April 2010 Recap

Another month has come and gone, and as much as I have said this the past 2 months, I can say it again: I pushed myself even more in the month of April and have reached new heights that I never dreamed I could!

In April 2010 I ran 111 miles

This is my first month that I have counted where I have hit over 100 miles, I look forward to keeping 100 as the minimum for the future.

This Month I have fallen in Love with the Foam Roller, it is my new best friend.

I went wedding dress shopping twice..

I ran my first ever 8k and set a new PR

This was my first ever Sub-9:00 race- good to know all that speedwork pays off.

The following weekend I did my long run of 11 miles at race pace and felt great!

Finding a new dress for my sister's graduation next month proved tough, but as the month closed out I found a great dress

 

Plus a back-up, or 4 ;)

 

Last and most importantly, I registered for my first Marathon!!!

 

After having to take the last 2 days of the month off due to a mis-step (literally) during a mid-week run I am ready for May 1st and to spend the next 6 weeks getting ready to start Marathon Training! 

An Announcement

So after countless hours of browsing marathonguide.com and hundreds of texts and emails sent back and forth with fellow runners, I have taken the plunge and hit the 'Register Now' Button...

 

Today I signed up for my first Marathon!!!!

I have said this 100 times already today, and it still hasn't gotten old!

The "Running for the Bay" Marathon will be held on October 23rd in Apalachicola.

After several weeks of back and forth, I knew I was at the point where my body could handle the miles needed to get me to my first marathon. I am a little bit nervous, but SO excited with this goal I have put in place for myself.

Training will start in about 6 weeks and I am so excited to share all the fun details with you as they come!

Sidelined

It's almost the weekend, too bad my relaxation plans have already been crushed:( However, I am determined to make the most of this weekend, and it will be awesome!


After yesterday's little tumble, I am officially on a running hiatus until further notice :( I was really upset when I woke up this morning and my ankle was hurting, I knew running was not smart and was getting very angry at anyone I saw running or anyone who mentioned it. Over many many seasons of volleyball I sustained my fair share of rolled ankles, all of which were much worse than this. There is no bruising, not really any swelling to speak of, so I am hoping a few day hiatus will allow my ankle to heal and let me jump back in strong next week, truly I am hoping to be back to a normal running schedule by Monday, so here's hoping!

Today I have iced said ankle multiple times and have been wearing my little compression sleeve all day

This thing rocked when I had real ankle sprains in HS. My leg look really freakish in this photo...



Last Thursday I think I mentioned I had found a dress that I wanted to order for my Sister's graduation next month, well it came in yesterday, and fits great!!!


I am not at home to take a picture, but will try to get one up. I also may have found a few more back-up options that will be good too, just in case ;)

Well I am off to submit my last test of the semester! WOO!!!

Trip and Fall

Happy Hump Day!!! I am so glad to be inching closer to the weekend, and my stack of reading material is growing each day. I am excited to get through my never ending magazine pile and wear my new bathing suit for the first time.

This morning was another struggle to get out of bed, I don’t know why I have been so tired the last few days, but I have been. So I knew another afternoon run was in the cards.
The weather today was quite nice from the rain we had yesterday and temps were sunny and 70 when I started out to run about 6:30pm.


I had a small window of time to run in since I had to get more of my test done tonight, so I set on an old route I hadn’t used in a while, our large circle loop, for some reason it always goes by so quickly now. I was hoping to get in 4 miles before I had to be back and get to work.

My first lap as I had planned to be just a warm-up was at a pretty decent pace. Mile 2 was quicker and about half way through mile 3 I was still feeling great and picking up speed. Well at about 2.75 I tripped and rolled my ankle getting back on the sidewalk from the road. It startled me pretty bad at first, but I was able to keep running, but at a slower pace than the 8:20 I was at before I fell. My ankle didn’t hurt per se, it felt a little tender, but it actually loosened up a bit as I kept going, I decided to stop at 3 miles just to be safe though.

3 Miles- 26:45
Mile 1-  9:11
Mile 2-  8:56
Mile 3-  8:38


Once home I took off all my stuff- hat, sunglasses, ipod, Garmie, and HR monitor (wow! I wear a lot of stuff!) and then off came the shoes. Not 2 minutes after my shoes came off my ankle started to swell and throb- ummm this is not good. I iced it while eating dinner, but to be honest it hasn’t helped much.

I am nervous that this could sideline me for a few days, but I am hoping 1 more round of ice and elevation tonight might allow me a short run tomorrow and a rest day Friday. Cross your fingers for my ankle, I will be so annoyed if I can’t run over something so lame as being clumsy and tripping.

Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

That's right folks, I am back with things to say, so here is your returned scheduling of Ten Things Tuesday:


1. Tuesdays have also transformed into Two-a-days Tuesdays. I think since it is my easy running day I always feel up for more miles. Today's workouts:
AM- 4 miles with my mom (48 minutes)
PM- 2.3 Miles  with Peachie (24 minutes, including 4x100 strides even getting down to a 5:42 pace during my sprints :)

I was a exhausted after work for some reason, thus only 2.3 miles instead of the 3-4 I was originally aiming for.

2. I did my AM run with my Mommy today, she just got back from a long weekend in Boston, and I had a sneaking suspicion there would be something waiting for me... I was right!!!

3. I had a new pair of running shorts waiting for me this morning! 

And these aren't just any shorts, these are smarty shorts and came all the way to me from Harvard.

4. And because clothes are always like money burning a hole in my pocket, I wore my new smarty shorts for my run this evening, they rocked!

5.  I have had to get a few new pairs of tempo shorts recently another size down, so here is another pair to add to my collection! I have a slight addiction to running clothes, they are the only thing I feel like I am getting any use out of right now.

6. Don't forget, Mother's Day is next weekend! With my Mother's new found running habit I actually think I may have it super easy in the gift giving department for the next few holidays ;)

7.  Today I realized that 4 weeks from this Friday I will be home for baby sister's graduation, I am really excited for a long weekend with my family, but am beyond excited for Trader Joe's!!!!! It is the only place I have found I can get pumpkin butter and I have been out for several weeks now.

8. I am also strangely excited to get in several legitmate hill runs during my 4 day ATL trip. I actually really detest hills and hill runs, they make me slow and angry, so I am a little confused about said excitement.

9.  After months and months of running, my feet have finally reached that point where they are so yucky that wearing open-toed shoes no longer seem acceptable. I have short and chipping toenails, one that is slightly bruising, plenty of blister and flaky skin- gross! I am going to do the unthinkable this weekend and ask some little oriental women to give me a pedicure- I really do feel for her. I will make sure to leave a big tip!

10.  This is my first truly free weekend coming up! No school to think of, no work, no races, no crazy obligations, and I am planning to spend my Saturday lounging in the sun with my ever-growing magazine stack and possibly a frozen beverage- I have strangely not missed my weekends like this, but sure am excited to have a chance to make up for all that missed time this Saturday!

Hope everyone has had a good Tuesday, I had a blast with my double workouts and new shorts! Off to watch someone get booted from Biggest Loser, I have some strong opinions on who needs to go, here's hoping!!

Monday, Monday

So today was Monday, and I had a lot going on today. Work, appointments, tests (yes plural) and of course my daily does of sanity.

Unfortunately I had to prioritize and reschedule my hair appointment:( I was super excited for my hair cut, I LOVE the girl who does my hair, but I will be seeing her soon enough, and I will make sure to get cute before and after shots!


I could not seem to get motivated to get to the gym this morning, so I decided I would run after work. That is actually pretty standard for Monday’s since I have to be at work early but today it went from April 26th to August. It was still 85 degrees and humid when I was getting dressed to run so I decided to head to the gym instead, since I knew I would be running outside tomorrow.

The first mile I did comfortable and easy at a 9:40 pace, and then picked up for the next 3 miles, it basically looked like this:
4 Miles- 36 minutes, incline 1.0
Mile 1-   9:40
Mile 2-   9:02
Mile 3-   8:47
Mile 4-   8:31


As much as I may have said this the last few days, this was an absolutely amazing run! I felt great the whole time, no need to stop, I didn’t even really need my water. My legs felt strong, my breathing was comfortable and consistent, and again I felt like I could go for hours. I felt like I was just getting warmed up when TM rolled over to 4 miles, if I didn’t have so much else to do I probably would have stayed much longer.

I have had so many good runs in a row I am almost running scared waiting for a crappy one to jump up and bite me, but even when it does, it will never take away all the great runs and time I have spent alone with my thoughts, learning what exactly it is my legs were made to do. I think these last 3 weeks have made me realize something, I can do distances, I seem to thrive with more distance. It’s as if once I opened it back up to over 30 miles per week, my legs just seem to go with it and have no intentions of turning back.


At this point right now I am more confident than ever that I have a marathon in me this year. I been so back and forth on the whole matter, but I realize now that my body is so much stronger and more capable than I have given it credit for. Well I am ready to give credit where credit is due, and I am asking it now for a lot, a lot of time and even more miles. You will see that my fall race plans will probably be changing, because right now I have only one goal in my sights….
26.2 or BUST!!!!!!

Running Updates

The weekend is winding down, and a new week starts tomorrow. The best part about a new week...more running :)

This was one of those running weeks that was pretty amazing! Last Sunday I posted my running schedule for the week and this is how is played out:

Monday: 4Miles (2 @ 8:40 pace) DONE
Tuesday: 4 Miles   5 Miles
Wednesday: 4 Miles   DONE
Thursday: 6 Miles (2x800 @ 8:00, 4x400 @ 7:30)  DONE
Friday: Rest  DONE
Saturday:  11 Miles (9:30 pace)   DONE
Sunday:  3 Miles   DONE

Total weekly miles = 33


This was my 2nd week back at or over 30 miles per week, and it felt great and everything just clicked. I am confident that my body is up for some serious high mileage training, and I am getting really excited for fall training to start here in about 6 weeks.

Also, today I hit 350 miles for the year. I think the counter is pretty accurate, so that definintely has me on track to hit my goal of 1,000 miles in 2010. My current shoes have now rolled over the 200 mile mark as well, and the wear patterns are noticeable. I am really hoping to get them to 400+ miles before needing a swap, but I am sure my legs will start to tell me when its time.


I bumped up crockpot Monday to Crockpot Sunday since I have a super busy day tomorrow, and I wanted there to be easy leftovers for John. I found a recipe for pineapple pork in one of my cookbooks and it turned out really well!

I am off to sleep my way into a new week, this week trying something different, seeing if I can function without a set running plan. This is totally not a me thing, and I get a little anxious when I don't have a schedule to follow, so I am not sure it will last much past 5:10am tomorrow, but we will see.

One of Those Mornings

It's the weekend! I am so thrilled that I did not have to work today, but my last scheduled Calc test fell this weekend, but I have gotten almost all of it cranked out, but at this point I just want to pass.

Nothing too exciting to report yesterday, work, graduation(not so much fun), really bad dinner and bed. It was a rest day, so now you are all caught up.



This morning I had 11 miles on the schedule, and I woke up less thrilled than when I had gone to bed. I think the yucky feeling from last nights yucky dinner was a big factor, that and the fact that it was raining- Not Cool! We were not due for rain until tomorrow afternoon, but it managed to let up pretty quickly, and it turned out to be a beautiful morning.

Well I set out to run 11 miles and my original goal was an average 9:30 pace, but with plenty of time, a yucky feeling, and wanting to put off my test I told myself to take it easy, enjoy the run, and let the time be what it is. So I started off slow and comfortable, but managed negative splits up until mile 6 when I stopped to eat my sport beans and refill my water. I felt great at that point and decided I would go past my intended 11 as long as I still felt good.

Well around mile 9, I landed one stride funny and it felt a little wierd. I still felt great so I took the opportunity to stretch before trying to crank out 3 more to hit 12. Well after that stretch, starting again was pretty tough, I found it hard to get back to the pace I was at right before I stopped, but it was slow coming. I ended up going about 11.5 and only stopped because my knee was sore at that point, but I felt like I could have gone for another hour...

11 Miles- 1:44:03, Average Pace 9:28
Mile 1-  10:00
Mile 2-  9:50
Mile 3-  9:40
Mile 4-  9:31
Mile 5-  9:22
Mile 6-  9:13
Mile 7-  9:31
Mile 8-  9:22
Mile 9-  9:13
Mile 10-  9:18
Mile 11-  8:57 (woo!)

I was happy that I was patient enough to start off slow because it let me hit my goal pace and I felt great, its runs like this that make all the bad ones fade away and remind me why I love to go out and run every day. These are also the runs that make me realize, when done right, even 20 miles would feel great....



After the run I came home, made more apple cinnamon oats, and got to work on the test from hell! It hasn't been too bad, and after getting through each of my broken down sections I gave myself a reward (aka...breaks). The first break was a shower and laundry, break 2 was lunch. I went up to Quiznos for my usual Sammie and Salad, and I also sprung for some chips today :)

They also had something new going on today...

New reuseable bags! Earth friendly and cute, and they said if you bring it back to use each time they give you a free drink. On break 3 I decided it was time for cleaning out the closet and break 4 was a field trip...

That's right, my 2nd trip wedding dress shopping this month, this time, I went with this girl

I went and met Katie for her first trip to look at wedding dresses. She was a little nervous about the first trip, but did awesome, and we may have stumbled upon The Dress, so a successful field trip!


John and Peachie are on their way home from a day on the farm, and I see another meal in my future. I am hoping a workout-tastic Sunday and a quick and painless end to this test!

Pep in my Step

It's almost the weekend, can you feel it! I had an excellent Thursday, and have had an extra pep in my step all day, I attribute it to starting my morning off with 6 miles of speedwork.

I was a little weary after a slow run yesterday, but I managed to hit each interval and at the speeds I wanted, and have also completed each run I had scheduled this week at the distances and paces intended, that is rare.

Today's workout was a tough one for sure, normally I do1 minutes sprints or 400 meter repeats as my speedwork, but with longer distances on the horizon I stepped it up to add in some 800s today, and the kicked my butt. Here's how the run went down:

Warm-up: 1.75 mile at comfortable 9:30 pace, felt normal and easy.
2 x 800 repeats: each 800 (or 1/2 mile) was run at an 8:00 pace with an 800 recovery at a 9:30 pace.

After the 800s I was supposed to take a 3 minute break, so I used it as a bathroom break and got right back on to finish up.

I did  .25 miles to warm back up and get moving before I started my intervals, 9:30 pace
4 x 400 repeats: each 400 (1/4 mile) completed at 7:30 pace with a 400 recovery at 9:13 pace.

I was a sweaty mess when I finally got off the treadmill, and did a ton of stretching and foam rolling before heading home. It was great to get in some longer miles this week, I felt like I had been running 4 miles every day since forever, I am really excited for my long run this Saturday now!


I had asked John to make me some extra oatmeal with his, and he was kind enough to do so. I like oatmeal on mornings when I run more than 3 or 4 miles because it keeps me from getting hungry again too quickly. I decided to try something a little different with this oatmeal and it turned out amazing!

1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 pink lady apple, 1 TBSP Almond Butter, and cinnamon...YUM!!!

The oatmeal made the apple nice and warm kind of like in apple pie, plus the cinnamon and nut butter, it was SO good, I will be having more of this soon!


I could barely hold up my hair dryer to do my hair this morning, I did not realize how sore my arms were from the weights last night, but at least they are working something. After finishing my hair I looked across the room to find this.....

Apparently all my hard work was too much for this little dog this morning and she couldn't even make it back into her bed before falling back asleep!

Even though I didn't have to be in to work until 11am, I left early to stop and pick up my package....

Finally the correct armband came, and I am super excited to try it out, and not stress about the velcro coming undone with every few steps.

I also went in search of a dress for my sister's graduation next month. My closet is slim pickin's at the moment so I have been on the hunt, rather unsuccessfully, for a couple weeks now. Well I think I found a great dress, but when I tried it on this morning it was a tad big in the top. I went and asked the sales associate if she had a smaller size in the back, she gave me an evil look, told me no, and walked off.

I actually felt bad having to ask this lady for an even smaller size, and then I realized I shouldn't. I have worked really hard for my new found small size, and I should not be discriminated against for being tall-ish and not fat. So I am excited to be that girl who now needs the smaller size, but to avoid another evil look, I just went online and ordered the size I wanted.

Looking forward to tomorrow's rest day for once, but I am not quite sure what will do with my extra time in the morning????

Tough Run Wednesday

I have been a busy girl since I last left you. Last night while watching the Biggest Loser I did lots of ab work and 3 sets of 10 push-ups. Push-ups are just good for you so I am going to try and do at least a few each day. We will see if I actually do that.

This morning I woke up with the alarm, no problems I was awake and well rested but was not feeling the gym, or more specifically the treadmill, I couldn’t even muster the motivation to go do the weights I had planned, so I relaxed this morning, did a bunch more ab exercises, made a bigger breakfast and got to work early.

After work I was super motivated to get out and run, as well as get in my weight session. I changed fast and headed out for my run solo. Mile one was pretty easy and at a good pace, so you can imagine my disappointment when the next 2 miles were pure torture. My breathing felt really labored, maintaining my pace felt tough, and I felt so defeated. What happened to my endurance??

 

4 miles-36:55, avg pace 9:13, avg HR 177

Mile 1-  9:07

Mile2-   9:19

Mile 3-  9:15

Mile 4-  9:12

It was all I could do to keep my pace down those last couple miles. I came home and John suggested the extra 20 degrees probably didn’t help, he has a point. Usually my runs are climate controlled or in the dark when I am outside, so 82 degrees and sunny wasn’t the smartest move. Also, the abs were screaming once I stopped, that probably made the actual running harder too, so I don’t feel super discouraged about my positive splits.

I did make it up to the gym afterwards, and did a bunch of arm weights and some back, and now my arms are like spaghetti.

 

Well tomorrow I have a rockin’ speedwork sesh planned, stay tuned for the craziness!

No Ten Things Tuesday

Hello all, there will be no Ten Things Tuesday today as I really don’t have much to say, and unless you want to hear “I’m STILL Sore” 10 times, I will spare you until next week.

So as you can tell, I woke up with sore legs AGAIN, but I dragged my sore self to the gym and attempted the run I had planned for today. Well, lets just say it did not go well. I was slow, it felt hard, and left me feeling like a slow loser.

I stretched a lot afterwards and foam rolled. On the foam roller, I was so tight with so many knots I was almost in tears trying to work it all out. I will say that it definitely helped some with my quads and calves, and made it possible to get in and out of my chair all day.

I also did a few more miles this evening, which was not so bad, in normal pace range, not hard, and gave me my confidence back. Walking to and from our start/finish spot I noticed my legs more than while actually running.

AM Workout- 3.25 miles, 35 minutes. Like I said, I was slow and even walked a little when my legs pretty much failed me, but at the end of the day I hit above my expected mileage so no stress.

PM Workout- 2 Miles, 18:05
Mile 1-  9:07
Mile 2-  8:57

It felt good to see normal numbers and feel like it was a normal
effort and not a crazy sprint.

After my run I heated up leftover steak and baked potato for John and made myself a hodge podge of veggies for dinner: squash, mushrooms, green things, it was awesome, and I never figured I would be happy just having several random veggies as a meal.


Tomorrow I am hoping to be back to my normal running self and get in 4-5 quality miles, and hopefully an afternoon spin class. I am really excited for my speedwork Thursday, I can’t wait, I’m such a dork!!!
Off to watch Biggest Loser Contestants cave and eat their body weight in junk food!

Marathon Monday

Hello all, today is Marathon Monday! I had quite a time today keeping track of all the elite runners as well as all the bloggers out there Running Boston today. Everyone did great, and I can’t wait to start seeing the race recaps. I think the whole tradition behind the Boston Marathon is so magical, and I am anxiously awaiting the day when I can have my chance to be a part of it.

This morning I had a 4 mile tempo run on the schedule. Well 5am came, the alarm went off, I was awake, and my legs were Screaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was SO sore from yesterday’s leg weights that I was seriously concerned with how I would walk around work today, let alone get in a run. Well I swapped my run this morning to this evening, which probably was not for the best because as the work day went on I seemed to get more sore and stiff. Getting in and out of my chair was next to impossible and I don’t even remember being this sore after my half marathon.


I refused to let sore legs ruin my plans, so after work I set out to run 4 miles, and do the tempo if I could. Well after mile 1 warm-up I felt able enough to pick up the pace so I did. I did mile 2 at perfect tempo pace, and though my legs were tired the felt the could handle it so I kept with the plan. During mile 3 I hit 2 downhills and my quads started screaming even more. Those were the most sore of all and the downhills were not my friends. I also hit a headwind at this point but was somehow able to hit pretty close to tempo pace. This however left me pretty exhausted from the extra effort and mile 4 cool-down was a tad slower than I would have like.



4 Miles- 36:02, avg 9:01 pace, avg HR 174
Mile 1-  9:18
Mile 2-  8:38
Mile 3-  8:40
Mile 4-  9:25

I was kind of bummed that I felt somewhat winded and thoroughly exhausted after just 2 miles at an 8:40 pace. There are plenty of other random runs where I can run 2 miles at that pace or faster and feel totally fine. I was hoping to bump my pace to about 8:30 after this weekend, but I guess not yet. Tomorrow I am planning a comfortable 4 mile run, assuming my legs are still functional, and I am really hopeful to average 9s or just below comfortably.


Tonight I tried something new for Crockpot Monday… Baked Potatoes. We had some potatoes that we wanted to eat, and with our schedule I didn’t want to be sitting at home for an hour while they baked so I decided to follow the recipe I had seen in my slow cooker cookbook. Wrap potatoes in foil, place in Crockpot, cook for 8 hours on low. Umm yeah there were great, made even better by the fact that I was off the hook with all cooking :) Now John has leftovers for dinner tomorrow and I have a clean kitchen :)

Well I am off to stretch out my legs in hopes of a nice run tomorrow, I leave you with a funny Peachie Shot.

Tired Leggies

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend, I know I have. It's always sad to see the weekend go, but this Monday is one I am actually looking forward to this year. For those who don't know tomorrow is the running of The Boston Marathon, what has now popped up as a mini-holiday on my radar.

Late last night I remembered to check the official race results from yesterday. I placed 4th in my age group out of 11 and finished about 45 seconds behind the 3rd place girl. Oh well, #4 is not too shabby, I am still elated with my consistent sub-9 minute pace yesterday.

Today, I slept in until 7am- craziness! John and I pretty much headed straight to the gym to do legs- I always fear that leg weights will kill my Sunday run, but today I had plans to run with my mom today, so I knew I could tackle both.

I worked my legs really hard today, and left feeling very shaky. I really need to focus on strengthening my hips and quads as I get ready to ramp up my training again, as it will keep my legs balanced and help to prevent common knee injuries.

After the gym I made a quick omelet, started laundry, cleaned, and then hit up the grocery stores. After all that I was in a cleaning mode and weeded out all my old magazines. I have a stack of 8 right now that I have stacked up still to read- so I spent a better part of the afternoon getting through it.


I headed to my mom's about 4:30 with plans for 4 miles. She had asked me the other day to help build her a training schedule, since she is trying to improve her previous times and get faster. I wanted to try several different speeds and such during our run today, but was on a mission to make sure we finished in under 48 minutes or a 12 minute pace.

For the 1st mile we took Abbey with us since she was itching to get outside. I will say one thing about that 1st mile that made my day, I found a new running partner!

 Abbey must be part Greyhound because she has perfect running form and was Super fast! I can't wait to get her out on my own and see what all she and I can do, but I was happy to have found a new friend and she loved to stretch her legs. During the 1st mile we ran pretty quick, but stopped twice for 2 doggie bathroom breaks. After dropping the pooch at home we headed back out for the remaining 3 miles.

4 Miles- 47:23, avg pace 11:51
Mile 1-  11:22
Mile 2-  11:49
Mile 3-  12:05
Mil3 4- 12:07

Mom did great pushing herself and keeping a solid 11-11:30 pace for the bulk of the run. We took 3 walk breaks over the course of the 3 miles, but managed to keep our pace where it needed to be. After our run I went through the training schedule I put together for her and recommended a few timely races that I thought would be good for her to be able to measure her improvements.


With inspiration from all the Boston Runners, I have planned a busy workout week that I am excited about, but to keep me on track with a lot of other thing to do I am following the suit of others and posting my weekly schedule for all to see, so here it goes:

Monday- 4 mile Tempo (2 @ 8:40 pace)
Tuesday- 4 miles
Wednesday- 4miles + Spinning
Thursday- 6 miles (2x800 @ 8:00 pace,800 rest b/w @ 9:00 pace; 4x400(7:30pace) w/ 400 recover @ 9:00 pace) warm up and cool down to get in remaining miles
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 11 miles (9:30 pace)
Sunday- 3 miles

Total Expected Miles- 32

No Plan Weekend

It was great to come out of my race and work today and not have any plans or obligations.

I headed to see my friend Crystal who I haven’t seen in almost 3 months- Rediculous considering she lives in town and has 1 week off work every other week.

I had a great time sitting in the sun and chatting the day away. It was actually only the 2nd time I had been over to their house since they finished building in December, its quite nice, and makes me wish I had a house and yard of my own, I know Peachie would certainly like all the space.

 

After hours of gossiping, we headed to Billy’s Boat House for drinks and some appetizers and of course to enjoy the nice weather and some boat and water action.

I met John and Peachie at home and we are now enjoying a relaxing movie night. Tomorrow night I have plans of sleeping until I am ready to get up, and then going for an ?? mile run until I am done. It’s nice to have no plans in place, and a pretty leisurely day planned. Other than my run and some grocery shopping I have nothing planned and I am excited, especially since I have the doomsday test on deck for next weekend.

Run to the Sun 8k Recap

Happy Saturday morning to you all, it is a beautiful day here in Jacksonville, so I am counting the minutes until I can go be outside!

This morning was my first ever 8k race and I must say I really enjoyed it. An 8k comes out to approximately 4.97 miles, so I figured I would take a few wide turns and end the race at an even 5 miles which I did :)

Going into today's race I REALLY wanted to finish the race in under 45 minutes, but with a bit of head cold and not much pace training the last few weeks, I was nervous if I would be able to make that so I set out this morning to have fun and get in another race. I was on my own this morning, John and Peachie headed to Lawtey early since I had to pretty much race and then leave immediately to go to to work. I woke up with plenty of time to spare, it was nice to relax a bit on race morning and allowed me to clean out my head of all the snot before I had to leave.

I got to the race site early, picked up my chip and took some time to warm up, and of course take self portaits. I opted to wear my hat this morning since I had a sneaking suspicion the majority of the race would be along the water and in the sun...I was right!

I probably ran about a mile pretty leisurely to get warm and my blood flowing. I knew if I had intentions of beating my 45 minute goal that I needed to be warm and ready to take off at goal pace from the beginning. The race had a lot more people than I expected, and even had estimated pace corrals set up which made me happy. I squeezed in between the 8 and 9 minute mile pace markers and my plan was to get somewhere between the 2 and hold on for dear life.

As we waited for the gun to go off, I decided my goal was about an 8:55 pace- I knew I would have the most luck if I tried to be consistent rather then starting slow or fast and then pacing each mile differently. The start gun made a really strange siren noise and we were off.



I was suprised with so many people that there was no bottle necking and we started off quickly and easily, sure there is always a person or 2 that you weave around or pass, but no different then at any other point in the race, I was pleased. I started off pretty quick- probably a tad too quick, hovering at about an 8:30 pace for most of the 1st mile and I knew I needed to slow down and try and be consistent- well the 1st suprise came and helped me with that no problem.

Last night I was a tad frustrated that there was no course map or elevation posted anywhere on the race website, but I figured when I saw the map before the start that it was flat since the entire thing ran along the river- well if you can't see where this is going I will enlighten you- there were some hills. Now not crazy hills but several good sized rolling hills back to back, so as I approached the first few at about .8miles I shortened my stride, slowed down a tad and powered through them. The hill was honestly exactly what I needed to drop me down to a reasonable pace...Mile 1- 8:50.
The course was great, almost entirely along the St. Johns River with a few turns to keep you on your toes and provide some shade, we passed several nice houses, and were never on a long never-ending road, I thought this was a great course and kept me intruiged the whole time, some shade coming into mile 2 was nice as it was getting quite hot running in the beating sun along the water. Mile 2- 8:58.



Once I hit the water station at mile 2.5 and checked my pace I knew I needed to make sure each mile was under 9 minutes, I was perfectly on pace and had enough energy to beat my goal, so I set out on a mission. I flipped the display on Garmie to show just current lap stats. Lap Pace, Time elapsed in current lap and Lap distance. This let me focus only on the mile at hand rather than pace at that second and total time and distance. Umm, why have I not used that screen sooner!!!!! It was great, when I would get about .2 miles from the end of the lap (each lap is set to 1 mile) I would speed up or keep pace to make sure I would hit that mile in under 9 minutes. Mile 3- 8:58! Consistent!!!!

After mile 3, some people started to fade and I still felt good, until a side cramp came up. I just breathed through and it passed pretty quickly. We then passed the turn for the finish and I saw all the elites making their final turn while we headed straight to finish the last loop, this gave me some extra energy and the fact that I was still on pace! Mile 4- 8:58...BOOM! Not sure how I pulled it off 3 times in a row, but I credit Garmie and the beautiful Lap display screen!



Once I made the turn at the mile 4 sign I knew I was golden, I had enough in me to hold pace for a 1/2 mile and then pick it up for the last 1/2 mile. Right at mile 4.5 we made our last turn onto the final part of the course, and I picked it up trying to catch a midget that was kicking it about 100 yards in front of me. I went ahead and switched my screen back to the main display so I could see my instantaneous speed and total distance at that point, and was going at about an 8:25 pace. I turned into the parking lot for the finish and with about .2 to go I just picked it up as much as I could. I passed 5 people between there and the finish line, including a 12 year old girl who I am pretty sure I made cry...oops! I was doing abotu 7:20 pace for the last minute or so, and was SO happy to see the clock at the finish line still reading under 43 minutes! Mile 5- 8:27! Done and Done!!!!!

Garmie beeped 5 miles as I crossed the finish line, so not just an 8k, but a 5 mile race in under 45 minutes, I was SO excited! Oh...And not only did I managed consistent splits, but every mile was under a 9 minute pace!!!! That is a barrier I have been struggling with for a few weeks now, there is always 1 mile that slips by me, but today I was not about to let even 2 seconds beat me. It was such an overwhelming feeling to realize that all the effort I have been putting in is finally paying off and I can see it in my times, Finally!!!!!!!!!

5 Miles- 44:11, avg HR 181
Mile 1-  8:50
Mile 2-  8:58
Mile 3-  8:58
Mile 4-  8:58
Mile 5-  8:27 (best pace this lap 6:54- YaY!!)


After I turned in my chip I grabbed a Vanilla Myoplex and a banana and hopped in the car. The Myoplex like any other vanilla protien shake tastes like chalk- yuck! To all race directors- Please start having strawberry, Thanks. Love, Stephanie!


I am still on cloud 9 from my times today, it feels great knowing that I did everything right today and it payed off! I am anxiously awaiting the official results to see how I placed, but at this point I don't even care that much, I am happy, and an age group top 3 would just be icing on the cake.


Well I am off to change into normal clothes now since I have been sitting at work in sweaty race clothes for almost 2 hours, and think about how I will spend the rest of this glorious day!

That's not a meal!

Happy Friday Y'all! It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend here, perfect for racing. My sore throat from yesterday invited it's cousin congestion to come visit too, so we are having a little party up in here. Nothing a little ice cream won't fix by tomorrow ;)

So going through my to-do list for the day and thinking about what all I needed to do for my race tomorrow, I realized I am pretty under-prepared for this race. Even though I will have a new PR since I have never raced this distance before, I am nervous my average pace will be pretty lame and not any better than my previous for a similar (yet longer) distance. I am putting my nerves aside and am very excited for this race tomorrow, it's another day I get to run and that keeps me happy.

This morning I woke up at 4:45 to go meet my mom for an early 3 mile run to loosen up the legs for tomorrow. We did 3 miles in about 36 minutes and she is well on her way to faster times. It was nice to get in an easy run without worrying about going crazy and wearing my legs out before my race. I also picked up my new armband that arrived, and it was the wrong one! They sent one for the 3rd generation ipod touch not the nano...FAIL! So I promptly sent the other one back for return and ordered the correct one this morning. Delivery expected Monday 4/19. I'm not sure the velcro on my current case will last any longer!

I had some really rediculous dinner plans in the works, most of which include random food that I wanted all thrown together in attempts to look like a meal. It was certainly not a meal of any kind but it was amazing. First up was a roastbeef sub from Jimmy Johns- Yum! This was the sustenance I needed, nect up was Mochi for some FroYo to help the throat and then a few bites of cheesecake for dessert. I am pretty much in a sugar coma at the moment, but loved every bite!


Well I am off to get everything arranged for the race tomorrow, see you will a recap!

Sicky Thursday

So this morning I woke up with a nasty sore throat, and had to move up my rest day again. I decided that if I couldn't swallow my own saliva I probably shouldn't be running to the point where I was panting like a dog.

This morning I went and picked up my race packet for the 8k on Saturday, and it got me so very excited for yet another race, so hopefully I can ditch whatever is annoying my throat by then. The weather is supposed to be perfect on Saturday morning and I will have my wonderful and supportive spectator again taking lots of pictures!


AND in very exciting news my new ipod case was delivered today, YAY! now I don't have to worry about it falling out of the velcro with ever step! I am super excited to test it out tomorrow morning :)

Well no running = no fun! See you all tomorrow :)

Back to Normal

So after a few days of a backwards workout schedule and out of control hunger, I feel pretty much back to normal- thank goodness! As boring as it seems I actually love living in a routine and actually get a little stressed when my life is all over the place, I'm Type A and I Love it!

So on to the running portion of the program:

I opted out of Wednesday morning spin for the 2nd week in a row to get in another great run, after last night's fabulous 3.5 I was itching for some more. I hit up the gym for another 3.5 this morning (getting sick of this number yet???).
I like the 3.5 distance I have been winging, it gives me .25 to warm-up, 3 miles of quality running and .25 cool down essentially and not to mention the extra 50 calories burned don't hurt.

AM Workout: 3.5 miles 30:42
.25 Warm up-  ???
Mile 1-  9:31
Mile 2-  9:08
Mile 3-  8:34
.25 cool down- ???

I am on a mission to make 8:34 my easy pace, sooner or later it will come. Hopefully sooner!


After work tonight I headed out with John and Peachie for a 2 mile walk, I was kind of hoping to get in a 2 mile run, but it was nice to relax and catch up, and Ms. Peachie enjoyed her exercise. Tomorrow I have plans of a nice 5 mile run, followed by my race packet pick up!

I told myself after the knee pain last week and with a race this weekend I would reduce my mileage for the week, well that didn't really happen, so I decided to opt out of a tempo run and speedwork this week and just run for the sake of running, and it has been really nice. After such a good week so far, I am actually pretty excited for my tempo and intervals next week and see if my times have improved at all...and crazy competitive Type-A rears it ugly pretty head again!

Everyone's Doing it

I just watched the heaviest contestant ever on the Biggest Loser run 5 miles on tonight's episode without stopping. Everyone seems to be setting out to run, and if an almost 400lb obese person can do it, there is no excuse for anyone else.

All that being said, thank God I rocked my run tonight or I would feel like such a loser! It started to rain on my way home, boo, so I was stuck indoors tonight, but it worked to my advantage.

Tuesdays are technically my cross-training days, but I wanted to run. So I did 3.5 miles and some quality foam rolling which I haven't done since Friday.

3.5 miles- 31 minutes, incline 1%
Mile 1-  9:31
Mile 2-  9:13
Mile 3-  8:34
.5 cool down 9:31ish pace

My legs felt great during my whole run. My comfortable pace is continuing to creep up and is getting closer and closer to 9:10 and 9:05 every day which I love. I loved that 7.0 on the treadmill is comfortably challenging now and not exhausting, and it has me very excited for my race this weekend!

Tonight I did the very unusual and needed a snack after dinner, I have no idea why I was still hungry after all my random bites today, but I don't question it when I actually feel hungry. John chastised me for having a spoonful of PB, Boo him!!!! Tomorrow I am back to the morning workouts!

Munchie Munchie

Today I have had a serious case of the Munchies, oops! I know it is because today has been completely off schedule for me, I got up at the same time, but didn't work out, I left the house before I would normally have breakfast (and thus did not have a normal breakfast) so I have had food apread out all day. I have only had 1 thing more than I normall would have (1/2 a bagel) but all my food has been so spread out I feel like I have been eating non-stop. Does that ever happen to you???? I operate much better in a routine, which I know is lame and boring, but hey, it works!

Since I had to be at work at 7am today, I realized that didn't actually leave me time to work out, get ready and make it to work today, so I will be having a run-tastic evening workout today and then Biggest Loser Night, my favorite!!! I admit I had never seen the show before this season, but John and I are strangely drawn to it. I get a huge kick out of all the craziness and back-stabbing, but it has been really cool to see such noticeable weight loss in some of the front runners.



And don't think I forgot your weekly dose of 10 things Tuesday

1.  I had to order a new case for my ipod today, the velcro on my current one is shot.
2.  I was tempted to order 3 cases because I have a 3rd generation ipod nano (discontinued) and I am really stressed that in another few months I wont ever be able to find another case...and then where will I be?!?!?!
3.  Dresses no longer fit me. This used to be my favorite wardrobe staple, but I am finding that if they fit me in the top, then they are about 2 inches too short--- don't discriminate against tall-ish people!!!
4.  A new dress is needed for my upcoming trip home for my sister's graduation- all advise on where to find one is URGENTLY NEEDED!!!!!
5.  This weekend I bought an 80 ounce (6lbs) carton of Strawberries at Costco, and John and I (mostly I) have managed to go through over half of it...Today is Tuesday!
6.  I have not finished submitting my grad school applications yet- oops, better get on that!!!
7.  I have a compulsive disorder where I need to be going At Least  .1MPH faster than the person on the Treadmill next to me.
8.  The one exception to my disorder listed above is when this preacher looking guy comes in at 6am every day and hops on the TM next to me and cranks it up to 8.4mph for a minimum of 45 minutes----umm ok, you win!
9.  I haven't been to spin class now in over a week- Fail. And I may not make it until Friday, Big Fail!
10. I have decided to add 1 more race to my schedule from last week, you can find it here. I am adding the Celebrate America 10k on Memorial Day May 31st in the ATL! I am excited!!!

Off to do some work now, catch ya tonight!

Lame Monday

Well the weekend is over, and I was less than excited to see this week come. On a more positive note, I am getting really excited for my race this weekend, and hopefully I can run as fast as I want- isn’t that how it always work??


When the usual 5am alarm went off today, I promptly turned it off and slept for another hour. I am confident my legs were up for the 3 miles I had planned for them this morning, but as a whole I was exhausted and needed more sleep, and had no problem giving in. Today was a pretty trying day, and I even left work feeling like a run wouldn’t improve my mood, but I was not about to let a bad day derail my plans.
John was my motivation this evening and I geared up for my evening planned 3 miles. Even though I couldn’t get in my original planned 6, I was happy with the 3 I did get in. I also decided to try out my new friend tonight…



I liked having water during my run, as the temperatures get warmer if nothing else, I could pour it on my head when I got hot :) I really like how easy this thing was to carry, and I barely noticed it, the only difference was my had was a tad sweaty, but I expect that.

Evening Run: 3 Miles- 26:44, avg pace 8:33, avg HR 172
Mile 1-  9:21
Mile 2-  8:51
Mile 3-  8:32
.5 cool down 10:05 pace
Negative Splits So Pretty :)


John and I are continuing the no plans for dinner thing, and tonight it least it worked out nicely, I had breakfast for dinner.




I had a HUGE omlet with lots of veggies (spinach, mushrooms, onions) some ham, and topped with a little feta.


Tomorrow I am hoping to feel rested and get back to my usual AM workout, right now I am off to play with this face…

Whirlwind Weekend

Hello all, Happy Monday! I have been a big blog slacker this weekend- but was far too busy to sit down and type. Despite the fact that I feel like I got very little Accomplished, I actually did a lot this weekend.

Saturday

So after leaving you with my Negative Nancy post about my lackluster long run I managed to get out of work and have a glorious Saturday afternoon to myself! I headed over to the Town Center to do some shopping, I was pretty successful, got new bras, shirts, some gu/sport beans and waterbottle from Dick's, and a new bathing suit! I was getting a bit anxious about finding a new swim suit since I have gotten rid of most of my collection as they were too big. Living in Florida means you have an ample swim suit collection and having only 2 that really fit was making me very nervous! I really was on the mission for a new dress, but after many hours and many stores left unsuccessful in that department.

Next up came some serious grocery shopping. I hit up Costco, Publix, and Whole Foods to replenish our empty fridge and pantry which are both packed full now.

John and I had dinner plans to meet up with some friends for dinner, and it was a first for John...

John had never had the fondue experience before and I think he really enjoyed it. I love their cheese dips and obviously dessert is the best, and he and I agreed while its loads of fun, in the future we will probably just go for drinks and dessert.

Sunday

Sunday morning I had a date set to pace my mother for a 5 mile long run. Her normal weekly running partner has a pretty slow pace, so I have agreed to help her try and increase her speed with a few weekend runs. I headed down to her house and we started at about 6:30am. We walked .5 miles to get out of her neighborhood and to our starting point, and then ran a pretty solid 5 miles. My goal was to do the whole thing in an hour- (this was a recovery run for me, so slow was fine, but she is trying to get a 12-minute pace to be her norm for more than just 2 miles).

Well it took us 1 hour and 3 minutes to complete 5 miles which is a 12:35 average pace. I happened to miscalculate how long the last part of our run was so when we hit 5 miles we had almost a mile to walk back to the house. We walked pretty leisurly to cool down and stretch some. I headed home pretty quickly after our run because my tummy was seriously hungry- We had homemade waffles for breakfast, and I topped mine with greek yogurt, pear, and a banana.

After a little relaxation and John vacuuming :) we headed out for what would make a glorious Sunday Bike Ride.

We hit up the Jacksonville Baldwin trail, and the ride was great! The weather was perfect, sunny and warm, but not too hot, and obviously a nice breeze. We said we would take it easy, but ended up doing abotu 13.5 mph which isn't flying by any means, but was more work than just leisurely.

We went from the trail head all the way to the main end point and back, and it made for a nice long ride, and some good conversation. I feel like John and I have some of our best talks on bike rides- cheesey, I know!

We covered 25 miles in just under 2 hours, and by the time we reached the car we were starving! By this point I had breakfast a couple small snacks and had burned about 1,800 calories for the day- thats about what I eat in a day!!!! We decided to stop at Tijuana flats for lunch, which ended up being a HUGE mistake!

Tijuana did not set well in my stomach, it was lacking a lot of sustenance, and was greasy and gross! I left there feeling disgusted and really wanting to throw up, not cool! Needless to say, we will not be eating Tijuana again, probably ever. John shared my gross feeling and after several hours of regret and yuckiness we decided Ice Cream was needed to rid our system of lunch. I got a small cinnamon ice cream which was delish, and it totally made up for my bad lunch :) Again proving that Ice Cream cures all!!!

9 miles and knee pain

So this morning my alarm went off at the usual 5am and I was feeling good to go out and rock 10 miles, well 10 became 9, and 9 turned into knee pain :( All things considered it was a really great run, and I am kind of shocked how well it went, again...considering.


John had no disire to run 10 miles with me so I made him promise me 6 and I would do 4 alone as a warm up. I headed out the door a little after 5:30am and felt really great the first 4 miles- I started comfortably since I still had a lot to do, and my lungs and legs felt great and kept wanting to push faster and faster. I let them a little bit, but kept some in my reserves for the next 6.

As I started mile 2 my knee got a little achy- not pain, not sore, just achy. It went away somewhere within that mile and at the time I didn't give it much thought.

Miles 1-4: 37:34 average 9:24 pace
Mile 1-  9:48
Mile 2-  9:25
Mile 3-  9:13
Mile 4-  9:08

Negative splits and everything I was ready to enjoy the cool weather and rock the next 6. On my way back to grab John I had 4 gu chomps to give myself some extra energy, grabbed my camelbak and we headed back out.

John took off pretty quick but I just hung back keeping a nice comfortable pace, I was nervous about my knee after it had been talking the last couple days and I really wanted more negative splits so I held strong.

Well going into the 2nd mile my knee started to ache again, I told myself to get to mile 2 and see what it felt like. Well at mile 2 John stopped to catch his breath and I tried to loosen up my knee which seemed to be more aggraveted and stiffer than when I started. I told him I would run my pace to mile 2.5 and if it didn't get any better I was turning around there instead of at the 3 mile turn around point.

Well needless to say I hit mile 2.5 and the knee was full-blown hurting at that point- not cool!!! I told him I was heading back and was going to run as long as I could because all the stopping and starting seemed to make it worse. I took off and at first my knee killed but it loosened up as I kept going, and I started to notice that the quicker I went the less it hurt (most likely because of a quicker turn around and less time for impact)- just a guess. But I made an effort to keep up the best pace I could at that point, it hurt less and it would get me home quicker.

Well at about mile 4.5 I must have stepped funny and tweeked my knee because I got a shooting pain and had to stop immediately. I walked for a good 2 minutes (which also hurt) and then told myself to just runa nd finish- at that point the running actually felt better than walking. I finished 5 miles pretty much at our front door, and when I stopped, it hurt worse to walk. Boo :(

Miles 5-9: 48:46, avg 9:45 pace
Mile 5-  9:48
Mile 6-  9:45
Mile 7-  9:51 (where I stopped to stretch, and then turn around)
Mile 8-  9:26 (can you tell running faster felt better)
Mile 9-  9:55 (I walked for almost 2 minutes during this mile, so I can only imagine how quick I was going while running)

I am not real happy with how those splits look, but I know considering the knee pain, it was pretty impressive. Once in the door, I showered really quick and then sat on the floor in the bathroom icing my knee while I got ready for work.


So how does it feel now...pretty normal?!?!?!?!?! I can tell my knee is stiff (but sitting at work for a few hours doesn't help that) and its not painful to touch or move, just stiff when it goes from being straight to bent after a long amount of time. It is more than likely 'runner's knee' inflammation, so for precautionary reasons I will vut my mileage for next week in half- especially since I have a race in a week! The ice and some advil certainly help, so I will relax some today, and probably test it out tomorrow pretty easy.


I felt really frustrated today when I got out there and was having a great run and can feel my speed coming around, my legs and breathing felt great, and then my stupid knee (not even my previously bad knee) has to go and mess it all up. I am hoping 1 cut back week, some strength training, and icing will help it come around, because I really feel like I am starting to fall into a good groove, and I will NOT let something as small as my knee get in the way!

Dear Friday, I missed you!

Happy Friday!!! We made it to the weekend!!!
This morning I had it out to make-up yesterday's swapped 4 miles of intervals.I was pretty bummed when I woke up, got ready, opened the door and saw that it was Pouring down rain! I was even more annoyed to be confined to the treadmill yet again this week, I have only managed 1 day of outdoor runs with 3 on the TM of. Now I am not anti-treadmill by any means, I actually find it quite helpful to get in miles when raining, freezing, or lacking energy, but with such great weather and great week, I was pretty bummed to be sentenced there again.

I did 2 miles as a warm-up in 18:57 so a 9:29 pace. And then I did 4x400 repeats at 7:30 pace with a 400 recovery between each at a 9:13 pace. In my head I had really wanted to do 6x400 and make it 5 miles, but my knee got a tad tingly, and to be honest, I was running out of time so I called it a day at 4 miles like I had scheduled. Probably for the best considering I have a speedy double digit run planned for tomorrow and Friday is normally my rest day.


All week I have been tweaking my spring base training plan with increased mileage, new races and dates, and it has kept me thoroughly entertained. As my fall races are becoming more and more concrete, I am altering what races are most important and thus what my training needs to be centered around. Also, I am secretely an Excel junkie and if I can find any excuse to play around in it all day, I will!

John and I have an awesome weekend planned, starting tonight with a fun date!

Falling off the Wagon

So today kinda I fell off the Wagon in terms of a great week of running.


I was trying to actually plan a running date when the boss told me I needed to be in early on my late day, so plan 1 got scratched. Plan 2- speed work on TM early early so I could make it in to work early, well I woke up with super tired legs from 2 straights days of 2-a-days so I decided to swap my rest day for this morning and stayed in bed, my legs were appreciative.

Todays 4-5 miles will be made up tomorrow before work which is normally my rest day.


Since I have no running updates I will make a sad attempt at impersonating a food blogger. I could never be a successful food blogger, I am a pretty picky eater and could eat the same thing day after day, week after week, oh wait I do that!!!

Well today I actually got a little creative with my lunch and did a spin-off of a favorite of mine: The portobella and mozarella panini from Panera. This is one of my Fav sandwiches and I decided to do it my way!

Well last night I grilled a large mushroom cap, and reheated it at work today. I used it as the meat of my sandwich, with a Laughing cow wedge spread on the bun and some of my new favorite on the bottom...

I put Spicy three pepper hummas on the other half of my sandwich thin, and let me say this is without a doubt the most amazing sandwich I have ever made! I will definitely be making it again.

So there you have it, my 1 food creation for the year, expect to see spaghetti squash and turkey sandwiches back in the rotation for the next 6 months until I have another creative stroke of genius.

Back to the running fun tomorrow!