Sunday, August 22, 2010

2 out of 3 isn't bad

Due to having outpatient surgery on Wednesday, I am trying to get all three of my workouts in Sunday-Tuesday. which might be difficult since i'm used to only running 3 times a week and i'll be running four days in a row due to the race yesterday and squeezing in three days of training back to back. This morning Jeremy and i got up early to go run. about 3 or 4 tenths in, my shins were on fire! they have never really hurt before but boy they were today. i figured pushing so hard yesterday was the cause, so i decided we would just walk the rest of the 30 minutes and i will still count it as my workout for the day. hopefully, by monday night i'll be more rested and can get in a good run with twila.

twila and i had already planned last week on meeting tonight to bike and swim to get ready for our tri at the end of september. since it was cross training i was hoping i wouldn't have the same issues i had this morning. jeremy was able to join us tonight. we usually run during the week when he is at work, so it was nice he could join us.

we biked 15 miles on the tri course - no shin problems! yay! then we hopped in the pool. I swam 300 meters. it wasn't too bad doing the the two back to back, even though it was in the wrong order. not sure how adding a 3 mile run will feel, since that's my weakest of the three! i'm happy to have done 2 of the 3 tonight. we have a month before the tri so we both need to work on our transitions and doing all three events back to back.

unfortunately, this is my last week of being on days before i switch to nights, so twila and i wont have any more weekday run/swim/bikes! =( we'll have our last joint workout tomorrow due to my surgery on wednesday and then starting back on nights. :( I'm thankful to have found someone to workout with for the past few weeks! i'm sad that twila and i can't continue to do train together, but at the same time i'm happy because my NEW training partner will be my hubby!! since we'll both be working nights we'll have the mornings to train together! :)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Great race!

I have been looking forward to the race today, but at the same time dreading it. It is known for being a fast course and its true bc everyone pr'd today!!

As you can see from my last post I had a lofty goal! For my half training it says I need to go a 33 min 5k to go a certain time at the half. (So that is part of the reason I wanted to do my 6 min drop. Along with my previous running partner going that so easily!) Although that race isn't for three more weeks, I had hoped I could do it today. But after Thursdays run I realized that wasn't going to happen just yet!

So i changed my goals for today to get a pr and break 37 minutes. Even after I changed my goal I was still really nervous! I am not sure what was causing my nervousness until I talked with my friend Katie. I decided to run with her and Rhonda bc they were close to my speed. Once we had decided that my nerves got better! I think I was afraid to run alone in front of so many people.

The race was huge!! There were close to 200 people, which is big for a local race. There were 2 cross country teams there. One was a local hs team, the other was a college team. So I knew it was going to be a fast race!

I started off and actually started faster than Katie and Rhonda but they were right behind me! My first mile was 11:42 which i was pleased with. I just knew mile 2 had to be just as fast and I was pretty close. A little over 12 for mile 2. Katie and Rhonda passed me somewhere in there. I knew they would catch me! :)

I realized i could possibly even be under 36 if I picked it up for mile 3. I went my fastest mile 11:25. For the last three or four tenths of the 5K, we run into a park and around a track to the finish line. My girl Twila was waiting at the entrance to run the last bit with me. She had already pr'd and finished! As we were rounding the curve she asked if I could sprint the last tenth. I informed her I was sprinting! :) My pace for that last tenth was 10 min something. Definitely sprinting for me!! I thought I was going to throw up but Twila told me to push through and it would go away! It did, and I crossed the finish crushing my previous 5k time by 3 and a half minutes!!

My new 5k time is 35:47!! Couldn't have done it without Twila there pushing me at the end! That 35 was all her! :).

Our next 5k is in three weeks. I am going to work on speed during my short runs and really shoot for that 33 then!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Why is good not good enough?

This morning Jeremy and I went to the park before work to get in our last run before saturdays 5k. I had high hopes for today's run. I know I have gotten faster since my last race but I really want to drop a lot of time on Saturday. My running partner from my last 5k dropped over 6 minutes from the one we did together to one he ran last weekend. I would be thrilled if I could do that... And in my mind I should be able to do that as well considering we were at the same speed before.

So this morning my goal was to stay under an 11 min/mile pace, definitely under a 12 min/mile pace. My first mile was great! I went a pr for my one mile time and went 10:48. Definitely under my goal!! Yay! Unfortunately mile two was not so great. No where near as great. I had to stop to walk twice totaling proably a tenth if conbined. Mile two was 13 min flat! :(. No where near the pace I wanted to hold. Although i did go another pr for my best two mile time! I wasn't finished with my workout so I continue to run, vowing I would go faster the last few minutes. I ran another .66 of a mile and was able to hold a 12:25 pace. Better but still over what I had originally set out to do.


So my question is why can't I be happy for what I acheived today rather than be disappointed by what I couldn't do? Jeremy says I set my goals to high... Is that wrong though?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, August 15, 2010

getting braver

Yesterday it was time for my 8 mile run. For some reason i just wasn't looking forward to it, like i had the 7 miler. mainly bc it was supposed to be mid 80's by 10am. jeremy and i decided to get up early, 6:30am, and try to get out by 7. our 7 was more like 7:30. as we drove by all the bank thermometers, they told us we should have come out earlier, as it was already 79 degrees.

today i decided i wanted to change my interval some. i'm trying to find what works best for me. the week before i had run the first 2 miles, then gone to run 1, walk 1 for the next five. i decided i was going to be a little bit braver and go for run 2, walk 1 for the first 5 miles, then after that if i was struggling i would switch to run 1, walk 1. and so that is what i did. the first 5 miles felt good, really the first 6.5 felt good. it was overcast so the sun wasn't beating down on me the whole time even though it was warm and humid. unfortunately the last 1.5 miles, the sun decided to make an appearance and it got HOTTER quick! the last 1.5 were pretty brutal. my run 1, walk 1 became for a run 1, walk 2-3. there was a hill at the start of mile 7 that i walked up. when i got to 7.5, jeremy was there waiting for me. he had done 10 and said he would run the last .5 with me. it was great to have him there with me at the end.

i got a new PR for 5 miles by several minutes and was only 2 seconds off of my best 5k time! my average pace was 25 seconds faster per mile than last weeks 7 mile run average. so i am getting faster!

i also am proud to say that i ran closer to town yesterday. usually i run at the park or through a neighborhood, but never have i ventured into town. to me that is the ultimate run. to be able to run through town signifies that 1) lots more people that i know will see me 2)lots more people that i dont know will see me, 3)i am a true runner if i run through town bc of both 1 and 2, and 4)runners that run in town are fit and have a "runners body". bc i'm still 40-50 pounds overweight, running through town hasn't been an option bc i dont have that "runner's body". for some reason though yesterday i wanted to venture towards town, not into it, just closer to it! i ran towards main street, then i turned off and ran down another popular road and back to the park. that was as close as i had come to becoming an in town runner. hopefully as my training increases, the weight comes off, and the more comfortable i feel, i will eventually run down main street or even on centre college's campus but that's for another day!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Bike Night

It has been a while since i have gotten to bike with the group. due to twila's childcare, we have been biking on wednesdays but just not with "the group". which is fine with me, i like biking just the 2 of us or 4 of us if a couple swimmers go to. i go with the C group and even then i am at the back of the group. but hey i'm out there doing it! the leader of the pack, rick, is awesome and he stays at the back with me and whoever else is back there and gives us some biking tips.

tonights tips:
dogs - when they come running up try to command them like their master would, or if that doesnt work try the opposite and baby them. hopefully one way or the other, they'll leave you alone.
gears - work your gears so you are pedaling the same throughout, whether you are going uphill, downhill, or flat. make them work for you, not against you.

tonight's trek was 22 miles. it was the second longest ride ever, the longest still being the first time i rode with the group.

unfortunately, due to twila's childcare issues next week, me having outpatient surgery the following week, and starting to work night shift again the week after that, this is my last group bike night for a while. although i'm sad to not be able to go for several months, i will enjoy getting to bike with jeremy since we'll be on the same schedule and able to work out together.

as far as my half training goes, this week my short runs are 27 min and my long run will be 8 miles on saturday. next week my short runs go up to 30 minutes and will stay at that time length right up until the half. my long runs will go up each week. so far so good with the training! i can't wait to get my 13.1 sticker and put it on my car! :)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

7 miles...

Another first for me today. i ran 7 miles today at a faster pace than i ran my 5 miles a few weeks ago. in fact a whole 1 min. 10 seconds faster per mile. which means that my first 5 miles today were 7 min. faster than before!! go me!

the first 2 miles were torture. i found out that 1+2 really does equal 3. as in 2 prerun imodiums + 1 mile in = 3 trips to the bathroom over the course of the next mile. yikes! i definitely wanted to quit but i knew that really wasnt an option.

i ran the first 2 miles today and then did my run 1, walk 1 intervals for the next 5 miles. the weather was perfect, mid 70's during the run and low humidity. can't wait for cooler weather and the half in the fall.

i didnt run with music, so i just let myself think and what i found was i think about thinking about stuff. twila says she gets bored running and thinks about all sorts of stuff, i on the other hand was just thinking "wonder what i think about?" the answer is, not much! i usually am doing math in my head after looking at the garmin every few minutes, the occasional prayer to God to get me to a bathroom quickly, or i wonder where jeremy is on the course and if i'll pass him :) funny thing is, during my 7 miles and his 12 miles we only passed each other once when we both had 2 miles left.

i ate some grape sport beans on the way to the park and i really do think that helps with my energy level during my run. i would like to try the gu or other foods during the run but haven't bought anything yet.

overall a very successful run!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

a big thanks!

Twila and I have been swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays. What started off as lessons have now turned into swimming laps to train for a sprint tri. Last night while making plans for swimming tonight, Twila asked if I wanted to run after with her. I said yes and was EXTREMELY apprehensive about running with her (the girl's 5K PR is sub 25 if that tells you anything)! I told my husband that I was as nervous about running with her tonight as I get before running an actual 5k race. Jeremy just consoled me and told me that it's the same when he runs with his brother, who has to slow down for him.

Twila's training for a full marathon and needs to work on her marathon pace, which is pretty close to my "fast pace". Plus she will push me to go faster which is what i need, so it really does work out.

After swimming, we changed into our running attire, which i also want to add has to be the worst thing ever. Sports bras were not made to put on a wet body! Even after drying off, there is just something about being in a pool and getting out and putting on that type of clothing!

I needed to run for at least 25 minutes (what my half program called for the night). We ran through a flat neighborhood behind the pool for the first mile, which also happens to be a 1 mile PR for me by 31 seconds! I was really happy with this and know that i wouldnt have been able to do it if i had done it on my own and without someone there pushing me.

i really liked running with someone (I hope she did too!) and we are planning on running again on thursday. with my half training since it's a run/walk program i've been doing 1 min. fast run, 1 min fast walk on the treadmill to work on my 5k speed. however, tonight i could tell that my endurance for being able to run for any amount of time without stopping has decreased. i'm not sure how i'll handle that. i still want to work on my speed, but need to keep my endurance up as well. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Sweaty Bands Winners are.....

Twila and Emily! Yeah Girls!


Result:
9
Emily said...
Posted your blog contest on my FB wall

July 27, 2010 5:50 PM


AND

Result:
4
Twila and Kris said...
following blog

July 27, 2010 5:37 PM