.  I crossed the finish line right as the clock was rolling to 29:00, and was immediately disappointed -- the effort felt hard enough to be at least in the low 28 min range.  But then I got home and checked my phone, where I had a text message with my official time of 27:38, a new PR for a 5K road race (aka excluding my hard to believe sprint tri running leg).  Much better!

Since I missed the Jingle Bell Run, that takes us straight to -- Christmas!  I got a bunch of awesome fitness related gifts:

Fitbit Flex!

So far I've mostly used the Fitbit Flex to passive-aggressively compete with my mother, who also has one, over who got the most steps or the most sleep.  But I'm sure the data will help my training, too ...

Mom also introduced me to Shred 415, an intense workout class where you alternate 15 minutes of treadmill intervals with 15 min of weight lifting and body-weight exercises for an hour.  I've been twice -- the first time I thought I was going to hurl, and the second time I almost enjoyed it.  But not as much as a nice outdoor run.  Of course, workouts in a sauna-like gym require different attire than mid-winter outdoor runs:

New workout outfit from the Nike outlet!

But those outdoor runs are much easier when you have awesome waterproof, super traction spacerunner shoes:

Saucony Razor waterproof running shoes

And no training would be complete without some recovery time :)

And new pjs and a pedicure!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is ready for the new year -- I'll be back soon with a 2013 recap and my goals for 2014.