Trail Running Blog

Training Update: Hot Chocolate 15K/5K Race Week

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

After a few years of inconsistent running and exercising, at the beginning of this year, I finally made the effort to get up early in the mornings to go running again. It’s only been 3 miles every day with some ‘longer’ runs at 5-6 miles, but it has become a habit where getting up doesn’t take 2-3 annoying alarms to get me out of bed. The real issue I’ve been having with these morning runs is how cold it has been! When I first started running again in January, the temperatures in the mornings were around the mid 40’s which is nothing like I’ve been used to. I keep hoping for warmer, summer weather where I’ll be able to just get out of bed and run in the shorts and t-shirt I slept in. But I’m pretty sure once I get those temperatures, I’ll be complaining about it being too hot for me to run in. I guess I’m just never satisfied with what I have.

So January got off to a great start, I actually ran 23 out of 31 days of the month for a total of 76.58 miles. Sure, most, if not all of those miles were around 9-10 minute/mile pace, but at least I was moving. February dropped a little in terms of runs and mileage, but I will blame the abnormal number of days of rain we received. I believe March will be on pace to run similar numbers as January. I still have the same problems I had before when I used to run often: my pace at the start of a run is slower than when I finish (usually because my body is not awake yet) and my overall pace in the mornings are a lot slower than during the afternoon. I’m constantly snacking during the day but for the most part, feel like I have more energy than before I started running again.

I’ll be running the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K run this weekend. It’s a pretty popular race that I’ve wanted to run for a number of years now. I can’t think of a better combination of running and hot chocolate in one race. But it’s always inspiring to come out and watch so many other fitness enthusiasts get up way before they usually do on a Sunday to go run. Everyone is so happy and cheerful being able to participate in such a fun event together.