winding down july...

Yesterday: P90X ab ripper, 2 mi walk, 18 mins bike, 18 mins elliptical, & weight machines at the gym

Today: 4.75 miles (9:10 pace)...little over a mile warm up, some "speed"-walk/jog breaks, & one mile cool down. I did make an effort to work on breathing & form.

This afternoon I'm walking to the gym to meet my trainer for 30 minutes so we can hammer away at my glutes & quads/IT Band area, then I'm jumping on a bike for a little while. I really like the convenience of this gym. J

So far for the year I have nearly 630 miles. (just over 131 miles for July).

This past week I got just over 36 miles.

15 miles of heat & hills....

To say that I'm happy with how this training run went would be an understatement. I felt pretty strong the entire way.  The only struggle was holding my pace back.
We gathered about 5:30am in front of "Mama's Java's" with about 10-12 other people. Most of us shooting between 10-15 miles. The route was pretty hilly. We went into neighborhoods that I don't think I've ever been in...running in & out of Brentwood & Nolensville. It was about 80% shaded with plenty of hills of all sizes.  You can pretty much tell where the hills were with how my paces fall & I waited on everyone at the water stops.

15 miles 2:31:54  Pace 10:08
Mile 1: 9:32
Mile 2: 9:25
Mile 3: 9:46
Mile 4: 10:00 (Hill)
Mile 5: 9:24
Mile 6: 9:36
Mile 7: 10:24 (Major Hill)
Mile 8: 9:32
Mile 9: 12:26 (water stop & waiting for everyone to catch up & give me directions.)
Mile 10: 10:02 (Hill)
Mile 11: 9:19
Mile 12: 12:20 (more hills & water stop & waiting on more directions. LOL!)
Mile 13: 11:01 (climbing more hills to get back to Nolensville Pike)
Mile 14: 9:13
Mile 15: 9:46
ok...back to Olympic watching!!! Go Team USA!!!!

friday grumblings....

Chicago has decided to use a corral system this year. In the past, they've put folks in corrals at the front based on a previous marathon or half marathon time & others in a big "open" corral.  Since my 1/2 PR is only 1:51:25 (& I've been no where near it since '06), I didn't qualify for a corral, no big deal, but I did intend to go near the front of the open corral.  Guess that won't be happening.  Joe will be starting sometime after 7:30am & I won't get to start until sometime after 8:00am.  Even more reason to pray for overcast skies & reasonable marathon temperatures. Oh well, if this turns into a hot 26.2 mile "training run" then at least we have Indy one month later. I'm in corral H....bleh!

On the upside, Joe & I joined our Lenox Village running group (Southside Runners) for a short run last night. Scott from the NRC is trying to help "pump" that group up a bit. I had run with them once before a few months ago, but there's something about running the same streets I run early in the morning that just kinda turned me off.  We did go across the road into an even hillier 'hood, of course.  I walked the bigger hills.  (3.5 miles 9:39 pace)  I did yoga, ab ripper, & spent some time on the bike in the gym while I waited on the group to gather. Today, I'm stretching everything out with P90X Stretch.  I am looking forward to tomorrow's 15 miles. 

Happy Weekend!

Second Guess Thursday...

At work we usually call different days, different things…Thursday has been called "2^nd Guess Thursday" on more than one occasion. ;-) How does this relate to my running? Well, I'm 2^nd guessing my cut back weekend long run on Saturday morning. We've only built up to 14 miles & yes, that is big but it's not even a mile longer than a half marathon. Do my legs really need a cut back week after that 14 miler? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt them but I'm 2^nd guessing that. We have a cut back week after the 16 miler, the 18, the 20, & the 21, of course. I feel GREAT, honestly, I feel stronger than ever….knock on wood! What spurred this on? Johnathon from the NRC run club has mapped out 15 miles with fluid stops along the way. Bless him! He's running 15 miles at a 10:00-10:30 pace. I ran 14 fairly hard, hilly miles last weekend at a 9:40 pace. I didn't go all out, of course, but I feel like I should've run it a tad bit slower. Everything that I've read online or been told says run your long runs at least 30 seconds slower than race pace. Well, I truthfully do NOT think I'll be running 26.2 miles in Chicago at a 9:10 or even a 9:20 pace. (Who knows, miracles do happen! I ran 26.2 at a 9:47 pace once on lack luster training.) Even though I have a few things going on Saturday other than running, I think it's doable. If I know where I'm at on the route & I feel good, I can speed up the last few miles. As far as my weekly mileage goes, last week was 35 miles (including my walks), this week's with the extra 5 miles, will only put me one mile more than that. Ok, I think I've talked myself into it. ;-P

2nd run on Wednesday. "easy"

No run is easy when it's 90+ degrees outside. :-P. I ran 4.01 at a 9:37 pace with some hills & chatted with the girls. Now that's progress. I couldn't have done this last year in this heat at this time. 9.68 miles for the day. We ate Martins BBQ afterwards. Soooo good! Happy Wednesday!

5.67 miles-early morning "Tempo"

Yes, it's "2 a day Wednesday" for me so I ran this morning.  After seeing how hot & nasty it's going to be this afternoon, I decided to try to get the tempo run done this morning before work.  We got out at 4:50am.  I put most of the hills in the first 2 miles & of course I went out too fast.  I ended up taking a few short walk breaks to get my heart rate/breathing under control.  I definitely went out of my comfort zone a bit.  This is supposed to be "comfortably" hard. ha!  Ugh, so much for an evenly paced run....  This afternoon will be a 4-5 mile "recovery" run. 

5.67 miles (I went over what I was shooting for....)  8:49 pace
Mile 1: 8:57
Mile 2: 7:58
Mile 3: 8:28
Mile 4: 9:45 (big walk break! ugh!)
Mile 5: 8:27
     .67:  9:32 (uphill finish) 

Stretching & Breathing

In the book I'm reading, "The Art of Running faster" by Julian Goater & Don Melvin, I read the chapters on stretching & breathing today.  There was only one version of a stretch that I've never done. It's the hurdler's stretch using a wall or table. I do the version where you sit on the floor. 
The "breathing" chapter says to try to do your steady runs while inhaling for 3 steps & exhaling for 3 steps for as long as you can maintain it.  It's called controlled breathing & it's what all good swimmers learn to do well.  Something to think about anyway.... So, now I am going to count my steps as I inhale/exhale, envision my legs/feet pedaling, & I'm going to try a new version of a stretch I've been doing for years.  Eh, can't hurt...

This morning I did Jillian Michael's yoga work out #2, the one with the "crow" move that I'll never be able to do with both feet up. You need balance, not just strength.  I can get one foot up & that's it.  Been doing this move for years now.  This afternoon, I'm doing ab ripper P90X & Jillian Michael's Shred.  The IT Band is going to get a good stretch tonight too because tomorrow is my favorite run day.  "2 a day Wednesday".  ;-P

November planning…

Sunday: 4.21 mi walk with Joe, ab ripper, 20 minutes on a bike, & weight machines at the gym.

Monday: 4.31 miles… "speed intervals" allowed for a longer warm up & cool down 9:46 pace overall.  This afternoon, I'm walking 2 miles round trip to the gym to work out with my trainer.

I think I have a month left with him. He is very inventive with some of the moves has his clients do. I watch him when he is working on others when he's done with me.

So, while eating breakfast Saturday morning at Mama's Java, Danielle asked me if I wanted to join the Ragnar team she's on & of course I said, "Yes." Scott laughed because I didn't bat an eye. Ha! So, I'm now on one of the 3 Nolensville Run club Ragnar teams. I really hope to get in their Van 2 instead of Van 1 so I can run a totally different route this time around.

The Tennessee Ragnar relay is the weekend of November 9^th this year. The weekend before that we will be in Indianapolis doing either the ½ marathon or the full. (If Chicago's weather is totally crappy, we'll end up running the full in Indy.)
I think I can handle the shorter legs of the relay either way. So, between those two weekends & Thanksgiving, we will be busy in November.

I've bought 3 Christmas gifts for the kids so far so I'm preparing for a busy November right now. ;-P

14 miles, rolling hills, & HUMIDITY!

I'm not even going to spend much effort complaining about the humidity this morning but you know it's going to be rough when everyone is complaining about it before we even start.  We were all wringing out our clothes when we finished. Crazy!

The route we took this morning took us over to the ball fields for 3 rather flat miles & then we headed south for an out & back. I consider it "rolling" but Joe considered it "hilly".  ha!  To me, "rolling" is better...uses all the muscles but doesn't kill ya.  Joe said, "I thought you said it wasn't hilly!"  I replied, "I never said it was hilly, I said "rolling"."  Anyway, we were a bit cranky in the thick fog of humidity but at least it was overcast. 

14 miles: 2:15:19  9:40 pace  (much better than last years 14 miler which were HILLY)  I ate shot bloks & drank grape nuun.) 

Mile 1: 9:32
Mile 2: 9:24
Mile 3: 9:24
Mile 4: 9:42
Mile 5: 9:45
Mile 6: 9:57
Mile 7: 9:22
Mile 8: 9:36
Mile 9: 10:09 (walk break)
Mile 10: 9:08 (big downhill)
Mile 11: 9:48
Mile 12: 9:48
Mile 13: 9:58
Mile 14: 9:39

This is about as consistent as I can get but let me tell ya, the last few miles were rough because what little clothes we had on were drenched.  We were ready to be done.
Such is the summer running in Tennessee....next weekend is a cut back week...long run 10-11 miles.

In the book I'm reading…..

They talk about three types of marathon training. One in which you log a certain amount of mileage per week with little to no "specific" pace/strength runs. Meaning, the beginner programs usually don't have very much speed work or hill work in them if any at all.

Another is a combination of miles per week along with some specific training workouts with speed and/or hill workouts. (lots of miles with a focus in mainly one area specific to the marathon course)  A lot of folks, myself specifically, get injuries. Last year, my goal was to do a lot of hills. I should have slowed it down a bit on the hills & concentrated on more specific training runs other than just hills.  (I blame my neighborhood & myself for that.  Nobody held a gun to my head & made me do a 21 miler, hilly 1/2 marathon, & 20 miler 3 weeks in a row without a cut back week.) 

A third is to make every single run count. Meaning, every run has a purpose. You're not just logging miles. You have the long run, the hill workout run, the speed work run, tempo run & the recovery run. Meaning that you run 5 times a week if you get all 5 of these in during the week...

We are trying to be more "specific" with our runs instead of just logging "junk" miles this time around. In the distant past, tempo runs really helped me with my speed but I almost never hit the track for speed work. I am working on "speed" every Monday morning from here on out now as I rambled about in an earlier post.

The Tempo run is supposed to be "comfortably hard". I believe I did this correctly this past Wednesday because I did talk to the folks around me a bit while running this hilly 5.1 mile route in Nolensville. I looked at my mile splits & every mile was under 9 minutes so there is some progress happening here. I have to be careful with this Wed evening run since it's very hilly, though.

Mile 1: 8:48

Mile 2: 8:41

Mile 3: 8:20

Mile 4: 8:36

Mile 5: 8:55

.1: 8:22

My goal is to do this route every week & get a little more "comfortably faster" on it & maybe even lengthen it a little each week. I really need to keep my form in check, too. This book also talks about form...relating it to how cyclists pedal. Cadence, the rotations, foot strike (no heel striking), shorter strides…It tells you to envision your feet pedaling but instead your feet are hitting the pavement softly with as little sound as possible. In other words, if your feet/shoes are making a lot of noise then you're working too hard & using too much energy to propel yourself forward. I've read all this before in the past but never read it as it relates to cycling. They talk about leaning forward from the waist just enough that you feel like you're going to fall forward if you don't move your feet fast enough. This may sound like a boring, snoring "read" to most people but it made me think of how effortless some folks run & they never seem to get injured. I long to be like that! ;-P Pictures of elite runners are in the book showing the running form. (Made me get excited about the upcoming track & field in the Olympic Games!)

Tomorrow's 14 miler will be the longest run I've done since November's NYC marathon. It's going to be rolling so who knows what pace I'll end up with but I'm looking forward to it. I want to finish it with a feeling that I could have run a little longer & maybe a little faster. Another thing this book touches on is "running by feel" & not being locked into a certain pace in your head or having your heart rate monitor dictate your pace. I'm all about running by feel but I tend to start out my long runs too fast. "Patience grasshopper" is what I will be repeating over & over in my head on these long runs leading up to Oct 7th.

Here's a reason to try to get your mile a little more speedy. Mark M. from East Nasty drove over to our Wed night group & gave a little speech about this race.  We might put it on our radar, who knows...it's cheap.  

TGIF everybody!

2nd run of the day: 5.1 hilly miles 8:40 pace

I started out ahead of our 9 min folks & found myself hanging onto Amy & Scott's group. They were running around an 8:30 pace. I pushed it up & down the hills of Nolensville. A shadow of my former faster self emerged. 5.1 hilly miles at an 8:40 pace. I had one short walk break on the last hill. Great run, great company, & a great grilled chicken salad at uncles buds after the run with the NRC.

I love Wednesdays!

Knowing I would be a little sore from Monday evening's work out with the trainer, I did yoga yesterday. I also did Jillian Michael's 20 min shred dvd & ab ripper after work. I woke up a little stiff but not near as sore as last week when we hammered into my quads & glutes. I did a 3.5 mile "easy" run this morning at a 10:05 pace. (I made myself run it slower than last week.) This really helped Joe, too, since he had done his speed work on Monday & hills last night. This afternoon I'm running my 5+ mile tempo with the NRC. It will have hills so I'm also counting it as a hill work out, too. ;-P

I've tweaked my marathon training calendar to death & as of right now, my biggest week is 40.5 miles. In the past, when I did go over 40 miles & that's only happened maybe 3 times in the 9 marathons that I've done, I got hurt or I strained something. My 40.5 mile week has a 21 miler in it & then we taper. That's the GREAT thing about the striders Fall series runs….they're geared towards Chicago training. If I hit the pace I did last year or faster on that 21 miler, I will be smart about it this time around. I will ice, stretch, rest, & start the taper. There will be NO hilly ½ marathon the weekend after it. There will be a slow, rolling 11 miler the weekend after it with the NRC.

It seems that my 5 ft 2 in frame is holding steady at 114-116 lbs right now. I did go down a pound over the last week. If my weight drops more I'm sure not going to stress over it. I'm just over 10 lbs away from high school weight. (I weighed less than that in college but that weight would be scary on me now!) That says a lot for my 45 yr old body & I feel great! I cannot say enough good things about myfitnesspal so I'll shut up about it. ;-P

My goal over the next few months is to take in more carbs. I'm even buying bagels & low fat cream cheese again. Gasp!!! We are not shying away from pasta & bread on the eve of our long runs . It's all about moderation. I am not depriving myself of anything. I'm just being smart about what I eat & when I eat it.

My 2 cents from the new book I'm reading…."The Art of Getting Faster".

Instead of trekking down to the ball fields of Nolensville for speed, Joe & I have been doing it on our own in our own 'hood. I'm not talking 200s, 400s, or 1600s. I'm not measuring anything at 5:00-5:30am. I'm talking a mile warm up & then short bursts of speed to the point where I my lungs burn. "Runners World" actually had an article about this type of "speed work". It's Basically just fartlek or interval training. I focus on a target to run to as fast as I can & then sometimes I take a short walk break, sometimes not... I'm not "structuring" anything at 5:00-5:30am either. ;-P

Do I think it's helping me? Any form of speed work will help me rather than none at all.

This morning I did 4.05 miles with the middle full of intervals. I'm currently reading, "The Art of Running Faster". I've come to realize that for NYC, I did the hill training to the point to where it injured me. I also didn't vary much on my training at all. Just logging mile after mile after mile which of course built endurance but it doesn't do much else. I just started the chapter that introduces the 5s of training: speed, suppleness, strength, stamina, & skill.

Strength: If there's anything I learned last year, it's that my body missed the gym. I've gleaned some strength just doing various Jillian Michael's dvds but I need to vary my strength training up more. I never had IT Band problems when I did weight machines consistently.

Speed: Like I described above...& of course, I'm attempting a tempo run every Wed evening with the NRC no matter how hot it gets. In 2006, I did at least one tempo run of 6 miles a week with Mike, Carla, Chris, Wayne, etc.... It's time to be pushed….AGAIN!

Suppleness: I've got that down big time. I stretch after I run & of course I do yoga. It's all about being loose during your run & keeping your body from getting tight, which leads to fatigue & injury.

Stamina: There are days where I feel like I could run for days. Those days are usually the days when it's below 50 degrees but not freezing, I'm fueled properly & not sleep deprived. Stamina is basically base building. (Remember the 10% rule if you're new to marathon training or you'll risk injury.)

Skill: Skill is tied to form & training in the correct form. Much like learning to swim, you're going to swim a lot better if you're using the correct form. This will always be a work in progress for me because of my poor posture. Even while running on Saturday, I tried my best to watch my form even as I slowed down the last 3 miles. I have not forgotten everything I learned from the "Chi Running" book I read several years ago. ;-P My form should be a whole lot better than it was since I don't have as much weight wearing my body down.  I'm hoping "lighter translates to faster" for me.  

Another point that is touched on in the book is "Twice a day workouts". It doesn't hurt to throw a day in your week to run twice in one day. It doesn't hurt at all to do yoga in the morning & your run in the evening or vice versa. Fitting in short workouts twice a day is better than cutting something you like doing totally out. We all work & we all have families, but in the end it's all in what you can fit in & what you want to do. I have a husband, a job, & two step kids. There are times where we have to move stuff around or get up at the butt crack of dawn to get our runs in but it's a choice. We love running so we happily make that choice. We also really enjoy the run club we belong to & that keeps us motivated.

So, even though I ran this morning, I'm going to my gym to ride a bike (loosen my legs) & let my personal trainer help me strengthen my weak spots. (After my PT sessions end, I am going to keep those exercises on the "menu".)  Whether this helps me or not on Oct 7th, who knows but it sure can't hurt.

　

Happy Monday!

Productive Weekend

We found the time to do a little cleaning, shopping, & bowling yesterday.  We joined the run club for a few games of bowling. It was really fun but I totally suck at bowling that is for sure. ;-P

Today's workout: ab ripper, 4.26 mi walk, 18 mins on a bike at the gym, & some weight machines

It was nice seeing the East Nasty (East Nashville) "couch to tomato 5k" folks out yesterday morning as we headed back to the car.  Most people don't like getting up super early to run but I love it.  I love that we got started before 6am.  Next Saturday, we've decided to stay in Nolensville & log our 14 miler close to home. (We have the kids & then have Hannah & her family coming over.)  Plus I want to try out my new fuel belt.  Joe wore his fuel belt for me yesterday.
Yesterday's miles went like this...as you can tell my legs got tired the last 3 miles & I was trying to eat something during those miles too. I got hungry.  I hope to keep next week's 14 miler at around a 9:30 pace. I'm basically running by feel right now & not obsessing too much over what the garmin tells me but I am determined to keep these runs strong. 

Mile 1: 9:14
Mile 2: 9:38
Mile 3: 8:59
Mile 4: 8:59
Mile 5: 8:58
Mile 6: 9:00
Mile 7: 9:01
Mile 8: 9:05
Mile 9: 8:55
Mile 10: 9:00
Mile 11: 9:28
Mile 12: 9:42 (my only walk break was at the Tom King 1/2 mile 9 area, a hill.)
Mile 13: 9:45 (I don't want to see a 10 min pace.)
.1         : 9:01

Tomorrow is my workout with the trainer but I do hope to get out before work for 4 miles with some "speed" thrown into the middle of it. 

13.1 mile training run in Shelby park

Yes, i know we are goofy for adding the .1 to the 13 mile training run this morning but it just seemed like the thing to do when we got back to LP Field. Time: 2:01:04 (9:15 pace) 72 degrees when we started & 88% humidity. You should've seen Joe wring his shirt out! I felt pretty good but I knew I ran it a little too fast. I soaked in an ice bath for about 15-20 minutes. If there's anything I've learned it's ice baths work! :-). Last year at this time I ran the exact route 7 minutes slower. I remember the sun coming out & it being warmer, though. About 15 minutes after we finished, the rain came through. Glad we got started before 6am! Hope everyone's long run went well today!!

Fitting it all in....

I'm at a point where I'm looking at the marathon schedule & wondering what I should kick off/add to the schedule. I NEED the yoga. I do need to keep at least one day of weights at the gym in there & a 2^nd day at the gym doing non-impact cardio. So, I guess I'll go from 3 days a week at the gym to two for a few months…. I know, I over think this stuff. There really is no way to sneak in much of Jillian Michael's Shred or Bun Burner or any of the P90X dvds other than ab ripper. I must say, my body is feeling stronger. I feel it when I run. It helps dropping roughly 12 solid pounds of weight that won't be pounding on the rest of my body when I run. (to think my original goal was just to lose 5 lbs!) I cannot say enough good things about myfitnesspal. It's for those of us who do things by the book & get anal about results. I just hope it all makes for better running & a healthier me overall. ;-)

Today, I ab ripped & I'm doing P90X Stretch when I get home. We're getting up early & heading to Shelby Park…the exact place that we ran last year when we logged 13 miles for NYC. It's as flat & shaded as it gets in Nashville from where I've run. The NRC 'ers are tackling Percy Warner. We will try to meet them for breakfast though.

Hoping for a quiet, relaxing weekend so we can get caught up on things….such as sleep, cleaning, etc… I've got to mail a box of clothes to MI to my cousin who's lost so much weight that she now fits into my bigger clothes. I just wish I had finished going through them before we made the trip. This weekend will be about getting rid of clutter, too. I am always trying to find ways to rearrange & de-clutter.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Whether it rains or not, we'll be out there running.

8.6 for Wednesday

3.5 miles in the am & 5.1 with the NRC in the pm. (ab ripped before the afternoon run) As usual my pace was much faster in the evening. It was a sluggish 9:46 in the morning & 9:10 (with hills) in the afternoon. I am still a tinsy sore from Mondays workout so I'm soaking in cold water with whatever ice I could get out of the freezer as I type this entry. Ha! This afternoon I'm running a very easy 3 miles, going to do yoga (finally) & hitting the gym a bit. We are rethinking our long run plans. For some reason Shelby park is calling my name.

2nd day soreness...quads...glutes

I took a 2 hour nap & then watched 2.5 hours of "How I met your mother" when I got home from work yesterday....that's how bad I felt. I rarely get sick & when I do it's always a sinus issue or a migraine.  Thank God, the sinus issues are very rare now that I was given the go ahead to double up on allergy meds but all it takes is the weather to change with a snap & boom...out I bring the big dawg migraine pills.  bleh!

When I left work yesterday, I had started feeling some soreness from the lunges my personal trainer had me doing Monday afternoon.  This morning it was big time soreness...so sore that it was hard to go down the stairs.  It was as if I had done the P90X back & legs dvd. Wow!  I did go ahead & do 3.5 miles, though...9:46 pace.  The goal this afternoon is to run slow with the NRC.  Not sure for how long but hopefully this will work some of the soreness out. 

We have 13 miles to do this weekend rain or shine.  Bring it on....Chicago marathon training!

rain...

Loving the rain but I ended up with a migraine last night, which meant I didn't bother rolling out of bed to run or do anything else.  My body is craving yoga so that's definitely on the agenda after work today along with the gym again.  My trainer gave me a pretty good workout yesterday which I feel in my quads. 

Lots of planning, plotting, & marathon training posts are coming....  ;-)

Tired...

Sunday was a rest day....we had to unpack, do laundry, & get ready to head back to work. Today, I ab ripped in the morning. This afternoon I walked to my gym 2 miles round trip, worked out 30 minutes with the trainer, rode 18 minutes on a bike, & did a few weight machines. Yes I did workout but I'm still tired from our trip. I'm ready for a break in the heat too. I'm off to dreamland super early tonight. Yawn....... :-)

Bargain buy in Canada

My $120.00 running/biking jacket that I got for $20.00 because the shoulders have some fading from the sun. Louis Garneau.  I bought it in a tiny, "Binks" like store in South Hampton, Canada.  The sleeves zip off & so many pockets.

Buggy 7 miles

We got attacked by bugs on the Paint Creek trail this morning & of course had no bug spray. We ended up running down town Lake Orion to get our run completed. No fuel belts were packed so no more than 7 miles was about all we could take. 9:51 pace. I tried to keep it easy but just wanted this sweaty run over! We are now headed south but will stay the night south of Dayton, OH. Below are a few random pics from our July 4th holiday & yes i took one of a phone booth. The kids were in awe of it! Ha! Hope everyone had a great one!

2 short runs since the 4th

I did 3.51 miles before heading on our short trip to South Hampton, Canada yesterday. My legs felt pretty good after that hot 12.4 race. Pace was an easy 9:57. Today Joe & I ran 4.3 miles from the hotel to the beach & back. I turned it into a short tempo run. We only had one hill. 8:44 pace & it felt great to see all the miles below 9 again!! Pics from South Hampton in next post.

Volkslauf 20k race

Well, I knew it would be interesting with the temp around 75-77 degrees when we started. What was even worse is that the sun was completely out & burning down on us by the time we started at 8:10am. There was some shade but not enough to help my pace. The course was incredibly flat with the exception of a few painful hills around mile 9 & 10. I slowed way down by then anyway. Ha! What was a little disturbing is that we saw absolutely no EMS vehicles. Personally, I think they should have started us by 7:00am. I've driven many a time from the 'homa an hour into Nashville to races. Michigan runners can do the same thing. Ha! Anyway, it was fun for the most part, especially at the halfway mark where they had a "Gilligan's island" themed fluid area set up. Very neat! My overall pace was 9:45 for the 12.4 mile race. I can't complain too much about that. I've not run that far or that fast in months. I think I heard someone say that this was definitely the hottest Volkslauf race they had ever done. I believe it! It was probably close to 90 degrees when we finished. I can now check off a 12.4 mile Chicago marathon training run. Whoo hoo!! Maybe one day we will go back but we will check the weather first & register late. :-)

Re-packing...

Yes, I just left the suitcase wide open so I could re-pack today for next week.  We're both working Monday, (tomorrow) but we'll be out the door at around 5:30am Tuesday to head to Joe's parent's.  It's about a 9 hour drive depending on traffic & how often we stop. We will be stopping quite a bit because we're hydrating for the race on Wed morning.

Today's workout consisted of me walking 4.5 miles before it got REALLY hot.  I went to the gym & rode a stationary bike for 18 minutes, the elliptical for 16 minutes, ab ripper, & weight machines.  I've prepared tonight's light dinner & tomorrow's lunch.  I'm thinking we'll just bring sandwiches & such to eat for lunch on the drive up Tuesday to save time. As soon as I can get work wrapped up tomorrow, I have to head home to walk the ONE hot mile to the gym, work out with my personal trainer, & walk that ONE hot mile back.  I do plan on getting in 3 very easy miles in the morning before I head to work, though. 

Next week's running will be kinda loose other than the 12.4 mi race on Wednesday.  I'm thinking a short run on Thursday in Canada & maybe 8 miles on Saturday on the Paint Creek trail that runs near Joe's parent's house.  July 4th seemed to have snuck up on us!  I keep telling myself that if it's below 70 degrees in Frankenmuth & if that course is as flat as I've read it is....then we will be just fine. ;-)
I will miss the NRC peeps on Saturday, though.  Most likely I'll plan for another 12 miles the Saturday that we are back here.  Good times....I really do enjoy the training part more than I sound like I do on here, I swear....  ;-P

I hope everyone stayed safe & cool. 
Nashville, TN definitely broke some temperature records the last few days.