Four for Friday

Thanks for all your comments on my last post.  I am going to keep up with my long runs on the weekends (although I'm taking this weekend off) and during the week - work on speed!

1.  I love Starburst Jellybeans!  They are the best jellybean ever and I hate that they only carry them at Easter time.  I bought a bag on Monday and they are already gone.  Luckily for me, Jeremy doesn't like them, so they are all MINE!

2.  I had  a swim parent from another team make a couple tshirt quilts for me.  One was for me that had all my swimming tshirts from when I swam and all my coaching shirts.  There is 26 years of swimming wrapped up in that quilt! 

The other quilt I had made was for Jeremy.  He loves his race shirts, but can't wear them all and didnt want to get rid of them, so what else is there but to make a quilt of them!! 

3.  Last night we had our high school swim banquet.  This is my last year and I did get choked up a couple times.  Before the banquet I met the kids that had broken school records at school so we could switch out their names. Gotta a little teary during this as well. Some of the records had been there for a long time and I was glad to see them get broken while I was the coach. 

J. Snider

O. Stone

A. Rudd

4. Starting next Monday, Jeremy and I are going to start "dieting". I hate to say dieting because it should be a lifestyle change, yada yada. But we have to "diet" first and change our eating habits to make it a lifestyle change.  In the past I have lost weight and it has come back on with force.  I hope that I can lose and through running keep it off this time.  There have been a lot of articles written on the book "Racing Weight" that I have read (even though I haven't read the book) that say you should work on your weight before you train for something big.  So, I guess this goes back to what I posted the other day -

Should I focus on my eating habits and weight now only for a month or two since I dont have a half coming up?? or Should I continue with what my current plan is (long run still on weekend, speed during week) and change my eating habits at the same time? 

When I trained for the half last fall, I lost about 15-20 pounds but it took several months for that to happen.  I was running more than I ever had, plus biking.  It came off a lot slower than I though it should. I'm sure I was building muscle and all that jazz but I really wanted to see that scale drop! For those of you that have read the book, what do you suggest?  I need to buy it and read it myself, but just some quick comments would help get me started!

Waited too Long

Last month I signed Jeremy up for the Ky Derby Half Marathon.  I didnt sign myself up at the time bc I was waiting to make sure I was going to be in shape enough to do it. I really want to break 3 hours (my last half was 3:00.42 - so close!) but I haven't been close to the practice run times I had before the fall half.

Well, Twila sent me a text a night or two ago and said she had looked and it was full!  WHAT?!?! Both the full (which I never plan on doing) and the half are full.  they have 250 charity bibs to give away 2 days before the half but you have to be there at 11am to get one and there's no way I can go and try.  

I was up to 7 miles on my long run and was set to do 9 this weekend.  But with the half being closed I dont know what to do...

1)do i continue my half training and try to keep it at a level where i could run a half at any time like jeremy does (even though there are no half's close that i want to do til the fall) 
or
2) do i change my goal and focus on my 5k time/speed and trying to break 30 minutes this summer? 

What's a girl to do?

Mini Heart Half and 5K

This morning Jeremy participated in the Heart Mini Marathon in Cincinnati.  His goal was to break 2 hours.  In the half he did last fall he was 2:02....so close.  We went up to Cincy last night and stayed with one of my best friends and her husband.  Her husband scared Jeremy because he said it was a very hilly course, even hillier than the Flying Pig! If any of you have researched the Pig you know it is hilly.  This put it to shame according to a guy Jeremy talked to after the race. 

The weather was supposed to be cloudy with some rain moving in later that morning.  No such luck - we woke up and it was already raining.  :( It rained, then would stop, drizzle, then stop, then rain the entire time. 

Here are some pics before the half started.

Alyson and I headed back to the car since the 5k didnt' start for 2 and a half more hours.  You may be wondering, wasn't I supposed to do a 15k?? yeah, i was but i woke up Friday morning and my left hamstring was killing me.  it hurt to walk. i have no idea what i did but i knew there was no way i could do 9 miles, so i dropped down the to the 5k and boy am i glad i did. 

here's the elevation map for Jeremy's half. the first 1.5 miles would be the first half of the 5k, the first 9 miles were the 15k course.  as you can see it was up and down the whole time. 

We came back to the finish line just in time to see Alyson's husband cross.  There was still about 20 minutes left before the 2 hour mark, so we found a spot by the gate and watched for Jeremy.  The time kept getting closer and closer to 2 and I was getting worried he wasn't going to make it.  Then Alyson screamed there he is.  I looked at the clock and it said 2:00 something.  I knew he wasn't at the start of the line so he should have a minute or so to get in under 2 for his official time.  He made it with a of 1:59. 27!!  So proud of my baby, I teared up, as i got some pictures of him finishing!  He's in the green shirt with the 2 hour pace group.  He didn't stay with the pace group the whole time. He was ahead of them for most of the race but got passed within the last mile.  He was able to catch back up to them at the finish though. 

After I met up with him and handed over the camera and congratulated him, it was time for the 5k! Jeremy warned me it was hilly and to pace myself.  Should have listened better.  As we waited for the start it started pouring the rain.  :(  Luckily it did slack off some during the race, but running with glasses in the rain is not the easiest.  I started with Alyson but we had the understanding if one of us needed to go ahead to go on.  We started off and she said, see that ramp up there, we go up that!  Seriously??  This ramp was seriously a 45 degree angle up! blah!  the only good thing about it was we would be coming down it at the finish!  About 1/2 up the way of the hill i looked at my garmin and it said a 12min pace, which is good for me.  unfortunately it was way to fast for me on a hill too and i had to walk the last 1/3 up.  there was a small down hill once you crested the big hill, then another up long hill (walked again) to the turn around. I HATE HILLS!  I walked at the turn around where there was a water stop. Once we turned around we had a down hill, another uphill (walked again), then the big downhill!  I was feeling good at the last downhill but too little too late!!! The finish line was a little confusing they had a mat about .05 from the finish, so when i crossed it I stopped my watch and slowed down.  Then I saw 3 more mats ahead and realized that was the real finish.  Rats!! My official time was 43:19.  Not too bad considering all the hills!

me and Jeremy after the race with our medals!

me and Alyson, who went a 37 min in the 5k with no training!  The girl ran track in hs and still has those runners legs!

Alyson, Jeremy and I after the race

All the festivities were to benefit the American Heart Association.  We were on a team with Alyson and some of her friends. I think there were 50 people on the team, in all the various races.  One of Alyson's friends lost their 7 month old baby daughter to an undetectible heart disease a couple years ago so the team had "Team Audrey" shirts in honor of the baby. 

All in all I am not too disappointed in my time even though it wasn't a PR, due to all the hills!

We walked around the square after the race where they had a couple booths and a band set up. They were giving away bananas, pretzels, apples, chocolate milks, ice cream sandwiches, bottles of tea and goetta sausage (so good)!

fountain square

Soakin' It Up

Today is a long day - midterms are this week and the library is open til 2AM rather than midnight. Which means I get to go into work an hour later than normal - which in turn gives me more time to do stuff before I go to work.  Today I went and visited some friends at a school I used to work at.  It was good to see everyone again.  :)

As soon as I got home I really wanted to take a nap. I mean I had 2 hours before I went in to work, what better way to spend it than by taking a nap?!  However, I did the right thing and got on the treadmill.  I didnt run yesterday so I knew I had to today, mainly because I have a 15K on Sunday!!   EEEK!!  I originally had 9 mile training run planned this weekend but discovered this 15K and half marathon only a couple hours away. Luckily it's about 20 minutes from where my best friend lives so it was a no brainer!  I get to kill 3 birds with 1 stone: i will be forced to do all 9.3 miles for my long run, my husband will be doing the half in hopes of breaking 2 hours (he was so close last fall, only 2 minutes off) AND I get to spend some quality time with my bestie!!  WOOHOO!! 

I popped in the Friends DVD and hopped on the treadmill.  I started walking for a few minutes before I realized that Jeremy had turned the volume down and I could barely hear it.  I stopped the tmill, hit the lap button instead of stop button on the garmin and turned up the tv.  since i hit the wrong button i just completely reset the tmill and my watch.  I made sure to wear my footpod since our tmill is whacky! 

I started walking the first couple minutes again and then turned up the speed.  I looked down a couple times at my watch, something i try not to do and was amazed every time i looked at it.  10:50, 11 mpm... WHAT?? This is me right?  I even saw a 9 in there somewhere!!  I did take one walk break in the middle but even my walking was faster than normal!

I finished 1.61 miles in under 20 minutes.  12:25 average for the whole run, which included my walking at the start and in the middle!  my first mile was 12:53 i think, and the .6 was 11 something.   I am still soaking it in that I did this. The only downfall of this run was that I had forgotten to put my sweatyband on before I got on the tmill and forgot again when I got off to turn the volume up. sweat was pouring into my eyes.  :(  boo!


What do you watch when you are on the treadmill?? 

Shamrock Shuffle 3K Recap, Bourbon Chase get together, and Giveaway Winner

Yesterday I participated in the Shamrock Shuffle 3K.  This is the third year my husband and I have participated in this race and the first year that the weather has been nice for it.  The past two years have been cold and rainy. :(

For various reasons I had not ran since last Sunday, but was not nervous beforehand about this race.  I felt confident I could get a PR.  The previous two times I had ran it, I had not run through the winter. To be honest I hadn't even really ran before the race period. 

The weather was really nice. About 50 degrees and sunny!! There was a slight wind, but nothing too bad.  There were 1800+ people, most of which dressed in green or in costumes!  Unfortunately I didnt have any green clothes to wear, but I did have on green eye shadown and a green sweaty band.  Oh, and I ran in my NEW black and purple shoes that had come in!!

This was also the first year that they had signs up for different paces. I went back to the under 21 sign, in front of the walkers.  Jeremy and his brother Jordan stayed up with the under 14 minute runners.  While waiting for the race to start a woman came up to me and asked if I was Mindy. I said "no my name is Crystal" and she walked away.  Then she came back to me and said "you have a blog dont you? I read your blog!" Very cool!!!  Jil, if you are reading "HI!""  :)  After the race started, she zoomed past me! :)

My legs felt good for not having ran all week.  However, my breathing was a little eratic.  The past three times I had run, it had been controlled and I wasn't heaving or huffing and puffing. Yesterday I wasn't huffing and puffing but i was having some trouble catching my breath.  Of course I was going faster than I had on the previous 3 runs also. 

I finished the race with a 12:14 average for a time of 22:52.  Which was 4 minutes faster than last years time and 3 minutes faster than the year before!!  Woo hoo! One the way back to the car we ran into some friends and took a couple pictures! 

me and jeremy after the Shuffle and yes my eyes are closed :(

Jeremy and I and the Andersons after the Shuffle                  

After the race we went and ate breakfast with my brother in law, neice, and inlaws, then hit up BabiesRUs for some upcoming showers I have to attend.  My calves were getting tight, but luckily I had brought my compression socks with me. I slipped them on and within 20 minutes my calves were feeling so much better!!  It really was amazing at how well they worked! 

Jeremy made me take them off several hours later. He said he was afraid my legs would fall off from no circulation!  :)

On Saturday night, our team (minus 2) that are currently planning on running on our 200 mile Bourbon Chase Relay team in early October came over to our house for a meeting/get together/get to know ya dinner.  We ate and talked about some of the logistics of running the race.  The chase is through the heart of Kentucky and runs past 6 Bourbon distilleries - Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, 4 Roses, Wild Turkey, and Woodford Reserve.  It starts on Friday, runners run through the night, and finish during the day on Saturday.  Should be very fun!!

And what you have all been waiting for......
The winner of my 100th post giveaway is:

Meredith said...


It would be easier to tell you what my UNfavorite cookie is. The lemon ones that they used to have. Ick. However, I love equally Thin Mints, Shortbread Cookies, Tagalongs and Samoas.

Yay Mer!!!  Send me your email and address and I'll get this out to you! :)

slacker

Lot of things going on this week, unfortuanely running has not been one of them!! :(

Last run was my 7 miles on Sunday.  My legs were sore for a couple days after and so I rested.  I have a 3k race this weekend that I am looking forward to and I didnt want to be in pain for it. so today I biked instead of ran.  I will bike tomorrow too. 

Yesterday we accepted an offer on our house and hopefully if everything goes according to plan will be moved by the middle of April!!  Now to begin packing!!

Jeremy and I both ordered some running shoes off amazon last weekend.  His came today, mine should come tomorrow!!  He got the Asics 2160 in red.  He has been wanting red shoes since he started running but could only find a wide in blue.  But now he has red and is a happy boy. 

We also ordered some green CEP compression socks.  Because of my man calves (seriously they are almost as big as Jeremy's) I had to get men's socks.  But on the practical, frugal side, we can both wear them!  :)

Dont forget about my 100th post giveaway here.  Last day to enter is Saturday!

2 in 1 run - 7 miles and a virtual 5k

Yesterday was supposed to be my 7 miler, but due to various reasons it got pushed back to today. Which ended up working out perfectly bc it was pouring the rain yesterday with 20mph winds. Today it was cold, but no rain and only 10 mph winds.  Also, we were showing our house today and had to be gone for 2 hours.  Temperature was 36 degrees but felt like 25.  I was freezing when I finished and only now 3 1/2 hours later am I finally warm. 

I had signed me and my hubby up for Jeff at Detroit Runner's "I Just Felt Like Running" virtual 5k several weeks ago.  This coincided with my 7 mile run today and my hubby's first 5k of the year last weekend.

Jeremy did awesome last week.  The 5k he ran in had over 8,000 people!  He finished with his second best 5k time. Which is awesome considering it's only the beginning of this years season! 

I, however, did not PR or get anywhere near a PR for this race.  I ran how I would for a long run and didnt try to go fast the first 3.1 miles bc I knew I would be dead the last 4 miles.  I ran with my friend katie who is faster than I am but she didnt care and just wanted to catch up and hang out while running, which was fine with me!  We took off and about a mile and a half in we had to stop for a minute or two bc Katie's calves were cramping.  My shins were hurting but not too unbearable.  After she stretched we were off again.  I hit my lap button at 3.12 so I would know what my time was for the virtual 5k.  We ran a little bit fartehr and at the half way point of our run, we stopped to walk while I ate a Gu. Then we were off again.  When we got to 7 miles we werent' at the car yet but we decided to walk the rest of the way, which happened to be about .23 miles more. 

I was so proud of myself for only stopping twice during 7 whole miles!!  This was a shock to me - I could run that long without walking??? Then when i got home and looked at my garmin I wasn't as thrilled. :(  I had run quite a minute per mile slower than my 4 mile run and a couple minutes slower per mile than my pace at the half marathon last fall.  BOO!! 

I have a 15k coming up in 2 weeks and I am in a quandry of what to do.  Do I run and not walk with the chances of going at a pace much slower than I would like, or go back to my run/walk method and see if that improves my time?  I hate to try something new in a race but I would like to get this figured out, the sooner the better.

100th post - a giveaway, my return to chocolate, and other randomness

Lots of things going on today.

1) This is my 100th post!  Yay!!  Thank you all for reading and following me on this journey.

2)Yesterday (Friday) was the last day of my "no chocolate" diet.  I celebrated my success by eating 4 thin mint girl scout cookie when I got up this morning.  :) So nice to finally eat that yummy goodness again!

3)Purple and Black shoes won by a landslide! 

4)I registered for a 15K on March 20th. I am supposed to do 9 miles that weekend for my training, so I figured why not do it in a race? That way I know I'll do all 9(.3)!  All proceeds to go the American Heart Association.  There is a link on the left side of my page if you would like to donate towards this cause. 

5) To celebrate my 100th post and my return to chocolate I am doing a giveaway!  In the giveaway are: 2 bondi bands, 5 chocolate gu's, and a container of body glide.
There are several ways to enter, please leave a comment for each. You have until Saturday at midnight on March 12th,, 2011 to enter. Winner will be announce on Sunday using random generator.

mandatory entries
**become a follower of my blog or tell me if you already are (1 entry)
**put my blog on your blogroll list or tell me if it already is (1 entry)
additional entries
**post this giveaway on your blog (1 entry)
**donate $5 to the heart walk on the right side of my blog (2 entries - leave 2 separate comments)
**tell me what your next race coming up is (1 entry)
**tell me what your favorite girl scout cookie is (1 entry)

Need Your Opinion!!

Post #99!!

I am in desperate need of new running shoes. I went a couple weeks ago to the local running store to get fitted and to make sure I still need the type of shoe that I have - Asics Gel Nimbus.  I love my Gel Nimbus! But was disappointed that they only had one color to choose from.  I really want a pair of green shoes and they could only get me blue.  I decided to go elsewhere and see if I could find green ones.  To my surprise and dismay, Asics doesnt make the women's shoe in green.  The new Asics Gel Nimbus come out in May but I dont think I can wait that long for shoes. I noticed a hole in the top part of the shoe and the inside is very worn.

So here is where I need your help.  Since I can't get the green :( i need to pick another color that they do make.  Below are the choices, please comment on which color you like best.  I really can't decide between the two.

Option 1 - black and purple

Option 2 - blue

My next post will be #100 - 7 miles on Saturday and a giveway!

The Prince and I

Today was my first run this week, since last Wednesday, to be exact.  I didn't feel like going but knew i needed to do it anyway.  Jeremy was going to run today too and had waited on me to get home so we could go together. 

It was beautiful out today - the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, around 50 degrees, slight breeze. Perfect!

I decided that I was just going to run today. I was not going to think about my pace or my time, just run.  Listen to my music and run.  Look for letters in the world and run.   (I want to find things that make letters and take a picture of them. Then I can spell out peoples names and frame them.) I get so focused on time and pace that it takes all the fun out of running.  I need to find the "fun" in it or I'm not going to continue doing it.  It's an internal arguement with myself everytime its a run day.  I dont want it to be like that.

After my 4 miles of only walking twice, I wanted to see if i could run for 2 miles without stopping to walk, no matter how slow I ran. I was able to do 2.4 miles with no walking.  my pace was a little slower but not as much as I thought it would be.  The best part is that I DID IT! with the help of Prince of course.  I dont know what it is but I really like listening to Prince's music when running.  Last fall at the half, it was Prince and Nickelback that got me through. 

there is a 3k in a couple weeks that i want to get a PR in. I've ran it the previous 2 years. But this will be the first year i know that i can run the whole thing  :)  and that I will have actually been training and running for more than a week before it.

Who is that artist that gets you through?