6 Miles. Fast!

I'm so excited to be writing about this past week.

I concluded my weekday workouts with Zumba on Wednesday night (LOVE) and then a really nice 5 mile run Thursday morning.  I was worried I would not be even close to my great pace Tuesday, but I beat it!  I finished 5 in 51:42, which is just faster than Tues. with a 10:19min/mile pace.  Amazed!

I guess I was feeling particularly energetic this week because I went to Zumba Thursday night and had a blast.  I wanted to fit in another workout, but this weekend was Darren's first birthday! and I just knew I would not fit my Sat. morning Zumba class in.  I was surprised that I didn't feel dead after Zumba and was only slightly sore Friday morning in my quads.

I relaxed Friday and Saturday.  Darren was very cute eating his cake at his party Sat. :)  What a blessing to be able to celebrate these milestones with our babies.


Today for my long run Hal Higdon suggests a 10K at race pace.  I don't really know what my race pace is but I really was dreaming about 10 minute miles -especially after my 9:30ish min/mile 5K a few weeks ago.  I broke the 10K down to 6 miles just for the mental edge of trying to beat an hour doing 6 miles at 10 minutes/mile.

The long and short is that I did it!!!  I finished 6 miles in 59:59!!! Only 1 second to spare!  I think I was "sprinting" the last quarter mile watching the clock.  I was pretty sure if I pulled it all out I just might make it.  I am so happy!

The first mile felt pretty good, but I was just sure I would never be able to hold the pace.  I felt even more sure I would crash and burn after the second.  I just kept telling myself to keep it going.  I pushed from my glutes as much as I could and kept my arms going.

I tried to just keep thinking about my movement and breath.  I was in an in for 2 steps, out for 1 step, in for 1 step, out for 1 step breath almost from the beginning.  I usually run with in 3 steps out for 2 steps, but that wasn't enough to push me through a 10 minute mile.

I meant to wear my heart rate monitor, but I also was trying to get out of the house as quickly as I could so that I could get back to the kids and Tom.

I feel great.   YAY!  

Have a great week everyone and thank you for reading!

Looong Run fever!

I killed my 8 miler on Sunday!  When I had completed 5 miles I realized I was going to have extra gas in the tank when I got home so I picked up the pace.  I'm not saying it was easy breezy, but I wanted to feel like I left everything out there.  I was very tired when I finished. It was the end of the day-chasing daylight home and Jer had been particularly crazy all day.  I wasn't sure how the run would go when I started, but I was very pleasantly happy with the results.  

I love my long runs!  This spring, if you had told me I would run 8 miles this fall I would have had a hard time believing!  Thank you thank you Hal Higdon.  Your program is spot on!

Yay!

Also this morning I ran 5! And for me I was fast!  Yay again!

Nice splits! Woot woot!  Happy Tuesday!

Getting myself excited

I'm going to run 8 miles today.  I'm trying to remind myself of all the great reasons I run so that I don't psych myself out and instead get excited!  

Here's one.  The view of my flashy shoes is pretty great :)

Happy Sunday!

Lets get up to speed

I have sat down at the computer several times over the last week only to be pulled away by my 3 year old.  He has just stopped taking his afternoon nap and we are both adjusting!  Anyway, I have a lot to bring you up to speed about.

Tech

Shoes:  The Tri-noosa Asics came and they were tight and stiff even an entire size larger than the shoes I have been wearing.  They were VERY pretty with all of their crazy colors, but it wasn't enough.  Thankfully Zappos is very easy to return shoes to.  I was back to square one looking for Gel-nimbus 14s.  On a whim I looked at Zappos because they seemed to have the best price (easiest return policy) and THEY HAD THE CRAZY COLOR Nimbus 14s!!! only in my size!  I was so excited as I quickly purchased them!  Someone must have returned them knowing I needed them.  HA!

They have arrived and I have worn them to Zumba twice and out on my run once.  They seem just fine.  I hope that continues to be the case!

Heart Rate:  I used my birthday money from my parents to buy a Polar heart rate monitor.  It is the FT4 model.  I have used it at Zumba and out on my mid-week and long runs.  I was mostly interested to make sure I was working hard enough on my "hard" runs and not too hard on my long runs.   What I have learned so far is that I go a little too hard on long runs and I'm at about the correct heart rate % of max for my hard runs.  I have also found that at Zumba is a very nice HIIT workout.  During some of the songs I'm at only 60% of max and others I'm at about 90%.  It's also really  nice to see how many calories you are burning!

Road ID:  I also purchased a bracelet with my name/ birth year, emergency contacts and my allergies to wear when I'm out training.  I have actually decided to wear it all of the time.  Sometimes when I'm out with the boys I think crazy things like, "what if I was unconscious and no one knew who to call for the boys?".  They are too young to tell anyone who they are.  I try not to be a crazy anxious person but it makes me feel a bit better wearing the bracelet.  It's the slim from RoadID.  It was not expensive and it's pretty cute.  (Also, I have put quite a bit into my little running habit and had sort of overlooked the "what to do in an emergency" part -I highly recommend getting one)  They also have non-bracelet options.

Back to the actual running!

Tuesday after I wrote about  my amazing 5K I ran a very solid 4.5 just under 11min/mile. It was pretty tough.  I really pushed it on Sunday with that fast 5K!

Wednesday was of course ZUMBA!!! I can't get enough of that stuff!

Thursday was another 4.5 that was even more challenging than Tuesday.  I was pretty slow but it got done!

Friday I rested and rested.  Ah

Saturday there was no Zumba class.  Instead we went to the hospital and had Darren's 1 year-old anemia/lead screen blood drawn... I would have MUCH rather been dancing.  Poor little guy!  We played the rest of the day and I didn't do a formal exercise.  Sometimes rest is so very good!

Sunday was long run day!  7 miles baby!  I was pretty slow but nothing horrible.  I ran along the river and then turned around after 3.5.  I was pretty tired at the end.  I have been eating honey stingers gummy chews during my long run and carrying an 8oz of water and an 8oz of Nuun.  Seemed to be a good combo.  I ate one chew after each mile with a gulp alternating Nuun one mile and water the next.  It also seemed to make the miles go faster.  "Another chew?  Already? Nice!"  Then all the sudden my run was over!  I was going to jump into our still open pool -which is very cold, but by the time I was free to do so I had cooled down and was actually "cold".

On Monday I spent a lot of time on the floor playing with the kids and rolling my body with my foam roller and a tennis ball.  They think it's so funny.  My calves were sort of sore.  I rolled and rolled.

By Tuesday I felt pretty good and ran a solid 4.5 without too much difficulty.  I did not take any water out with my and had a 12oz of fruit punch accelerade before the run and chugged a full 16oz of Nuun on my way to the shower.  That seemed to work out well.

Wednesday was ZUMBA!!!  I was tired.  But I rocked it!

Thursday was another 4.5.  I had to keep distracting my brain from the run but I held on and finished a little under 11min/mile.  I took water with me because I felt a bit dehydrated from Zumba the night before.  I also drank 16oz Nuun before my shower.  I didn't recover well from my run.  I was cranky even after a banana, an apple, a turkey and cheese wrap, and some milk.  I didn't feel right until I finally thought maybe a GU energy gel might make me feel better.  Then I was fine.  Maybe a little too sugar low?  I felt like I needed sugar and caffeine.  The GU had some caffeine and obviously sugar.

That brings us to today = rest day.  Ah.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Fast! Hey, all this running is paying off!

Slated for my Sunday long run this week was a 5K race.  I didn't find an actual race to attend so I just ran it against myself.  I was really hoping to do a solid 10 minute mile for the duration of the 3.1.  I even did a little warm up "lap" to work out the stiffness I feel at the beginning of my runs so that when I started recording I would be fast!  I pushed and pushed and I did 9.30 minute miles!!!! WOW.  For me that's fantastic!  My phone died right at the end of 3 miles so I didn't finish the .1 of the 5K and instead rushed inside to revive my phone and save my run.  My splits were 9.39, 9.30, and 9.39 mins/mile.  I'm amazed and very excited.

I guess all this running IS paying off!

I felt like I was running pretty hard and I guess I was.  I usually do just under 11 for my typical training runs and a bit over 11 for my long ones.  

It probably helped that I took Sat. off from Zumba (it was canceled anyway) and so I hadn't exercised since Thursday morning.  Even my hip was feeling a bit better with two days off.  Back to lots of hydrating and stretching today also hopefully some strength exercises.  Probably ones to help with the IT band.  

Have a great week everyone!

Eastbay, you broke my heart

I just received and email from Easybay that my shoes are sold out...  I just looked all over the Internet and I can't find the ones I want anywhere.  I'm crushed.  I really wanted to stay with the same style shoe and just go up a half size.  This was great because they are now an old style and I found them pretty cheap (compared to what I paid in Feb.).  Then I became enchanted by the neon catastrophe and now I don't want the "plaine" colors that are still available in my style.  They mostly have the color I already have left.  Guess I picked some ugly shoes... Lol. I don't want another pair in the same color.  That seems way too boring.  

So back to square one I'm going with some Asics gel noosa tri 8s (shoes have the craziest names).  I had Asics gel- nimbus 14.  Of course it was the crazy colors that drew me in to the tri noosas, but they also had very solid reviews on Zappos (118 of them).  

Hopefully this isn't a horrible idea 6 weeks out from my half.

Crossing fingers!  

New Toys!

Oh!  I just got a heart rate monitor!  Super excited to take it for a spin and see if I'm in the right zone when I run!

Also, I ordered new running shoes a half size up because a toe on my right foot is contacting the front of my current shoes and has what I think is a blister on top of a very deep blister.  It isn't very painful, I would just prefer to keep as much of my skin as possible.  I was reading that a lot of people have to get bigger shoes once they start running 5 miles or more in a pop, and wouldn't you know I just got there and my feet are getting too big for their britches!  I was able to find the exact model shoe I have, but in a FANCY CRAZY color super cheap and I'm so excited for them to come.

I ran a race!

I'm from the small village of Heuvelton, nestled in the St. Lawrence river valley in (Very) northern New York.  We call this area "the North Country".  Heuvelton has a very nice small-town Labor Day festival.   Tom and I entered the almost 4 mile run on Saturday morning.  He pushed the boys.  It was a great morning for a run.  Pretty cool and there was a nice mist that was almost rain.  I like to run in the rain.  

I was pretty excited and anxious for the race.  Now that I have finished last in a race I'm so worried it will happen again.  Thankfully there were at least as many walkers as runners.  The walkers had a 10 minute lead on the runners.  It was fun to pass them.  I decided to try and run fast.  My first mile was a 9:20 min/mile pace.  I think this is the fastest mile I have ever recorded.  !!!!  I was pretty stoked, but by the end of two miles I was pretty dead.  The third mile was pretty grueling.  My pace dropped to about 11 mins/mile.  I remember literally telling myself I had to put a little more effort into it than a shuffle.  I pushed pretty hard in the last mile and finished in 39 minutes.  That's an average of 10.20 mins/mile.  Not bad for me!  Tom did a fantastic job pushing the boys and finished in 33?  I think that's amazing.  I'm sooo slow if I push the stroller.  The boys were troopers about the rain and were very content snuggled into the jog stroller with their snacks.  

I did the race instead of going to Zumba.  I was slated to run 6 miles on Sunday and I really wanted to do it because it would be the farthest distance I have ever gone.  I think Tom thought I was a little crazy since I had just pushed pretty hard the day before, but I set out and he strapped the boys in a pushed for a few miles himself.  It was pretty tough.  It was hot and sunny and the late afternoon.  I was maybe jogging a 11-11.30 min/mile?  I just kept putting my feet one step ahead.  I envisioned a clock face broken up into 6 pieces and watched the hands go around in my mind.  Once I hit 4 miles I felt like I was home free.  Two more miles wasn't that hard.  When I was finished I waded into the pool and Tom handed me baby Darren and I walked around for a while in the cold water.  I felt pretty good!  I recall thinking that I could probably do it again for a total of 12 miles (VERY slow ones, but it felt do-able). I used Nuun in my water bottles on my fitness belt and ate a honey stinger chew after each mile.  Switching to Gu and honey stinger chews is MUCH better than the gummy bears.  They don't bother me at all and seem to help me push past the sugar low feeling I usually get after 3 miles.  I don't think I could eat a Gu while running because they are so thick I think I would gag, but the chews are nice and the fruit flavor is nice and refreshing.  I washed them all down with a gulp of Nuun.  I also drank a gulp of Nuun at each half mile.  At the end of the workout I ate a Gu energy gel.  I did this mostly because right after getting out of the pool we took showers and went to the fireworks display -I figured I needed some energy before I could flop into bed later.  

Monday I was sore sore sore sore.  I guess I have IT band issues.  For me there is no knee pain or tight feeling in my legs, it is all in the Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL) -the muscle at the top of the IT band, right up under my hip crest on my outer right side.  Looks like I need to strengthen and stretch my bum more and work on getting the kinks out of the TFL before it gets worse.  (I should probably see a Dr....) I'll see if I can keep it under control and go from there.  It has been bothering me from the beginning -even back when I was only walking.  I guess this is common and has to do with a gait that is more TFL and not enough glute.  I proceeded with my Tuesday and Thursday runs of 4 miles each.  The first mile is pretty stiff and then I feel pretty good.  Wednesday was Zumba.  I'm  not sure if it hurts my TFL... There is a lot of hip movement, which I think should be good to keep it loose and to work all the supporting muscles... We'll see.

That's it for now!