Home for the Holidays Virtual 10K

I struggle with continuing to stay active when I’m at my parents’. I’m usually eating incredible, decadent food and needing and wanting to catch up on some rest and exercise really interferes with my plans to sit on the couch or run errands with my mom. This summer, while marathon training, I realized that it is actually possible for me to go home, indulge in the foods I love, rest AND work out, because I had to get in some runs while out here. (I even did an 18-miler out here.)

I’ve also struggled with balancing a new job with the holidays and working out, so I knew this weekend, I wanted to try to use some of this relaxation time to get some good workouts in. I had a few fails as far as apparel goes.

Fail #1: Friday, I was considering running or hot yoga. I went to get dressed for yoga, and realized I’d only brought long running tights with me and had no shorter yoga pants here. No hot yoga.

Fail #2: I thought, “okay, so I’ll just run.” I’d brought a pair of shoes home that I got being on the Dr. Oz show, figuring I’d try them out. I went to try them on, and my feet were flopping around in them. They sent a men’s 10.5. Merry Christmas, Dad.

So Friday, I ended up doing a DailyBurn workout. It was a half-hour circuit, and I mostly liked it, other than its long intro. Yesterday, I was determined to keep up my workout, and I did a DailyBurn stretching workout, since the half-hour Metabolic Maximizer was actually pretty hard and I was really sore.

Today, I had big plans of participating in the Home for the Holidays Virtual 10K that Ashley and a few other bloggers put together.

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I wanted to run this virtual race so that I could try out new running gear and feel good about myself for getting the hell out the door and running 6.2 miles on Christmas. I got a trigger point foam roller that I wanted to work up some extra lactic acid to try, and I got new Sauconys that I was dying to try out. I went out with vague plans of doing my usual 5-mile route here and just running out and back an extra 0.6 miles to get to a round 6.2.

Per usual, the first mile was frustrating. My legs and lungs were tight. I wanted to feel awesome, but I didn’t. The run never really got easy, but it did get better. I was happy to be running and happy to be wearing my new sneaks (review to come once I’ve run more in them). I usually don’t push myself to run more than 3-4 alone if I’m not training for anything, so as 3 miles and then 4 miles ticked by, I contemplated ending my route there, but I’ve never quit a real race, and I was determined not to quit this virtual one either.

While running, I made one big promise to myself: to keep up running more, even between training for things. I felt so out of shape today. I’m running the DC Rock ‘N’ Roll Half in March, and I also spent a lot of time thinking today about when I’d start to train for it. I think I’m probably going to do a week or two of base-building, and then jump into a plan. I liked that approach to marathon training this last time–it’s a good way to ease into training.

Oh, you mean you want to know how the rest of the run went and how I did? Well, being sort of out of running shape right now, I never felt great, and my pace wasn’t terribly fast either. I hovered around a 9:15-9:20–definitely slower than I’d race a “real” 10K, although I do hate real 10Ks. It’s a weird distance. I ended up finishing in 57:15, not a PR, but only 25 seconds away from my current 10K PR. I’ve definitely gotten faster since that race, so I’m pretty sure I could handily beat that PR in a real race when I was in the midst of training.

But I’m plenty happy with a decent time for a virtual race and just getting out there on Christmas.

What about you? Team Couch on Christmas or Team Sweat?

6 comments on “Home for the Holidays Virtual 10K

  1. ShortSkirts

    way to get a run in! I managed to workout every day I’ve been home so far, except the day i flew in, but that was a planned rest day.

    I’m also running the RnR USA in march. I’m from seattle but my family is from DC!

    Reply
  2. RahelRadisli

    Because I didn’t go to my family’s home for the whole christmas days, it was a little bit easier to plan workouts, but I wanted to be able to enjoy all the food πŸ™‚

    I had my first christmas dinner on friday. Because it was a working day, I could go to the gym during lunch.
    Saturday my dad and my sister came to my flat so I had to cook, but I took 1h for myself and went to a Zumba lesson.
    Yesterday (Sunday) my boyfriend and I were invited for brunch at my grandmum’s house which is almost 2hours away. We decided not to stay to long that I was able to dance Zumba at home in the evening.

    So I’m quite happy about my habits no. I’m not worried anymore about the food during christmas πŸ™‚

    Hey, and I’m proud of you that you went for this run! Good Job πŸ˜‰

    love from Switzerland
    Rahel

    Reply
  3. Kimra

    I’ve become Team Sweat over the holidays, but really only since I started running. If I have to get in the car and drive somewhere to exercise, I’m much more likely to be Team Couch! Very curious to hear more about those Sauconys.

    Reply
    1. Theodora Post author

      @Kimra: Spoiler alert? They’re lightweight and awesome. My super-official review will be slightly longer than that, though not much more πŸ™‚

      I will say that I became much better at Team Sweat Over The Holidays when I started not hating workout DVDs/streaming ones.

      Reply

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