Running With Jenny

Training for Boston Already?

2010-12-15T15:31:00.004-05:00

This week was the first week starting my training for Boston. Already?? I am using a plan from the Advanced Marathoning book by Pete Pfitzinger, specifically the 18 week plan that caps at 70 miles (18/70). I like the way the miles are distributed, instead of the mid-week miles being very similar in distance each day (the way I have usually trained), they vary a bit more. Some shorter runs are mixed with a longer aerobic/speed runs, and also a longer run. I hope I will like the variety! Another benefit is that Mark has also decided to train with the same plan. Even though our runs won't always match up, and of course his paces will be faster (especially on speed days) it will be nice to have him running the same workouts as me each week.

So far this week was an easy 5 miler, an 8 miler with 10 x 100 meter strides, and a mid-long run of 11 miles (um, I actually only did 10.3 today though because it was FREEZING and I had extra miles from Tuesday's strides). Thursday and Friday are both short runs (yay!) and a 15 mile run on Sunday. Of course, the first few weeks never look daunting, but I know it will get harder pretty soon...

Holiday Halfathon

2010-12-12T14:02:00.002-05:00

The Holiday Halfathon is my favorite of the halfathon series. I like the course (a point to point starting in Madeira Beach and running up to Largo), like the time of year, like the Christmas-y shirts (that is my wrinkly shirt pictured), and like the group of runners who seem to do this one every year.

Since it is point to point, to avoid having to ride in a shuttle back to the start, we had the clever idea of teaming up with Jamie and driving two cars down, leaving one at the finish line on our way (well it is not THAT clever, since lots of other people do this to). The benefit of that is we could leave stuff that we would need after the race in Jamie's car. So that is what we did. It wasn't until we were parked down at the start that we realized we had been a bit flaky and had actually left some important race things in Jamie's car. Oh. I left my Garmin and iPod, and Jamie didn't have any extra clothes (and it was kind of windy and chilly at the start). Mark gave Jamie his arm warmers, and Jamie gave me her Garmin-since she had just raced Las Vegas marathon last week (!) she didn't mind not knowing how fast she was going today. We finally got ourselves together and got to the start line. Jamie and I lined up together, she said she would just stay with me. I didn't have a super clear goal, just trying to aim around an 8:00 pace, hopefully a little faster if possible. Our first four miles were around a 7:50, then we stayed around 8:00 for a bit, but I was having a hard time keeping it there. Once we turned onto the Pinellas trail (around mile 7), I was hoping I would be able to focus better and stay on task. The only problem was that it was starting to feel hot, and the trail offered some protection from the wind, but made the air seem even warmer. I started feeling really hot and really bad a one point (like a sick kind of bad), my pace slowed. Jamie was there with me, and she suggested I take my hat off. Not sure why I hadn't thought of this, but it made a big difference. I felt a little better but was still at the slower pace for a while. I was so glad I had Jamie there with me, I am sure I would have struggled A LOT if I hadn't had her. She was a good mommy, and stayed just ahead of me, but would check back every now and then to make sure I was still with her, without putting any pressure on me to pick it up. Around mile 10.5 (or so) was a second pedestrian overpass bridge, and I was actually GLAD to see it because 1. I like those 25 foot climbs and 2. it meant we were nearing the end. Jamie made fun of me for being happy about the hill ;) The final 1.5 miles are into a park and all the way around a lake to the finish. Despite having to head into the wind for a lot of this, I actually really like the way it finishes. You can hear the loud finish line the whole time you are around the lake and it makes you excited to get there. I tried my best to pick it up but at that point I was getting so tired that my version of "picking it up" basically meant I didn't get any slower- LOL. We made it around the turn to the finish, and I was FINALLY able to catch up the 10 feet that Jamie had been ahead of me and we crossed the finish line together with a 1:45:55 clock time. But, um, actually my foot? must have been in front of her? because I ended up with third place in my age group and she got fourth, even though we had the exact same time. (sorry Jamie...) I felt kinda bad about that.

We had fun hanging out with a lot of other runners from the Striders, and we stayed for the awards (Mark also got an award- first in his age group). About 3 minutes after Mark got his award, the wind picked up awful and rain started coming in. How lucky that the rain waited until after the race!

Women's Running Half Marathon

2010-11-22T05:52:00.003-05:00

Such a fun morning! Not only were a lot of my friends running this race, but also my sister Amy, my mom, and my Aunt Patty. My mom and Aunt Patty were going to walk together- it was to celebrate my Aunt's 70th birthday. The four of us stayed down in St. Petersburg the night before, so in the morning it was easy to get up and walk to the start line.

="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542330826896836930" />I found Jamie in my corral, so she and I started out together. She was going faster today, so after the first mile we split up. My goal was to run between 8:00 and 8:15 pace, not on pr pace, but kind of a tempo pace for a training run. My first several miles were a bit under, about 7:55 or so, and then I was able to keep on target for the rest of the race (the two slowest miles were 8:15). My finish time was a 1:46:40 (8:09 pace).

Amy came through, with a new pr! We then went to watch for my mom and Aunt Patty. We saw them come to the end, looking like they were having a great time. The day was gorgeous, and everyone had a great time!

For Mom

2010-11-15T12:26:00.002-05:00

My mom has been bugging me to update my blog :) so here it goes:

My running has been basically in maintenance mode, I've had my miles around 45 per week (or so), and this week and next I will creep it closer to 50. I started back to some speed work, just to get back into that mode since I hadn't done any in a while! Since I have a few half marathons coming up, the speed work is kind of geared towards that distance. This Sunday is the Women's Half marathon and I plan on treating it more as a training run-sort of a tempo run (a very loooong tempo run). If that goes as planned, I will be more prepared to race the next half marathon which is on December 12th. After December 12th, my Boston training plan starts (!) which is an 18 week Pete Pftizinger plan.

My mom, my sister Amy, and my Aunt are all coming into town this weekend to also participate in the Women's Half marathon. I think this race is going to be a lot of fun, I know so many people who are running it!

My other exciting news is that I have registered to attend Personal Training Education at the Cooper Institute in Dallas at the end of November. I have always thought of becoming a trainer, but just hadn't taken the time to go through the education and certification. I am excited to start my class!

Well It Sounded Good At The Time

2010-11-04T13:14:00.002-04:00

I have a monkey on my back, and his name is Racing. See, the problem is, back in the spring when you get the e-mails and info on all the fall races, they sound so fun, and HEY! if you sign up early, you get a great deal on all of them. So I managed to sign myself up for a marathon in July (the one I did in Utah), 12 weeks later the San Francisco marathon, 2 weeks later the Halloween Halfathon, 3 weeks later the Women's Half Marathon, 3 weeks later the Holiday Halfathon, and 4 (or maybe 5) weeks later, the Clearwater Halfathon, and a final half-marathon in March. And these are all before the Boston Marathon, which is in April.

The problem is not so much with the running or the mileage (especially for the half marathons, because I would most likely be running a long run with a similar distance anyway). The problem is that I want to do my best at every race, and race them all to my potential. Well, on Sunday at the Halloween Halfathon, that did not really work out as planned. I started out on a great pace (albeit a tiny bit aggressive to go for a PR), but after mile 5 I fell apart and had a hard time just keeping myself going. I am pretty sure my body was SO not ready to race a half marathon 2 weeks after the San Francisco marathon. Then Tuesday morning comes, and when I go out for what I think is an "easy run," my legs just will not cooperate. They wanted none of that. Wednesday was the same (a bit better, but still sluggish), and I start feeling very stressed out about the NEXT half marathon, which is only 2 1/2 weeks away at this point. How can I do my best if I can't even run normal?? After evaluating it with my coach, and by coach I mean Mark :), I've been instructed that I am not "allowed" to race the next upcoming half marathon. Instead, Mark gave me a reasonable pace that I have to adhere to instead. And I am only allowed to race the next half marathon (December 12th) if I've been able to perform some key workouts and the conditions on race day are good. Otherwise I have to wait to race until the January race.

It may seem dorky, but just having Mark tell me I wasn't "allowed" to race it, instantly took the pressure off, and I don't have to worry so much that it is taking me a long time to recover from the past two races. My legs even liked that idea, as they felt much better on this morning's run. And I have definitely learned my lesson: don't be wooed by the cheap early sign up prices!!

Nike Women's Marathon 2010 Race Report

2010-10-21T10:48:00.003-04:00

Short version: Hills and rain, 3:42:59 official time
Long version...

I was really excited to do this race. With it being so popular, it is hard to gain an entry into, and when Kathryn, Carin, and I entered the random lottery, we were on pins and needles for a month waiting to get in, which we found out in the spring that we had made it in. Yippee!! We had lots of time to train, and I even had time for the marathon in July in Utah to fit in there.

I was nervous for the hills on the course, I knew they weren't the worst thing that San Francisco could hand you (there were no Lombard streets, after all), but I knew it was nothing we could train for here in Florida. We did our best on the bridge overpasses, but that was that. I went in with a reasonable goal of running between a 3:40 and 3:45. Of course I would have LOVED a 3:39:59, so I decided to run with the 3:40 pace group and stay with them as long as I could.

Race weekend finally came, Carin, Kathryn, and I (along with Kathryn's husband- the designated spectator) excitedly boarded our planes to San Francisco. Carin and I were staying two blocks from Union square, where the race expo was being held. We couldn't help but head over there right away. The expo was cool, trendy, and fun, although it was missing a lot of "practical" things you might want as a runner at an expo. This seemed to be the theme for the whole rest of the weekend, Nike put on an awesome event, but many times I was wishing it wasn't so trendy and was more practical. Conveniently the Nike Town store was right next to the expo and there was an entire floor devoted to the marathon merchandise, which was flying off the shelves.

The day before race day Carin and I went for a short run, then stopped by the expo again to meet the pacers. My pacer was Jen, and I asked her about the strategy she would take for the hills. She said she would stay on pace for both up and down, but encouraged us to do the hills at the effort you wanted and then catch up on the downhills. It was good advice, and I used that strategy on race day. We did some light sightseeing, (shopping) and met up with Kathryn and her husband for our pre-race pasta dinner. We got to bed nice and early.

The great thing about traveling west for an early morning race is that it doesn't really feel like early morning! I was up before my alarm and felt well rested. We went through our usual morning routines, then met Kathryn down at the start line. Here is where we parted ways, I headed up to my corral with pacer Jen, and Carin and Kathryn lined up with their pacer. I only had to wait in the corral about 30 minutes before it was time for the race! Pacer Jen had a pretty big group and we were all clumped together but it was really difficult staying with her the first mile and getting on pace. Nike allows members of a special Nike+ group line up near the start and unfortunately many of those were not intending on keeping a faster pace so it was hard to maneuver around them. They did not seem to like a large pace group weaving past them. It was still crowded for the next few miles, and I found it very stressful to stay with the pace group but I stayed with her anyway.

Finally the scary part came: the big hill at mile six. I watched as pacer Jen slowly slipped away from me, but by the time I got to the top I saw that she wasn't too far ahead which I was easily able to regain on the hill down. The next few miles went just like that. I would lose the pace group going up, and catch them going down. Finally we made it through the steep stuff, and I thought I would just be able to hang tight with the pace group.

We entered Golden Gate Park, and again there were some hills, although these were more gradual than the previous ones, so my fall back and catch up strategy wasn't working as well, also it was still very crowded on the course since the half marathon split hadn't occurred yet. I decided to let the pace group go, and immediately I felt more relaxed. And that was pretty much my strategy for the whole rest of the race, to just stay calm and relaxed. When we turned out of the park towards the last ten miles: calm and relaxed. When the rain started up: calm and relaxed. When I hit mile 20 and realized I could easily still make under 3:45: calm and relaxed. So it was with this mantra that I just kept ticking off mile after mile. In the last few miles I was tempted to pick up the pace and really put the hammer down for a strong finish, but I resisted because I was in such a groove and had FINALLY for the FIRST TIME EVER IN A MARATHON... had not gotten my dreaded side stitch. I was afraid if I tried to pick it up too much I would get the side stitch and slow down anyway so instead I just kept at my pace.

I crossed the finish line, looked at my watch and saw 3:43 (my chip time ended up with 3:42:59). I was so happy with that time, and so happy with how I had run and not fallen apart at any time during the race. I made my way through the elaborate finish line (Tiffany necklace, finisher shirt, and loads of post-race food) and found Kathryn's husband. We were waiting for Carin and Kathryn to come in for their finish, unfortunately though, I started getting VERY cold (I am from Florida after all) and with the pouring down rain there was no way I was going to warm up. I made a trip to the medic tent to get a warm blanket and a dry area to sit down. The staff in the medic tent was wonderful, and I wasn't the only one who was being treated for the cold conditions.

I was finally able to find Carin and then Kathryn, they also had great races which was the icing on the cake for me. We all left there a little cold and wet, but excited and happy and ready to celebrate our milestone.

Ready To Go!

2010-10-14T12:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's run was 6 miles, with 2 at marathon pace (with Pacer Mark). Jamie joined Mark and I for this run. When we started on the marathon pace miles, 8:15-ish pace, I was thinking that it felt kind of hard. But the deal was that I am not allowed to look at my watch or complain about it. So I didn't. Later when I got home, I saw that those miles WERE faster than 8:15, so pacer Mark lied to me :)

This morning was just an easy four miler, seems like it was time to turn around and go home just as I was feeling warmed up. Oh well.

Tomorrow morning I leave for San Francisco, and I am ready to get there and run the marathon! Oh yes, and there is that bit about getting a Tiffany necklace at the finish line...

Nervous

2010-10-12T13:40:00.002-04:00

Sunday's run was an easy eight miles with Kathryn, Carin, and Jamie. The run went by nice and easy, eight miles went by fast compared to the last few weeks of our Sunday runs. Officially taper time now!

This morning was a short four miles, I started out with Mark, once we hit three miles I turned back to go home and he continued on. So, I am starting to get very nervous about the marathon...only five days away!

Pacer Mark

2010-10-07T10:33:00.002-04:00

Wednesday's Miles: 8
Thursday's Miles: 6.25

I am thinking of running with a pace group in the marathon next week. I haven't ever had an opportunity to do this, only for the first 6 miles of a half marathon (before the pace group split from the half marathon route), so I do not have a lot of experience following along. Also, I am the pace picker for the majority of my runs. When I run with Mark, he runs at my pace so that he doesn't push me too fast on an easy day, and speed workouts I am running what my schedule tells me to. So for a bit of "pacer practice" I asked Mark if he would pace our Wednesday run. He was WAY too excited for this. And when I told him that Jamie was going to join us, he smiled and said, "now you REALLY can't complain!" Geesh.

Anyway, Pacer Mark was to run 2 miles warm-up, 4 miles at 8:15- 8:20 pace, then cool down. I didn't even wear my own Garmin, so I really had no clue as to pace or distance. I have to say, it was quite nice not having to worry about it! Jamie and I just stayed with Pacer Mark, and if we seemed to be drifting behind a bit, I made an effort to catch back up and stay with him. Fortunately, with the nice cool weather, the pace did not seem that hard at all, and Pacer Mark actually kept us at the faster end of the range. Splits for the 4 miles@ race pace: 8:13, 8:13, 8:14, 8:15. Nice job Mark!

The pace group I am planning on running with in San Francisco is for a 3:40 finish time, which is an 8:23 pace. Of course, there are going to be some hills in the race, so I really do not know how I will handle those, but I am hoping I can stay with that pace group, at least for most of the race.

Nice Weather!

2010-10-05T15:02:00.002-04:00

Miles: 6.75

I wanted to run more :) The weather was perfect!! Mark and I ran in the neighborhood, just basic route (not deluxe). After we got to the house, he continued on for a few more miles. Tapering is nice, but perfect running weather is even better!

So NOW The Good Weather Shows Up

2010-10-04T10:26:00.004-04:00

Miles: 14

So finally the cooler weather has appeared in Florida...and...I get to start tapering down my miles. Well, it will be nice to taper, but it also would have been nice to enjoy some of that cool weather on those longer runs!! Oh well. Sunday was 14 miles, I met with Jamie and Kathryn in the park. It was a good solid run, and the last four miles I wanted to pick up the pace but without being specific about it, just to see what it would end up as. I didn't look at my pace for the last four miles at all, but they ended up being pretty even: 8:15, 8:15, 8:13, 8:02. Felt great!

I might have to dig in my drawer this week to find some running clothes. Usually it is "wear as little as possible," but with morning temps in the 60's I think I will have to actually wear clothes this week! :D

At Least I am Getting Lots of Rest...

2010-09-30T12:18:00.002-04:00

Sunday was the final 20 miler before the Nike Women's Marathon. Carin and I started 5 miles south of the park at 5:15. It was still dark out, so I made sure to bring along my head light. We saw another group of girls that we know heading out also, so for the first few miles we ran with them. I am sure it was an interesting sight seeing a pack of runners all equipped with head lamps in the pre-dawn hours! Once we got to the park, Jamie and Kathryn were there to join us (no trusty Cherise today, as her kids were participating in a triathlon that morning!) The weather was holding up reasonably well, it wasn't getting as hot as quick as it usually does. Once we finished our mile in the park, with the last five left it was time to try and pick up the pace a bit. I was shooting to pick it up to about 8:15 or so, but the last mile ended up a little faster at 8:02. It felt great to be able to have a strong finish!

This week I have had our youngest son home sick. I've still been able to run in the morning (although this morning Mark and I had to take shifts because he needed someone home with him). The miles are only backing off a tiny bit this week, with the real tapering starting next week. But being at home with a sick child means...at least I am getting lots of rest! Even though I am taking care of him (and the dogs and the house etc.) there seems to be time to sit with him to keep him company. We've had LOTS of time for puzzles, movies, spongebob, and even a few games. So, it is no fun having to have a sick kiddo, but looking on the bright side I am getting in a lot of extra resting in my legs that I probably would not have done! However, I do hope he is better real soon!!

Yoga Everyday: Still been keeping up with this! Mostly 20- 30 minutes each evening, although last night I did an hour of a more challenging routine, the Tara Stiles DVD.

Week in Review

2010-09-25T09:11:00.002-04:00

This week was the final mileage climb before the San Francisco Nike Women's marathon, which is now only three weeks away!! Time to start getting really excited! Tuesday through Friday's runs were all the same mileage: 10. The distance did not seem daunting at all. I can remember last year when I was training for Dallas and the double digit weekday runs were a much bigger mental challenge. Maybe my brain has gotten used to more mileage...lets just hope my legs have also!

Surprisingly, the exact same run four days in a row ended up not feeling exactly the same each day. Tuesday I ran with Mark, easy pace. Wednesday Jamie joined Mark and I, we had a good pace, and the excitement of the morning was I made Mark fix the golf course toilet because it was broken and overflowing TONS of water everywhere!! (The environmentalist in me just couldn't leave it like that.) Thursday Mark was out of town, so I was on my own. I was looking forward to using my iPod, but alas, it was not working. (Sigh. Those iPods are so frustrating.) Without company or music, I thought I would be bored, but the run actually turned into a zen-like running experience. Probably helped that the pre-dawn moon was very impressive. Friday Mark was back in town, and I was having a hard time keeping up with him, he seemed to be pushing the pace. I mentioned it at our 4 mile water stop, and he said he thought I was the one speeding up! After our water break, we backed off a bit and enjoyed the rest of the run.

Yoga Everyday: I still have been keeping up with my yoga everyday! This week I alternated between the Namaste yoga on FitTV or my own routine consisting of sun salutations followed by various seated poses.

Weekend Run

2010-09-20T21:13:00.002-04:00

Sunday's Miles: 11

Sunday was a cutback week, so Kathryn, Jamie and I just decided to run in the neighborhood. The weather was great!! I didn't really have a set mileage, was planning on nine or ten. I looped back around towards Jamie's house, so I ended up with 11. Great run

Yoga Everyday: Sunday afternoon I did the 30 minute Namaste yoga from Fit TV. It was one I have saved on the DVR that I like.

Monday Miles: 4

Just an easy recovery run on the treadmill. Felt even easier since I didn't really need "recovery" from yesterday's 11 miles.

Yoga Everyday: Monday morning did 20 minutes Wii Fit yoga.

2010-09-18T22:20:00.001-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 20 minutes sun salutations and various seated poses.

Thursday/Friday

2010-09-17T14:00:00.002-04:00

Thursday's Miles: 9
Friday's Miles: 9

Both Thursday and Friday I ran the same neighborhood route, just easy pace. The nice weather that came this week has been enjoyable on the morning runs! I decided not to run in the hilly neighborhood this week because my achilles/plantar fasciitis has been bothering me some since the Clearwater hills on Sunday. So, um, it kinda seems like it is hills that make it worse. And I kinda have been doing a lot of hill training. Because I kinda have a hilly marathon 4 weeks away. Oops.

Yoga Everyday: last night I did a flexibility routine from my Pocket Yoga for Athletes book by Sage Rountree. It included a Moon Salutation in the routine. Yes! Moon Salutation! I have only ever heard of Sun Salutation before.

No Repeats

2010-09-15T12:22:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9.14
Average Pace: 8:55

Mark and I met Jamie on our usual neighborhood (deluxe) route. I had planned on doing some mile repeats, but somehow was just not feeling it today. I even started on the first one, but it was not going to happen. :(

Poor Jamie and Mark had to listen to my mini temper tantrum, but after that the rest of the run was just nice and easy. At least the weather was wonderful this morning, about 70 degrees with lower humidity than normal!

Yoga Everyday: Last night I did 20 minutes of Wii Fit Yoga.

Water Fountain

2010-09-14T19:10:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:51

This morning there was a nice breeze!! Mark thought maybe it was fall, but I think it is just another trick... The run went well, we ran through the neighborhood on deluxe route. Even played gate game and won (and yes, you can actually lose this game). I do have a small drinking problem, however that might ruin my running. See, there is this great water fountain on our route that has the BEST water EVER!! It is nice and cold, and comes out with strong water pressure so you can get a lot in a single gulp. So, my problem is that I always always want to drink way too much of that water. Too much water in the middle of a run is not a good thing (sloshy tummy). But I have a hard time pulling myself away from the water fountain!! I am sure one of these days I am going to pay the price.

Yesterday's Miles: 3

Three easy miles on the treadmill...nothing exciting, but nothing bad either :)

2010-09-13T21:50:00.001-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 20 minutes Felxibility routine from Tara Stilez book.

Sunday Beach Bridges

2010-09-13T12:58:00.003-04:00

Miles: 16.5
Average Pace: 9:57

Carin, Kathryn and I headed down to Clearwater Beach on Sunday for our long run. It is a great way to get in some Florida hills! And...after looking again at the elevation profile for San Francisco, I am glad we have been making an effort to get the hill training in. Yikes- there are a couple of big climbs on the marathon route! It is always hard to prepare, because you really are never going to know exactly what kind of hills they are until you get there. Fortunately, it is only a few big ones, with also some downhill and flat parts.

Anyway, Sunday morning we got started at 6:00am. It was (of course) very warm and humid, but that is what we are used to by now! When we started it was dark, so it was a nice way to catch the morning sunrise- right over the water! The bridges are a good climb, and you are rewarded with a great view AND a nice downhill after. The whole run gave me five bridge climbs. Great run!

Yoga Everyday: Later on Sunday I did a few short sequences from the Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga by Sage Rountree. She is often featured in Runner's World.

Friday Hilly Run

2010-09-10T14:40:00.003-04:00

Miles: 10

This morning I met with Carin and Kathryn to run in the hilly neighborhood. It was a bit more humid than it had been the last few days. Oh well, we still had a great run. After the neighborhood, we finished with 6 hill sprints up the steeper church driveway. Once we got back to the cars, I headed a little further down the road to get in a few extra miles today.

Oh, and please read Greg's blog post about race reports. :D

Yoga Everyday: One hour class at the YMCA.

Speed Work is Back!!

2010-09-09T14:00:00.002-04:00

Wednesday's Miles: 10
5 miles at tempo (target pace 7:45- 8:00)

So I finally finally felt that my foot was feeling good enough (and I was mentally ready enough) to add some speed work back into my week. Mark was happy about this. Although the night before, I was feeling nervous, and wanted to back out...but usually that means it is a good challenging run you've picked out. Jamie had told me she wanted to run with us, I wasn't sure if she would feel like a tempo run since she had just raced a half-marathon on Sunday. (Mark said of course she would, Jamie will run anything.) So we ran towards her house and picked her up. I asked her if she felt like a tempo run, and she said she would (Mark was right). After one more warm-up mile, we got started. Okay, I don't know where that optimistic "7:45 - 8:00 pace" idea came from, because it quickly changed into "just stay under 8:00." Not doing speedwork in a while makes it even harder to get back into it!! Of course tempo's are hard, so I just tried to focus on staying smooth and efficient rather than complaining that it was hard. It helped that Jamie was along also- a bit of a morale boost. My last mile I kept thinking over and over (I believe I came up with my own mantra!): Be the runner you want to be.

Splits for the tempo portion: 7:53, 7:55, 7:59, 7:53, 7:51

Today's Miles: 10
Average Pace: 9:04

Jamie joined us again to run, but today it was just an easy run. Yippee! I am keeping the mid-week miles high this week to increase my total mileage for the week. It's right in the middle of build up time, with only 5 1/2 weeks left until the Nike Women's Marathon. Next week I will cut back, then one more build up week, then taper.

Yoga Everyday: yesterday 20 minutes from the Tara Stiles book, today one hour class at Trinity Yoga Studio

Super Deluxe

2010-09-07T18:00:00.004-04:00

Miles: 10
Average Pace: 8:41

Mark and I started a few minutes earlier this morning so we would have time for an extra mile. It seemed a lot darker out, but it was actually because it was very cloudy out, so we hardly had any sun at all. I was even worried that it would start pouring down rain, but it never did so we were able to do our whole run as planned.

We had to add on an extra loop in the neighborhood, so today's route was the "Super Deluxe" route. I do have to say that it is lucky my neighborhood (and connecting surrounding neighborhoods) is large enough to piece together the longer weekday runs as my mileage increases. It would be a pain to have to drive to a path every single morning!

Yoga Everyday: 20 minutes of Wii Fit Plus yoga.

2010-09-06T22:19:00.001-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 50 minutes Rodney Yee Yoga for Athletes DVD.

Sunday Hilly 20 Miler

2010-09-06T17:00:00.002-04:00

Miles: 20.2
Average Pace: 8:54

On Friday when I met Kathryn and Carin for our usual weekday hilly run, I was trying to think about organizing my Sunday run. Because of the holiday weekend, Carin and Kathryn were going to run the 20 miler on Monday morning, but that wasn't going to work out well for me. It is never fun to have to do that long of a run alone, and I was especially worried about being alone for the beginning dark and scary miles. Cherise had mentioned she would be able to run about half of it with me, but I didn't think it would be for the beginning part. When I got home and was mentioning it to Mark, he offered to take the boys with me on their bikes, and maybe we could even head up to Brooksville where it is nice and hilly. It is helpful to have someone on a bike for Brooksville anyway because there isn't any water available on the trail. I thought that sounded like a good solution, and when I talked to Cherise she was interested in going up with us and running the first 8 or 9 miles with me. On Saturday I saw Jenny, and she also was interested in getting some miles in on Sunday so she decided to come as well.

We made the trek up north on Sunday morning, and as Mark was setting the kids up on their bikes, Cherise, Jenny, and I got started right on time at 6:00. It was very very dark. So far I have only run north from the parking lot on this route, but today we went south, with the plan that we would run four south and back to the parking lot, where Cherise could finish, and then I would head north for the rest of my miles. The route south was just as nice as the north part, it had some pretty decent sized (for Florida!) rolling hills. Of course we couldn't actually see any of these hills until the sun came up!!

Once we got back to the parking lot (8 miles), Cherise wanted to go a few more miles to run over the SUPER EXCITING STEEP AND FUN pedestrian overpass :) In fact, Cherise liked it so much, she made me run back over it a second time. I think she was going to push for a third trip, but I gently reminded her that I still had 11 miles left to go. So we parted our ways, and I got my iPod from my support crew. The rest of the run I trailed Mark and the boys, they would wait for me about every 2 miles (give or take). It was always nice to see them up ahead waiting to know I was going to get a water break.

My turnaround point was the biggest hill of the run, I finally made it to the top, got a gel from the boys, and then we all turn back to get to the parking lot- only five miles left! It was starting to get kind of hot at this point, fortunately the path is mostly shaded, there were only a few sections that were out in the direct sun. I felt pretty good for the whole run, even with the added challenge of the hills. As I got back to the pedestrian bridge that leads to the parking lot, I was in my last mile, and the boys were speeding down past me on their bikes. Finished the whole run in just under 3 hours! (2:59:44)

After cooling down a bit and changing into some less sweaty clothes, we headed to Cracker Barrel for a nice Sunday breakfast. The boys were just as hungry as I was!!

Yoga Everyday: (A little behind on this) Friday: 1 hour Tara Stiles DVD, Saturday 25 minutes Wii Fit Yoga, Sunday: 20 minutes flexibility routine from the Tara Stiles book. So obviously I got my Amazon order with my new Tara Stiles DVD and book, I love them both!!

Racing

2010-09-02T12:43:00.001-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:30

Again with the nice weather! :) Although I don't really think it is here to stay, I think it is probably a result of the hurricane way over on the other side pulling some of the heat and humidity away from us. But I will enjoy it while it is here! 72 degrees when we started out this morning.

Mark and I ran through the neighborhood as usual. I have a small complaint, though. Even though Mark and I run side by side, the same route, the same pace, Mark's Garmin always says he has gone a little faster and/or a little farther. ???? His ALWAYS shows a faster pace than mine. So today, I was trying to "race" his Garmin. I finally got ONE MILE split that said I was faster, but after that, it went back to saying he was faster. What is that darn Garmin trying to tell me?

Yoga Everyday: One hour "Energize Yoga" class at the Trinity Yoga studio. It was taught by Dorine, who teaches the Friday class at the Y that I like!

On the Up and Up

2010-09-01T17:18:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9.13
Average Pace: 8:59

Another nice breezy morning out! Mark and I ran our usual route, only we picked up some extra runners on the way. Kathryn was waiting for us at the end of her street, and then a half mile later Jamie was waiting also. It is always fun to have more people to run with!

I am also happy to report that my sore Achilles tendon/plantar fasciitis is feeling A LOT better! It is almost (almost) completely gone. Hooray for yoga, massage, and other various things I have been doing :) With just under 7 weeks left until Nike Women's Marathon, I just might be able to add in some speed work. Only don't tell Mark, otherwise I will be for sure doing some tomorrow!!

Yoga Everyday: I did a 25 minute (or so) yoga program from the Nike Women's Training app for the iPod. Kind of a dynamic style of yoga.

Hint of Fall

2010-08-31T13:20:00.004-04:00

Today's Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:35

The weather this morning was a treat!! It was breezy and about 74 degrees out which is a HUGE difference!! Mark and I ran in the neighborhood and the whole run felt great. We also saw another couple that we know out running, and turns out they also ran 9 great miles too. I hope we get some more of this hint of fall weather.

Monday's Miles: 3
Average Pace: 9:40

Ran on the treadmill, and what a fun easy recovery run that was! Felt nice and easy, and I enjoyed the easy pace and had NO temptation whatsoever to speed it up and get done faster.

Yoga Everyday: Went to one hour power yoga class at Trinity Yoga.

Check out a giveaway over at Aimless Runner!

2010-08-30T22:34:00.001-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 30 minutes of Fit TV Namaste yoga plus headstand pose :-)

Clearwater Beach Run

2010-08-30T10:09:00.003-04:00

Miles: 17

Field trip! Carin, Kathryn, Jamie, and I headed down to Clearwater Beach for our Sunday morning run. One of the reasons was to run on a beautiful course, but actually the main reason was to take advantage of the bridges to get some hill training in! We got started early, just before six, and before mile one, we were already ascending the first bridge (pictured above). Our route we planned took us along the beach sidewalks for a few miles until we got to our second bridge, which took us over to Sand Key. Once on Sand Key, we made a quick stop into a runner friendly hotel lobby for bathrooms and a water fountain. We were at about mile five at this point, so 3 more miles until our turn around point which would be flat. As we were heading back, just before the hotel lobby, Jamie and I saw a few other runners turning into a parking lot. As we watched them go, I saw a water fountain and...was that a misting station?? We thought we had just hit the running lottery! We cooled off in the mist, and flagged Carin and Kathryn down to make sure they didn't accidentally pass it by. What a nice mid-run treat. After the stop was the Sand Key bridge again to get us back onto Clearwater Beach. The views of the beach were gorgeous! What a great route to run. We turned and our route took us back to the beginning, the big bridge. After running it, Jamie and I pondered turning back and running it ONE MORE time. We hemmed and hawed, but decided in the end it was the whole reason we drove down here, so we ran back over...and back again! That gave us an extra mile on to our total as well, plus SIX bridge climbs. Not too shabby!

Yoga Everyday: later in the afternoon I did about 15 minutes of some yoga poses geared toward hamstrings that I had seen in Runner's World magazine.

2010-08-28T22:46:00.001-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 20 minutes of Wii Fit Yoga plus a minute or so in headstand.

Fun Friday

2010-08-27T22:15:00.002-04:00

Miles: 7.07

Hooray for Friday hilly run! I met Kathryn, Carin, and Jamie this morning to run through the hilly neighborhood. It was even kinda nice out- I think I felt a slight breeze?? Once in the neighborhood we saw Cherise, Christy, and Teresa running- they had started a bit earlier. The run went well, and then we finished with 5 hill sprints up the steeper church parking lot hill.

Yoga Everyday: One hour class at the Y, taught by Dorine. She did a great class today!

Easy Run and Yoga

2010-08-26T21:47:00.002-04:00

Miles: 8.5

Another nice run through the neighborhood. Did most of it with Mark, until he turned off to do some speed work. It was breezy out today, which made the temperature feel better, although I still finished 100% sweaty. I don't think my clothes could have been any wetter- yuck!

Yoga Everyday: 90 minutes of P90X Yoga which I borrowed from Cherise. OMG this was so hard!! I think I will give it back to Cherise :D

Wednesday Workouts

2010-08-25T21:10:00.003-04:00

Miles: 8.5
Average Pace: 8:35

I ran with Mark in the neighborhood this morning. The rain held off for the morning, thankfully. We ran a bit faster for the first few miles, mostly just trying to get onto an even pace right away.

Yoga Everyday: Fit TV's Namaste yoga, 30 minutes. This was the program I still have saved on my DVR from the other day.

Lather Rinse Repeat

2010-08-24T20:10:00.003-04:00

Monday's Miles: 3

Monday is still my new 6th day added of running, so I ran this one easy on the treadmill. Um, you still get really gross and sweaty indoors with air conditioning even if it is only 3 miles.

Today's Miles: 8
Average Pace: 8:42

ANOTHER rainy day so I was back at the treadmill. Darn. I was kind of grumpy about being on the treadmill again, but when I got there Carin was already there, so at least I had some company to run next too! I also figured if I was on the treadmill I might as well take advantage of the opportunity...which means hills! After one mile warm-up, the next 6 miles (except for the 5th mile which I needed to just run steady to catch my breath!) looked like this: 1/4 mile flat, 1/4 mile @ 4 or 5% grade, 1/4 mile flat, increase speed, 1/4 mile negative incline 2%. lather rinse repeat. So each mile got progressively faster a small bit. The last mile I kept flat, but added more speed every so often until I was finished. I was wiped by the end of that!! It made the time go by fast though.

Yoga Everyday: 45 minutes YogaWorks AM for beginners (from cable on demand channel). I really liked this one! The poses were still challenging, the beginner part just meant it was a slower pace and that they explained it more. The slower pace was great because it really gave me time to get a good stretch out of each pose.

2010-08-23T19:32:00.001-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 30 min of Jillian's Yoga Meltdown. It was on my cable exercise on demand channel.

Re-routed

2010-08-22T16:52:00.002-04:00

Miles: 14.65

This morning's run was kinda screwy. Mark was gone this morning, which meant if I wanted to run I needed to stay in the neighborhood (the kids are comfortable with that arrangement). But I wanted a longer run. My normal neighborhood route is 7.5 miles, so I thought I could run it twice. I had some of my friends interested in running, but not the whole thing, so I managed to come up with this scenario:

I left my house at 5:25 and ran the usual direction. This had me passing Jamie's street at 5:35 (approximately) where I picked her up and continued on. At mile 2 (about 5:45) we picked up Cherise who was parked at the golf course. We then did the out and back portion. Except there was a small glitch of a severe isolated storm that moved in around mile 4. We took cover under a little shelter at the golf course restrooms and waited for the scary lightening to go away- about 10 minutes. Too bad for us, though, because the few minutes that we were in the rain left our shoes soaked! Oh well. We kept on our route, although we were running a little behind schedule for our next stop, which would be at my house. Carin and Kathryn were supposed to meet us there, but they were a little worried that we were late so they started our way. We saw them a few blocks from my house, ran by there and took a quick water break from a cooler I had set outside. The rest of the run was a repeat of the same route, only this time we weren't picking anyone else up! Cherise ended when we passed by her car, and then Carin, Kathryn, Jamie and I finished the rest of the out and back and headed back to my house. I am so glad to have such great friends to run with!! Who else would put up with my screwy route? And the funny thing is...it turns out the boys got invited to spend the night at a friend's house so I would have been able to run at the park after all! By that time, though, I figured it would be too difficult to track everyone down and change the plans. Plus it was kinda nice for everyone to be close to home and get to sleep in a little.

Yoga Everyday: 30 minute program of Fit TV's Namaste yoga. It happened to be a yoga for runners program today. Sweet.

2010-08-21T15:59:00.004-04:00

Yoga Everyday: 30 minutes of Brooklyn Decker's Elle Magazine yoga workout by Tara Stiles. (from my cable's on demand channel). It was actually more like 25 minutes after the ads.

Friday

2010-08-20T19:22:00.002-04:00

Miles: 7.75
Average Pace: 8:59

Ran by myself this morning, so I brought the iPod along. Last night I was craving chocolate, so I took the chocolate Powerbar gel along. Yeah, okay, I know it's not the same, but it is a little reminiscent of chocolate frosting. It's quite thick, though, so make sure you are near a water fountain.

I stayed away from the lock up neighborhood, but did play gate game (and won this time) with the usual neighborhood.

Yoga Everyday: One hour yoga class at the YMCA. Nice and Streeeeeeetchy.

Gate Game Defeat

2010-08-19T19:49:00.004-04:00

Miles: 8.25

Carin called me last night to let me know that she would be running in our neighborhood this morning. We arranged it so that Mark and I would meet her at the entrance, we all would have done almost 2 miles. We started out on the main part of our run, and noticed the gate that we sneak into (before it is opened at 7:00) was open as a car was leaving that neighborhood. We darted inside. It was dark out, so I was thinking the neighborhood looked different in the dark. But then I noticed it was not the one we usually go into, and Carin told me that it was the one right next to it. Oh well, no big deal, just a new street to run on, right? Um, no. We got to the end, turned around, and once we were back at the gate we realized that the pedestrian gate was locked from the outside AND the inside. Most gates have a button you can press to unlock it, but this one needed a key. Whoops. We kind of stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do. Carin started scaling one of the fences, but I thought maybe we could squeeze under. I went first, and despite having gravel stick to my sweaty skin I made it out okay. Mark and Carin followed. So, I guess that means we lost the gate game this time. At least the rest of the run was uneventful.

Yoga Everyday: 20 minutes of Wii Fit Plus yoga

Jodi's Tempo Run

2010-08-18T18:09:00.003-04:00

Miles: 9
Average pace: 9:13

My friend Jodi called me last night and asked if I would go with her on her tempo run this morning, otherwise she didn't think she'd finish it on her own! She ran her warm-up mile over to my house, then she and I (and also Mark) got started on her tempo of five miles @ a 9:30 pace. Mark was mostly about 10 feet ahead, keeping a close eye on the pace, and I stuck next to her to make sure she didn't drop behind Mark too much. She did the whole tempo and got her pace! I know how stressful those runs can be. After she headed back home on her cooldown mile, Mark and I continued on our route. He started doing some repeats, and I attempted one (um, more like half of one), and quickly realized I wasn't in the mood for speed work and my foot was not in the mood! So I changed back to just easy pace.

Yoga Everyday: My cable TV's On Demand Exercise channel has a ton of yoga programs on it. I did a 30 minute program designed by Tara Stiles for the Brooklyn Decker/Elle magazine workout DVD.

Heel!

2010-08-17T15:16:00.002-04:00

Monday Night Miles: 2

I ran an easy neighborhood loop last night. My intention is to add one more day of running per week, but I wanted to start out with just an easy short run at first until I get used to it. No watch, iPod, OR Garmin! Just went out the door... like I said...keeping it easy.

Miles: 8
Average Pace: 9:03

This morning I ran the neighborhood route with Mark (mini deluxe). He was kind of annoying because he kept picking up the pace and I would have to slow him back down and also he kept commenting on how nice the weather was. Umm... it was HOT. And humid. Not sure what he was thinking. I told him he was acting kind of like our dog Sammy and that I had to keep popping the leash to get him to slow down- LOL! Maybe if I really did run with Mark on a leash he would make me go faster...

Yoga Everyday: I took a one hour power yoga class at Trinity Yoga Studio. Lots of lunging poses which felt great on my hips and hamstrings!

2010-08-16T14:11:00.000-04:00

Yoga Everyday: Wii Fit Plus yoga for 20 minutes. I love Wuhu Island :)

Downward Dog

2010-08-15T21:17:00.002-04:00

Miles: 12

Finally back to a long run! I arrived at the park at 6:00am this morning and met with Jamie and Cherise. Kathryn and Carin had started 5 miles south earlier in the morning, so we knew they were on their way to meet us and continue their long run. We headed down the path and ran into them, then we all started out together. The weather was pretty nice, for August in Florida. We were enjoying the group run. The only creepy part was we came upon three people who I think appeared out of the woods wearing regular clothes (not workout clothes) and one of them was carrying an ax. Um, yes, an ax, like a big long heavy ax. ????? So yeah, the ax people made us a little nervous. We were happy to see Kathryn's husband show up on his bike, as he was planning on being an extra water supply for the long run today. So now he was also a bodyguard.

Yoga Everyday: Last week after the yoga class I took, I noticed my achilles tendon (which had been mildly bothering me since the marathon) felt a lot better, so I continued to stretch and do some more yoga at home during the week. It's been helping my ankle more and also helps me feel nice and stretched out, so I decided to do a challenge of sorts to do some kind of yoga everyday. Even if it is only five minutes or so before I go to bed, but no matter what I will do yoga everyday and post it on the blog. Sometimes I will take a class, sometimes a dvd, sometimes a magazine routine, sometimes the Wii Fit Plus, etc. SO! for today's Yoga Everyday I did the Nintendo DS game "Quick Yoga Training" for 40 minutes.

Friday Hills and Camp

2010-08-14T15:54:00.002-04:00

Miles: 7.5

Friday morning I met with Kathryn, Carin, Cherise, Jan and Jenny to run in the hilly neighborhood. Jenny and Cherise had to be done early, so they started right away. The rest of us started a few minutes later and caught up to them. Once we got there, we all kind of separated a bit because we were running either different distances or paces, but it was still fun, because I think I ran with each person at a different time. Musical running partners :) I kept my pace easy, I had no desire to bust my butt on any hills today!! I imagine I will have to run faster than easy pace sometime soon, but for now I am stalling. Kathryn, Carin, and I finished with some hill sprints up the church parking lot, I did three. Hill run was 6.5 miles.

Later that morning at Tae Kwon Do camp (I've been a co-coach all this summer), we had our kids running around a trail at a nearby pond/lake. The path is 1/3 of a mile. I ran with the kids for two laps, then for the last lap I was challenged to race my youngest son, Thomas. I gave him a bit of a head start. The first half of the lap, I have no idea how fast I was going but I was just trying to catch up to him. I about died!! I caught up to him, and he got really mad that I was going to beat him. but I told him all he had to do was to keep going and there was NO WAY I was going to be able to pass him- I was having a hard enough time just to keep going myself!! I trailed him a bit until we were at the final 100 meters or so, and then he took off for the win :) Racing kids hurts!! Anyway, since I ran three laps at the little lake, it was a mile so I am going to count it for my weekly miles.

Wed/Thu

2010-08-12T20:54:00.002-04:00

Wednesday's Miles: 7.5
Average Pace: 8:35

Yesterday I ran by myself through the neighborhood. There was a nice breeze again, so it helped make it not feel quite as hot. Since I was by myself, I had refreshed my iPod playlist the night before. Per my mom's suggestion, I bought the song "Bulletproof" by La Roux. My mom was also the one who suggested I put Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" on my iPod, and that turned out to be a great running song. Okay, is that sad that my mom is the one suggesting top chart songs to me and not the other way around?? LOL! I tend to stick to indie and alternative music, so usually I have no clue about some of the popular stuff.

Thursday's Run: 6
Average Pace: 8:52

It was storming this morning, and it seemed like the thunder and lightening might pass through, but I didn't have time to wait and see. I headed to the YMCA, while Mark decided to stay home and wait it out a bit. Carin and Jodi were both on treadmills when I got there, and they must have saved me a spot because there was one open one next to them. We were able to chat some, although not much because Carin was in the middle of a tempo run and Jodi was finishing up. Still, it passed the time for at least the first half of the run. Even though I was starting to get bored, I resisted the urge to speed up too much just to get done faster, and instead kept the treadmill at an easy pace.

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots

2010-08-10T14:43:00.005-04:00

A bit of a catching up blog, so I will start from last week. Thursday and Friday were easy runs, Thursday felt kind of yucky, but Friday felt much better. It probably also helped that on Friday there were a lot of us running together, so maybe that distracted me.

Sunday I was to meet Carin and Kathryn in the park, they had 18, and I was going to tag along for the middle 8 or 10. When I was driving up there, the sky was stormy and the lightening was scary, so after picking up Carin and Kathryn a mile early, we only waited a little while before realizing the storm wasn't going away anytime soon. I felt bad for Carin and Kathryn because I know what it is like to be committed to a run on a training plan and something prevents you from getting it done. Both of them pieced some miles together later in the afternoon. I considered going to the treadmill, but I thought it was kind of my last chance (for a while) to be able to pull the old "I'm in recovery" card. So instead of going for a run, I decided to try out a yoga class at a yoga studio. I like yoga, but I only have ever done it at home. I am actually kind of partial to the Wii Fit yoga. Usually my style of workout class is more Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots (Tae Kwon Do, Inflict Training, Heavy weights in the gym), and less zen. But I figured it was the perfect opportunity to step out of my box. The yoga class was a one hour Power Yoga class, and I really liked it. My homeschooled yoga knowledge was enough that I was able to keep up with the class and not feel out of place. And the intense poses made me feel nice and stretched out! I am pretty sure I would go to another class.

This morning Mark and I ran in the neighborhood, back to one of our "classic" routes, 7.5 miles. I think it was the best run I have had so far since the marathon. Nothing felt off, the run just felt great. We even had a light breeze!!!! Which was a small (very small) hint of fall coming. Maybe :) It also felt good getting in a decent chunk of mileage in for a weekday morning, and I am even looking forward to having a few runs on our "deluxe" route.

Back Out There

2010-08-04T12:57:00.002-04:00

Tuesday's Miles: 6
Wednesday's Miles: 7

So after a week of recovery- which I definitely needed! I am back out there, getting in some easy miles. Tuesday felt okay, although near the end I was feeling pretty tired! I ran with Mark and Cherise, and we just took it easy.

This morning Mark and I joined Carin for her speedwork. She had 3 x 1600 to do, each one at an 8:09 pace. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up, since I had only run easy pace yesterday and a very easy warm-up. We got started, and once we picked up the pace, it didn't feel too bad. It wasn't easy, but it felt good to go faster. Carin did great on her repeats, it was warm out but she still managed some quick miles: 8:06, 8:11, 8:19.

I am looking forward to getting back into my regular schedule!

Deseret News Marathon Race Report

2010-07-26T00:27:00.002-04:00

Marathon Time: 3:58

Some of you may know (and some do not) that recently my dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He was scheduled for surgery on Friday the day before my race. So while Mark and I arrived in Salt Lake City and were preparing for our marathon, we were on pins and needles waiting to hear how my dad would do. My mom, of course, was there for him, and my two sisters were there as well. They were good about keeping me updated, and finally after several hours of waiting (his surgery time took longer than expected due to some complications), we got the message that it went well and he was in recovery.

After hearing the news I tried my best to get myself back into race mode. I got my things all ready, I even applied my pacetat for a 3:40 pace, but I was having a hard time getting myself mentally ready. I kept quiet, though, because I didn't want to take away from Mark's preparations, as he had put a lot of training into this race. Saturday morning finally came (alarm set for 2:40!! ugh!!), we got the bus down in the lobby of the hotel which took us up the mountain to the race start. It was not too big of a group, but enough people that the race didn't seem like it would be sad and lonely. After waiting a while for the start, it finally came, I said goodbye to Mark as headed down the mountain at his pace. And I ran. I ran down the impossibly steep descents, trying to be conservative and not go crazy. I ran, even when at mile two my legs were already sore from the downhill pounding. (mile 2!) I ran, the two mile ascent up little mountain- which isn't really little, it just happens to be smaller than the mountain next to it- where everyone was forced to a snail's pace just to make it up. I ran, as we descended down the canyon on the prettiest part of the whole race, very peaceful and calm. I thought a lot about my dad, and I thought a lot about Mark up ahead of me, wondering how he was doing. I talked to some people along the way, which helped to distract me from the fact that everything was sore, and couldn't I just be done already? I ran, back into the city, up around the zoo. At around mile 17, I cried. I cried about my dad, even though his surgery went well, just the worrying about him and the fear finally caught up to me. So I was one of those people you see who are just crying their eyes out during a marathon. Needless to say, it is hard to run and cry, so at that point I was walking. The route took us past the street to our hotel (around mile 20) and I seriously was going to quit, but I wanted to stick it out for my dad. I knew he had endured his long surgery, and I didn't want to have to tell him later that day that I didn't finish my marathon. So I started to run again. At mile 20, with only a 10k left, I realized I could maybe still make it in under four. Well that seemed funny, because it sure seemed like I walked an awful lot in the past few miles and I thought I had surely blown it. So with that as a new goal (kinda), I tried again to keep going. I was hurting A LOT at this point, so lets just say it was not back to the pace I was running earlier.

At mile 24, Mark's brother Jim jumped out and started running with me (he had run the 10k earlier that morning). My first reaction was "go away!" because I felt bad with how slow I was going at the time. Fortunately, he did not go away, but instead ran the last two miles in with me. He never grouched at me to go faster or to keep running when I stopped, but just stuck right with me the whole time. Around mile 25 Mark appeared, too. He started running with us too, and the two of them encouraged me to keep going. I finally reached mile 26, and now Andy and Thomas were there along with my nephew Brian. With all of them cheering for me, I was able to finish the last .2 strong and actually come in under four hours.

This is definitely a race to remember! I am very happy that I came in under four hours, considering I was even thinking of calling it quits! And I can claim it as my second fastest marathon :) It was a beautiful, but challenging course. Those mountains really kicked my butt, that's for sure! As only my third marathon, I am still a bit inexperienced, so now I can see how really anything can happen during a race. Mark also hit a rough spot at the same point where I broke down, and a friend of his (who has run this race several times) said to us, "let me guess, it was near the golf course, right?" when we said yes, he said "yes, there is a monster who lives on that golf course." So I guess it was the marathon monster who got me.

Taper Time

2010-07-18T16:25:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9

So today was opposite day. Lately, when I have had my long runs, I start 5 miles south, run up to the bike trails and meet Kathryn and Carin there. This morning, THEY started 5 miles south, and met ME in the park. Kathryn and Carin had 14 miles, and I had 9. Jamie also came along, so the four of us headed out on the trail. The miles went by fast. We were pleased that there was water in the coolers, it wasn't ice cold, but that was no problem. Much better than a few weeks ago when they were all out!

The last few miles Jamie and I picked up the pace gradually: 8:22, 8:07, 7:51 It felt a little bit harder than what I would have liked, so I was glad I had Jamie with me to help keep me on pace.

So now it is officially taper time, only a few short runs this week and marathon on Saturday!!

A few marathon goals...

2010-07-15T18:26:00.004-04:00

Wednesday's Miles: 6
Pace: 8:48

Thusday's Miles: 7.5
Pace: 8:40

Hooray! It seems that my back is all better! Wednesday it felt a little sore when I first got up, but then felt better once I got myself moving. Today, it didn't hurt at all, and I was finally able to have a run that felt back to normal. Mark was suggesting I do some sort of tempo run today, but I quickly turned him down ;) and said I just wanted to make sure I could have a normal easy run.

Originally my training plan was geared toward a 3:30 marathon, although I wasn't sure how that would pan out for this particular course. Even though it is mostly downhill, the beginning part is STEEP (as in quad busting steep) and then there are some substantial uphill portions too. And now with a few blips in my training schedule I will have to relax a bit on that ambitious goal. I still have no idea how I will fare on the terrain. Either the downhill part will be SWEET! and I will be able to easily run a bit faster than goal pace...or I will feel as though my quads are taking a beating and will be trash by mile 6...with still the uphill portion left to conquer. So, I am thinking that just breaking 3:40 would be super great (on a scale of 1 to awesome). If the race proves to be THAT hard, then of course finishing under 4:00 would be perfectly acceptable. Oh, and if it happens to be one of those days where just everything lines up (remember that time? that I ran the Dallas marathon?) then perhaps a 3:30!

90% Better!

2010-07-13T10:46:00.002-04:00

Miles: 6
Average Pace: 8:48

Good easy pace run through the neighborhood with Mark! My back is feeling about 90% better, I am only saying 90% because there is no pain, but sometimes still a little bit of a tight or tense feeling in the mid to upper back. I did not take an anti-inflammatory last night because I wanted to make sure I wasn't just masking any pain. It felt pretty good this morning when I got up. Once we were running, it was fine, but as for the run, it felt harder than what it should have been! Still not a hard effort, though, and I was trying to make sure I stayed relaxed. Near the last mile I was feeling some tightness in my back, but I may have just been paranoid. Either way, I tried to relax and smooth the pace out a little.

Marathon is less than two weeks away now!! Gotta get back to 100% (or at least maybe 95%).

Sunday Great 20 Miler

2010-07-09T13:41:00.002-04:00

Sunday morning was my last 20 miler for the training plan. Jamie was on board for the whole distance, and Cherise met us at mile 5 to join in for 10 with us. The run went great, the rain that was threatening held off and kept the temperature cool. My legs felt great, and the miles went by easy. The only glitch was that the water in the park was all out. The park provides large coolers filled with ice water (locked up in wooden boxes that are above the ground so you can use the little cooler spigot), and usually a truck keeps these filled by passing by and changing them out with new ones. Well, for some reason the truck hadn't been through yet and there wasn't ANY water even left over from the day before. If the temperature would have been the usual, this would have become a BIG problem. Even though we carried our own water, it is kind of hard to have enough for all 20 miles, so we were counting on the park water to refill our bottles. We were able to get some water at mile 14, when we were back at the parking lot, and then once Cherise left she stopped by my car (which had some nice cold water in it) to bring back up the road for one last refill. Oh well.

This week I am on vacation visiting my parents, but unfortunately, I have done something to my back (around the rib-cage area). It doesn't hurt to run, and I ran on Tuesday, but I am worried it won't get any better if I keep running, so I have decided to take the rest of the week off until it is feeling better. I think I twisted it when putting my suitcase in the airplane's overhead compartment. :( So anyway, no running for me lately...

Week Review

2010-07-02T20:59:00.002-04:00

Wednesday's run was supposed to be a tempo run, but when I started out on the warm-up, my legs felt tired and it already felt hard. After two miles, I started the tempo pace but just couldn't seem to get there, so instead of struggling and failing, I decided to save the tempo run for Thursday, and just run an easy pace. Mark was trying to encourage me to just do the tempo, but I was hoping I would feel better if I waited a day. So, easy pace it was. About halfway through the run, we saw Mark's friend Joe out running, so he joined in with us for the rest. It was nice to have him along, he's chatty and friendly so it was a good distraction from my tired feeling legs. We ended up with 9 miles.

Thursday: tempo re-do day. When we started the warm-up I was SO glad I had postponed because my legs were feeling back to normal. But tempos are still hard. Goal pace was 6 miles at a 7:40 pace. Shortly after mile 2, we saw Joe again (he knew we would be out today for the tempo re-do), and also Carin. Carin was doing a tempo run too, she only had one mile left. Joe and Carin jumped in with Mark and I, so now we had a big group! (okay, well just four of us) Carin wasn't with us long because she took a different route to head back towards her house, but Joe stayed with us for almost the rest of the way. We only had one mile left when he turned to go back towards his house. The last mile I was able to push the pace a tiny (teeny tiny) bit faster. Splits for tempo: 7:41, 7:39, 7:37, 7:36, 7:43, 7:32 Cooled down for a mile and a half, which ended us at 9.5 miles.

Today was hills with friends, but it was raining out. There wasn't any thunder or lightening, so we all showed up anyway: me, Carin, Jenny, Jan, and Cherise. We figured we would be just as wet in summer running from sweat as we would be from the rain, so why not? It was a fun run, Carin and I were taking a lot of liberties with the whole "recovery pace" thing since we had both done tempos yesterday :) Cherise stayed with me for another extra mile at the end, finished with 8.25 miles.

Tomorrow I am running the Lutz Independent Day 5K with Kathryn. She wants me to pace her for an 8:00 pace (sub 25:00 5K). I know she can do it, but I think I will have fun being the task master anyway. I may even get to bully her a little. Just kidding! Or not...

Gate Game

2010-06-29T12:55:00.003-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:55

I ran with Mark in the neighborhood this morning. It was humid, but the temperature seemed to be down a little bit from a big storm last night. The pace felt pretty good, at one point we picked it up a bit because we were trying to get into a neighborhood where the gate was shut (they don't open until 7AM). A car was opening up the gate so we knew if we sprinted, we could get in before it shut after the car. Mark went ahead (he would be able to let me in the pedestrian gate if I didn't make it), he was going pretty fast even though I thought I was running fast too! I turned the corner and was able to make it in before the gate shut. Gate Game!! (hey, we need something to keep these runs interesting!) By the time we were leaving the neighborhood (about 1/2 a mile), the gate was open for the day anyway. Oh well, it was still fun to sprint for it!

Finally a Fast Finish

2010-06-27T22:25:00.002-04:00

Miles: 16
Average Pace: 8:49
Total Miles for Week: 55

I was finally able to get in a fast finish long run. I like to get these in every few weeks, but it seems like I haven't been able to. This morning I had 16 on the schedule, so I was hoping I would feel strong and be able to finish the last 3 or 4 miles around an 8:00 pace. Jamie started out with me this morning, we ran the five miles to the bike trail where we met Carin, Kathryn, and Cherise. We haven't had such a big group in a while, so it was fun to catch up on all kinds of girl talk.

While still warm and humid (duh), the weather wasn't too bad- the horrible stuff seemed to be holding off a little bit. We reached our turn around point and started back. When we had four mile left, Jamie and I stopped for water one last time and then started to slowly increase the pace a little. Last four miles: 8:15, 8:05, 8:06, 7:35. Yay! The last one was definitely tough!

Yasso 800's

2010-06-23T18:58:00.002-04:00

Miles: 11.5
Target 10x 800meter @ 3:30 (7:00 pace) with jog in between for 3:30.

I just love those little 800's. After last week's failed speed work, missed run, and shortened Sunday run, I didn't want to completely jump back into all the miles I was supposed to run this week (I had just gotten to feeling better and didn't want to back track). Tuesday I ran 9 miles easy, it went well and I felt great so I figured I could get some speed work done on Wednesday. My schedule called for a tempo run :/ I just don't really love those so much. But Mark was supposed to run Yasso 800's. That sounded SO much better to me! While they are still pretty hard, and it is a tough workout, for some reason I have always liked 800's. Plus it is nice if Mark and I have the same workout. Of course, his were going to be much faster so it wasn't like we were going to be exactly running together. But kind of.

After warming up for 2 miles, we got to work. My goal for these were to get them as even as possible (within 1 or 2 seconds of each other), with a time of 3:30- pace of 7:00 per mile. So here they are listed as: Time (pace)
3:28 (6:58)
3:28 (6:57)
3:29 (6:58)
3:29 (6:58)
3:27 (6:56) -whoa... careful now!
3:28 (6:58)
3:27 (6:55)
3:28 (6:58)
3:29 (6:59)
3:26 (6:54) -going all out in the last one here- LOL!

How's THAT for even pacing!! I was a little worried when the first few came in under 7:00, but as long as I could keep it up for all 10 that was fine with me. The last 3 (or 4 or 5) were really hard and took a lot of focus. By the end, my legs were TIRED!! But in a good way. And next week, I PROMISE I will do a tempo run.

Sick Day Plus Schedule Adjustments

2010-06-20T09:41:00.002-04:00

Thursday's Miles: 10
Average Pace: 8:59

After Wednesday's bad run, I took it easy Thursday and was glad to have a pretty good run. Unfortunately later in the day on Thursday, I started coming down with something that went from feeling a little bad to feeling horrible within a few hours. I even had a pretty high fever (which I never seem to get) for several hours. By Thursday evening I knew I was sick enough to call off Friday's run. I took Friday off, still feeling pretty crappy, rested and took it easy for the day. By Friday night I was feeling a lot better but kind of tired. I figured a 20 miler in the heat would have been a dumb move for Sunday's run, so even though I hate missing runs or mileage I decided to cut back Sunday's run to 16.

Sunday's Run: 16
Average Pace: 9:00

So I was hoping I would start the run and feel super great after two days of rest!! But... I just felt average. So that's okay, it just confirmed for me that 20 miles was not in the cards this weekend. Jamie and I ran towards the park and met Cherise there. It was a little bit cooler today (about 75 degrees) thanks to some much needed rain yesterday. Still kinda warm and humid, but bearable. The run was going pretty good, but I was surprised how tired my leg muscles felt. We kept the pace reasonable, I am so glad I have such nice running friends that they were okay with not pushing the pace too hard today. We got to our turnaround (which seemed quick!) and started our way back. No critters out this morning, or at least we didn't see them! (we looked for the alligator but couldn't find him today)

Cherise turned off to the parking lot and Jamie and I headed the five miles back to where our cars were parked. The last few miles started feeling harder for me, I wasn't in any pain or anything, but my legs were just so tired! Darn, no fast finish miles today! At one point my stomach was bothering me a little bit, so with TWO problems going on, I took a short walk break (thank you to Jamie for being so understandable!). With only 1.5 miles left, I was joking that I could just walk it back! Jamie even offered to run ahead and pick me up with the car :) But after a minute or so of walking my stomach felt better and we finished it up. A pretty good run, just a little tough at the end. Makes you realize how even being a little bit sick for a day or so can really take a toll on your body! This coming week was supposed to be a pretty hefty mileage week, but I may adjust it a tiny bit just to make sure I am all better.

Disappointed

2010-06-16T10:32:00.003-04:00

Miles: 9

I was supposed to do 4x1600's @ 7:01 pace today. Supposed to. Warmed up for 2 miles with Mark, then started out on the first one, which of course felt hard, but the first one always feels hard. It was pretty hot and humid out, so when I finished the first one I felt more out of breath than usual and took a few seconds before starting on the 1/2 mile in between jog. After the second one I knew I would be right by the water fountain, so that's what kept me going for the next one. It was really hard! The last bit I felt like I was all out sprinting just to keep on pace. Finished, then jogged over to the water to get a drink and take a gel. I was hoping this would make me feel better, however I kind of felt like throwing up. I walked back to the path, then started the in between jog again. (Of course, at this point I also had to witness Mark blowing past on a successful speedy run.) Started up on the third one, and quickly realized (1/3 of a mile in) that I wasn't going to make it. SO HOT. I scrapped it. When I got back to the water fountain, it took me a LOOOOONG time to even just finish up the day's mileage. I was even looking for a bench to sit down on. (Ever have one of those bench-looking runs?) I would have sat down on the ground, but I don't think I would've been able to get back up. Bad math skills told me I only had 2 miles left to hit nine (actually more like three), so I figured I could at least get that in. Also because there was no one coming to pick me up!

I am pretty disappointed in blowing my speed work today. My semi-valid excuses are 1. the weather and 2. Saturday's 5K at 7:10 average pace. But I am not very fond of using excuses, so still feeling a little bummed out about failing a speed workout.

Also, my iPod is still being bad. I haven't taken it outside yet, it is still having the problem of just pausing for no reason during play. Eventually it starts pausing all the time, like 1 second after you unpause it. I restored it which did not fix the problem. Anyone else ever have this issue? I hate to go purchase a new one, this one is only 1 year old. I hate that I love iPod's so much.

Swimming or Running?

2010-06-15T13:22:00.002-04:00

Miles: 10
Average Pace: 8:45

Mark and I ran in the neighborhood this morning. SO. HOT. (duh, it's summer, I know that, right?) When we stopped for a water break at 5 miles, I looked at myself and realized I was so sweaty that someone could have easily mistaken that I was in the middle of a swim workout instead of a land workout. Besides the unrelenting heat and humidity, though, the run was great! :) My legs felt really good and strong. Yesterday I was going to do weights, but just did not feel like it, and the kids wanted to swim, so I kind of sort of did pool jogging for 30 minutes, so maybe that was why my legs felt good. I say "kind of sort of" because I am not actually sure I know how to pool jog properly. I don't have a flotation belt, so if I was in the deep water that just felt like treading water. Instead, I was in water where I was about chest deep, and my feet would touch the bottom, mostly landing on the ball of my foot as if I was sprinting (but a very slow motion version of sprinting). Half of the time I jogged in place and half of the time I jogged back and forth across the pool. So, does anyone know much about proper pool jogging? Any advice would be appreciated! Because it was kind of a fun workout, especially with the kids having fun in the pool along with me!

Rap River Run 5K Race Report and Free Lucy Clothes!

2010-06-12T16:45:00.006-04:00

Rap River Run 5K is a local race, and even though they are only in their third year, they had over 1000 people today! It was very well organized, and was on a beautiful course through downtown New Port Richey. In fact, most of the course was very shady which helped to offset the warm and humid morning. I was racing, and Mark ran with the boys. Mark also ran with Kathryn's daughter, he was the designated "kid runner" today.

So, what were my goals today? Well... have you heard about this deal over at lucy.com?The deal: if you run in a race wearing Lucy clothes (a top and a bottom), and win an age group award (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) they reward you with a free Lucy outfit! Well, I love Lucy clothes, and just so happened to have recently bought a new Lucy outfit, so why not try and win another one!! All I had to do was get an age group award! Actually, this had me very nervous. You never know who is going to show up, and I knew this was going to be a pretty big 5K. It is easier for me to compete against myself with a personal time goal, not try and worry what everyone else is doing! But...dangle a sweet prize in front of me, and I am going to go for it! I was hoping I would have a good shot at an age group award if I ran close to my PR (which was 21:49 back in March), however I was doubting that I would be able to run quite that fast because it was a lot hotter today than it was in March! I thought I would try and come in pretty close to a 7:00 pace.

After warming up with Carin and Kathryn, I was again having my doubts about a 7:00 pace because it was 8:00am and already very warm and humid. Carin and Kathryn kind of gave me the "whatever!" look, so I knew they weren't going to let me off the hook ;) Mark and the boys were lined up farther back, I was wishing that I was the designated kid runner today! The race started promptly, and off we went. First mile I got a 7:03, I was pretty happy with that, it felt hard but controlled. I saw a lot of people I knew at this race, that was fun. I tried to maintain my pace for mile 2, but came in a little slower with a 7:14. The last mile was feeling REALLY hard. I was so glad the course was shady (VERY shady!) because it was pretty warm out. What do you expect for a June Florida race- LOL! I was also trying to rein in any women runners that looked about my age. HEY! we are talking FREE CLOTHES!! That was probably the only thing that kept me from slowing in mile 3, which I got another 7:14. Last 1/10 pace was a 6:44 which was all I had- nothing more! My Garmin time said 22:09, but the results page listed 22:12. (It was chip timed, so I am not sure if that will change when official results are posted, but really, it was close enough). So, not a PR, but pretty close and I was happy with the time and effort.

As everyone else came in, we gathered around and cooled off in the shade. Mark said all of the kids ran great, here is a picture of Thomas (in red) leading Andy (to the right) and Kathryn's daughter (to the left). Thomas even got a new PR!Once the results were posted, we checked and I got.... 1st place in my age group!! And the other two in my age group were actually two girls that I knew and had remembered passing in the race- so it was a close one!! Also, Thomas got 2nd in his age group. Yippee! Here's a picture of me (in my Lucy outfit, the blue tank with the matching shorts!) with Kathryn and Carin. We stayed for awards and raffle drawing (Andy won some sunglasses!) and then headed home. It was a great race!

Ran Into a Friend

2010-06-09T10:34:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9.25
Average Pace: 8:54

Since Mark was running speed work today (and I wasn't- cut back week), I was all set to listen to my iPod and zone out. But...iPod is being bad this week. I think this time the battery was dead, but it kind of seems to me that these things crap out on you after a while. I really wish they were more reliable and would last longer. Hopefully after charging it will be working again. Anyway, so I was a little disappointed but figured I would just try and zone out anyway and let my mind wander. Just after 2 miles, when Mark was done with his warm-up and zoomed off, I saw Carin running towards me! She doesn't normally run in my neighborhood (hers is the next one over), but she wanted a slightly longer run so came our way. I could have done the happy dance!! I joined her for the rest of her route which took us across the street into her neighborhood and to her house, then I turned around and came back and it magically worked out to the distance I needed today. Nice! Just being all mixed up and different made the run go by so fast and easy! Also, the weather was awesome! Yes, still summer weather, but nothing like it was this weekend so I was really enjoying the run this morning. Gotta love those! :)

Practicing GMP

2010-06-08T10:16:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:51

What a difference 2 or 3 degrees can make! I think the temperature was just under 80 this morning, and it felt SO much better! Also there was a slight breeze- nice! Mark and I ran the neighborhood, just an easy pace run. Towards the end I was feeling good and noticed that we only had one mile left so I started to pick up the pace a little, just trying to get a feel for an 8:00 pace. That is hopefully my goal marathon pace, although right now I feel like I haven't gotten any practice at it! I had originally hoped to run the last 4 miles on Sunday at about an 8:00, but obviously that didn't happen, so at least I settled for one mile today. The last mile went good (came in just under with a 7:57), but it still felt a little hard. Goal marathon pace always seems scarily hard during training! I will just have to keep practicing...

Brooksville Hills

2010-06-06T20:49:00.005-04:00

Miles: 16
Average Pace: 8:37

Wow- this was a tough run. I already knew it would be hard because of the hills. Then yesterday Mark told me that Eudair was interested in running with me. She's a stronger and faster runner than me who has a subtle (yet effective) way of pushing you, so I knew with her it would also be harder. But add on top of those two things 82 degrees at the start (6am) and oh, probably 100% humidity, and this was a super hard run. But it was also a great run.
Since the bike trail up in Brooksville has no water (except for at the parking lot), Mark and the boys came along with their bikes with the plan of them biking at an easy pace- a fun outing for the boys- and carrying all the water and gels and making sure to check in on me every 20 minutes or so. So early this morning, all four of us headed up to Brooksville. The whole drive up I kept hoping the temperature would drop, even just a little- after all, we were traveling about 40 minutes north, so couldn't we get a degree or two? Well, I guess no. It was 82 in the parking lot and as humid as can be. It was the same weather as yesterday, not so good for running, but you get what you get. Eudair was there waiting for us, her husband had also brought along his bike, and he had already gotten started on his ride. She and I quickly got started while Mark unloaded the bikes and got set to go.
So yeah, right away we were on a good (fast) pace- about 8:30- 8:40. And when the hills started coming, she was encouraging me to power up them. She had some good tips on form so I tried my best to do what she said. I also tried my best to stay right at her side, but it seemed like every time I caught up to her she was 2 feet in front again. See? She's subtle :) We were now getting to the bigger hills, so it was much harder for me to keep up. After a few miles, Mark had not caught up to us yet, I was getting a little worried about not have taken in any water yet. I figured there was probably a biking logistic problem, so we kept going. At mile 5-ish, there was a huge hill (I think the biggest on the route), and I was trying to push up it, but started really struggling. Once we hit the top, with me totally out of breath, and we STILL didn't see Mark, we decided to head back in case something had gone really wrong and he wasn't coming. There was no way I could go any farther without water in that heat. As soon as we got to the bottom of the hill, though, there he appeared with both boys. What a relief! Cold water and a gel and I was ready to go again. Except, did I mention we were again back at the bottom of that big hill - LOL!

After that, we continued out with Mark and the boys leapfrogging us and waiting a bit ahead to give us the water and gels we needed. This part was feeling very hard, the faster pace was tough to maintain and the hills also made it tough. We did get to a flatter portion which helped, but it still seemed to take FOREVER to get to the turnaround. Finally we did, and started heading back. The heat was really draining, and I was having a hard time with this run. It was so much harder than last week's 20 miler. Also my iPod (the one who behaved so nicely on Friday) was giving out on me intermittently. I think it didn't like the humidity either.

We had backed off the pace some, which kind of made me mad at myself because originally I was hoping to do this run with a fast race pace finish. But that was not happening today. At one water stop, I drank way too much water (because it was cold and tasted SO good!), so then my stomach was sloshy and nauseous and I had to walk for a short bit until it subsided. I think at that point I was thinking I wouldn't be able to finish and would have to walk the last few miles in. But Eudair was very encouraging, we walked it off until I felt better and then started up again. Finally! We got around the last corner which finishes UP a big pedestrian bridge and I was able to make the last push up that big hill, then run down (whee!) to finish. Squishy shoes and all.

Even though the run was REALLY hard, I think it was a great training run. With Eudair pushing me more than I would have pushed myself I was able to get some faster miles in and really push on some of the hills for great hill training. Also, I think it was a great mental toughness training run :)
For our treat, because after all the boys biked for 16 miles! We headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (which I kept calling lunch because it was nearly lunch time already!). YUM. Breakfast sure is better when you've earned it!!

Longer Hill Run

2010-06-04T12:20:00.004-04:00

Miles: 10
Average Pace: 8:56

I met Kathryn and Carin this morning for a hilly neighborhood run. Due to some heavy storms last night, the temperature was down a tiny bit (73 degrees)- yay! but the humidity was up- boo! We ran our mile and a half flat to get to the neighborhood, then started on our repetitive loops (for maximum hill coverage). It was feeling a bit hard, and I knew I had to run extra today to get my miles in, so it was feeling like it was just going to take forever. Once we were at 4.5 miles, Carin and Kathryn were heading back (when we usually do), and I stayed behind to get in 3 more miles of hills. I was looking at them like a sad puppy that wanted to follow along. At least I had my iPod with me, so I took that out, put my music on and just got going. What a difference changing one small aspect of a run can have. All the sudden, my miles seemed to be going by easier mostly because I was enjoying zoning out and listening to music. And my iPod shuffle was even being nice and shuffling in all of the "good" songs.

After about 6 miles total in the neighborhood it was time to head back. At the church parking lot, I ran 4 hill sprints before finishing up. I was really glad to get back to my car which had some ice cold water waiting for me!

Oh, and go check out a Road ID giveaway here!

Recovery Run

2010-06-03T10:30:00.003-04:00

Miles: 10
Average Pace: 9:20

It was so humid this morning, I was completely drenched by mile 3 or so! If you just pretend you are swimming, it doesn't get to you quite as much- LOL! I am glad it wasn't a speed workout today because it would have been brutal. Instead, just a recovery pace run. Mark and I ran it together, I am glad he doesn't mind that my recovery pace is even slower than his. At one point on the run, there is a short (about 200 meters) dirt/rocky path that connects to another neighborhood. I didn't want to run that part because I always feel unsteady, and since my legs were tired I was afraid I would roll an ankle. So we walked that part. However, once we hit pavement again it sure seemed hard to get going! Mark pointed out that we would actually have to start running again. Darn, because walking the rest of the run seemed like a good idea at that time! I know some people swear by walk breaks, but I think I would have to do too much mental bargaining to not just keep walking- haha!

Tempo Run

2010-06-02T11:29:00.002-04:00

Miles: 10.5
Average Pace: 8:15
Tempo Pace Target 8 miles@ 7:52

I'm glad that's all over with! The weather was warmer, so this one was more of a struggle than the last one- even though the pace was a tad slower. After a one mile warm-up, I started on the tempo miles, which basically every single one took mental focus as there was no "going into the zone" this morning. Splits: 7:49, 7:49, 7:52, 7:51, 7:52, 7:52, 7:51, 7:38

The nice thing about completing this particular tempo (which I kept telling myself over and over during the run), is it is the longest tempo I have to do for the rest of the training. The rest of them will gradually get shorter (albeit faster), so today's tempo was definitely the hump! I am exactly halfway through my 15 week schedule as of today :)

Easy Pace Double Digit Week

2010-06-01T10:31:00.003-04:00

Miles: 10
Average Pace: 8:51

Another hefty week...it is really getting into the middle of the marathon training now! All runs are 10 miles this week. Today was an easy pace run, Mark and I ran together around the neighborhood (deluxe route). I felt pretty good for the run, legs felt recovered from Sunday's 20 miler. Good run!

Gator in the Park

2010-05-30T12:30:00.002-04:00

Miles: 20
Average Pace: 8:45

Another 20 miler, and I was actually looking forward to this one! Jamie joined me for the first part, to be determined if she would cut out at 15 miles or finish the full 20. We started out at a good pace, and the first few miles flew by as we headed towards the bike trail. Five miles later, we got to the bike trail with Cherise and Kathryn waiting happily for us. (Later on they kind of admitted that neither one of them was in the mood for 10 miles, but they never let on and in fact had an awesome run!)

We ran together as a group, and had a great morning in the park. At about 2 miles in, we spotted an alligator in a pond-ish type water area next to the trail. Of course I had to stop and take a closer look ;) I think he was trying to stay invisible.

Today there were a lot of bikes on the trail, we were getting passed by a lot. Most of the bikers are very friendly, and let us know when they are zooming up behind us. Although with so many of them out today, I did feel a little bit in the way- but not too much.

Jamie still hadn't announced if she was going to run the whole distance with me, so I was mentally preparing myself for either option. If she did, then Great! But if not, I had my iPod ready to bust out. Finally, when we had about 200 meters to the end of the trail (where she would go to the parking lot with Kathryn and Cherise if she was done) she announced she was in for all of it. Way to wait for the last minute Jamie! Just teasing...I was glad to have her along for the final 5 miles. I have to admit I am a tad jealous, though. I am the one actually training for the marathon, and she keeps running my miles with me with no problem!! And sometimes I have the feeling that I am the one holding her back (although she says that is not the case). I just hope that when she is training for her marathon I will be able to return the favor and jump in for any distance that she needs.

We finished up (and we were BOTH feeling tired at this point-LOL!) and I was happy with the whole run, I think it went really well. Our pace was a bit faster than the last 20 miler, but I don't feel like we were trying to run faster. Also my legs felt much better at the finish of this one.

Friday Hilly Run

2010-05-28T11:04:00.003-04:00

Miles: 7
Average Pace: 9:38

This morning I met Carin and Jamie for our hilly route! I always look forward to this run, it seems to go by fast and it is fun. As usual, 1.5 miles "warm-up" (to get to the hilly part), then 3 miles of hills, and 1.5 mile run back. At the end, we added our hill sprints up the steep Church parking lot hill, 6 sprints total today. My legs were feeling much better, I think the recovery run really gave them a nice break. (love those.)

And a Barbie update: she had her surgery on Wednesday which went great (she had her spleen removed, turns out it had ruptured and repaired itself several times over the past month or so!). And now she gets to come home this afternoon! Hooray for sweet Barbie!

Recovery Run

2010-05-27T10:39:00.003-04:00

Miles: 8
Average Pace: 9:21

My legs were feeling tired today! Good thing I didn't add on that extra mile yesterday after all. Mark and I ran in the neighborhood this morning, keeping the pace nice and easy for a recovery run. The weather was warmer and more humid than yesterday, I was so glad that my speed work was not today! I took a different gel along with me, the CarbBoom apple cinnamon. It is not as good as the Hammer apple cinnamon (which could easily be served in a pastry shell- it's that delicious!). Also the CarbBoom is kind of thick, it seems like you have to take it in small bites to get it down. I still prefer the PowerBar Gel, it has the best consistency and a lot of electrolytes.

I joined the DailyMile website. I am not sure how I will be using it, but I do like that you can sync directly from your Garmin (or Nike+) to upload your workouts. I like it a lot better than the software that comes with the Garmin (which I never use), and daily mile also seems like a neat site to keep track of other local runners. Anyone else use DailyMile?

Tempo Success

2010-05-26T13:48:00.002-04:00

Miles: 10
Average Pace: 8:12
Tempo Run Target 7 miles@7:49

So, of course I was nervous about this one. I think if a tempo run doesn't get me nervous, then it is probably not a challenging pace! :) I knew it was a seven mile one, but I thought the pace was supposed to be a 7:52 or so. Before I went to bed last night, I checked my schedule one more time to be sure, and it was a 7:49 pace. What?? Okay, now I was even more nervous.

Mark and I got up extra early (we had to be back earlier to take Barbie to the vet this morning- her surgery is today), and fortunately the weather was actually reasonable. A lot better than what I had for the last tempo run...you know, the one I didn't quite make it? We got going and set out on a one mile warm-up. I started on my tempo portion, Mark was with me for the first mile before he set off on an even speedier speed work run. It was definitely a challenging pace, definitely a TEMPO run, but wait...it wasn't so bad! I figured I would take advantage of this feeling for as long as I could. When I found myself losing focus and starting to fade, I tried my best to bring my attention back to the run and concentrate on form and leg turnover. It seemed to help keep me at a relatively efficient running stride, one where I was able to keep sustaining the tempo pace, in fact I was coming in a few seconds under for each mile. Probably the only hard part about the run was that all of the side neighborhood gates (part of our deluxe route) were still closed since we had started earlier!! I tried not to let that mess me up, instead of turning where I usually do, I ended up having to do the whole run on the main neighborhood road doubling back twice. Splits for the tempo portion: 7:42, 7:42, 7:42, 7:43, 7:45, 7:38. Hey, is that consistent or what?!

Next week is an 8 mile tempo run and a small part of me wanted to just go ahead and add the extra mile on today so that I would only have to do seven miles next week. But just a small portion, so I didn't add any extra after all.

Tuesday Easy Run

2010-05-25T13:48:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:45

Another nice weather run! If the summer stays like this, that would be great :) Mark and I ran through the neighborhood today, our "deluxe" route that adds on enough extra miles to get to 9. (Soon we will have to do the extra deluxe route, but deluxe is fine for now.) The run was prescribed "easy run," and it actually did feel pretty easy. It is always nice when that works out.

Awesome Long Run

2010-05-23T14:16:00.003-04:00

A picture of the boys trying to look creepy hiding behind the corn in the backyard. Unfortunately lots of worms are eating the corn, so I don't think there will be any for us.

Miles: 16.5
Average Pace: 9:03

I met Jamie this morning at 5:45 to head towards the bike trail. We were running five miles to get there, where we would then meet up with Kathryn and Carin to run 11 miles on the bike trail. The weather was pretty nice, a teeny cooler than yesterday, enough to make a difference. Jamie and I got going and settled into a pretty good pace, about 9:00 minutes per mile. I was glad she had wanted to join me on this portion, since it can seem a little lonely and long by yourself, but goes by pretty fast with company.

Once we got into the park, we ran into Kathryn and Carin just as they were coming down the trail from the parking lot. Perfect timing! I needed to make a quick bathroom stop, though, so while they got started I ran back up to the parking lot to use real bathrooms (as opposed to the woodland facilities). I knew I would have some catching up to do, but it was actually kind of fun trying to catch up to the group, as it gave me a reason to try and pick up the pace. It took me about two miles to get to them. Then we were back as our group again and we continued on.

The whole run felt great, I was never feeling tired or sore or bored. It just seemed to flow nicely. The last mile or so I picked up the pace a tiny bit, not too much but just enough to seem fun. We all finished at about the same time, chatted a little in the parking lot, and then Kathryn gave Jamie and I a ride back to our parked cars. Great friends, great run!

Tom's World Map

2010-05-20T12:02:00.003-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 9:08

Today was an easy recovery day, albeit a tad long for recovery! The weather is still being agreeable, it is warm but not awful. If the summer running could stay like this I would be happy! It also helps to run at the "sweet spot" for the weather: too early (way before the sun comes up) is actually hotter because the air is stifling, and too late (once the sun is up and beating down) is no good either. It seems to be best just AS the sun is coming up- or a tiny bit before- and finishing before it gets too high in the horizon. For now, that seems to be about 6:30 in the morning.

Last night our youngest son (he's 8) was no where to be seen. Usually he is shadowing (or bothering) his older brother, but we found him in his room working hard on a project: his drawing of a world map. I think he did a pretty good job!

Mile Repeats!

2010-05-19T18:44:00.002-04:00

Miles: 8
Average Pace: 8:29
Repeat target 3x 1600 (or one mile) @ 7:06 pace

It feels like I haven't done repeats in a while, but really it's only been 3 weeks...last week was no speed work and the previous week was a tempo. I sometimes like repeats better because even though they are hard you get to have the recovery portion in between each one. They hurt a lot more though :)

After warming up with Mark for two miles, he sped off to do his own speed work, and I started on my first repeat. The weather, while still warm, was not too bad and good for a speed day. The repeats were challenging, but I was able to get them all within my target range. The last one was feeling VERY hard in the last 1/4 mile, but I stuck with it to finish it out. Splits were 7:05, 7:02, and 7:02. Yippee!

And an update on Barbie: she will be able to have surgery to remove her spleen, which is grossly enlarged and causing her discomfort. It is a big surgery, so she will have to stay at the vet for a few days :( but will hopefully be back to her old self!

Isn't Barbie Cute?

2010-05-18T11:50:00.002-04:00

Here's a picture of my girl Barbie, adorable, no? We are waiting to hear some news today (hopefully good!) that a tumor the vet found recently will be able to be removed. Fingers crossed for Barbie! (Oh, and I may or may not have a black and white enlargement of this photo hung in my room. Over the bed.)

Anyway, today's run:
Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:45

Nine miles for a weekday...um, wasn't that just my Sunday long run? Yes, welcome to the middle portion of marathon training where it seems that every run is a long run. I've been trying not to look ahead on my schedule too much because frankly, it scares me a little. So I will just take it one run at a time for now.

Mark and I started a few minutes earlier than normal because of the extra miles. Fortunately with the sun coming up earlier, it wasn't completely dark when we started. I could tell right away that last week's reduced mileage had given my legs a break, because the run felt good right from the start. We even had a special treat at our 4.5 mile water break- a pack of GU chomps to share. Those guys are pretty tasty! Yum. The run went well, I only had a small amount of outer hip/glute soreness due to the resistance exercises I did yesterday which included some side to side walking with the resistance bands and one-legged squats.

Training Week Review

2010-05-16T21:43:00.002-04:00

This week's training was a cut-back week, so really, the runs were not any thing special to blog about! I was happy to have a cut-back week, I was feeling tired from the last 4 week training block, and my quads were sore for a few days after the 20 miler. I made sure not to push the pace this week, I kept the runs between 6 and 8 miles, with this morning's long run at 9 miles. I ended up with a total of 39 miles.

Here is a picture of my desert rose plant that is blooming! It is one of my favorite bloomers, so I enjoy it while it lasts!

20 Miles and Mother's Day Breakfast

2010-05-09T20:21:00.002-04:00

20 miles on the schedule today! I was a little worried about the heat, and it was warm and humid when I started, but once the sun came up a breeze stirred up and the weather wasn't really an issue after all. (It was still warm, but not unbearable.)

I met Jamie at 5:45 five miles south of the bike trail park. The plan was for her to run 15 with me, five to the bike trail, and ten in the park, then Carin would give her a ride home. However, when we got started she said if she was feeling good at the 15 mile mark, she was going to go ahead and do all 20 with me. Wow! I wasn't expecting that since she is not currently training for a marathon.

We ran our five miles to the park and found Carin heading towards us at the start of the bike trail. We continued on for five more miles in the park. A nice breeze was picking up, so we were enjoying the trail. Carin had brought me a different powerbar gel flavor to try, green apple. It was pretty good- thanks Carin! The run seemed to be going by pretty fast, I think the route with the two separate parts goes by much faster than doing all 20 on the bike trail, plus having friends along makes the time go by fast also. We were at our turnaround before I knew it and heading back.

For the most part the run felt great. My quads were getting a little fatigued pretty early on (around 13 or 14 miles), which I am pretty sure is because I added in some new resistance training exercises this week which were quad- based. (Trying to get those legs ready for that downhill part of the marathon!)

At 15 miles, Jamie said she was in for the full 20, so we said goodbye to Carin and headed back to our cars. I am grateful that Jamie ran the whole way with me today, I do like this route but the final miles can get boring when you are by yourself! We finished up, nice strong finishing pace.

Once I got home, I was greeted to a great presentation of a Mother's Day breakfast! The boys served me chocolate milk (as I walked in the door for recovery!), pancakes, and strawberries. Fresh flowers were on the table as well as two gifts: a kettlebell and an electric bread knife :) Unfortunately, my quads might have to wait a day or two to try out the new kettlebell!!

It's Been Too Hot to Blog :)

2010-05-07T10:13:00.003-04:00

Whoops, I am behind on blogging for the week. I blame it on the heat. This week has been very warm and humid, and I know I will get used to it soon, but it's been a tough week so far!

Wednesday was speed work day, I had scheduled a 6 mile tempo run at 7:48 pace. Ouch. After a one mile warm-up, I got started on the tempo portion. Mark was with me, but was planning on pulling ahead after a mile to do his own tempo pace. The first mile was tough, second one about the same, but the third mile was starting to feel really bad. As in quitting bad. One side of me was arguing to just push through and do the job (usually the side I try to listen to on a speed day), but the other side was making a very convincing argument to quit the whole run based on the fact that it was too hot and my body just wasn't ready for it today. That side also pointed out a very inviting looking patch of grass under a shady tree that would have been a nice place to sit and wait until Mark could pick me up with the car ;) After the third mile, I decided to sort of quit- but run one mile recovery to see how I felt and try to weigh out the arguments in my head. I decided to compromise with an additional two miles at tempo, so the final speed work ended up being a sort of tempo-interval workout, 1X3 mile, 1 mile recovery, 1x2 mile. Bleh...I was WIPED OUT.

Thursday was extra exciting because even though it was still hot, it was RECOVERY RUN DAY!! I have always tried to take it easy after a speed day, but after reading about the actual science behind the awesome run known as "recovery run" I am convinced more than ever to take it slow and easy on purpose. (I was reading it in Matt Fitzgerald's book Brain Training for Runners.) Such a nice feeling to not worry about trying to hit a pace, and in fact thinking "oh, whoa, whoa, I should SLOW down a little." Plus I think it helped contribute to getting used to the summer weather because the heat didn't bother me at all yesterday.

This morning was one of my favorites- hilly neighborhood. I met Kathryn, Jamie, and Cherise bright and early, and we ran up to the hilly neighborhood to circle in there a few times. On the way back, Kathryn and Cherise continued on (time constraint) and Jamie and I stopped at the church parking lot for five hill sprints. I was awfully sweaty once we were done... I am glad I brought a towel today!

Summer Running Already?!

2010-05-04T14:31:00.002-04:00

Wow! It has been hot and humid already! And I am behind on updating my blog. Let's just blame it on the heat...

Friday was hills with Carin and Kathryn with 6 hill sprints at the end. I am thinking I don't remember anything spectacular? Just a regular Friday run!

Sunday was a biggie of 18 miles. I started from my car (parked 5 miles away from the bike trail), ran into the park and met with Eudair and Cherise for 8 miles, and then ran back to the car to finish up 18. I actually felt less tired for this run than for last week's 16 miler- although I hit another "windy patch" for the last 3 miles again. The run was good, pretty even for the most part with a 9:01 average pace (total time 2:42). The whole run was pretty warm- 75 degrees at the start and nearly 80 at the finish. I am pretty sure this is how it will pan out for the rest of the summer until about...oh...November?

This morning I ran in the neighborhood in *gasp* only my sports bra and shorts. I am really really not comfortable doing that, however I am really really REALLY MORE uncomfortable with the extra layer of the tank top on when it is 6am and already 75 degrees out with 90% humidity. I suppose I will just have to get up earlier so it is still dark out and I won't be as shy about my choice of running wear! Other than being warm and sweaty, the run actually felt great! My legs felt strong and well rested- always a good sign :)

Easy Run

2010-04-29T12:56:00.002-04:00

Miles: 7.5
Average Pace: 9:03

Another great weather day for running! I am enjoying the nice 60 degree mornings while we have them! Mark and I ran through the neighborhood, nice and easy today. I was glad my speed work was done yesterday and I didn't have to run it today. An enjoyably uneventful run :)

Wednesday Tempo

2010-04-28T13:05:00.002-04:00

Miles: 7
Tempo Run, 5 miles at target pace 7:44

I decided to try moving my speed work days to Wednesday for a couple of reasons, mostly because it will help me fit in other workouts better (weights and Tae Kwon Do) without totally trashing my legs each week, and also because Mark will be starting his marathon schedule next week and he has his speed work days planned for Wednesdays. That way we can run an easy run together on Thursdays. He says I am getting too fast for him to run my speed work with me the day after his speed work. :)

So I guess I was NOT feeling ready for this tempo run at all. I was just blaming it on the fact that it was a day early, because I don't think there was anything really wrong with me, just a dreaded speed work nervous stomach. After a one mile warm-up, there was nothing to do but get started. While it felt hard (of course) it wasn't impossible, and it also didn't get progressively harder, just stayed about the same level of hard. The weather was GREAT for a tempo run - a little cooler out than the last few days, and a slight breeze but not any wind. About two miles in to the tempo run, Mark encouraged me by pointing out I was 40% done - for a 5 mile tempo, each mile is 20%. I never thought of that before, so that little math revelation kept me busy through the run, and the last mile I even broke it down into each 1/4 mile being another 5% of progress. Whatever works, right? Splits for tempo portion: 7:40, 7:39, 7:39, 7:37, 7:34

And now the nice thing about moving my speed work to Wednesdays? I don't have to run fast tomorrow...

Crayfish

2010-04-27T11:46:00.003-04:00

Miles: 7.54
Average Pace: 8:47

Mark and I started out this morning and right away saw a little crayfish in the middle of the road. Mark stopped so he could shuffle the crayfish to the side of the road so it wouldn't get run over. The poor little guy was trying to be so brave, showing us his claws and pinching the edge of Mark's shoe. Mark got him to the side, and we started back up again and noticed TONS more little crayfish. Oh. Guess we wouldn't have time to save all of them. I am figuring the heavy rainstorms we had the prior evening had them all stirred up. Everytime we ran by one, he would bravely flash his claws at us. We saw a lot of them for most of the run- at least until the sun was all the way up. Are they nocturnal?

The rest of the run went well, my right calf was a little tight at first so I was careful not to push the pace today, although my Garmin's battery was dead, so I was just trusting that Mark wasn't leading me towards a speedy pace. I think I had to remind him once or twice that I was going slower today, remember?

Check out Kim's giveaway for some cookware here!

Looooong Run

2010-04-26T18:50:00.002-04:00

Miles: 16
Average Pace: 8:43

Temperature: hot Humidity: high

Well okay, it wasn't THAT hot, but at 71 degrees at 6:00am, it was warmer than I have had to run in for a while. It does take a little getting used to running in the warm humidity, so I guess this was just my first stab at it for the summer. After dropping my car off 5 miles away from the bike trail, Kathryn picked me up and we headed to the bike trail to get started. She was running 11 with me, then I would run the last five to my car. This arrangement works out well because I get to run with someone for nearly all of my run. Otherwise I would have only run with her for about 5 miles before she turned to head back and I would have had to keep going.

We had a nice time out on the trail, and we even ran into another running friend that we see sometimes. She joined in with us for a few miles before turning off the path onto some unpaved trails to finish her run. Once Kathryn and I got to our splitting point, I was feeling good, but as I exited the park, I hit a headwind. At first I was like "great! some wind to cool me off!" but then it was "oh wait, I have to run IN to this wind." I was starting to feel tired and five miles into the wind only made me notice it even more. It was one of those runs where you kind of think a little bit about quitting. But you don't quit because quitters never win!! (Also, quitters never park their car 5 miles away, and quitters never forget to bring their cell phone to call for a ride.) So, no quitting for me :)

It wasn't a BAD run, and it wasn't the longest run I've ever done, but 16 miles definitely is NOT nothing. I guess the 16 miler just wanted me to stand up and notice that it was a long run.

Nike Women's Marathon- I GOT IN!!

2010-04-23T15:10:00.002-04:00

I'm so excited! I got a lottery spot in the 2010 Nike Women's Marathon! I tried to get in last year, but did not. This year, when Carin was talking that she would like to sign up for her first marathon, we both thought it would be so fun to do the Nike Women's in San Francisco together. Kathryn was also interested in this one, so we signed up together as a team. Signing up as a team basically just means if one of you gets in, you all get in. We figured it would be nicer if we could all get a spot (or all NOT get a spot), rather than trying for another marathon (like NY) and maybe not all three of us would get in. We registered a few weeks ago and have been waiting patiently - or maybe not so patiently- to finally hear the random drawing results. I was jumping for joy when I got my e-mail confirmation this afternoon! Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!

Maybe we had good karma because the three of us had met this morning for our Friday hill run :) We ran seven miles, not sure about the pace because I never checked, but it was a great run. We made sure to add in our hill sprints at the end...we are gonna need those to get ready for San Francisco!

1600 Repeats

2010-04-22T13:41:00.002-04:00

Miles: 6.3
Speed work 2 x 1600 (goal pace 7:10)

{Zucchini Blossom from the garden}

Today was the first repeat day on my schedule. It is sort of the "introductory" speed work since there are only two repeats. Doesn't make them any easier!! After a two mile warm-up I started on the first repeat. I was holding my pace steady, and my mind started to wander a bit (as it does when enjoying a nice easy run) and I realized I had to stay focused on the pace because I was starting to slip a little bit. That is one of the hard things about speed work, is that you can't really tune out, you have to stay focused the whole time. It is good practice for races though, because holding a specific race pace also requires some concentration.

Fortunately I did not let my pace fall and both repeats I hit with a 7:08 pace. The funny part was, Mark was running these with me, and during the last stretch of both he started pulling ahead. I assumed he was trying to pull me along because his Garmin was probably showing a slower pace and he was probably worried that I wouldn't meet my goal. MY Garmin, however, was showing the correct pace, so I was a little amused that Mark was making an effort to speed up and I, well, was not. I guess my Garmin was being the nicer Garmin today.

Aromatherapy Run

2010-04-21T13:21:00.002-04:00

Tuesday's Miles: 8
Average Pace: 8:38

Wednesday's Miles: 7.7
Average Pace: 8:45

I ran both days in the neighborhood in the early morning. We are still enjoying our perfect running weather, and now with all of the spring flowers in bloom, it is a very scentful run as well. There is one section that is a long wall covered with Jasmine, and you can smell it as you go by! Jasmine is one of my favorites.

Rainy Sunday Run

2010-04-19T18:40:00.002-04:00

Miles: 14.2
Average Pace: 8:35

Sunday morning I met Cherise, Kathryn, and Jamie at the bike trail. It was overcast and the forecast said rain, but it was not raining when we started out. I had taken my water belt with me, with both 10oz bottles filled with PowerBar drink. I hadn't done a longer run in a while, I think the last one was a 13 miler the first week of March? 14 wasn't worrying, me, though.

At the 5 mile point Cherise and Kathryn turned around, and Jamie and I continued on. I was grateful that Jamie was willing to do the whole run with me! I am the only one of my group of friends who is currently marathon training, so I don't expect any of them to go the whole distance with me. When they are willing, however, that is a bonus! We got to our seven mile point and turned around to start back. Shortly after turning around, the rain started. At first it was light and didn't seem too bad, but it wasn't letting up. A few miles later I noticed that it wasn't very light anymore, and was in fact pouring down. I wished I had worn a hat or visor because I was having to wipe the rain out of my face an awful lot! The rain didn't hamper our mood, though, and we were both having a great run. We stopped at 14, but realized we were getting pretty wet so we starting running again to get to our cars (hence the .2).

Friday Hills

2010-04-16T18:18:00.002-04:00

Miles: 7
Average Pace: 9:30

Today I met Carin and Jamie to run in the hilly neighborhood. This was Jamie's first time meeting us to run there, it was nice to have her along. We ran our usual 6-ish miles, with 3 of them being in the hilly neighborhood. I only wish it was even hillier! But you take what you can get in Flat Florida. After we ran 5 hill sprints up the steeper church driveway. And can I brag? It is STILL perfectly nice running weather! Hooray!

Tempo Run...What are those again?

2010-04-15T12:09:00.002-04:00

Radish Crop! I picked all of these on Sunday from the backyard. They are not my favorite, but they are really really fast (about 25 days from planting), which is great for my not-so-patient gardening.

Miles: 6.38
Tempo Run, Target pace 4 miles @ 7:40

I haven't done much speedwork lately, I think it has been about a month, so I knew this tempo run was going to be difficult. Mark ran this one with me. After the one mile warm-up, I was barely into the first tempo mile and was already thinking I couldn't do it. I was too out of breath, though, to try and mention this to Mark, so I decided to try and just chip away at the miles (I was thinking if I could at least make it to three, that would be kinda sorta okay). Of course it is never fun to start out your brand new training plan with a FAIL, so that was also motivating me to just keep going. I was careful to keep the pace very close to the target pace so I wouldn't be going to fast and blow out at the end. At the third mile I hung in there for one more (woo-hoo!) and finished the whole tempo run. Splits: 7:40, 7:39, 7:36, 7:32 Tempo Run = Success!!

Back From Vacation

2010-04-14T18:53:00.002-04:00

We are back from our visit to my sister's house in Belgium. We had a great time, and although we kept ourselves pretty busy, I did manage to run 20 miles for the week. I ran Amy's long run with her, I ran once on my own at the nearby park (and nearly got attacked by a goose), and also we ran at the Finnish Track. The Finnish Track was a mulched path that was very soft, it almost was like running in sand. It was hard!

I had planned on running less last week as a sort of cut back week because yesterday started with....Marathon Training! The marathon in Utah is only 15 weeks away (gasp!) so my new schedule started up this week. It is nice to be back to the comfort of a schedule :D

Both yesterday and today's runs were 7 milers, although I ended up with a bit more. 7.62 miles on Tuesday (pace of 8:43), and 7.5 miles today (pace of 8:47). Easy runs, so not much to say about them! Fortunately the weather is pretty much perfect for running. I will enjoy it while I can, because summer heat is not too far away!

Visiting My Sister in Belgium

2010-04-07T16:52:00.003-04:00

I've been here in Belgium visiting my sister since Saturday! I managed to get out and run so far and also have a two day trip to Paris (note my souvenir above). I was going to blog, but noticed my sister had already done the work for me for Monday's run...so letting her do the writing, go to this link!

Mixing Things Up

2010-04-01T12:00:00.002-04:00

Miles: 9
Average Pace: 8:33

I think I offended Mark this morning. We've been running the same route and mileage all week to try and get our running done before we go on vacation. Just to break things up a bit, I said I was going to run with my iPod. He looked a bit sad, but brought his along too. He's usually not very chatty, but oddly this morning, he was very chatty so we didn't start our music until about 3 miles.

I even felt bad enough that I offered to go down the side construction entrance past the power lines that Mark ALWAYS wants to run down. I hate power lines, so I usually shoot down that idea, but today I threw him a bone. It wasn't so bad, but could that be why I have a annoying headache now? ;)

New Asics!

2010-03-31T20:06:00.002-04:00

Miles: 8.25
Average Pace: 8:44

Mark came home from work this week with a new pair of Asics Nimbus for me!! Most husbands bring home flowers... Mark brings home running shoes :)

This morning I got to break in the new shoes with an 8 mile run. Kathryn joined Mark and I for part of it again. The weather was great (a teeny tiny bit cooler than yesterday). Easy run, no speedwork yet. I will be back on a schedule starting April 12th...

Easy Run

2010-03-30T15:23:00.002-04:00

Miles: 8
Average Pace: 8:43

Mark and I left the house this morning and ran towards Kathryn's street, where she was waiting for us to join us for a run. Usually she has a boot camp class in the mornings, but they are off this week, so she decided to get in a few runs with us. Nice to have another person along! We were also rewarded with great running weather, pretty much 100% perfect :) The run went easy, no issues, which is a great way to start the day!

Broken Up Run

2010-03-29T19:05:00.004-04:00

Miles: 8
Average Pace: 8:33

Mark and I got up to run this morning, but it was raining. As we were deciding what to do, it seemed as if the rain let up. Checking the radar on my iPod, it seemed as if the rain was going away. So out we went. Well, I guess the rain changed its mind because it started pouring. Like, ruin your electronics and drench your only good pair of shoes (since you ruined the other pair in the mud on Saturday) kind of rain. We were less than a mile away from the house when I declared I was quitting and headed for home. Mark changed his shirt and went to the gym to finish his run on the treadmill. I waited to do my run later, until after I got the boys to school. The only bad part about that, was that it was three hours later than when I had originally started this run. Not ideal, but I got it done. I normally would have postponed it for another day, but I am on a bit of a time crunch this week since we are leaving to go out of town on Friday.

Echo Eco Quest Race Report

2010-03-28T13:38:00.006-04:00

My first adventure race experience! It was... well... an adventure alright! I really wasn't sure what I was in for, mostly because not a lot of information was given. Even once we got there and checked in, we tried to ask some people about how far the biking and running portions were and everyone was pretty vague. There were some rumors that the bike would be between 6 and seven miles and the run was maybe 4? Kathryn and I were on a team, and Carin was on a team with her sister Lori. We got our instructions: We were to bike, which was a trail that looped back to the start area, then run to the canoe portion, canoe out to a turnaround point and back, and then run back to the original start area. Also, there were four mini challenges that could be completed at any time and in any order, which were staged at the starting zone. They were: an egg hunt (one person is blindfolded, the other teammate has to direct them to some scattered plastic eggs and instruct them to pick up one of each color), a bean bag toss, assemble a 25 piece puzzle, and filling a bucket up with water (using a sponge, one person sprints to another full bucket, fills their sponge, sprints back and wrings it out into the empty bucket - taking turns with each teammate until the bucket was full).

After getting our instructions in order and securing our punchcard (that would get punched at each puzzle station plus at the canoe turnaround), the race got started and we headed for the bikes. Oh my. My biking skills are elementary, at best, and I probably would have done very well if I was biking on a neighborhood road :) Not only was this off-road and on a very twisty root strewn path, but due to lots of rain lately, it was filled with deep (dark) mud puddles. So basically, un-bikable. At least for me. And also Kathryn. And Carin and Lori too. The four of us stuck together for this portion, happily letting others pass us up. The first 30 or 40 minutes we spent basically shoving our bikes through the muck and getting very muddy in the process. Finally we got to where the path was bikable, and we managed to enjoy a nice, but still challenging ride. Somewhere on this section, we were told by another group of racers that we had gone 3 miles so far. I asked how long had we been biking. 53 minutes. OMG!! It took 53 minutes to "bike" 3 miles??? Wow. Eventually we really did finish the never ending bike ride.
After the bikes, Kathryn and I decided to tackle all four of the mini challenge games. We whipped through them in no time, and headed out for the run. Here I was thinking we would get past the hard bike ride and settle into a zone. I think we were about to, until the road turned back to NOT a road, and we were trudging through mud and muck, trying not to twist an ankle. Again, we had no clue how far we were supposed to go, so around every corner we were looking for the finish.

Finally made it to the canoe launch, we actually did kind of okay on this portion. Not great, but not horrible. We got to the turnaround, got our card punched, and headed back.
The final run back was probably the only time we knew a little bit about what to expect on this race. Still not sure how far it was, but we did know we were almost done. We finished up, returned to the check-in tent to turn in our punch card and get our final time recorded. I had NO CLUE how long we had been gone: nearly 2 1/2 hours!!! What? (No wonder I was getting very hungry!) Confused and exhausted, we waited for Carin and Lori to come in (they were only a few minutes behind us). Carin was psyched and ready to sign up for it again next year. Me? Ask me tomorrow....

After re-fueling I went to check our official time (2:27) and found out that Kathryn and I took third place in our division! (Female Team) Shocking- I know!

Base Miles

2010-03-25T15:23:00.003-04:00

Wednesday's Miles: 8
Thursday's Miles: 8

Just regular base miles, no speed work! Ran both days with Mark in the morning. The weather was great for both runs! I am enjoying not having any schedule or speed work because once Spring Break is over (April 10th) I will be starting on my marathon training plan for the Deseret News Marathon at Salt Lake City in July.

This Saturday Kathryn, Carin, Carin's sister, and I are running the Echo Eco Quest, an adventure race which includes trail running, mountain biking, canoeing, and mystery events(?). It looks like fun, however no where on the site does it list how far any of the events are!! Maybe that is the surprise... Kathryn and I are a team, since neither of us are super strong mountain bikers, I am looking forward to lots of foibles. And possibly yelling.

Oreo

2010-03-23T17:56:00.003-04:00

Miles: 8
Average Pace: 8:49

This morning I ran with Mark in the neighborhood. It was breezy, about 55 degrees, which felt very nice for running! Easy pace, there wasn't much going on during this run. Except Mark's oreo powerbar gel: I had taken a chocolate gel, and he had vanilla. I gave him some of the chocolate (that one is thick! and I can't finish it all), which he had with his vanilla gel. He said "yum" but I wasn't too convinced. Now only if they came out with a chocolate peanut butter swirl gel...