Riverbank Run 5K and the Boot Camp 90 Day Challenge

So this entry is horribly late.

The Riverbank Run 5K was a great expience. From running with friends, to doing runs on my own and enjoying 30 minutes of quiet, to doing the actual race with my big brother,

I went into it sooooo stoked to run 3.1 miles for the first time in my life and, since starting training, I've run that distance 3 times now. My quickest time was 34 minutes and, I know that isn't an amazing time, but it gives me something to strive to beat.

The race itself was interesting and I learned a lot about what it's like to run in an event like that. There were TONS of people, the weather was soo cold and windy and drizzly, etc. I think that I psyched myself out mentally and kept trying to find me 'training pace' but my training pace was for training...I should have been comfortable letting my body find a race pace. I was worried I would burn out and the very last thing I wanted to do was walk.

Even though my time wasn't what I wanted, I felt so amazing at the finish line. I am proud of myself for accomplishing a goal and I am so glad that I can see myself as a kind of person who could run a 5K. I didn't feel like I didn't belong, I felt like I was right where I should have been.

Now, what's next? I was going back and forth between if I wanted to do another 5K and improve my time, or if I wanted to go for distance and do a 10K. I decided that I want to do 5K's to improve my time. Part of that motivation is that I know you burn more calories when you do faster pace for shorter time than you do if you do slower pace for a long distance. Calorie burn and eccelerated heart rate will help me with the boot camp training too so, that's where I'm headed.

When I told my trainer that I was going to do a 5K every month through October to reach my goal of a 30minute 5K. He was hesitant about this because of the way it affects my boot camp training (my shins constantly hurt so it was hard to do both). He offered to run with me until I reach my goal of 30 minutes....that is so incredibly gracious of him. He said he'd rather see me do the Boot Camp 90 Day Challenge that is June-August. The Challenge is intensive and you set your own personal goal (like a piece of clothing you want to fit into). You need to do a certain number of days and you need to turn in food logs and have one-on-one meetings. Each time you complete a workout, your name is entered into a drawing (so the more you work out the better chances of winning you have). At the end of the challenge, the name drawn wins $1000 cash or round trip plane tix (they're trying to figure that part out).

I think this'll be great. It's a good new challenge for me.....but, it means I won't be doing a 5K every month because my body can't handle that. I think that I will do two 5Ks. I wll do the Reeds Lake 5K and the Alger Heights 5K. (Derk may talk me into the Coast Guard 5K in GH too but we'll see about that).

WANT TO DO THE 90 DAY CHALLENGE WITH ME???? Email me at aoosting@marshill.org and I'll hook you up. It'll be fun : )