A Month Off!? Run for Your Lives 5k Experiences!

Hi blog followers!  Long time no see!  Sorry I took a bit of an impromptu vacation, but I needed a break.  Everyone experiences burn out, and I got hit hard.  I also haven't made any youtube videos, so don't feel too neglected. 

Anyway, I'm back, refreshed, and ready to blog!

Today I wanted to talk about the 5k I did last Saturday.  I participated in Run For Your Lives, a zombie themed obstacle 5k and it had to have been one of the most exhilarating and difficult things I have ever done. 

The basic premise of the 5k is simple.  Run away from the zombies!  When you register they give you a belt with three red flags on it. This belt represents your life and if the zombies snag all 3 flags then you are infected!  I love the combination of flag football and an obstacle course, it adds a lot of tension and excitement to a basic 5k.

We ran the 10:30am heat so we had to get up at 6:30 which was no fun.  The closest race location was still 1 hour 45 minutes away (we live in Ohio but actually went to the Indiana race) and they recommended we get there 2 hours early.  Well, we showed up at 8:30 and got through registration in about 15 minutes, so we had some time to kill lol.  However the registration queue did get longer as the day went on, but I do think the 2 hours early recommendation is a bit excessive, at least for the earlier race times.

At the start of the race we ran straight into an open field full of zombies.  It was mass chaos!  I lost 2 of my flags in that first batch of zombies!  After that we were funneled into a much more narrow path through a wooded area.  There were less zombies here, but the close quarters made it very hard to dodge them.  Most of the zombies were shamblers, but a couple of them would full on sprint after people. 

After a while we started running into obstacles along with zombies.  There was a series of walls we had to climb over or under, a set of monkey bars over a giant mud pit (yeah I fell in the mud ugh), a dark house with dangling electrified wires, a wooden tunnel set up in in a creek we had to crawl through (this sucked because there were a ton of rocks), balance beams over mud pits, plus steep hills, creeks, rocky terrain, and oh yeah, zombies! 

I made it really far with my one flag.  I "played opossum" where I would put my flag behind me when there were zombies and jog up to them and act sad, like I had already lost my flags, then sprint past them.   It worked well until I got stuck in a crowd and a zombie grabbed my flag.  Erik made it a lot further but eventually got all of his flags snagged as well.

But, right before the last obstacle there was an employee of the race handing out "health kits" so I got a bonus flag for the final gauntlet.  The final obstacle was a huge slide that ended in a pool of water colored like blood, a horde of zombies, and a belly crawl under an electrified fence (which felt like getting punched if you touched it, ouch!).  It was scary and awesome.  I made it to the slide with my flag but in between the pool and the finish line was a crowd of sprinting zombies.  I waited for a runner ahead of me to take off and distract a few zombies and I just went for it.  I dodged, dipped, dived, ducked, and dodged and made it to the finish line!  I had avoided the zombies with my flag intact!  (Erik on the other hand, slipped in the wet grass and got eaten.  It was very sad).

I got a medal!  My first race medal in fact.

Very proud!

After the race there's an "apocalypse" party, but Erik and I were so knackered we just rinsed off and left.  I thought the people who organized the Indiana race were very efficient and professional.  We didn't have any issues with parking, registration, or security.  The course was also well designed with enough space in between obstacles so there was very little bottle necking.  Overall a very smooth operation, I was impressed!

I would highly recommend this 5k it's a ton of fun.  However, I would really recommend strength training and practicing sprinting before hand.  This isn't a distance race, it's a run like hell then walk kind of race.   Some tips for surviving the zombie apocalypse are:

• Travel in packs.  The zombies get more confused and there's a greater chance they will get distracted by other people, not you.
• Wear shoes that are good for rough terrain but aren't too heavy.  They will get water logged!
• Pace yourself.  Don't run if you don't have to and take advantage of the zombie free zones to catch your breath.
• Do some strength and agility training in the couple of months before the event.  The more quick and nimble you are, the better.
• Don't be a dick and try and hide your flags under your clothes or in a pocket.  That's cheating and takes the fun out of the race!
• If you decide to be a zombie, don't break character!  There were a few zombies that gave me sympathy high-fives when I was flag-less which didn't bother me, but there were a few others that were just heckling runners and being general douche bags.  Not fun.

So what do you think?  Have you participated in Run for Your Lives or another obstacle race?  What were your experiences?  Let me know in the comments below!

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 8

This is it.  The FINAL WEEK!  8 weeks of training have come down to this.  I was equal parts excited and afraid for week 8, largely because it started off with the longest free form run yet.

Each day had a different program, so day 1 was as follows:

• 5 minute walk
• 5 minute free form run
• 2 minute stretch
• 20 minute free form run
• 5 minute stretch
• 5 minute free form run
• 3 minute stretch
• 5 minute free form run

That 20 minute free form run scared me like no other.  I have NEVER run for 20 minutes consecutively, not even close.  Well, I didn't quite make it the full 20 minutes, but I ran a total of 33 minutes out of the 35, so I think that's pretty admirable.  I did 3.45 miles in 50 minutes (40 minutes if you count out the stretching time) which I think is pretty damn good!

Day 2 turned out to be a much longer run than I anticipated, with training as below:

• 10 minute walk (even though the task lists say 5 minutes, it was 10)
• 10 minute free form run
• 3 minute stretch
• 2 sets of 10 minute free form run 5 minute walk
• 5 minute run

I ended up doubling past my apartment twice lol.  One thing that I was very proud of myself for was I ran every free form run without stopping.  I ended up running 4.3 miles in 58 minutes (or 55 minutes) which was pretty awesome.

And then came the final day.  I decided that I would try and run 3.1 miles (or a full 5k) as quickly as I could and then I would walk for the rest of the mission as a reward.  Well, not only did I run 3.1 miles, I did it without stopping.  O.O  I know!  I couldn't believe it.  AND get this...3.1 miles in 37 MINUTES.  37!!!!  That's only 7 minutes away from my ultimate goal and I still have 2.5 months until my race.

Overall I think the Zombies, Run! 5k app is really great.  I have never found a running app that had me motivated to run 3-5 times a week.  I am excited to finish the main app and to start new missions on April 16th!

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 7

Only one week left!  I'm so proud of myself for completing this challenge so far.  I can't believe I'm almost done!  Week 7 was in some ways easier than week 6 and in some ways more difficult.  The training was as follows:

• 10 minute warm up walk
• 5 minute free form run
• 5 sets 1 minute walking 15 seconds skipping
• 5 minute free form run
• 2 sets 3 minute stretch 5 minute free form run

Let me just say that skipping is HARD.  This week was difficult because there wasn't any walking breaks during the interval training.  I will admit that I didn't skip every time.  However I did run during all of the free form runs.  Each day I ran right around 3 miles in around 45 minutes, but if you take out the time spent stretching that's around 37-40 minutes, so my 5k time is improving. 

Only one week left!  I think at the end of my training I'll try and run a 5k just straight and see what my final time is.  I'm shooting for around 35 minutes, I CAN DO IT!!!!

 

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 6

Hi everyone!  Sorry I haven't posted all week, I've been fully engrossed in a little video game called Bioshock Infinite (maybe you've heard of it?) and have barely had free time to eat food, let alone blog.  But now that I've beaten the game (amazing btw) I can go back to normal life, like blogging.  Also showering.

Week 6 was one of my best weeks yet.  The weather started off cold, but I not only ran some of the longest distances of the program, but I also ran at a really good pace.  Week 6's training consists of:

• 5 minute walk warm up 
• 10 minute free form run 
• 10 squats 
• 2 sets 30 seconds stretching 10 squats 
• 5 minute fast walk 
• 7 minute free form run 
• 2 sets 2 minute stretch 7 minute free form run

My first day was really cold and windy but I managed to do 4.2 miles in 58 minutes.  By day 2 the weather had warmed up considerably and I ran 4.12 miles in 55 minutes, setting my best pace for the past month.  Day 3 I followed the exact same route and did 4.12 miles in 55 minutes.  

I do have a new problem with the app.  When the audio logs for the story play the don't pause the music, just kind of turn it down into background noise.  Usually that isn't a problem but if the character is whispering or supposed to be further away their recording is muffled and with the music it's practically impossible to hear.  That is really frustrating for me because I have no way of controlling the volume or pausing the music myself. 

Other than audio issues I really think this was one of the best weeks ever for my training.  I'm very proud of myself and I really think I'm improving :)

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 5

 



Sorry this post is kind of late, I've been super busy and haven't had the opportunity to summarize last week's progress until now.

 

I'm officially past the half way mark!  Week 5 started off very poorly but then got a lot better by the end.  For the training I did the following:

 

5 minute walking warm up

5 minute free form run

8 reps of 30 seconds walking, 1 minute running, 8 heel lifts

10 minute free form run

5 minute stretch

10 minute free form run

The time spent running is really increasing!  I did the first day on Tuesday but pretty much walked the whole thing because I hurt my foot somehow and was in too much pain to run.  I basically just hobbled home.  After that incident I took a couple days off and didn't run until Friday.  I had some soreness, but nothing like Tuesday and managed to do 3.5 miles in 52 minutes.  I went out on Saturday to wrap up the week and did 3.6 miles in 52 minutes, so I got a little faster!  That's exciting.

I also really enjoyed Week 5 Day 3's story.  I really like runner 4 and thought that whole mission was really funny and really cool.  What's really neat about the 5k program is you meet characters and experience events that are mentioned in the main app.  There's a lot of story tie in between the two and you get to see the set up for some of the missions in the main app.

Week 6 looks to be quite a challenge (and the terrible weather is not helping!) but I'm excited to see how much further I can go!

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 4

I am officially half way finished with the 5k program!  HOLLA!  I am really proud of myself for making it this far, and while I know I still have a lot of work to do, it feels great to see progress. 

Week 4 consisted of the following:

• 5 minute walking warm up
• 5 minute free form run warm up
• 5 reps of 10 knee lifts, 1 minute slow walk, 1 minute fast walk
• 5 reps 1 minute walk, 30 seconds run
• 15 minute free form run

The first thing I noticed about this week is that the training sessions are getting very long!  Each mission took 50-60 minutes to finish, as opposed to week 1 which was around 30.  However I really enjoyed the long runs because I've been dealing with some anxiety and the runs have really been helping.

The weather this week was really weird.  At the beginning of the week we had a really intense snow storm (My area got around 8 inches I think) but by the end of the week it was up in the mid 60s.  Ohio weather is weird.  However I really enjoyed the snow running.  I didn't feel that cold and it was very peaceful in my little neighborhood.

Day 1 I didn't plan my route well (the snow prevented me from running on sidewalks and I didn't want to run on a busy road) so I ended up doing 3.8 miles in 52 minutes.  Day 2's route was planned almost perfectly and I did 3.4 miles in 47 minutes.  However day 3 was a really off day for me (I eneded up walking most of the route I just had no energy) and I only did 3.2 miles in 49 minutes. 

Even with my one weak day I am still really proud of my progress.  Also the story this week was full of feels OMG.  I'm so excited for week 5!

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 3

You all might remember that last week I really hurt my back.  I could barely stand, let alone train for a 5k.  So after a week and a half off (with lots of drugs, not gonna lie) I was ready to try Week 3 of the program.  Week 3 really just follows the natural progression so I wasn't too surprised by the schedule.

• 5 minutes walking warm up
• 5 minute free form run warm up
• 5 reps of 1 minute running, 1 minute walking, and 10 seconds of knee lifts (jogging while bringing your knees up to your waist)
• 8 minute free form run
• 2 minutes stretching
• 8 minute free form run

I waited until Wednesday to do day one and I have to admit I pretty much walked everything.  I only ran during the interval training and by the last one I was starting to feel pain in my back as well as my left calf.  I took it slow and went 2.6 miles in 44 minutes, which is pretty good for walking so much.

Because I was still experiencing pain (and because I had to work really late on Friday) I didn't do day 2 until Saturday.  This run though was AWESOME.  I had zero pain and did 3.2 miles in 47 minutes (and 2 of those minutes were spent stretching). 

I did the final day of the week on Sunday even though I don't like doing 2 days in a row because I really wanted to get back on schedule.  I was a little more tired and sore during this run so I only did 3 miles in 43 minutes (which is still really good).

I'm really starting to see some results and improvements thanks to this training.  I'm also starting to have more confidence in myself, which is really awesome.  Also the story is getting really great, I'm really getting attached to the characters.  This is great for me because I actually want to do the next mission.  I can't wait to see what happens in week 4!

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 2

Week 2 started off with a bang and ended with a whimper :(  I managed to really injure myself last weekend so while I managed to complete week 2, I haven't been able to start week 3.  My back is absolutely killing me, I can't bend down, sit down, walk around, or lay flat.  I went to the doctor a few days ago and the medicine he gave me has been helping, but I'm still really hurting.  Hopefully I'll be ok by next Monday so I can get back to training.

Week 2 consists of:

• 10 minute warm up walk
• 5 reps of 30 seconds running, 5 heel lifts (basically going up on releve), 1 minute walking
• 10 minute free run

I did the first mission on Monday and felt great.  I didn't have too many problems other than I went out too late and it was super dark when I came home. 

Mission 2 on Tuesday had quite a few problems though.  I was running through my neighborhood and noticed a couple walking their HUGE dog and talking up the entire sidewalk. I was going to pass them so I hopped down on the street. As I approached them on the left the dog lunged at me barking really aggressively. He was on the right of his owner so as he ran at me his owner span around and fell to the ground. I stopped and wanted to help but the dog was still barking and lunging at me! They told me to just go on so I did because I was afraid of that dog. I feel really bad that this guy fell but seriously, if you're going to be walking your GIANT ASS DOG through a residential area you need to train it not to run at people! What if I had been a 10 year old kid? That guy would have a lot more to worry about than a busted ass.

So, I wonder if there is some sort of etiquette when you're running past someone walking their dog? I've never had this issue before, normally I just run on by and the dog doesn't care.

I took Wednesday off and decided to do a main app mission on Thursday.  However I decided to do this late in the day and it was too dark to run outside so I tried to do it on the treadmill.  Mistake.   I think I run differently when I'm on the treadmill because my left leg was just killing me.  I could hardly run for more than a few seconds before there would be shooting pain. I noticed that when I run outside I step more in the middle of my foot and have a lot less pain but when I run on the treadmill I lead with my heel more. I think it has to do with keeping my balance, I don't know. All I know is my left shin and hip would really hurt if I tried to run.

Saturday is when I finished week 2 of the 5k app and running wise I felt fine, but the weather was super cold and my left leg was still a tiny bit sore so I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but not a big deal.

My back pain started later that night.  I was sitting on the couch and simply stood up and WHAM.  Luckily the doctor said it is just a strained muscle not a spine or bone problem, so that's good.  I think I will be able to pick training back up next week so look forward to another summary soon!

Zombies, Run! 5k app Week 1

So today I wanted to talk about something a little different, but still very "bookish" in my opinion.  A few months ago I discovered a fantastic app called Zombies, Run!  This app takes a standard workout running tracker and combines it with an audio book like story.  In between songs that you upload as a playlist you hear radio transmissions from people in a township called Abel, a community trying to survive during the zombie apocalypse. 

This app is absolutely perfect for someone like me, who enjoys books and video games far more than exercising.  I get so incredibly bored on the treadmill or just lifting weights over and over.  I love that Zombies, Run! gives me not only missions and goals, but a captivating story and intriguing characters.  I'm actually sad when I complete a mission and have to wait a day before I can do the next one!  I'm excited to go running....which is extremely weird!

I've had a goal for a few years now of running a 5k without stopping.  I participated in my first one ever last year (The Color Run!  Such a blast) but didn't run the entire thing.  I decided this year I would up the ante and I have signed up for Run for Your Lives, a zombie themed 5k obstacle course.  The race is June 22, so I have 130 days to train. 

I started my training last week by doing the first week of the spin off app, Zombies, Run! 5k.  This app is set in between missions 1 and 2 of the main app and lets runner 5 get to know some of the people in Abel while they train up to prepare for longer missions.  This is a great premise and so far  I've really enjoyed it.

My Zombies, Run! uniform, courtesy of my mom at Christmas.  I love my mom.

Week 1 consists of:

• 10 minute walk for a warm up
• 10 reps of walk 1 minute, run 15 seconds
• 10 minute free run, which means you can walk the whole thing, run the whole thing, or do a combination of the two based on your fitness level.

This first week wasn't that difficult. I can't quite run for the full 10 minute free run, but I would guess I ran about 8 minutes each time, so that's pretty good.  For the first day I tried to run on the treadmill and I learned very quickly that it's a lot more fun to face the cold then it is to slog it out inside. 

Running outside is a lot better; it makes the intervals easier, later on you have to stop and do some strength exercises that would be a lot easier off a treadmill, and the app works better with the GPS.  I did have some problems with the app not recording my workouts, misjudging the distances I ran (I know I didn't run 9.5 miles in 36 minutes!), and randomly stop playing music half way through.  The app hasn't synced any workout to the website since Friday.  However they did just change the entire layout of their site, so I'm not surprised there are still a few bugs.

Technical kinks aside I really love this app.  I love it for the atmosphere it brings and the story it tells.  I am really invested in these character and am excited every day to go on my run.  This is a big deal for me because I have never been a runner, ever.