Friday, October 7, 2016

How the Friday 5 Messes with My Head

I have to start this post first by saying how much I love the ladies of the DC Trifecta. Today's post is not a slight at them at all. Courtney, Mar, and Cynthia host a fun and successful blog link up every Friday called the Friday Five. Their fitness-based link up has a loose "fitness-related" theme every Friday, but is built on the premise of writing about 5 things to fit the theme.

I've been participating in the link up for as long as I've been blogging, which is almost 3 years. I've met a lot of bloggers through this link up and the link up has sent a lot of traffic my way. I've also learned a lot about the art of blogging--both writing and interacting with other bloggers.

The funny thing about writing all these posts with 5 things in them is that it's started to get into my head. I'm all about those fives...



I'm a numbers gal. Since I started participating in the link up, when I write a post, I find myself looking for 5 things related to my topic. Today, I looked back at old blog posts and holy moley--there are so many with the number 5 in the title. Even if it's not Friday!

Try as I might, I struggle to break free from the 5 themed posts. Runfession: my name is Wendy and I'm a five-aholic.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here. Let's think about why the number 5 is so special:

  • 5 fingers and toes, 
  • 5 senses, 
  • 5 points on a star, 
  • 5 oceans in the world, 
  • 5 day work week, 
  • 5 dollar footlong...

I often joke about having OCD (I don't think I actually do) but I'm starting to scare myself. So as an intervention and just to get it out of my system, today I'm writing about 5 ways that I've inadvertently incorporated the number 5 into my workouts.

The 5 mile run: What is it about running 5 miles that just feels so right? Maybe it's just me, but 5 miles is just the perfect distance for a morning run. However, in an attempt to break free from my current obsession with all things 5, I've switched those runs out for 6 miles and 4 miles.



That Plank Flow...of 5 planks: Earlier last summer, I participated in Marcia's month long plank challenge and wrapped the whole thing up with a fun flow of planks, which happened to consist of--yes, 5 planks. I have to blame credit my yoga instructor for this one, though, because we happened to do this in class that day. Maybe I should throw in a few extra variations, you know, just to mix it up a bit.

I'm a 5 pointed star!
5 Tailwind packs for a marathon: It's what I carry in my waist pack. The plan is to take one pack of Tailwind per hour. Ideally, I would run a 4-ish hour marathon and only use 4. But things happen and it's always good to be prepared. So 5 packs it is.

The best endurance fuel out there.
Upper time limit for a marathon is 5 hours: For me, I always have a time goal to finish a marathon under 4:30, and sometimes less than that. But my cut-off time is always 5 hours. I have finished 2 marathons past that 5 hour mark, but for some reason, I like the idea of coming in before 5 hours. It just feels right.



I signed up for Marathon #5: This past week, I signed up to run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth next June. Grandma's is one of the oldest marathons in the country--this will be the 41st year. I've been running well again and would like to do one more marathon. I'm pretty sure that after this one, which will be #5 for me, I'm not going to do any more marathons. Let's face it, training for that distance is pretty taxing on the body. It's been hard for me this year not to run much while I tried to get my plantar fasciitis under control. Five marathons just feels right to this 5 loving gal. Time goal? Well, I'd like to beat Paul Ryan's real finish time...



Of course, next fall, I will turn double fives, so there's that...

Has the number 5 affected the way you blog? The way you run? The way you think? Is there another number that you tend to focus on?

And yes, I'm linking this post with my favorite ladies of the Friday Five, Courtney, Mar, and Cynthia! But wait...shouldn't there be five hosts?


71 comments :

  1. I already thought of things in 5's and 3's but I'm with you--the Friday 5 has me in trooouubbblleee. YAY for another marathon! Talk to Erica--she ran Grandma's last year!

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  2. I love running 5ks.

    I started running at age 55.

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  3. I think the 5 ways, 5 reasons etc. is prevalent throughout all media. I do love my fish (5ish) runs. Go beat Paul Ryan!

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  4. You're so funny. I find myself slightly obsessed with 5's since linking up with the Friday Five. But I also like 7's and other random numbers. :)

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    1. Now that the linkup is coming to an end, I can focus on those other numbers!

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  5. I haven't participated in enough Friday Five's but find myself going between 5's, 8's and 10's a lot....be the distance I run, the list of things I write about or "in 5/10 minutes"...we are leaving the house...to my kids.

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  6. Ha HA hA ha HA! (see what I did there?) I tend to think in 5's as well, and many of my blog ideas are left as "drafts" until I can find a fifth "thing" to make them seem publish-worthy LOL And Grandmas!!!!! I am toying with the notion of going back! Such a beautiful course and awesome event!

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    1. YES! Please do it! Gina is going to do it too--we would have a blast!

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  7. LOl yes the number 5 to my is kind of cliche! I think I will start doing 6 or 7 instead and shake up the whole blogoshere

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  8. No, 5 doesn't really effect me as much, LOL!

    And somehow I don't see you at stopping at 5 marathons, either. You say that now . . .

    My run distance is all over the place -- it really just depends on what fits in.

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    1. You know, if I beat Paul Ryan's time, that's a BQ for me. Just sayin'.

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  9. Haha! I am the anti-5, I don't usually participate in Friday 5, instead doing Friday Favorites so I can pick as many as I like. Even though I did one today, I actually, if you notice, have six items on my list!

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  10. Cute post! Most of the time I struggle to come up with five things and then there is the rare occasion that I have too many things and have to narrow it down! Congrats on taking the plunge with Grandma's marathon. I heard that's a great one!

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    1. Seriously, having more than 5 things always messes with my head! Like who cares, right?

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  11. I have done the Friday 5 link up before but I have a really hard time making sure it is in line with their topic for the weeK! So lately I have just been doing my own Friday 5 of random stuff. And then I don't know the blogger etiquette. Do I link up even though I am not following their theme?

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    1. I don't think they care much about straying from the theme. In fact, they really broadened their themes this year. But the link up is going away after next week..

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  12. Congrats on signing up for your fifth marathon. My friend ran Grandma's this year and loved her experience.

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    1. I've heard so many great things about it. I'm looking forward to it. And training for a June marathon? The weather should be good, right? Sure beats training in the heat of summer!

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  13. I'm a numbers person, but I'm not stuck on any one number. I like round numbers, so if I hit 30 minutes of running, but I'm not at a .5 or .0 with my mileage, I hate it. I ended at 2.33 miles once, and it was aggravating. It turned out OK though because my total mileage for that month was a number.5.

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    1. Sometimes I stop before I hit a round number, just to avoid being OCD about it.

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  14. Haha! I'm with you about numbers. I can get a little crazy about it too. Congrats on signing up for marathon #5!

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  15. the Friday Five is like the Goldilocks of blogging. Not too much, not too little but just right ;)

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  16. This is too funny! Whenever I do some sort of round up post, I find I always try to find 5 things (5 podcasts to listen to, 5 running shoes to love). For some reason 5 just seems right haha. And totally agree about the 5 mile run. It's perfect!

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    1. The idea for this post came to me when my legs tried to stop at 5 miles on a 6 mile run! So funny.

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  17. Oh, I heard Grandma's marathon is a really good one!

    I've been legit diagnosed with OCD (back when I was 22, now I'm 38) so I totally get the numbers thing! ARE YOUR READY FOR A SCANDALOUS SECRET?!?!? I used to HAVE to either have one orgasm, three, or seven. SEVEN. Seven was rare. One was obvy most common but I did hit three on the regular. Ha ha ha ha!!!! I love that I just typed that out for the entire world to see.

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    1. And now the spammers will hit me...

      Did you say seven?

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    2. Oh no! I didn't think about the whole spammers thing. I'm so sorry. And yeah, seven, but those were rare. And I'd have "assistance." Heh heh heh....

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  18. I started with 5K's and this year I turned 5-0! There are also 5 days in the work week and I wish there were only 4! TGiF!

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  19. No need to fuel the fire...LOL! I'm sure you will come in under 5 hours and then everything will feel right.

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  20. You are dang creative on your 5 things! OCD??? Heck no! I think I'm more of a threesome NO not that kind of threesome! Gutter mind! :) I like a 3 mile weekday run, I think the workweek should be 3 days Tu We and Th, and lastly I have 3 half's in Dec alone! Have a great Friday Wendy oh and take care of my girl while she is in Chicago will ya?

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    1. I like 3s! Oh, and I like your girl! We had some fun last night....

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  21. Wow!! another marathon!! that's amazing! I'm sure you will rock this one too!!


    This is awesome! I have a 5 thing too! But I have the hardest time thinking of 5 awesome things on Friday. Maybe it should be Thursday Three ?


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    1. There is that Thinking Out Loud link up, and it's a free for all...

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  22. OMG! OMG! I came in 5th place last week on Wednesday in Massachusetts. Some trail race called Lynn Woods in Lynn Ma. And even better is that I received a bunch of Subway $1 off coupons in the mail so I can go back in time and get a 5 dollar footlong! Sad part is the only sandwich you can get is an egg white footlong for that price! Look at me go!

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  23. I am so glad I discovered your blog! I Always look forward to reading it as it makes me laugh or provides a great source of inspiration, usually both!! This is so true about the 5, I often think of things in this sense as well...maybe it's a blogger a thing? Anyway, I love this & I had totally forgotten about Paul Ryan saying that... I remember telling a friend, anyone who has run a marathon is well aware of their finishing time... some times we don't like it, but we know to the hour & almost alway the minute of our finish time. Cheers Wendy...Happy Friday 5!!!

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  24. LOL that's so funny about thinking of everything in 5's. I think I prefer even numbers, even though I'm really not a numbers person! I hope to finish my first marathon in under 5 hours but time will tell!

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  25. I am always thinking of my posts in relation to the Friday Five. I will miss that linkup! But I think there's something about 5 that is comforting, like you mentioned (5 fingers, 5 toes, 5 senses, etc.). We're a family of 5, does that count?

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  26. OMG, yes! Although I often get stuck at three things, and have to shelf that idea for another time. ;-) What are we going to do without the Friday Five?

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    1. I'm sure someone will take it over--I think a lot of us will miss it!

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  27. This was a fun read. I don't have an affinity to any particular numeral.

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    1. Funny how some of us are numbers gals and others not so much! I always thought runners were a little bit more OCD...

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  28. Why am I not surprised that you signed up for another marathon???? Let's see if you stop at 5 or not....

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    1. Well, if I beat Paul Ryan's time, then that's a BQ for me...so let's just let that absorb...

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  29. Grandma's is my all time favorite race. I have been on the fence about signing up, but not sure how smart that would be with my husband returning next spring. I WILL do that one again though! You'll love the race, and the town. Duluth is where I grew up!

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    1. My in laws are from Superior, and I've been up there before. It's a beautiful area!

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  30. I'm currently training for marathon #5!

    I use to be really OCD about my mileage - my run needed to end on a whole or half number (5.0 or 7.5, etc.) I would run past my house just to round out my mileage. I stopped caring at some point.

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    1. Yep, today I just stopped at 10.42. I had the thought to go .08 more, but nah. Does it really matter?

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  31. I really love when things are in certain numbers and I think 5's are just one of those nice grouping numbers! I'm hoping that I finish my next marathon in under 5 hours and this will be my 4th. I know I have at least one more in my future (promised my dad we would do Berlin) ... but then I have to run WDW, which would put me at 6 .... so not a round number! Hmmm ... what to do ....

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  32. Double fives ? As in 55 ? OMG you look at least 15 years younger ! I can't believe it. Wow.
    And you signed up for another marathon. Second wow.
    I am looking forward to finishing my second in a month and no plans as of today to do a third....

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    1. You are just too kind! I'm trying to ignore my age because I've still got some unfinished business...

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  33. I like the number 5 too. My birthday is on the 20th but not on the 5th month of the year. Boo. Anyway. There is something about that number that gets me and I cannot put my finger on what it is.

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  34. It's funny how we all cling to different numbers, especially in terms of running. When I get to mile 5 I always need to round up to 6 miles. I very rarely ever run 5. Funny right?

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    1. I like running 5, actually! But I usually do 6 because it's closer to an hour for me. Really, since I'm such an overachiever, I should do 7. Then I'd be right about at an hour. Sheesh.

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  35. Interesting post, I don't cling to numbers the way I used to. I can even end a run on an off number too...

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    1. Sometimes I force myself to just stop at my driveway. Even if it's an odd number.

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