Subzero 5K, Part I

15 1/2 weeks of 20 weeks

weight today: same

total lost: 9 1/2 pounds in 15 1/2 weeks

1/2 cup of oatmeal:150

1 1/2 tsp of sugar:22

total:232

1/2 of blueberry bagel:150

6 bites of Subway cookies:200

two coffees with sugar and creamer:150

total: 500

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running total: 732

brat soup:275

salad:35

olive oil bread pieces:125

brownie:100

total:535

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running total:1,267

two bites of bread pieces:150

brownie bites:150

Snyder Hanover pretzel pieces:30

1/2 graham cracker:35

total:365

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running total: 1,632

3 1/2 oz of chicken:125

1 tsp of Smart Balance light butter: 15

1/2 cup of brown rice:85

1 tbl of powder creamer in tea:30

2 tsp of sugar in tea:30

total:280

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running total: 1,912

1 1/2 cup of Blue Bunny light ice cream:150

1 tsp of chocolate syrup:20

total:170

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running total: 2,081

Today's challenge: wow. I really got carried away with post race food (500) calories and some bread and treats that friends who came over brought to eat along with the brat soup that we made.

Today's victory: I went out and ran an additional four miles tonight after I realized how badly I ate today for a total of 8 miles today.

Actual fitness: one-mile warm-up, 3.1 mile race, later at night: a four mile run.

Note on picture: This is what I looked like after finishing a four mile run tonight with the temperature sitting at zero.

Subzero 5K: Part 1

Yes, I'm doing this in two parts. Hey, it's the weekend and not every day that I race in weather this cold.

Well, as I mentioned last night I felt like I had a good idea of what I wanted to wear for the race. I set out my clothes the night before and set the alarm for 6:15 a.m. which is a full hour later than what I've been getting up during the week to go to the gym.

I ended up not getting to bed until about 11:30 p.m., and then couldn't fall asleep. When I finally did fall asleep, I kept dreaming that I only had one more minute to sleep and so in my dream I would wake up. All the waking up in my dream was making me question if I was getting enough sleep. Finally, I even woke up a few times before the alarm went off.

So, that was kind of weird.

I arrived at the race with exactly 30 minutes before the start. On the drive there I started to get a few butterflies in my stomach again. Once there, I grabbed my bib, and pinned it on.

I wore five layers of long sleeved shirts with a form fitting hooded fleece sweatshirt. I had an additional heavier sweatshirt over that to take off after my warm-up. I wore three pair of pants and took off the third pair before the start of the race. I wore my hood up over a head band and also used two neck warmers. I wore two pair of gloves.

It was -9 degrees with a -16 degree wind chill. On the warm-up I noticed a few people coming back looking white.

I finished my 10 minute warm-up exactly five minutes before the start of the race, which seemed perfect to me because I was still sweaty and warm from it.

Unlike the last race where a gun just went off, a gal was calling out seconds left before the start of the race. Some guy was asking this gal if they were going to be calling off the times at the 1K, and 2K marks. I thought to myself that I really doubted that would happen since it didn't happen last time.

Oh, my pregnant sister-in-law, who is 12 weeks along, also raced today in the five mile run.

The road conditions were such that there was no dry pavement. There was definitely well worn spots on the road where the cars had impacted down some snow that had fallen a few days ago.

So, the race began and I felt good. I adjusted my pace to what felt somewhat like I was gliding along. A thought that went through my head was "lift up your knees, so you don't trip on something and fall."

I was timing the race with my stop watch. I had an idea about where the one mile mark was, but purposely did not look at my watch. I didn't want to feel discouraged if it was slower than last week. During my runs last week, I had not incorporated any speed work-outs.

Going into the second mile I began looking for the spot where I had fallen down five weeks ago. I wasn't really afraid that I would fall down again.

One thing I noticed is that the it seemed like the air was harder to breath. Probably because it was so cold. I also noticed that I had to keep brushing the ice that was constantly forming on my eye lashes.

When I arrived near the spot where I had fallen five weeks ago, I noticed that two cars were parked there and there was snow all around it. I recall thinking, I can't fall there again even if I wanted to.

I know I stink, but to be continued.