Intervals and Close Encounters

INTEVALS:

Intervals were on the schedule for yesterday evening. The workout was prescribed as: 15 min warmup, 3x (5 minutes HARD, 3 minutes REST), 10 min cooldown.

Decided to do this as an out and back. And I was mathmatically challenged and thought that I would turn around after the 2nd 5 minutes hard. To make the cool down closer to 10m minutes, I should have turned BEFORE the 2nd 5 minutes, but whatever. Just made for a longer easy segment at the end.

The splits were as follows

warm up - 11:01
5min hard 9:14
3 min rest 16:03 - walking
5min hard 9:28
3 min rest 18:20 - walking
5min hard 9:12
3 min rest 11:30 - walking, then running easy
cool down 10:36 - ended up being 18 min, 1.75 miles to get back

I'm not really sure how fast my HARD segments should have been, but I was impressed with myself for pulling off numbers in the 9:10-9:30 range, for me that is pretty darn speedy.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS:

I was hit by a cyclist during my warm-up. Never expected that to happen!

Begin rant.

I was running the warm-up on the sidewalk next to a road with a bike lane. The cyclist was riding fast up on the sidewalk rather than in the actual bike lane. And as he came speeding by, either his body or his bars hit my forearm. SMACK! He didn't stop or slow down to say sorry or make sure whoever he hit was okay. I was okay, but that's not the point.

For the sake of argument, let's say I had been a little kid or part of a family walking on the sidewalk, this could have really turned out bad. Anyway, my arm was sore, but nothing serious. But still...

Being a seasonal cyclist myself, this really made me angry. The guy should have been riding in the bike lane and not up on the sidewalk. If he felt the bike lane was unsafe, he should have slowed down and been much more cautious around walkers/runners up on the sidewalk.

This is a perfect example of why cyclists get a bad name. Motorists and others are upset with them in general. They end up taking it out on the rest of us when we are out on the road (where we belong...not on the sidewalk!!)

End rant.

Tuesday Tidbits

1) Just for grins, I took a photo of each of the dogs this morning.

Apparently, Bandit was too tired/lazy to get up for the photo. I was feeling the same way when my alarm went off, so I understand! Also note that he is sporting a reflective collar. He could be a runner, but he still pulls too much to go out with me. I leave it to Husband to run with him.

On the other hand, we have Stymie, the-giant-puppy-who-turned-1-yrs-old-a-few-weeks-ago-and-is-about-to-graduate-from-obedience-class. I'm thinking maybe I can start running with him soon.

The thing on the left in the picture with Stymie is the pool table and those tiles are 18" square, just to give you some idea of his small pony-ish size. I definately feel safe when I'm out with him...


2) Stepped on the scale this morning and was quite pleased with the number that showed up. Lowest weight that I've been for a good two years, and much closer to where I want to be. Yay!

3) We had church directory photos taken on Sunday. The photographer also took one other pose of our family which turned out nice, so I ordered that one. I am very happy about that. Might be the last opportunity for quite some time for a family photo with the four of us.

4) I was expecting to have a personal conflict tonight that would keep me from the running group. But that conflict went away. So now I'm on tap for intervals this evening. Not sure how I feel about that...

5) There are ants in my garden! I need to figure out a way to get them out of there without chemicals. Yesterday I tried sprinkling cinamon and coffee grounds on the opening to their hole. Later in the day, I saw a roadrunner hop the fence to my garden. Maybe he likes cinamon and coffee coated ants?

edited to add: Roadrunners are welcome to hang out in my garden. They eat things like snakes, rodents, insects, etc. They don't eat plants.

Tempo Run

Before I get into the details of this run, some background for context.

My goal for the half-marathon was to finish strong & feeling good & uninjured. I didn't have a time goal, and Coach purposely didn't give me any specific paces to hit during training. Instead, he would prescribe something like "steady" or "tempo" or "easy" and I ran by feel.

Over time, I learned that "tempo" means something around 10:10. And easy means something closer to "10:45" And warm-up usually comes in at about "11:05". Apparently, so did he. I shared my Garmin data with him, so I guess this is no surprise.

Anyway...

When he handed me the training plan for the next month, I found it to have pace targets All.Over.It. I don't know why, but this makes me very nervous. *gulp*

Which brings me to yesterday. Coach ordered up a tempo run for Saturday morning. He asked for 15min warm up, 4 mile tempo (10:00-10:20 pace for me), 10 min cool down.

As soon as we started, and area near my right hip going down my leg started to hurt. What the heck?!? Where did that come from? But I found that it got better as I got warmed up. So I was determined to go ahead with the run as planned.

I was nervous about hitting my tempo pace target. But as I thought about it, I decided to just to run by feel. This is what I have been doing for the past three months, and the pace has sorted itself out. Why should today be any different?

I used my lap button to separate the tempo portion from the warm-up and cool-down. And I was thrilled after the run to see the results: ~11:00 for the warm up, 10:03 for the tempo portion, ~11:30 for the cool down.

Now for some serious attention to that IT band. Foam roller, here I come...

Friday Five

1) Tuesday I was supposed to run 4 miles @ 10:30. I did not have a pacer with me, so I had to wing it. I ended up doing the following:

mile 1: 10:51
mile 2: 10:07
mile 3: 10:01
mile 4: 9:46

Oops. Had it been a progressive run, that would be success. But for the prescribed run, it was a big FAIL. However, given that I've had a lot of my mind lately and certainly felt much better at the end, it's all good.

2) Last night our group was supposed to run 30 minutes, then meet at a local diner for dessert. We don't do this often, but we were celebrating our recent successes including our club-mate who PR'd with a 3:18:35 at Boston.I was the ONLY one who actually showed up to run. Everyone else had planned to skip the run and head straight to the food. I caved into peer pressure and consumed a breakfast burrito and a huge serving of bread pudding. Yummy!

3) My son has less than a month to go before high school graduation. In the fall, he will be leaving home to attend school out of state. While I'm extremely proud of him and excited for the opportunities that lie ahead, I'm really not doing very well with the whole leaving home thing.

4) Coach gave me a training plan for the next month, but from a race perspective, I don't have a plan for what's next. Must.Remedy.This.Soon.

5) One of the spectating run club members took photos at the race last weekend. I look like a dork in all of them, but I'll share one from near the finish line in which I look happy (because I was!).

Reflecting

First off, Congrats to all the Boston runners. How exciting it was to follow along yesterday! I can't wait to read the race reports. I am also looking forward to talking to the guy from my run group who ROCKED Boston yesterday and achieved a PR for the marathon distance!

While my half-marathon achievement may pale in comparison to running Boston, it truly was a significant accomplishment for me. I'd like to take this time to reflect back on my past half-marathons just to put it in perspective.

2007 Chips & Salso 2:38:08 - This was my first ever half-marathon attempt. I planned to accomplish the distance by employing a run/walk strategy. By mile 11, I was done, caput, finished! I walked practically the rest of the way. I was hurting in a big way afterwards, but was quite pleased with myself for getting to the finish line.

2007 Duke City 2:36:58 - Second half-marathon attempt, a mere 6 weeks or so after the first one. Same strategy. Slightly faster result due to a bit more training, but still hurting at the end. Slower and slower as each mile progressed and more walking. If someone would have come by in a golf cart at mile 12 and offered to take me to my car, I would have given up and jumped right in!

2008 Unser 20K - While not technically a half-marathon, it was close enough to include in my history. Finish time was 2:21:35 for 12.4 miles, so it would be something like a 2:30:00 finish for a full 13.1 miles. Walked through most of the aid stations. Again, I was hurting by mile 10 or so.

2008 Chips & Salsa DNF* - This was the year that my knee issue (patella-femoral-syndrome) made itself known. My knee was hurting at the start line. I never should have attempted run the race. I stopped running at mile 6.5. I walked to mile 10 at which point I was picked up by car and headed to urgent care...

2008 Duke City 2:29:07 - Once again, about 6 weeks after my DNF. For some stupid reason, I tried running a half-marathon AGAIN. My knee was feeling better because I basically didn't run between the two races. However, once again, knee pain emerged. This time at mile 5. I was miserable throughout the rest of the race. Walked a bunch at the end. Very unhappy. A few weeks later, finally had the appt with an orthopedic that set me on a path to get healthy with regard to my knee.

2009 Duke City 2:25:14 - A full year and much knee therapy later, I tried again after racing nothing longer than a 5K in between. I had trained almost exclusively on dirt trails. Running the race on ashpalt took a huge toll on my body. Everything hurt by about mile 8. Lots of limp-walking especially the last few miles. Did not achieve my goal of finishing strong, feeling good. Not a happy camper.

2010 Albuquerque Half-Marathon 2:21:31 - Slight knee pain at mile 11, otherwise, I felt good and ran steady throughout. Planned my race and raced my plan. Finished strong and feeling good. It was a long road to this point, but I finally conquered the distance, it didn't conquer me!! VERY HAPPY!!

Albuquerque Half Marathon Race Report

Official Time - 2:21:31. Half-Marathon PR!
Age group placing pending, but I think I was 18th of however many W45-49

Woke up in the middle of the night to let the dogs out. It was raining, but not too hard. I figured that I could run in that if it didn't let up in the morning.

However, when the alarm went off, all I heard was rain coming off the roof. It was wet out there, but the rain had stopped.

Checked the weather and it was about 47 deg with temps expected to be about 53 in late morning. I decided to wear capris and a long sleeve shirt. Had it not been for the threat of more rain, I would have gone with a short sleeve shirt.

Arrived at the parking area and had a good 3/4 mile hike along a muddy ditch bank to the race start location. Husband & I commented about how much it would suck to have to run on that. Ha! If I only knew...

Got our chips and found the others from the run group. Two were running the 10K. Three of us were running the half. A few were spectating. Wished everyone well and waited for the race to start.

While lined up for the start, the RD announced that we would be running down the road, to the foot bridge and across, then around a field on that same muddy ditch bank that we walked up from the parking area.

You have got to be kidding me! First off, the foot bridge is only wide enough for two people at a time. Secondly, the ditch was a slippery muddy mess.

But alas, he was not kidding. And roughly 2 minutes and 30 seconds after the gun went off, I found myself in a dead stop, waiting my turn to get across the narrow foot bridge. Sigh.

I took a picture of the foot bridge afterwards to show that I'm not exagerating about how narrow it was:

Once we cleared the bridge, we had roughly 2 miles of mud running before we finally got to the street. So yeah, the first 2 miles basically sucked. On the bright side, I definately didn't go out too fast. Ha!

After that, we finally made it out onto the road, where we stayed for the remainder of the race.

I won't bore you with a mile by mile replay, here are some highlights:

• My kids showed up at roughly the halfway point to cheer us on. I really appreciated that.
• On the asphalt, I settled into a pace that was basically the same as in training, ~10:45.
• The only walk break that I (purposely) took was at the final aid station.
• I believe I would have finished close to 2:20:00 if it wasn't for that stupid foot bridge at the beginning.
• I ran solid throughout. I wasn't able to turn it up at the end, but I didn't slow down either. I am happy with that.
• My knee started to bother me a little at mile 11. Not horribly, but enough to make me take notice.
• The run group did great overall. Both 10K racers won their age groups. Two of us had half-marathon PRs

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks. As for me, I'm ready for a nap!

Edited to add: I failed to mention it earlier, but I fully met my primary goal of finishing strong and feeling good. I'm VERY happy. :-)

Friday Five - Freakout Edition

1) I am praying the weather forcast for Saturday is wrong. Low 44, High 59. 60% chance of showers with occasional t-storms. I do NOT want to run my half-marathon in rain and/or t-storms.

2) Somebody in my running group asked what I am wearing to the race. This question was aimed at spectating, being able to easily locate me. I responded - "I dunno, whatever is clean?" But seriously, what AM I going to wear to the race? Why haven't I figured this out yet? I need to figure that out today and make sure that it IS clean. After all, the race is tomorrow.

3) Coach had running partner & I run fairly easy last night. 15 min easy, 20 min steady, then a cool down at the end. I asked running partner if he could pace us at 10:00 min/mi during the steady. He totally rocks as a pacer. Garmin said we ran 10:50 for the easy, 9:59 for the steady, and 10:25 for the cool down. It was a very short run, but another confidence booster with regard to being able to control pacing.

4) Busy busy day today. I need to plant my beans, cucumbers, & watermelons this morning. Clean up. Take Stymie to obedience class. Return Stymie to home. Go across town to pick up packet (oh.my.gosh.the.race.is.tomorrow). Come home and call the guy about the controller on the irrigation system. Meet with guy about said irrigation system. Figure out what I'm going to wear tomorrow. Make sure it's clean. Make dinner. Stop obsessing over the weather forcast and try to relax so that I can sleep well.

Please forgive me if I do a lousy job of catching up on blogs in the midst of all of that.

5) Have I mentioned that the race is tomorrow? Oh.my.gosh. oh.my.gosh. oh.my.gosh.

Fabulous Four

Taper must be messing with my mind, because I showed up to my running group lacking anything and everything resembling confidence. But I'm persistent if nothing else, and wanted to make something happen today.

With the race 5 days out, I needed this run for my mind more than I needed it for my body. I was doubting myself before, but now I'm back to believing in myself. I can and I will start out easy and pick it up at the end.

I'm ready.

Done, Done, Not Done

Thursday's run was not a 5 mile run like I thought. Not sure where I got that crazy idea. It's not at all what the training plan says. It was 15 easy, 20 steady, 15 easy. I must admit, I didn't like the idea of the steady portion of this run, but reluctantly went ahead with the plan. Coach said to shoot for 10:15-10:20 on the steady.

I explained that while he can give me whatever numbers he wants, I have no idea how to aim for a pace. I agreed to start out easy with the group, then pick it up for 20mins, then slow down again at the end. The paces would be whatever they were.

When I got home and evaluated the run on my Garmin, the numbers were as follows: 10:45, 10:07, 10:33. Emailed this to coach and he was pleased.
Thursday run - DONE.

Saturday's run was scheduled as 6 miles easy. Most of my easy runs have been ended up in the ~10:45 range, so I expected to see the same again. Oddly, I ended up running with 3 other people in my running group, none of which were feeling it on that particular morning. Personally, I think the problem was that it was too warm (45 when we started) and we were all dressed for ~30s like it's been for the past several months. Our pace was ~11:20. Blah. Note to self, check the weather carefully on race day and dress appropriately! Anyway, Saturday run - DONE

I had one other item on my list this weekend - early packet pick up. The other day for packet pick up is next Friday. However, the combination of son coming home from another out of town campus visit (which I was eager to talk to him about) and then getting ready for prom (which he looked very handsome for), put a squeeze on my time. Packet pick-up - NOT DONE; it will have to wait for next week.

Babbling...

All kinds of bloggy ideas were coming to me while I was running on the ditch bank this afternoon (to make up for the run I didn't do yesterday). Now I'm here typing and drawing a blank. Why is that? Perhaps my brain is wired somehow to my legs. When I stop and sit down, the brain shuts off? Who knows. So I shall resort to babbling...

I really enjoyed the comments to my last post. I found it very interesting to see where each of you draw the line (or not). Lots of different opinions. Seems to depend somewhat on your particular circumstance including what you are training for, what your goals are, and what weather you have to deal with on a regular basis.

Ten days 'til my half-marathon, but who's counting. Oh, I guess I am. Hehehehe. I believe it is a fair statement to say that I have enjoyed every single run leading to the race with the exception of the bad 12-miler. Back at the beginning of the year I set a goal for myself to "Race to Train, not Train to Race" and I believe I've scored a well deserved A+ on that one thus far.

In the last few half marathons that I've run, I've finished feeling like the course defeated me. This time, I want to conquer the course. I'm not positive, but I think I will go in with the attitude that the race starts at mile 10. Everything up to that point is a warm up. Slow-steady for 10 miles, then pick up the pace and own that last 5K. Sounds good on paper. We'll see what happens on race day.

Group run tomorrow. I think 5 miles is on the schedule. Then my "long" run is 6 miles on Saturday. Seems funny that my long run is only 1 mile longer than a mid-week run, but whatever. I'm trusting my training, and that's what the schedule says.

Where do YOU draw the line?

Everybody draws the line somewhere. It's just a matter of where.

Let me back up.

This morning I checked the weather forcast and it was predicted to be ~54 deg, winds 25-30mph with gusts up to 40mph at run group time. I immediately thought. "I'm not running in that"

And I'm okay with that.

Because everyone draws the line somewhere. I've run when it was 11 deg outside. I've decided that 15deg is my lower threshold. One line is drawn there.

I've run in light snow. I've run in heavy snow. I've run in sleet (ouch!). I've drawn a line at sleet. And any time the roads are icy. Or when visibility is low.

I've run in heat. I've run in humidity. I've run in hot sun. I don't like it, but I haven't drawn the line there yet.

I've run on wet pavement. I've run in light rain. I've run in moderate rain. I draw the line at heavy rain or deep puddles. Oh, and I've drawn the line at thunderstorms too.

I've run in the early morning. I've run in the afternoon. I've run in the early evening. It's all good as long as the sun is up. I draw the line at darkness.

I've run in sand. I've run hills. I've run at the track. I think this year, I'm drawing another line at the track. My knee doesn't seem to like all the turning.

And that brings me to today. I've run in light wind. I've run in moderate wind. I've run in heavy wind. And I'm not exactly sure where the line is, but it's well below 20-25 mph with 40mph gusts.

So where do YOU draw the line?

Nine Mile Run

Holy Saturday started off with a nine mile run. This was my last long run before the half-marathon. From here on out, nothing longer than six miles. Taper has arrived!

My plan for the race is to go out slow-steady and then pick it up at the end. I believe that this strategy that has the best potential to position me to accomplish my main goal - finishing strong, feeling good, smiling, and wanting to do it again.

With that in mind, I wanted to test out this approach on my last long-ish run. Success! I finished with a smile and am feeling great! I ran the first seven miles at ~10:52 and the last two miles at ~10:14. Overall average pace was 10:44. I will be thrilled if I can to do it just like that on race day.

After the run, for a cool down, I spend some quality time walking each of my dogs separately. This is to practice what I'm learning in the obedience class. Leash manners are getting much better! Maybe in another month I can try walking them together.

A few of you asked about pictures of the dogs. Here's one that I took last week that might give you some idea of their sizes. I was inside the fenced garden area watering my strawberries and Stymie was peeking his head through trying to find out what was going on in there. Bandit didn't seem too interested. I'll try for some better photos later this week. :-)

Happy Easter, everyone!

Three Things Thursday

1) March Numbers:

Ran 81.6 miles, I'm quite certain this is a monthly mileage PR for me! With a vacation week in there, no less. Woot!

Didn't bother to tally bike or strength, while it was non-zero, it was also non-impressive.

April plan is to stick to my training and *rock* the half-marathon in two weeks by finishing strong, smiling, and wanting to do it again!

2) Thursday non-Run:

The group ended up *not* running today due to high winds (25mph with 40mph gusts). Sure, I could have run solo, but I declined due to allergies. The plan is to run tomorrow morning instead. I really need my Garmin to cooperate on Saturda for my long run. But I must say that I'm happy that it seems willing to cooperate tomorrow morning:

3) Dog Obedience Training

Stymie and I are headed to obedience class #2 tomorrow. First class went well. We've been doing our homework all week, and it's going well. I'm looking forward to whatever we will learn/practice tomorrow. I'm also hoping that maybe I can begin to include him in some of my shorter runs soon. He seems to be past the massive growing stage. Not sure his exact weight, but I'm guessing ~80-85lbs as he is bigger/longer/taller than Bandit who weighs ~75 lbs.

Monday Ditch Bank Run

I normally do my mid-week runs on Tuesday and Thursday. However, tomorrow happens to be Passover. I'm planning to attend a Passover Seder and won't have time to run.

So I needed to do my 5 mile run today. I decided to run on the ditch bank for a change. I wish I had my camera with me. I saw a several ducks swimming in the ditch and some flowers along the ditch bank that were beginning to bloom. Very cool.

I've been having trouble with my Garmin not seating well on the cradle.. Today was one of those days when I found it mis-seated and uncharged. I have a pretty good idea where my turn around point is and it was scheduled as an easy run so I didn't need to know my pace. But I must admit to being addicted to data. It bothers me somewhat not knowning precisely how far I ran (4.9? 5.0? 5.2?) or what my splits are. But I'll get over it.

Success!!

If you follow me on FB, you already know that I consider my Saturday run a success. I finished a total of 11.1 miles with no knee pain (YAY!), finished strong, and felt awesome afterwards and throughout the day. It was sooooo much better than last week. But why?

I'm not an expert, but these are a few things that I think may have contributed to a successful pain-free run.

1) The massage on Friday.

She did more of a sports massage and was able to work out some tightness in my muscles. In addition to putting me in a very relaxed state, I could tell that my body was moving more freely afterwards. It was a good experience. I'm going to go back again sometime, just not sure when.

2) New shoes.

I wore my Saucony Triumph 6 shoes instead of my old 5s. I prefer the 5s, but I think it may be time to retire them. I've had the 6s in rotation for a few weeks, but this was the first time they went with me on a long run.

3) Better pace management

My running partner wanted to push the pace this weekend. I knew that would be a bad idea for me. So we went our separate ways. Actually we went the same way, but at our own paces. Hehehe. I started off about 15sec per mile slower than last week and held that throughout. It was a very sustainable pace for me and my body seemed happy. I felt great and picked it up a bit for the last two miles, a sign to me that my run strategy was 'smart.'

4) Less Stress

Last week we ran at a later time than usual. I was feeling a little rushed because it was getting later in the day and I had a lot to do before picking up my kids from their trip. When I am stressed, I get tense. This weekend, however, we ran at our usual time. No time pressure at all. Plus I was still relaxed from the massage. I can't help but think this is a much better mental & physical state to be in when running. Stress and tension must impact form, especially when one gets fatigued.

What do you think? Am I way off the mark or do these seem like reasonable contributing factors? And am I overanalying? It's just so important to me to finish pain-free, strong, & happy. I want to be able to do that over-and-over-and-over again.

We're three weeks out. Next week's long run is only nine, then six, then RACE!!

Five Things Friday

1) I think the extra rest/recovery on Tuesday was just what I needed. I felt notably better yesterday and was able to run 5 miles with the group on a BEAUTIFUL early evening without knee pain. Everyone else was doing easy/steady/easy. I stuck with easy (and coach agreed). My pace ended up being 10:34. Which, by the way, was my steady pace last year. Even though I have not been focussing on speed, my speed seems to be improving. Actually, I'm a lot happier this way. When trying to get faster, I got frustrated when not seeing the desired improvement. Now that I'm focussion only on endurance and injury-prevention, the improved speed is a bonus.

2) Stymie and I have our first obedience class today. Assuming it doesn't get cancelled. I'm questioning it just a bit because I was supposed to get a reminder call yesterday and didn't. And I didn't have time to follow up myself. Will just show up and hope that we are on.

3) This afternoon, I'm also scheduled for a massage. This is a huge deal for me. Husband talked me into a massage while we were on vacation. He gets them every 3 weeks or so and finds that themt o be very beneficial. The concept sounds good to me; however, I am completely weirded out by the thought of a complete stranger touching me. It took me a good 15minutes to calm down the first time. But once I did, I did notice a positive benefit. So, I decided to give it a try here at home. Fingers crossed that it will go well...

4) Husband decided to sign up for the upcoming half-marathon as well. Woot!! And he *might* run the 11 with me this weekend. Or not. He doesn't like getting up early to run. I don't like running later in the day. So we'll see what happens with that. But he will be running with me on race day and that ROCKS!

5) I keep meaning to post about our wonderful vacation get-away, but haven't had time. Maybe I'll get to it this weekend. Maybe I'll just skip it all together. Not sure yet. One observation that I will share is that I was surprised that the food in Puerto Vallarta was MUCH milder than the local food here in New Mexico. Not sure if that is because their chilis are milder due to the difference in climate or if they purposely keep it mild for tourists.

That's all for now. Enjoy your weekend!!

Adapting the Plan

"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach." - Tony Robbins

Until today, I haven't missed a training run for this upcoming half marathon. Today I've carefully considered my situation and have purposely chosen to skip the scheduled run. While my knee is feeling better, my back is a bit sore after the shuffle-hobble on Saturday. I truly believe that I need a few more days of recovery more than I need this run. I'm listening to my body this time. Given that my goal is to finish feeling good, it just doesn't make sense to run when I'm experiencing the bad kind of pain.

In light of this decision, I made it a point to get up from my desk and do a bit more walking than usual. And up and down the stairs a few times at work. I've also decided do some stretching in the hot tub later this evening. I'm aiming for active recovery.

So...Thursday I have 5 miles on the schedule that I'm intending to complete. Then 11 on Saturday. I *really* want Saturday's 11 to go well; it's my second chance at a big run in prep for the half.

It's all downhill from there with the remaining weekend long runs scheduled as 9 miles, then 6, then 13.1 on race day.

She's Back!

Did you miss me? I didn't make a huge deal of it on blogger (didn't seem like a great idea to announce to the entire internet that we were going to be gone), but we've gone to and returned from Puerto Vallarta since my last post. Where, among other things, we celebrated our 21st anniversary.

And the kids have gone to and are currently en route to home from their trip to New Orleans. Where they spent four long grueling days of labor to rebuild houses. I'll save any other details from both of those trips for another post. This one will be devoted to running.

On Tuesday, Husband & I ran up and down the beach. I didn't have my Garmin, so I'm estimating based on time that it was roughly 3 miles. Man o' man that was a workout. Husband felt it mostly in his calves, I felt it in my abs. Running in sand is something all together different than running on hard surfaces or even packed trail.

On Thursday we thought about beach running again, but quite frankly I was not interested in being out in the sun. So we headed to the hotel fitness center where I succumbed to 5.2 b-o-r-i-n-g miles on the treadmill. If you have followed my blog for even a short amount of time, you will know how difficult that was for me. I despise the treadmill. But, I figured it was better than skipping the run, so I endured.

We got back late yesterday evening and I had 12 miles on the calendar for today. Our normal running time is 8am, which wasn't looking so good given that it was snowing when our flight came in and was supposed to snow all evening. I was actually relieved when I got a text from my running partner that he needed to postpone his run from 8am to 11:30.

As it turns out, by the time we started running, the storm had passed and the sun was back out. And Husband decided to join us! Seemed like it was going to be a good run.

And it was. For 9 miles, that is.

Then my knee started to bother me. Not good. I decided to ease up and let my running partner go on ahead. I was determined to finish this run, but I needed to back off the pace. That worked fairly well until the last mile. By then I was doing a full-on limp-hobble-shuffle. Still determined to get in the mileage, I backed off some more.

About two hours and sixteen minutes after I started, I was back at the car. Nine minutes after my running partner made it in. That means I slowed down an average of 3 minutes per mile on those last three miles. Blah.

So, I'm chalking this up as my first bad run of the season. All I can do is shake it off, take care of my knee, and try again next time. And hey, without the bad runs, we'd never appreciate the good ones, right?

Now I have a BUNCH of blogs to catch up on. Enjoy your weekend!!

Terrific Ten

I'm not sure why, but 10 miles seems to be where it becomes a real mental game for me. I was already nervous about the run last night. That's not a good sign.

But I broke it down logically. It's simple really. All I need is a good night's sleep, appropriate fuel, some fast tempo music, and a charged up Garmin. Eat appropriately, dress appropriately, & show up at the meeting spot on time. Find an easy/sustainable pace. Run for 5 miles. Turn around. And run back. Believe in yourself. Believe in your training.

The sleep was good (not great, but good enough). My ipod was charged. My Garmin was charged. I figured out what to wear. Had time to eat. Got there on time. Running partner was there already. We decided to head out early, assuming some of the others would catch up with us anyway. And so we were off.

It helped that he was a bit tired and didn't feel like pushing the pace at all. It helped that we had stories to tell that kept our minds occupied most of the way. It helped that the weather was quite pleasant actually.

I kept waiting for the point in the run where it begins to suck. That point never came. We stayed fairly steady the whole way. Picked up the pace just a bit at the end and finished strong. Overall pace was 10:47, final mile was 10:24.

Next week the schedule calls for twelve. You know what? I think I can do this.

Coachless Run

Showed up at the meeting spot yesterday to find that the speedy training-for-Boston guy and I were the only ones who showed up. Coach wasn't there, but I really didn't expect that to be a deterrant for the rest of the group. Oh well, their loss!

It started off a little awkward. The Boston guy felt obligated to run with me, but I didn't want to hold him back. I kept telling him that he could go on ahead, but he insisted that we stick together. When it was all said and done, we had gone 4.6 miles. Time actually went by fairly quickly because I had someone new to chat with.

Today is a rest day. Tomorrow I have 10 on the schedule. *Gulp*

3 Things Thursday

1) I haven't managed to get down to my goal weight, but I'm okay with that. My clothes are fitting differently and I just might need to go down a size in running shorts. Not taking action on that quite yet, the last thing I need is smaller running shorts that don't actually fit, but I'm keeping this in mind as a possibility.

2) The weather has been weird lately. Another storm has passed through threatening to dump snow and/or rain on us. We really haven't had much precipitation from it though. Or at least not yet. I hope it stays that way throughout the day so we have reasonable running weather this afternoon. Then it can rain or snow all it wants. Is that asking too much?

3) I'm rediscovering jewerly. I got into a habit of wearing exactly the same stuff over and over and over again for the past several years. Leaving the rest to sit in my jewelry box. Recently, I decided to start switching it up again. Quite refereshing actually. The downside is now I want more... Heheheh.

Tuesday Training

I don't know, maybe just blogging about what was keeping me up at night helped. But I'm thinking the 4.25 mile run before dinner didn't hurt either. In any event, I slept well enough that I woke up a half hour before my alarm went off and feel rested this morning. Yay!

About that run. My training plan said 45min easy. Coach said that he wanted me to pick it up and run "steady" at the end once I passed the bridge. For clarification, he added "try for ~10:15."

We went out a slightly different route than usual, heading north up a dirt trail rather than heading south and onto the bike path. I dutifully turned around at 22:30 minutes. Some of the others continued on for a bit as we each have slightly different plans based on individual goals. I found myself alone when I got to the bridge. No one to pace off of. Drat. Unsure whether I was anywhere close to the prescribed pace at the end, I picked it up a bit.

I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my Garmin later in the evening. My average pace for the first 3.5 miles was 10:43. The .75 mile section after the bridge was at 10:08. Mission accomplished!

Not sleeping well

Are you familiar with the song Trouble by Ray Montagne?

"Worry...
Worry, worry, worry, worry
Worry just will not seem to leave my mind alone"

There are several things other things going on in my life that keep me up at night. It's a bad habit as there isn't much I can do about things at night, but that's when they trouble me the most. I don't wish to share the details on some of the more personal ones, but here's an example:

Background for Context: My kids will be heading out to New Orleans for Spring Break to help rebuild/repair homes destroyed by Katrina. I'm incredibly proud of them for choosing to spend their spring break this way. However...

Worrisome Thoughts: They are making me crazy by postponing packing until the last minute. Do we have everything they need? Am I caught up on laundry? It will take 2 full days of driving there and then again on the way back. What if something happens on the road trip? Son has to fly out Sunday to meet up with them. What if something happens with his flights or connection? We'll be travelling that week also. What if something happens while they are there? How easy it might be (or not) to contact us in case of emergency?

Reality: We can make an emergency trip Thursday for supplies if needed. I've supplied emegency phone numbers and back-up contacts that will know how to get a hold of us. Son is an experienced traveller, surely he can figure it out what to do if there is an issue with his connectons.

Sometimes I wish I could just turn off my mind, relax, and get some decent sleep. Sigh.

Saturday Surprises

Saturday started off with a long run. My training partner & I decided to go 9 instead of 8. We are scheduled for 10 next weekend and both of us felt better building up a little more gradually. My request was that we try to stay together for the first half. After that, if he needed to speed up, don't worry about leaving me behind. I'd be fine.

We started off with the rest of the training group. The group stayed together for the first mile. Then everyone found their own training paces and carried on.

Surprise #1 - Once everyone found their paces, we weren't the furthest ones back. This is extremely unusual, which is why I noted it.

Surprise #2 - Negative splits. AGAIN. In fact, the final 3 miles were the fastest of the bunch. Nice and steady at a 10:30 pace. Props to the running partner for this one, he set the pace and I focussed on staying on his feet. If I started to fall back a bit, he'd turn around and say "come on, you've got this." I believed him.

Surprise #3 - Overall pace for 9 miles was 10:42. Un.freaking.believable. I have no idea how I'm doing this. Smarter training? Lack of injuries? Maybe both?

Surprise #4 - Coach gave me a gift certificate for a RoadID! I'm going to order two of them, one for me and one for Husband.

Surprise #5 - I felt good afterwards. Tired, but not sore. If I can add 4.1 miles to this on race day and still feel that way, it will be a huge success.

Chilly cycling

This morning's ride home from the shop (after dropping off the vehicle) was quite pleasant for the most part, despite chilly morning temp of about 38deg. I wore two pairs of socks and toe covers - feet were fine. Sugoi tights, two long sleeve shirts, a fleece, and a wind breaker - body was fine. Balacava under helmet - head/face was fine. A single pair of full fingered gloves - woah! should have doubled up. Fingers were NOT fine. I should have known that if it was cold enough for extra layers for my feet that I also needed extra layers for my hands. Oh well, it was tolerable, just not ideal.

Speaking of chilly, our hot tub has been a cold tub for several weeks. Apparently the circuit board that controls the heating element needs to be replaced. We've been waiting impatiently for the part to arrive. Good news is that it's in and the repair guy is supposed to be here this morning to fix it. Fingers crossed!

Changing subjects completely, both of my midweek runs went fairly well. Met up with the running group each time and accomplished 4.4 and 4.2 miles respectively. With daylight savings time just around the corner, the group should be able to meet up just a bit later without racing against sunset. That will be a good thing. It is difficult for me to get from work to the run group location on time.

Happy Friday everyone!

Three Thoughts Thursday

1) Got my training schedule for now through the half marathon. The progression of upcoming weekend long runs is as follows: 8, 10, 12, 11, 9, 6, race. The only thing that I'm nervous about is that 12 miler. And not simply because it is 12 miles, but because I'll be on vacation the week between the 10 and the 12. Not sure how that's going to work out. Other than that, I'm excited to do this thing!

2) Last weekend, I brought my handheld with nuun on my long run (8 miles). This weekend, I'm switching to the belt with a combination of nuun in some bottles and accelerade in others. I'm hoping that will work out better for these upcoming runs over 7 miles.

3) I need to drop one of the cars off for service tomorrow. Assuming the weather cooperates (ie, no snow, ice, wind, etc), the plan is to toss the bike in the back and cycle home. I don't know about the rest of you, but with my busy schedule, finding creative ways to insert cross-training into an errand is generally a win for me.

BYOB, Set-up, & Feb Totals

- BYOB -

No, not bring your own beer. I don't drink beer, you silly people. "Buy Your Own Bling".

I've run the Duke City half-marathon for 3 years in a row. And at the end of the race, do you know what they give? A finisher's pin. 13.1 miles for a finishers pin. I was whining about this injustice to my husband and declared that I should put my name in for the Nike women's half-marathon. I think I deserve something nicer than a finisher's pin.

He replied something along the lines of, "for significantly less than the money it would cost for the race, room and board, and a flight, you could buy your self something and call it even."

I hope he remembers saying that. Because that's just what I did this past week.

It may not look like it to the casual passer-by, but in my mind, this new pendant represents 3 years of finisher pins. So there!

- Set-up! -

Coach admitted in email that he set me up for that negative split on Saturday. Can you believe it?! He purposely had my running partner speed up at the end, making me think I was falling off pace so that I would work just a little harder. That stinker!

"I have to play mind games with you. I hope you won't hold it against me," he said.

Are you kidding me? It was brilliant. Of course, I'm not falling for that next time, so he better have something else up his sleeve...

- Feb Totals -

The Numbers:

56.8 miles running
41.5 miles cycling
4 strength sessions
1 race - Sweetheart Run 5K

Thoughts:

It was a good month. A very good month.

Plans:

Keep on keepin' on.

Thoughts

On Running -

The day started off with my scheduled eight mile run. Coach has me & another guy running together. He thinks we will help each other. I think he's right. I managed to negative split my run again. Not as fast as last week, but I'm still quite pleased. Being able to finish strong seems to be good for me, both mentally and physically.

I had been running Sat & Sun back-to-back. Coach says no more Sunday running. He suggests I cycle instead. Okay. Cycling it is.

One more day left in February. I did a quick look at my numbers and it looks like slightly higher mileage despite being a shorter month. I expect that March numbers should be even higher yet as we get into the serious half-marathon training. Exciting times!

On Dogs -

Yesterday turned out to be a very dog-centric day. I had made a grooming appointment, but forgot all about it. Got a 'courtesy call' because I had become a no-show at my scheduled time and they said they could still fit them in if I wanted. So I grabbed the leashes, got them in the car, and took off.

When I arrived, it was a real struggle trying to get these both dogs from my car to the groomers. They apparently aren't very fond of being groomed. And their leash manners are terrible. Which is not good, because together they out weigh me.

As it turns out, a dog trainer happened to observe my struggles. He came over and asked if I'd be interested in a free 30min session. I took him up on the offer. We arranged to meet when the grooming was done.

Let me just tell you that the trainer was awesome. In the 30minutes that I spent with him, I learned enough to have much better control of them on the leashes. So...I ended up signing up for a 6 weeks of basic obedience with Stymie. He's the bigger of the two and I figure I can apply what I learn at home with Bandit.

The downside is that the obedience training doesn't start for a month, but he did give me some homework to work on between now and then. Good stuff!

Thursday thoughts

Whew! What a week. Has it really been 5 days since I last posted? Sheesh. I won't bore you with the details of my life that explain why I haven't had time to comment or post lately. You probably don't care about that.

I won't even bore you with my analysis of run that I had on Saturday and everything that might have influenced it. Instead, I just want to ruminate on whether it might have been a breakthrough (vs an outlier).

Coach thinks it *was* breakthrough. He has his reasons to believe this and has talked with me about a few specific changes that he wants me to focus on in my training for the next few weeks.

My midweek runs suggest it *might* have been a breakthrough. I'm continuing to do what he suggess. Even the mid week runs are speeding up without feeling more difficult. It's crazy.

Time will tell. I'm cautiously optimistic.

In other news, I broke in a new pair of Saucony Triumph 6 running shoes earlier this week. Some pros of the new design (over the 5s) include bigger toe box and better laces. Cons include lack of reflective strips and a stiffer/less cushioned sole. All-in-all, I prefer the 5s, but the 6s are tolerable.

Rockin' the Weekend.

I was off on Friday and decided to go on a solo bike ride at lunch time. I chose a short, but hilly route close to home. The temp was pleasant, right about 45 deg, but the wind was not (15-20mph). One thing is for certain - I don't love cycling the way that I love running. But it was a good workout and I got it done.

This morning I met up with the running group. As I mentioned before, I had 6 easy on the schedule today. I can't explain what happened exactly, but I felt fantastic and my run freaking rocked!

Behold the graph and three observations:


1) The overall pace stayed close to 10:30. That's a good 45 sec per mile faster than I have been running on my long/easy runs. I wasn't trying to go faster, I was simply trying to hold a comfortable pace. Crazy.

2) Negative splits, baby! That final mile was a good 30 seconds faster than the previous five. I'm quite pleased. If you've paid any attention to the graphs that I've posted for the past few years, you will know that this is a RARE event for me, my normal mode is to get slower and slower and the miles pass by.

3) Sprint finish. I was feeling awesome, so I located an imaginary finish line and sprinted across it. Oh.my.gosh. I was flying. Where did the energy come from? No clue.

If I could figure out what made today such a good day for me, I'd definately repeat it. However, I really have no idea what happened. Some mornings are better than others, I guess. For now, I'm just going to revel in the moment.

And when I got home, Husband presented me with a delayed surpise birthday gift - a Wii Fit. Wow. How very cool! I can't wait to open up the box and play with it. :-D

Next week, eight miles. BRING IT!

Friday Shorty

Ran with the group again yesterday early evening. This time, my trusty half-marathon training partner was there. We ran 4.25 miles in 45 minutes chatting all the way. It was a comfortable pace and a pleasant run. It was probably 52 degrees or so. It was so nice to be out there running. I was definately in my happy place.

The plan is to do 6 this Saturday, then bump it up to 8 next weekend. And I'll be adding in 4 miles easy each Sunday. I'm feeling good about my training *and* I'm looking forward to each and every training run on my schedule right now. I'm just loving it. How cool is that?

Have a great weekend folks!

Unexpected Three Day Weekends ROCK!

We usually work on President's Day. This year we had it off. I don't know why. I don't even care why. It was a nice surprise and made for a WONDERFUL weekend. The highlight was probably our bike ride on Monday.

Think about it. A.Bike.Ride. In.February.

We were so blessed to have decent weather. It was by no means warm, but it was warm enough (35-40deg) and sunny with no ice or snow or rain or wind. Dressed appropriately, it was quite pleasant.

And it was a Monday. A holiday Monday in February. Which meant the bike trails weren't crowded at all. We saw some cyclists, enough to know were weren't alone out there, but not many. And our 24.8 mile ride seemed like just the right distance given that I haven't been out on my bike since October. Far enough to be a challenge, but not too far.

Now I've got the itch. I want to get back out on my bike again. And soon.

Sweetheart Run 5K Race Report

I had a great chat with Coach on Saturday. I was telling him that I was a bit nervous about this race. I was really only doing it for fun and haven't done any speedwork this year. But with a day to go, I couldn't shake the desire to "do well" and pull off a time within my normal 5K finish time window. He reminded me that I'm training for a half-marathon, not a 5K. By my own definition, if I finish the 5K feeling good and wanting to do it again, that is success.

And that brings me to this morning. I looked at the weather forcast. Temp was expected to be about 34 deg at race start, which would be good, but it was windy with a windchill of about 28. Not horrible, but not ideal either.

I made the executive decision to go with a wardrobe change to something a bit more conducive for blocking the wind. This meant leaving the cheetah skirt at home because it no longer matched. However, I was set on wearing a skirt of some sort over my tights, so I went with basic black instead. No photo of the outfit today, sorry.

Long story short, the wind was not my friend this morning. There was a segment on the bridge that was straight into a headwind. I'm fairly certain that one bit is going to be quite a bit off my normal 5K pace.

Update: Just looked at the results on my Garmin in half mile splits. Yep. Exactly what I thought, a 10:41 pace for that bit. Ouch. Freaking wind. The remainder of the race had the wind either as a cross wind or at my back, and those splits are more on par with my 5K pace. And in my typical style, I picked it up at the end and 'sprinted' across the finish line. Woot!

Overally, while I'm not *thrilled*, I am still pleased with my final time: 30:34 (a 9:48 avg pace) which put me 7th of 25 in the f40-49 age group. Husband had a good race as well: 26:38, 6th m40-49.

[Side note: When I mentioned racing a new age group, I was expecting 5 year age groups. This is not the first (or second or third or fourth) year in the f40-49 age group. LOL]

Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks. We have tomorrow off and are hoping to take advantage of the opportunity for a bike ride. Fingers crossed for good weather!

cheetah pink skirt

Guess what arrived in the mail yesterday?!?!? And it fits perfectly *squeal in delight*

Side note - You have no idea how hard it was for me to take this photo. It bothers me that photos in the mirror are backwards. Instead, I reached out in front as far as I could and tried to take a self portrait of just the skirt. Aye carumba! About 25 tries later, I finally had one that worked.

Anyway, I ran 3.65 miles with the group yesterday. Five miles are planned for tomorrow. And then the Sweetheart 5K on Sunday. Sure, I'll be wearing the skirt over tights on Sunday, but I'll be wearing it!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

-this title intentionally left blank-

It's been quite a week.

Good news came in threes on Monday: Son was notified that he has been named a National Merit Finalist (very good news if he decides to go to Texas A&M). Son was notified that he has been chosen to receive the highest level scholarship at the local university (very good news if he decides to go to UNM). I won a cheetah print and pink running skirt off ebay (very good news regardless of where Son decides to go to school).

And....I've been tracking the running skirt package and I *think* it will arrive today or tomorrow...just in time for my race this weekend. Woot!! Sure, I'll have to wear it over tights, but whatever!

Which, as it turns out, is NOT on my birthday, but the day after. Still a good way to celebrate.

Beyond that, it's been a busy week at work. And Husband's birthday was yesterday. So...I'm behind on your posts, but I'm expecting several of them to be complaining about the crazy huge snowfall out east, yes?

Running group meets tonight. Long birthday run Saturday. Race on Sunday. It's shaping up to be a good weekend. :-)

Saturday Seven

No, not how far I ran. How many quick update items I came up with:

1) I love my training Plan for the Unser Half. Coach really listened to my goals for the upcoming half marathon and tailored my plan to help me get there. Most notably - no speedwork until *after* the half, some targetted hard surface running, and plenty of cross-training & strength work. We're focussed on getting to the finish line upright, feeling good, happy, and wanting to do it again. :-)

2) I will not be running the superbowl 5K, but I will be running the sweetheart run next weekend on my birthday. I will be sporting a new age group, W45-49, and I think that will be a grand way to celebrate.

3) I felt good doing W2 D2 pushups in column 2 yesterday. 35 pushups complete!

4) The long awaited sofa is finally here. Thank heavens!

5) Husband & I are planning a get-away of our own in March while the kids are off to New Orleans to help rebuild houses in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hoping to have our plans firmed up by the end of the weekend.

6) Enjoyed my long run with the group this morning. Weather was 32deg and partly cloudy when we took off. It was quite nice, actually.

7) The scale isn't cooperating with my endeavor to lose 5lbs, but clothes are fitting better. I know I'm not the first to figure this out, but I'm beginning to truly believe that the exact number on the scale isn't such a big deal...

That's all for now. Have a great weekend everyone!

Try, Try Again

Somewhere along the way in Nov or December, I abandoned the push-up challenge somewhere in week 4, I believe. I was having problems with my back and problems with motivation. I also took a bloggy break. And despite good intentions, I never got the push-up challenge organized the way that I wanted to.

However, I still believe that push-ups are a great exercise so I've decided to start over. This time I'm working through column 2. I'm honestly not sure if I'll make it any farther than last time, but I'll never find out unless I try. Right?

Day 1 in column 2 calls for 6,6,4,4,5* where the 5 for the last set is a guideline for the minimum number to be done. I executed it as 6,6,4,4,8.

Wow. I think that was the first time I've ever exceeded the minimum on that last set. If nothing else, it is progress. Slow, steady progress.

"I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday." ~Author Unknown

January Totals

Numbers
- 51.15 miles running :-)
- 5 strength sessions
- 2 lbs lost

Plans
- Train for Unser half marathon
- a few fun runs (5Ks) in Feb
- 3 more lbs lost

Thoughts
- I'm thrilled with my running mileage for January. It was all outside too. This whole race to train thing is working well for me.
- Not doing any races was actually a benefit. It meant replacing 5Ks with longer easy runs. I think the longer easy runs are better as half marathon prep. Having said that, I'm looking at back-to-back Sunday 5KS the next few weeks. Just for fun though.
- Running with the group again. And I *heart* it.
- I need to get more serious about my strength work. It helped with injury rehab and prevention last year. I shouldn't be slacking off in this area.

Saturday 5

Our running group usually breaks into three groups. Speedy-McSpeedsters, Fast-Runners-in-Denial, and the Mid-to-Back-of-the-Packers. Sadly, I was the only Mid-to-Back-of-the Packer who showed up. Disappointed, I was prepared to run solo.

It was a chilly 24 deg when we headed out for our scheduled 5 mile run. I had decided to wear tights, two long sleeve shirts, and a fleece. Plus gloves and a warm hat. I knew within a quarter mile that I had over dressed. By the 1 mile marker, the fleece and gloves came off. At about 1.5 miles, I decided the gloves should go back on. Finally comfortable, I settled into a rhythm.

The group was encouraging when we passed each other on their way back from the turn point. Hoots and hollers and high fives. The positive energy motivated me to kick it up a notch.

Then the oddest thing occurred. One of the Speedy McSpeedsters (a guy who's training for Boston) decided to run out a little longer so he could meet up with me near 2.5 mile turn point and keep me company for the run in.

My run group rocks.

Three things Thursday

Furiture -

The sofa is expected to arrive at the warehouse on Saturday which would make it available for delivery some time next week. Sigh. And why should we beleive you this time?!? I'll feel a lot better when they tell me that they actually have it in stock. Until then, we're being all trendy with a couple of card table chairs making due...

Fasting Blood Work -

Today is my annual "health for life" blood work. Which requires 12 hr fasting. Which means I'm hungry and decaffeinated. And cranky. Very very crankky. I'm thinking of taking coffee with me to the lab...so I can have it immediately after they draw blood. Can you say addict?!

Run Schedule -

I'm supposed to be running 3 times per week. The plan is Sat long run. Sunday recovery run. And a shortish run either Tuesday or Thursday with the group. This week I made it on Tuesday so I can take today off. Which is nice, because another storm came through and it is raining at the moment. Yeah, sure, I'm well aware that many of you run in the rain. I'm a weather adverse desert dweller so you gotta' cut me some slack...

Early Evening Run

Met up with the Running Group in the early evening for a nice 3 miler. I would have liked to go farther, but we were running against sunset. It will be easier in a few weeks when it stays light later.

There was one new guy who's a friend of my half-marathon training partner. He says he wants to do Unser with us. Woot! That makes three. How exciting is that?!

Anyway, I really enjoyed the run. I may feel differently in a few months, but for now it is nice to be back with the group again. Nice to see everyone again.

I wasn't wearing my Garmin, but someone else was and she said we were doing about a 10:15 pace. That's slow for most of them, but actually a good workout for me.

Honestly, I can't wait to get my half-marathon training plan from Coach. I'm ready to Go.For.It!!

Four unrelated thoughts

Furniture

Because of the problems I've been having with my back, we decided to get a new sofa and loveseat. Found something with good back support at LazyBoy. Yay. Set delivery for Friday. They confirmed said delivery on Thursday.

We had found a family that could use our old sofa/loveseat and were happy to give it to them.

Then, about an hour before the new sofa/loveseat were scheduled to arrive, I got a call. Only the loveseat could be delivered. Sofa is not in stock, but was supposed to arrive by now. Sigh.

So now we have a loveseat and a big empty space waiting for a sofa. Which I *hope* will arrive this week.

It's a discontinued color and we got it on sale, so I'm a bit nervous.

Running Group

Debut was on the schedule for Saturday. However, a storm came through Friday night / Saturday morning. Most of the group bailed in the morning.

A few of us showed up anyway.

I must say, it was something special. Except for a few bridges which were sketchy, the trail was in good shape. The snow along side was beautiful. The weather was nice...32-ish and no wind.

We enjoyed 5 wonderful miles along the Bosque trail. It was spectacular.

Haiti

A young couple from our church had been trying to adopt a little girl from Haiti for the past 2.5 yrs. It's been a frustratingly slow process. She was 6mo old when they started the process; she is 3 yrs old now.

In the midst of the tragedy caused by the earthquake, they got good news. The US embassy was speeding up adoptions already in progress.

They flew to Orlando to pick up their new daughter yesterday morning. Amazing.

Age of Majority

My firstborn, my son, the boy who forever changed my life, turned 18 this past Wednesday.

I'm sad about how quickly time has passed, but I couldn't be more proud of the wonderful young man that he has become.

-------------------------------
Monday morning weigh-in 124.6 lbs

Update on Goals

Goal #1: Race to Train, not train to race.

Progress - ON TRACK. Big success with this one. Deciding to target the Unser Half Marathon was hugely motivating. I've been running consistently this month with a little cross training sprinkled in. Yay!

Goal #2: Win the Battle of the Bulge.

Progress - ON TRACK. Annette's challenge gave me the kick in the pants that I needed. I lost 1.2 lbs in the first week. Slow, but steady progress. Taking the stairs, portion control, and now increased water consumption are my secret weapons.

Goal #3: Get Organized. House has turned to clutter.

Progress - ON TRACK. As I mentioned before, I'm breaking this down into small managable pieces. Trying to do one organization project per week. What a difference it's making! This past week I focussed on organizing DVDs and CDs from piles in drawers to a cabinet.


-------------------------
today's workout: upper body strength
monday weigh-in: 125.2

Weekend Running Recap

My 5.4 mile run on Saturday was so much fun. Two miles with Mark & the dogs up and down a hill (the new dog setup is wayyyy better). Quick stop to drop the dogs back at home, then 3 miles easy out and back on the ditch bank. Approaching home, picked it up for 0.4 miles at 5K race pace. What a blast!

Which reminds me, there was a description in a recent Runners World of a dog run workout. Anyone else remember it? It totally cracked me up. I don't remember eactly, but it was along the lines of "run fast, stop to pee, dart left to chase a rabbit, etc." LOL

Today I went out again on the ditch bank for 3.2 miles easy. I took it nice and slow, a really peaceful experience. My favorite type of running...

Congrats to all the Rock & Rollers and anyone else who raced this weeked!

Three things Thursday

1) I'm on a quest to lose weight and have joined Annette's 5 in 5 challenge (5 lbs in 5 weeks). This week I committed to do two things differently than in the past weeks: take the stairs at work every time, and really focus on portion control. People at work can't seem to understand why I would choose to walk up and down two flights of stairs. It seems to boggle their minds when I tell them "I'm taking the stairs, I'll meet you up there." However I think this is one of smartest decisions I've made wrt losing weight. In addition to providing an easy way to burn some extra calories, every time I take the stairs, it reminds me of my goal. And those extra reminders make it easier somehow to stay focussed on portion control.

2) This week I'm in a face-to-face at work which essentially means I'm trapped in a conference room all day for three days to hash things out amongst my work group. It's mentally exhausting. Hopefully I'll catch up on blog reading tomorrow. During one of the breaks, I discovered that one of the folks that came in from AZ for the meeting is running his first half marathon (R&R) this weekend. Yay for him!

3) I think I talked (twisted arm) one of my running group friends into joining me in training for the Unser half marathon. Yippppppppeeeeeeee!! Everything is better with a buddy, don't you agree?!? Our running group officially kicks off next week. In my final weekend of solo training, I think I'll head out for 5 miles easy. I'm ready to make this happen!

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Thu weigh in: 125.6 lbs

Game ON!

Even before all of your comments expressed support, I think I committed to myself to train for this spring half-marathon. And with your support, I knew it was the right decision.

I'll train for it and let my body tell me if the race is the right thing to do or not.

Sent a message to Coach today telling him of my intentions. And I made this clear: My goal is simply to do what I failed to do last time - finish feeling strong!

Finish time truly isn't the goal for this one. Just finishing strong and feeling good. Sure, I would like to obtain a half-marathon personal best, but I'll save that particular goal for later in the fall...

To finish feeling strong, I must, MUST, MUST train more on pavement. Really. I.MUST.

I would also like to have at least three runs over 10 miles before the race.

Fair enough? I think so.

Game ON!

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Recent Workouts: Sun - 4.25 mi easy, Mon - rest
Mon weigh-in : 126.4

Making Plans

So many of you already have plenty of plans for 2010. I still haven't decided what I want to focus on this year. Running? Triathlon? Cycling? Swimming?

Running seems to make me happiest, so I think for the part of the year, that is what I would like to keep my sights on. After that, I may change focus to triathlon. Or not. I'll decide later.

So with running as my short term focus, I figured I should sign up for local mid Jan race that I mentioned that I was interested in, right?

That is what I set out to do this morning when I found this message on their website:

"THE FULL CIRCLE ROUNDUP HAS BEEN POSTPONED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE IN SPRING/SUMMER OF 2010."

*sigh*

I guess I'll just consider that one more race fee saved and move on to trying to find some events over the next few months.

In Feb, a few options are a Superbowl Run on the 7th (that raises money for the homeless) or the Sweetheart Run on the 14th. Either of those would be fun. The superbowl run starts at 11am, which means it should be warmer. That might be the deciding factor. No need to sign up for either for a few weeks, so I can decide later.

In March, there is a 10 mile run that really looks appealling. However, it is on a weekend that I'll probably be away on vacation. And quite frankly, I'd rather go on vacation. I'm silly like that.

Then in April, on the 17th, there is a local half-marathon. Realistically, this is probably not a good idea. The last half-marathon really took a toll on my body. Yet somehow the idea of getting myself in shape for a spring half-marathon is rather appealling to me. I can't get it out of my head that this is the event I want to target for the first part of the year.

What do you think? Good idea? or evidence that I have short term memory?

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recent workouts:

Friday - 3mi easy
Saturday - 4.1 miles easy

Three for Thursday.

1) Had to rescue Husband after his bike pannier rack broke while coming home from work. He took a tumble into the street, but no cars were in the vacinity (he was being smart and took a safer route) and he ended up with just some scratches and bruises. Thank Heavens it was mostly a scare!

2) Did upper body weights yesterday morning followed by a short 1.5 mile run after work. Yay me! Hemmed and hawwed too much this morning and did nothing, so the kudos are short lived. D'oh!

3) Watched "Up" with Son & Husband last night and rather enjoyed it. If you haven't seen it already, I recommend it!

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Thur weigh-in 126.0

PowerSwitch Dumbbells Review

I've decided to make better use of my time and money and NOT sign up for a gym membership except for those months when I'm purposely swim training.

However, since I don't want to forgo weight training, this requires a small investment in some additional home fitness equipment. Most of my weight training can be done with light weights (5lb, 8lb, 10lb) so I was very interested when I found this product: Weider PowerSwitch Dumbells

Product Description - Put an entire set of weights at your fingertips without investing in several different pairs of dumbbells with the Weider Speed Pac hand weights. The Speed Pac weights work like a weight stack at the gym. When you want to change weights, simply move the selector pin to the desired weight range--the storage tray includes a color-coded weight guide--and you're set. Each Speed Pac weight varies from 2 to 12.5 pounds (in 2.5-pound increments) and includes a cushioned hand grip

First Impression - Score! A practical addition to my home fitness equipment.

It is very easy to switch between weights and the set doesn't take up much space. The weight options for this set are perfect for me and I like the fact that a 12.5lb option is available - they don't have those at the gym.

Note - They make a heavier set that varies from 10-50lbs each which would probably be better for men, but these weights are perfect for me.

I'd definately recommend this set to someone who wants to train at home with light dumbbells.

Today's workout - lower body strength

Two Dog Run

Husband & I intended on going for a two dog run yesterday afternoon for the first time. Bandit has routinely joined him for two miles (up and down a hill), then is returned to home while he heads out for another two miles. Stymie has stayed home, because excessive running isn't good for growing puppies' joints.

Stymie is nearly 9 mo old now, is bigger and faster than Bandit, and we figured that at my pace, it would be more like walking briskly for him.

Sounded like a plan. Got Bandit hooked up via the handsfree leash to Husband. Stymie hooked up to me.

I took off first. Stymie definately thought this was fun, but had no idea how to run along side. He was in front, to the left, to the right, turned around looking behind. I managed not to trip over him as he tried to figure it out.

Then Husband and Bandit caught up to us. Stymie dashed over to Bandit, wanting to prance along side of him.

Then Husband and Bandit passed me.

Aye Carumba. Stymie (maybe 80lbs now) started pulling, and he wanted to RUN to catch up to Bandit. And trust me this dog RUNs much faster than me.

I called out to Husband. STOP! I can't do this!

He stopped. We regrouped.

We decided to attach both dogs to Husband. The dogs were happier that way. It was easier for me. But it still wasn't the pleasant running experience we were hoping for. Occasionally one dog would go left, the other dog would go right, husband trying to go straight.

At the end of those two miles, we brought the dogs in and called it a day. Somehow, what seemed like such a good idea at the beginning turned out to be not such a good idea after all.

Afterwards, we stopped at the pet store and bought something else to try running the dogs next time. It's a Y attachment that goes to one leash and connects it to two dogs.

I tried it out on a short walk with the dogs, and it seemed better. If the dogs go in opposite directions, they work against each other instead of us. Also, it doesn't allow them to get that far apart from each other...less of a trip hazard.

Maybe, just maybe, next week's Two Dog Run will be more successful.

Monday weigh in - 126.4lbs

New Beginnings

"Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be." - author unknown

Many of you have reflected on the past year or past decade. I'm not going to do that. Instead, I am only looking forward. I'm also not going to set annual goals. But I am focussed on three short term goals at the moment.

Goal #1: Race to Train, not train to race. I'm using events to keep me motivated, but the main goal is to establish a lifestyle of consistent exercise.

Progress -ON TRACK. Have my eyes on a 5K in mid-Jan and it motivated me to run 9.4 miles in the past 3 days.

Goal #2: Weigh in just under 120 lbs (118 is the goal, because it gives a little wiggle room).

Progress - BEHIND. I got down to 122, but am now back up to 127. However, I've tossed out most of the holiday junk food, and am re-establishing healthy eating habits, so I'm hopeful to be back on track soon.

Goal #3: Get Organized. House has turned to clutter. Find and implement solutions to get the clutter under control

Progress - ON TRACK. I'm breaking this down into small managable pieces. This week, worked on three problem areas and am happy with the results. Just need to keep it up and take care of a small problem area every week or so.

Fresh Start

Yes, I know I've been a bad blogger. Also a bad eater and an inconsistent exerciser. Not unsurprisingly, these things are all related. However, tomorrow is a new day, a new month, a new year, and a new decade. I'm ready for a fresh start, how about you?



Whatever your plans entail, be safe tonight! Happy New Year!! Catch you on the flip side!

Merry Christmas

mid-week ramblings

1) Woke up to this sight - a slighly white Christmas Eve Eve! It's supposed to snow a bit more today...exciting stuff.
2) Is it wrong, when shopping for an upcoming bride/groom, to find something on the registry that you want for yourself? 'Cuz that's what I did. Fear not, got the bride and groom some nice stuff from their registry. But one of the items - anchor hocking mixing bowls that are also oven safe - caught my attention. Could not get it off my mind. We could really use those. Especially for Christmas. So I went back later and bought it for myself!

3) I really need to make a trip to the recycling center. Should have gone on Saturday, but my back was acting up. Thought about going today, but the news is reporting closed icy roads. Cautioning to drive only if necessary. Maybe tomorrow.

4) Ditto for running.

5) I've been looking for a local January race to kick-start 2010. May have found one that will work for me on Jan 17th.

Turning point?

The shortest day of the year is behind us *and* I'm off work starting today until January 4th. Double Yay! I'm counting on this being a turning point...

Today I need to finish my Christmas shopping. But first, an appt with the electrician with regard to getting out backyard onto a timed drip system. The plants haven't been installed yet, but the hardscaping is coming along nicely. I was hoping this would be done by the end of the year, but it looks like it will take a bit longer.

My back has been problematic again. Which means I'm stalled on the push-up challenge and haven't been running. Blah. I'm not stressing over it though. With the days getting longer, my motivation and energy is sure to return, and my back should get better with a few more days rest.

Hope you all are well.!

solar powered

I've come to the conclusion that I'm basically solar powered. As the days have become progressively shorter, my motivation and energy has all but disappeared.

Not to fear, the shortest day of the year is coming soon, and it's uphill from that point on, right? Right?!?

The running program that I participate in runs from late Jan to early November. Got an email from Coach asking if he should save me a spot for next year.

Quickly responded YES! I don't always run with the group, but having a training schedule and someone to hold me accountable to it really helps me out.

We start up again on Jan 23th. Until then, let's hope I don't put on another 10 lbs...

P.S. I'm still stalled at Week 4 Day 1 on the pushup challenge. Drat!

Coming up for air

I'm still alive and kicking. Just really busy right now.

* Stuck on Week 4 Day 1 pushups. Just can't seem to break through past that point of the program. Although, I figure being stuck at doing 63 pushups over 5 sets is nothing to be too upset about.
* Had to travel on business this past week and it really threw my schedule off in many ways. Did manage to eek out 1.5 miles on the treadmill and some strength work in the fitness center at the hotel on Thursday.
* Slow progress on Christmas shopping this year. Ditto on Christmas cards. Perhaps this will finally be the year that we truly scale back on the madness. That would be just fine with me.
* Did absolutely NOTHING resembling exercise over the weekend. I think I've mastered laziness at its finest.
* Slow progress on the backyard renovations this week - the weather just wasn't cooperating. Hopefully things will speed up this week.

Enough with Winter already!

At the moment is is 35 deg. Much warmer than a few days ago, but the wind is howling at 25mph with gusts up to 40mph. Kids are on a 2 hr delay due to icy roads. It is supposed to show/rain/sleet later this afternoon. Bleck!

I stayed inside this morning (no way I'm going out running in that mess) and repeated W4D1 pushups. I just didn't think I could move to D2 quite yet. 63 push-ups later, I'm sure that was a wise decision. I'll try D2 on Thursday...

They are making progress on the backyard, but yesterday they attempted to cover some of the aresa they worked on with tarps. Ha! Their efforts were no match for the gusty wind. The tarps are now in a heap over by the fenceline. They are going to have to try harder if they really want that stuff to stay covered.

I'm not a winter person. I'm ready for it to be over. And the sad part is...it hasn't even officially started yet. Sigh...

Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis

It has been freaking cold here in the high desert of New Mexico. This morning was no exception. It had only warmed up to 24 degrees at the start of the Jingle Bell Run. Brrrrrrr. Freezin' our assets, we were...

I decided to run in a hat, gloves, tights, short sleeves, long sleeves, and a fleece. This turned out to be just right. I was chilly at the start line, but comfy after we got moving. Of course, I was freezing again at the end when we stopped running.

The course consisted of two unequal "loops"; the first loop was long and the second loop was short. They started the runners ahead of the walkers, but I encountered quite a bit of walker traffic on the second loop. I will never understand why walkers always seem to feel the need to walk 6 abreast, leaving little room for the runners on the trail. *shakes head*

Husband told me he was going to run his own pace, so I was on my own this time. No worries, that's what I expected. But WOW, he really kicked some ice out there. His finish time was ~25:30 which was good enough to earn him a 3rd place AG award. Yay!!

I was quite pleased with my finish time of ~29:10 until I realized that the course was short; it measured 3 miles instead of 3.1. Still not a bad time for me, just not as good as I thought, and right on my typical 5K pace.

This was my 4th year running in this event, and it's one I hope to be able to do again next year!

Friday Fodder

While doing my pushups, I spotted my missing exercise log book. Under the speaker! YAY!!!!!!! Clearly this is a sign of good things to come. :-)

Speaking of push ups, not sure how "good" my good form push ups are, but I'm still doing them straight legged. This morning I completed W4 D1 column one. 12+14+11+10+16 = 63 push ups! It was tough, but I did it. Yay me!!

I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Running clothes are on, but I'm not heading out until it is above freezing. It was 13 deg when I woke up, with a high expected at 34 deg. Brrrrrr.

I canceled my appt with the trainer for two weeks. Today because of laziness, and next week because of business travel. And guess what? I found out that she's leaving at the end of the month anyway.

I'm *thinking* of putting up the Christmas tree today. Not decorating it quite yet, just putting it up. Guess I should start by taking down the autumn stuff, ya think?

[edited to add: tree is up! and I ran 2.1 miles once it warmed up to 22 deg. brrrrr]

Fail

Today I evaluated my options for running.

Option A - Early Morning.

I got up, got dressed assuming the early run was a GO, checked out the weather forcast, and stepped outside. Wow. Colder than I imagined. And what is that noise? Like something is hitting the ground. And that feeling on my cheeks. Why...it's snow! Dunno if it's safe to run in that. After all, I am a weather wimp. Back in the house for more coffee instead.

Option B - Lunch Time.

Nice break in my calendar. Surely enough time for a run. But man. Still cloudy and cold out there. Still see occasionaly flakes falling. I decide to go to the post office instead.

Non-Option - Early Afternoon

Wouldn't you know it. The clouds have given way to sunshine. It's warmed up. Quite nice out there at the moment actually. Of course this would happen. Because I have a work meeting and can't go running now. Grrrrrr.

Running today - FAIL!

Guess I'll try again tomorrow...

checking in again

Life is still going at me in all directions, but I have hope that things will settle down in a few weeks. Really. Until then, commenting and blogging will be spotty.

* Completed w3 d3 pushups - 10+13+9+9+13=54. Bring on week 4!! Note - I only seem to be able to do them 2x per week, so this is going to take a loooonog time to complete, but I figure forward progress is forward progress.
* Wanted to run this morning, but it's not happening. Booooo.
* Reviewed my splits from Sunday run. 12min miles up a hill, 10 min mile down the hill, 10:30 on the flats. Not bad.
* Jingle Bell 5K on Saturday. I really need to run tomorrow.
* Dogs are at day care while work is going on in the back yard. Took them to a new one yesterday which worked out great. And they gave me the first day free. Woot! Dogs are heading back today.
* I lost/misplaced my exercise tracker notebook, so no totals for November. :-(