YMCA Freaky 5k - Race Report

This will now be my 3rd race report of the YMCA Freaky 5k and the 6th time I have ran this race. So, when I say that is one of my favorite races, I think it goes without saying. I enjoy this race for many reasons. First, the YMCA of the Fox Cities was my full time post college employer. Secondly, it always seems to fall perfectly into my race schedule. Thirdly, it's close to home, a great course, and a family friendly event. This year would be no different. I had Halloween weekend off from work and no other races scheduled in the vicinity of the Freaky 5k, so it was a natural decision. Plus, this was the first time for myself that this race actually fell on Halloween. This year, we registered our entire family, Sarah, Maya, Delaney, and myself were all registered for one of the two events offered. We signed Delaney up for the Mini Monster Dash, which was a quarter mile kids run. We also registered Maya as an individual for the 5k. This was going to be her first ever 5k as an official participant. She was so excited and nervous going into the day....as was I. We also signed up Sarah, who was going to push Harper in the stroller. My parents were also registered for the 5k in addition to our family. Going into the race, the weather outlook was not good. It was supposed to be cold, windy, and wet/rainy. Sarah and I both made the decision Friday night, that if it was actually raining Saturday morning, we would not bring the kids to the race and she would stay home with the kids and I would race with my dad, as my mom would also opt out of the race.

Well, as my alarm went off Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of wind strongly blowing against our bedroom window. I looked at a current radar image and it was an easy decision, although a disappointing one. We opted to leave the kids at home due to poor weather. The entire state of Wisconsin along with Minnesota were covered in green on the radar signifying that there was no hope for a dry Halloween, let alone a dry Freaky 5k.

Training for This Race

I'll (again) keep this short and simple. I have not been following any specific training plan for this race or any race this year, for that matter. Although, I will note that October saw one of my highest running mileage totals of 2015...for whatever that's worth....

Prerace

As I mentioned in my open, I woke up and had to make a sad decision with Sarah and opted to leave the girls at home to avoid any possible (and highly likely) sour attitudes at the race due to them being wet and cold. But after waking up and getting dressed, I headed over to my parents house to pick up my dad. The race was scheduled to start at 8:30am, a half hour after the Mini Monster Dash kid's run. I was hoping to get there around 7am just to get a decent parking spot and hopefully some time to warm up. Unfortunately, after we got there, the weather was just miserable. It was cold (40's), windy, and rainy. I honestly just wanted to sit in my car with the heat on where it was nice and comfy. Eventually I had to get out and get ready to run, which I did around 7:30ish. I really wanted to stay as dry as possible before the start of the race, so I opted to forgo my traditional warmup and just did some dynamic stretching under the pavillion. This seemed to actually work pretty well, all things considered. Once 8:20ish rolled around, we started making our way to the start line. With the sun now fully risen, it was starting to warm up slightly, but the rain and the wind didn't really stop. It was a light drizzle, but enough to be uncomfortable. We planned it out damn near perfectly and got to the start line just before the National Anthem.

Nutrition Plan

K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid. Its what I did. I didn't eat anything before the race and just drank my morning coffee on the way to the race. I did take two capsules of Hammer Nutrition's Anti-Fatigue Caps one hour before the start of the race. I chose not to take any Hammer Nutrition Energy Surge, just due to the wet and rainy race conditions.

 

Equipment

Nike Zoom Streak LT2

PRO Compression Socks

Hammer Cycling Jacket

Garmin 910XT

Road ID Elite

3.1 Mile Run (18:18)

 

This was the third year of the "new" race course (I guess that would mean that it's really no longer "new") and the second time I will have run it. Knowing that I really didn't get any true warmup in before the start of the race, along with the the hilly start to the race, I really wanted to take it relatively "easy" during the first 800-1200 meters. The race starts nearly immediately with a short and steep hill down to the river. The course then follows the river for about a half mile, or so, then goes up another short and steep hill. The majority of the course is a loop, which returns back down the same pair of hills back to the start line of the race. So, imagine a lollipop shape race course, where the stick has two steep hills that you need to climb twice for a total of 4 hills.


At the start of the race, I coasted down the first hill, allowing all the typical sprinters at the start of the race to over-exert themselves, and allowed myself to gradually warmup. After climbing back up the second hill at about the 0.75 mile mark, I tried to find my "sweet-spot" in reference to my pace. I wasn't ever truly able to find my comfort zone. I just never really felt "good." I felt like my breathing was out of synch with my cadence and my heart rate. It's a difficult thing to explain in writing and probably just as hard to explain in person. But, I guess if you are a runner, you probably know exactly what I am talking about.

By about mile 1, I was able to pass everyone who went out as fast as humanly possible and found myself in 3rd place. Shortly before mile 2, I passed the second place runner and was doing my best to stay within reach of the race leader. But, honestly, I had a pretty good feeling I wasn't going to be able to catch the leader by about mile 1....he was just that far ahead. I ended up finishing in 18:18, 2nd overall, with the winner finishing in 17:12, about a minute ahead of me. He was a 24 year old out of La Crosse, WI and he ran a hell of a race.

Post Race

About a week after I registered our family for this race, we were invited to my God Son's birthday party in Milton, WI, which was scheduled to start at noon on the 31st. Milton is about a 2 hour drive from our house, which meant that we needed to leave no later than 10am in order to hopefully make it on time. This basically meant that there was no sitting around after the race and waiting for the awards ceremony. After crossing the finish line, I congratulated the winner on a great run and then waited for my dad to come across. He ended up finishing in 22:09, first in his age group. After crossing the finish line, we quickly stopped in under the pavilion and grabbed some water and a snack and headed out. I honestly felt a little awkward leaving the race, while a lot of runners and walkers were still on the course but, I honestly had no other choice, shy of skipping out on the event.

What's on Tap

I now only have 2 more months to go in order to successfully participate in a race in each month throughout 2015. It's been an interesting goal to say the least, but as it comes closer to successfully accomplishing my goal, I get more and more proud of doing it. As of today, I am actually scheduled to run in 4 more races, 3 in November and 1 in December. Oddly enough, the 3 races in November are all within a span of 6 days and fall during the week of Thanksgiving. On the 24th, I will be running a 1 mile race with Maya, Delaney, and my dad before the Appleton Christmas Parade, called the Santa Scamper. It will be a fun and easy run with my kids and nothing more. Then on the 26th (Thanksgiving), I will be running in the Festival Foods Turkey Trot, in Appleton, which is a 5 mile very competitive race. Finally, on the 29th, I am running in the Noodleini 5k in De Pere to finish the month of November. My final race of 2015 falls on New Years Eve, with the Chilly Chili Run in Fond Du Lac, WI. It's been a long year with a lot of racing and not a lot of structured training. As I sit here writing this up, I have a lot of high hopes for 2016 and 2017 and some potentially very exicting news. But that will come out soon....


As always, thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Daddy Day Care

It was only a matter of time before Sarah would have to go back to work.  But I guess I didn't realize that day that was once so far out in the future was suddenly here.  Sarah knew the day was coming and had complete mixed emotions of returning to work, as I am sure, so many other mothers have.  On one had she couldn't wait to get back to work.  She craved adult interactions, a more regular schedule, our "usual routine," and of course some time away from hearing "Let it Go" from Frozen.  Me on the other hand, had a different view on her going back to work.  To me, it meant, back to reality with busier nights, more chores around the house, and less family time in general.  It also meant that it was time for my paternity leave to commence.  When we had our first daughter, Maya, Sarah took at lease 8 weeks of leave and then I took a couple weeks during the transition of her going back to work, to prolong sending Maya to my Aunt's for child care.  With our second, Delaney, I was just starting a new job and still on probation with the Sheriff's Office.  It also feel right during our busiest time of the year with Country USA and other various festivals.  I only missed 2 and a half days from work for her birth and that was it.  Honestly, looking back, it seems as though I barely remember Delaney's infant stages.  Now, with Harper, I wanted to be sure to lend a helping hand as I did with Maya, so I took a total of 15 days of leave from work to spend time with the kids.  I planed it out that I would take all my time after Sarah returns to work, to keep the kids out of child care.  This past Thursday was my first day alone with Maya (4), Delaney (2), and Harper (7 wks), on top of a dog (female), and 2 cats (both female).  Yup, that's right, if you add it all up that brings the tally to 6 girls and one lonely guy.  I was both anxious and excited all in one.

My day began, just any other day for myself, but making my daily to do list the night before going to bed.  My day looked pretty busy, which was a good thing, it meant that we would be on the go all day and little time for fights, tantrums, arguments, messes, broken/missing toys, punishments, etc.  There was only one thing on my list that I questioned whether or not I would be able to check off by the end of the day.... and I'll let you guess which it was.

 The girls woke up around their usual time of 6:45-7:00 and it was game time!  I was up and at 'em.  I fed both the older girls breakfast right away and had them watching a movie so I could start working on my to do list.  Sarah fed Harper just before leaving for work.  Knowing that Harper goes about 3 hours between feedings (+/- 10 minutes - no joke), she would need to eat around 8ish.  When 8:00 rolled around I was right in the middle of paying bills, so I needed to rely on my big helper: Maya.  She stepped up to the plate and help out with feeding Harper.  Secret is, she absolutely LOVES doing anything with Harper, whether it be carrying, feeding, dressing, bathing, or even just holder her.  So she had no clue just how much she was helping me out by feeding her.  To her, I was doing her a favor by letting her feed Harper.  She even said, "Thanks Daddy!"  Imagine that!  

With Maya having school at the YMCA at 12:30, I planned my workout to coincide with that to make our lives easier and minimize the running around to as little as possible.  Our YMCA has an awesome drop-in child care service for members to utilize while the adults use the facilities.  It is an awesome benefit and especially considering how cheap it is - plus our kids truly LOVE going there and playing and doing crafts and projects.  I was scheduled to get in a 10 mile run that day, so instead of getting my butt out of bed at 4am, I figured I would take advantage of the Kid's Korner and bring the kids to the Y with me and just run on a treadmill.  After some simple time crunching, I figured I would leave around 10:30 to have the kids in child care, and on a treadmill running by 11am in order to have enough to time to shower and get the kids out of child care to get Maya to her class (at the Y) by 12:30.  It worked like a charm...Bingo-Bango.  

After dropping Maya off at school, it was just me and the little 2 for the next few hours, until I had to pick Maya up from school at 2:45.  After getting home, Harper was sound asleep, and Laney was asking to watch a movie....perfect!  I put on Puss in Boots for Delaney, and tossed Harper in her swing and I actually was able to get a few minutes to myself to start prepping stuff for dinner and eat a lunch for myself.

Sarah was planning on being home no later than 4:30, but around 2:00 she called.  It turned out they were busier then they anticipated and needed someone to stay a little later to help out.  She called to see if I was indeed surviving and would be able to handle the evening hours as well, as she didn't think she would be home until after 6:30.  Oh boy, I thought, but sure, I can handle this.  All I needed to do was pick Maya up from school, give the kids a snack, get Maya to her first night of dance class, bring her waiver to participate, all while maintaining Harper's homeostasis.  Sounded easy enough!  So I told Sarah she can stay if she wanted, as we could use the extra cash.  So, 2:45 came rolling around and I was on time for picking Maya up from school and we decided to pick up Mommy a special treat from the grocery store for her first day back to work.  We were going to surprise her with "Make Your Own Sundae Night" after dinner.  So, the four of us trucked on down to the local grocery store and I pushed Harper in a cart, while Maya and Delaney both pushed their own "Customer In Training" Kiddie Carts.  We picked up some extra apples and carrots for the home, and then the girls each got to pick out their own toppings for the sundaes.  I picked strawberries and mini angel food cake cups (since I know Sarah loves them).  Maya picked Cool Whip and Sprinkles.  Delaney picked chocolate syrup.  

After getting home I gave the girls a quick snack before dance class and fed Harper her afternoon bottle.  Before I realized it, it was almost time to get Maya to dance class.  We quickly changed her into her dance outfit and for the 3rd time I loaded up my "Man-Van" and tucked the girls over to Maya's dance class.  The class only ran a half hour and I brought our iPad to entertain Delaney, so the half hour came and went in the blink of an eye.  Maya absolutely loved her dance class, but really, who would though otherwise?  We were done and home around 6:15ish and the dinner was just about done cooking, as I had it set and ready to be done around 6:30.  In the morning I prepped a simple Hawaiian Chicken Dinner in the crock pot.  I set the table and before we knew it Mom and finally home.  The day flew by, but left me with the confidence that I can handle the three of them again, with minimal problems.....so long as we have a full schedule.  

Just to share some pictures, I'll fill y'all in on what we did the next few days.  Friday I had SWAT training during the day and my cousin held their wedding ceremony that afternoon which Sarah and the girls attended while I was at training.  We met up with each other later in the afternoon for the reception, which was at the same hall Sarah and I had our reception at.  All three girls were well behaved and had a blast!  It really made Sarah and I sit back and realize, how lucky we are to have three healthy, well behaved, beautiful girls, all on top of a caring and loving family.

On Saturday, our local YMCA held their annual "Healthy Kids Day," to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for kids in the valley.  I brought Maya and Delaney there and met my parents there as Sarah and Harper went to her cousins wedding shower.  The girls got to participate in obstacle courses, a mini NFL combine, see fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, race cars, a police bomb sniffing K-9, numerous projects, and anything and everything a kid could possible want to do or see.

YMCA Freaky 5k - Race Report

I have had the YMCA Freaky 5k on my radar pretty much since the start of the year.  This is a race that I have done now for the past 4(?) years and one that I pretty much plan on running no matter what, even if I work the night before.  Plus this year, I thought that Maya was finally old and mature enough to do the kid's fun run before.  Maya has never done an "official" kids run, were I actually had to register her and pay for her.  Yes, she did complete the kid's fun run before the Patriot March 5k a few weeks back, but it was free and nothing organized.  This had a different feel to it.  She got her own bib, and a race t-shirt, along with a goodie bag chock full of stuff, from candy to free coupons.

Training Plan

I haven't really had a formal training plan.  I have been doing what ever I feel like doing, when I feel like doing it.  I do have some structure to it though.  I have been trying to get in 3 runs during a calendar week - a easy 4-6 mile run, a 5-6 mile fartlek run (think unstructured interval work), and a 6-8 mile "long" run.  Between those runs, I have been swimming and biking as I see fit and taking day's off when I feel like taking off.  I have still been getting outside on my bike even though it's starting to get rather chilly, but the roads are clear and I know the snow is coming, so I have been trying to squeeze the most out of the season as I can.  

Day/Night Before

The race was on this past Saturday morning.  It fell directly in the middle of my work rotation.  I had to work Thursday night into Friday morning.  On Friday morning I did a short 2,000 meter swim consisting mostly of drill work.  I got to bed around 10ish and got my usual 7ish hours of sleep.  I then had to work Friday night into Saturday morning and got out from work on time and went directly from work to Pierce Park where the race was held.  

Getting to the Start Line

The kids race didn't start until 8:00 and the 5k at 8:30 and I got to the park around 6:45, so I was plenty early.  Sarah and the girls didn't get to the park until around 7:30.  So while I waited, I picked up everyone's race packets and bibs.  As soon as they got to the park, we got the stroller all set up and got the girls into their costumes and then brought them to the start of the kid's "Mini Monster Dash" fun run.

Kid's Mini Monster Dash 1/4 Mile Fun Run

Maya had been looking forward to this race ever since she did the fun run at the Patriot March 5k.  I was probably just as excited for her as she was, if not more.  It was fun to see the excitement in her eyes when ever she talked about it.  Sarah told me that she woke up all excited on the morning of the race and got herself all dressed and talked about nothing other than running fast like daddy in her race.  The cool part was that she got her first official race bib.  Her cousin (my God Son), Bradyn was in town staying with Sarah's parents for the weekend, so we signed him up for the race as well.  Maya was wearing her Merida costume (from Disney's Brave) and Bradyn was dressed up as Wolverine.  This was Bradyn's first race and Maya's 2nd fun run.  Once they started the race, Bradyn was a little hesitant to start out, but Maya helped him out.  For one reason or another Bradyn didn't want to run right away, but Maya wanted to, so I jogged along side Maya and Sarah's younger brother ran with along side Bradyn.  After they finished the kids got their medal and they were very proud of them.  

3.1 Mile Run

After the kid's run, I had about 15 mins before the start of the race, so I took off to go get warmed up for the 5k.  After a short 5-10 minute warm up (I would have liked about 10-15 full minutes of warming up) I got to the start line just before the National Anthem.  Shortly after that, we were off.  They changed the course this year slightly to make the course like a lollipop where you run out, do a small loop, and come back the way you went out, ultimately finishing were you started.  The course is a great course, but challenging.  You start out going down hill almost immediately and then run back up a similar hill all within the first 3/4 of a mile.  I started the race as I do most other races, a little more reserved than most.  Especially with the hill right at the start, I did not want to over do it within the first 10th of a mile.  By the time we hit the 1st uphill I found myself in 3rd place with a guy pushing a single child stroller behind me.  It was at that exact moment I told myself, "there is no way you're going to let a guy pushing a stroller beat you - especially with how hilly this course is!"  At that time I did my best to hold on, continue to push to try and catch the 2nd place guy, and not get passed by anyone.  After the first mile, I settled into a good 5k pace.  I was still in 3rd place at this time and had built a decent lead over the 4th place guy, but was still about 10-15 seconds behind 2nd place.  That pretty much stayed constant throughout the entire race.  The most difficult part of the race was the final uphill at about mile 3.  The last 10th of a mile in a 5k is the most difficult part, even without a hill at the end.  So forcing your body to push past maximal effort during the last bit of an all out race and go up a steep hill is extremely taxing!  I finished still in 3rd place with a time of 18:21, the guy who took 4th was the dude pushing the single child stroller - totally badass!  

Post Race

Immediately after finishing, I congratulated the guy who was pushing the stroller on a fantastic run, along with the dude who took 2nd place.  I then waited for my dad to come across and then we jogged the course in reverse to walk with Sarah and the girls.  After catching up with Sarah and the girls, Maya and Bradyn wanted to get out of the stroller and I said I would walk with them.  We were right around the 2 mile mark at this point and they wanted to try and run the last bit of the course.  I thought that was the coolest thing ever.  I was so proud and happy that they wanted to do this on their own without any prompting.  I gladly ran along side them.  They ended up running until they got too tired to continue and then when they caught their breath again, they would run.  They continued this walk/run cycle all the way to the finish line.  I was honestly more proud of the way the finished the last mile of the 5k then the fact that they ran nearly the entire kid's fun run.  After the kids finished, I took them each through the post race food area and then we hung around for the awards ceremony.  A short while later, I received a rather large 3rd place trophy.  Maya was so happy and proud of her daddy!  After enjoying the post-race company of my parents and in-laws, I was starting to get tired and needed to get to bed.  It was time to put yet another great Freaky 5k in the books and head home.

Other Notes

I was honestly a little bummed with my time as I kind of hoping to beat my previous PR I set at the Jailbreak 5k of 17:49.  However, once you take into consideration all the hills on the new course, it's tough to say how this time compares to other 5k times.  My time from last years Freaky 5k, were we only ran down and up the hills once, was 18:14, but took 5th overall.  Either way, I am very happy with my finish and my time.  And in no way am I disappointed or upset with my time.

Lessons for Future Events

Really nothing much to take away here, just another 5k in the books!  I do, now know, that Maya is more than old enough to start doing races on her own, which is awesome!  I can't wait to continue to share my passion of racing and endurance sports with her as she gets older.  But, I know right now, I will NOT be one of those parents who pushes their kids to do things and I will not force Maya to do anything.  If she is old enough to run a fun run or whatever, then she is old enough to decide on her own if she wants to participate in those events.  But, based on how much she enjoyed the Freaky 5k, I have a funny feeling she'll be wanting to do more and more of these events.  

What's Next

I have one final race on my schedule for 2013, The Festival Food's Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  I am going to continue to doing what I have been doing for the past month - just doing what I feel like doing wtih some moderate structure.  I'll continue to run 3 times a week and just fill the other 4 days with other fluff to keep my satisfied and happy.  Within the past week, I have also decided that I need to make a change in my eating habits.  Since the IM I have found myself eating anything and everything I see and I have had some of the worst self control I have ever had.  It has been especially bad since we have been getting a ton of Halloween candy from all the festivities Sarah has been bringing the girls to.  This past Monday, I made the firm statement that this is changing today.  Since Monday, I have eaten as clean as I have ever eaten and I am determined to get my weight back down were it should be.  I have said too many times the past year or two that I need to lose the excess weight I have put on since becoming a full time 3rd shift patrol officer.  If you even look back to my Lakefront Marathon Race Report from over a year ago, I made the statement that I need to lose the weight.  I know it's been a focal point of at least 3-4 posts on this very website, but I have never been able to make the commitment to a strict diet.  I have been able to follow a strict diet for about 3-5 days and then I fall right back into the bad habits that got me to where I am now.  So now, I have been eating less, controlling my hunger through a higher fat diet and cutting back calories.  Granted it has only been a week, but in the past week alone, I have felt great, sleeping better, having quality workouts, and been happier in general, all while eating fewer calories, but eating very nutrient rich foods, such as vegetables, healthy fats, dark leafy greens, and drinking a lot of whole leaf teas and water.  I have not been tracking my calories at all and have not laid out a formal diet plan to follow.  My only rule is to eat clean, unprocessed foods and aim to get majority of calories from fats and proteins.  I have eaten nothing but salads, lean proteins (tuna and salmon), fruits, and vegetables.  My goal now is to stay eating like this and continue to do so until I reach my goal weight of 155-160 by my birthday, March 2nd.  So far - so good, if I can continue like this and stay focused, I may just allow a pig out day on Thanksgiving....we'll see  :)