Category: Running

Good Vibrations Gratitude Friday #46

Published on by kerrymckim1 Comment

Today is Friday!  You know what that means. Time for some good vibrations gratitude.

 

I am inviting you join me on Good Vibration Gratitude Fridays!

Exciting, right?

You are probably wondering how you get in on the action.

It’s easy! If you are grateful for something, please either comment below or share a pic of what you are grateful for on Instagram with the hashtag #goodvibrationsgratitude

Also feel free to follow me on Instagram at @kerrymckim

Here are 5 things I am grateful for this week.

  1.  West Albany Fire Department

    Every year the West Albany Fire Department drives Santa and Mrs Claus around so the kids can run out and meet them.  It’s a fun tradition.

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  2. Christmas Magic

    When I was pregnant, I posted in a forum for women who were pregnant and due within the month of September 2014.  I met a local friend and we became Facebook friends and texted off and on through the years.  We never met in person.

    Until the West Albany Fire Department Santa brought us together to meet in person.  Christmas Magic exists!

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  3. A fun tradition

    Every year my daughter and I would make cookies with Bryon’s best friend and his family.  His son and my daughter are best friends as well.  This year we made gingerbread houses for their school assignment.

    I couldn’t get a picture that wasn’t blurry.  This was the clearest picture I had.

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  4. Advair

    Two weeks ago I wrote about the Pre-K plague.  Well I thought it was gone.  Then this week I did not feel well at all.  I went to the doctor and I have some sort of upper respiratory viral thing.  The doctor said she was not sure if this is a new illness or the Pre-K plague that is lingering.  But she prescribed Advair.   I am feeling better and I am grateful for that.

    Spoiler Alert: there will be no C25k update this week.  I am resting this week.  I have asthma and I know that I need to take care of this respiratory illness now.  My doctor didn’t tell me that I couldn’t run but she told me that I needed to be careful how much I pushed myself.  If it wasn’t the week before Christmas, I would have probably tried to run a little.  But I am exhausted with Christmas Prep.  I have a two week buffer zone between what when I thought couch to 5k was ending and the start of half marathon training so I have wiggle room.  If I can do week 2 of C25k sick, then I can jump into week 3 with healthy lungs.

  5. 61F on Summer Solstice

    It wasn’t quite the 74F we had on Christmas Eve in 2015 (Bryon’s Last Christmas) but 61 degrees in December is still very nice.

    And I am excited that the days will slowly start getting longer.  More time to run in the afternoon!

What are you grateful for this week?

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Couch to 5k: Week Two- 2nd Attempt

Published on by kerrymckim1 Comment

Last week in my C25k recap, I told the story of the Pre-K plague and that it wiped me out. I wasn’t able to complete week 2 that week.

I am not back to 100% but I was able to successfully re-do week two last week.

The runs increase from the 60 seconds in week (alternated with a 90 second walk) to a 90 second run (alternated with two minute walk).

I know you are supposed to do the runs every day but I do them on Tue, Wed and Fri. This is because I have to work around my daughter’s gymnastics and dance classes. It’s not ideal, but I am only one person.

I used three different podcasts.

The first I used was Chubby Jones.

The second I used was the rock version of Carli Fierce

The third I used was one of the two podcasts from Go Nicole Yourself.

All the podcasts work. Chubby Jones talks with you on a friend level and I like that. (She also commented on my blog which gives her bonus pounts).

I did like Nicole’s music the best. I like that she uses faster songs for the run intervals. She also has no chatter, just a countdown to interval changes so if you don’t want any talk, that might be a good choice.

This week I will be working on week 3!

Couch to 5k: Week Two

Published on by kerrymckim3 Comments

This post is an anticlimactic post.

I only ran once this week.

I got the Pre-K plague this week. I have asthma and I am susceptible to bronchitis so I need to be careful. The cold settled in my chest and that is a huge warning side for me.

This cold wiped all the energy out of me. To illustrate that example, most of my blog posts are written between the hours of midnight and 2 am. Well one night I was in bed by 7:30. Very unusual for me.

I have been taking elderberry syrup and trying to rest.

So I will be repeating Week Two this week. I’ll do it a third time if I have to. Luckily I have a three week buffer between C25K completion and half marathon training.

Couch to 5k: Week One

Published on by kerrymckim9 Comments

Running has always been a part of me though my participation in running is inconsistent.

Why does an activity I love always get pushed aside?

Sometimes it is because of illness. Illness combine with my asthma can derail any training.

Sometimes my anxiety and perfectionistic personality prevent me from even trying.

I ran a lot after Bryon died. I completed my first (and only) half marathon.

I was trying to outrun grief.

Then illness derailed me.

And grief caught up with me. I began a new job. I stopped running regularly and I began to eat my emotions.

But the thought of running never left me.

As part of my healing journey, I have been balancing between the concept growing and changing and the concept of knowing the real me.

I having been spending times with all the various “versions” of myself. I have been trying to remember who I have been in the past and I have lived running throughout the past. I had goals.

And that girl wants to come back.

I want to run another half marathon.

It hit me like an epiphany- if I have want to run a half marathon then I have to actually do training runs.

The fact that this common sense realization came to me like an epiphany is a little ridiculous.

I need to actually run to complete another half marathon.

So I am trying again.

I might fail.

In the past, I was afraid to fail.

I was afraid of what people would think if I failed.

Why do I even care what people think?

This is my journey, not theirs.

If someone is going to be less than supportive, then their opinion doesn’t matter.

So this week I laced up my running shoes and did week one of Couch to 5k. I have had success with this program in the past.

I am painfully slow.

That always embarrasses me but then I am reminded that it doesn’t matter.

I am still doing more than sitting on the couch.

And seriously, the running community is one of the most supportive communities out there. Some of my biggest supporters are fast and competitive runners.

So I need to stop feeling embarrassed.

I did my workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I ran in my neighborhood listening to podcasts.

The first day I listened to Chubby Jones podcast. It was recommended by my friend Jenni at That’s What Jenni Said.

I have used this blog with two other random times when I have tried to get back into shape. Since the workout is the same each day, there is only one podcast episode which is repeated three times.

Chubby Jones chats during her podcast. She seems really nice.

But I realized that I didn’t want to listen to the same small talk during all three workouts.

It reminds me about the times when Bryon and I used to go to Macaroni Grill often shortly after my daughter was born. There was a waiter who has a son who was about the same age. He never remembered us and we’d have the same conversation every time.

It drove Bryon nuts.

I’m actually a little confused about that since Groundhog Day was one of his favorite movies.

Mike the waiter was like his own real life Ned Ryerson.

So Chubby Jones podcasts episodes are a one time deal for me.

The following two workouts I used the week one workout from the NHS podcast.

Laurie is a pleasant British lady who is encouraging and doesn’t engage in small talk.

I found both podcasts effective.

Stay tuned for week two. Please let me know if you are participating in Couch to 5k or another running program.

Are there any different Couch to 5k podcasts you like to use?

Little moments

Published on by kerrymckim3 Comments

This weekend I did the first of my long runs for my half marathon training.  My training cycle has gotten off to a slow but steady start.  I have joined a new gym called Metabolic Meltdown and I do those workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and I run on Tuesday, Thursdays and Sundays.  I was having trouble motivating myself by just running and I need more strength so I hope this plan works.  So far I have been enjoying it.

So on Sunday I took my daughter to the local university and did the 3 mile loop around campus, plus one extra mile.  

It was the longest four mile run I have ever done.

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First of all, since I have slacked off on my training, I gained weight and I was pushing a stroller with my almost 3 year old.

It was hot.

My daughter kept dropping things and I kept having to stop and pick them up.

I didn’t want my daughter to fall asleep on the run so I kept her entertained by singing Old MacDonald since we watch OutDaughtered all the time.  OutDaughtered is the show about two year old Quintuplets.  My daughter refers to the show as “Babies.”  All I hear is “I want to watch Babies!”  Anyway, there is an episode where they are singing, or supposed to be singing, Old MacDonald in a recital.  So my daughter and I sang Old MacDonald and my daughter kept choosing “chicken” so this Old MacDonald had a farm full of chickens.  Old MacDonald can thank for me sneaking in one cow and one cat.   

My daughter saw one of the Albany city busses and kept saying ice cream truck.  I told her it was a city bus, but she wouldn’t believe me.  I told her she would disappointed if we went over and tried to order ice cream.

But I made it through the run.  I think when I reach the six mile mark on my long runs that I will need to get a babysitter.  I can’t be pushing the stroller for 8 miles.  I will go nuts.

I was really wanting to get an iced coffee but I decided to stop and let my daughter run around the fountains.  She was so happy which made me happy.  Life is about the little moments.

Race Recap: Ann Arbor Probility 5k

Published on by kerrymckimLeave a comment

So this blog is called “Running Forward” and you may have noticed there hasn’t been much running in it.  That’s because I dropped the ball over the winter.  I did some running over the winter but nothing over 6 miles.  Every time I seemed to pick up momentum, I seemed to get this on-again, off-again chest cold. Plus I had gone back to work after Thanksgiving and it was hard learning to juggle work and single motherhood.  I hate making excuses and I am usually very hard on myself but I am trying to cut myself some slack.

I was registered to run a half marathon the weekend I was in Ann Arbor but as the race approached, I knew I was not in any shape to run a half-marathon. At first I thought I could tough it out it. I mean, I ran a half-marathon six weeks after Bryon died.  But I was in the most raw grief at the point.  Then the chest cold was cycling back around again.  My Maine best friend told me that there was no shame in switching to a shorter distance. I have never run a 10k but I decided I wanted to be in better shape to get a base 10k time so I decided I would run the 5k.

My Maine best friend came with me to the race expo.  I went to the Half-Marathon table and explained my dilemma.  I was directed to another table that was labeled “Registrations and Solutions.”  Changing my registration was painless.  The woman that at the table assured me that there were lots of people in my situation with illnesses and injuries.

After I changed my registration, I went to the other side of the room to claim my t-shirt.  For some reason, I wasn’t feeling checking out the tables for swag.  So my Maine best friend and I checked the course map so we could plan the logistics for the next day and then left.

The next morning, I got up around 6:15 am and tried to be quiet as I didn’t want to wake my daughter.  But she woke up.  I told her she could stay at the house with my Chicago best friend or come to the race and my daughter immediately says “RACE!”  So we fed her some breakfast and bundled her up.  I ate half of a plain bagel and drank a little coffee and water.

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The race was set to start at 7:30 am and it started right in front of the University of Michigan Stadium. We decided to walk because my Maine best friend, and her fiance, the Scientist lived close enough that it didn’t make sense to drive.  It was about a 20 minute walk.  All four races had the same start.  There was a lot of excitement but I don’t know what I would feel about it if I were a marathoner.  The start was slow because there was a large bottleneck of runners.  It ended up taking me two minutes to cross the start line.

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I was not mentally prepared to run.  I was not focused, I forgot my inhalor and I forgot my garmin.  I decided that since this was just a 5k that I would just enjoy the run since I was anticipating an awful time.  

The 5k was one lap, 10k was two.  There was a half marathon lap and marathoners did two.  The 5k was not well marked but I managed.  I had forgotten my garmin and had no concept of how fast I was running.  The race was quick.  We ran down the main street and we turned onto the campus.  We ran by the natural history museum where we were the day before.  Before I knew it, I saw the 12 mile and 25 mile markers for the half marathon and marathon so I knew it was the last mile.  I was actually feeling pretty good despite not having my inhaler.

Before I knew it, I was running through the finish chute.  I was convinced my time was going to be awful but the timer said 45:59 so I knew my chip time was going to be faster. I got my medal and snagged a 5k brownie for my daughter.  After the race, I went to a Starbucks for my Venti Iced Americano with cream, sugar and an extra shot and then my Maine best friend, The Scientist, my daughter and I walked back to the house.

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My official time was 43:34.  I was satisfied.  It wasn’t my worst time and it wasn’t my best time.  For being under trained, I was content and even a little excited. I had never run a 5k that was in conjunction with a marathon and a half marathon so that was exciting and I am glad I went through with racing.  It actually started to rain heavily after we got back to the house so in a way, I was relieved I didn’t run.  I don’t mind running in the rain but I wouldn’t have wanted my Maine best friend, the Scientist or my daughter to have to stand around in the rain waiting for me.  All’s well that ends well.

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Overall, I thought this was a great event.  And I will be redeeming myself in 2018.