Recovery run & Progression run

Last night we joined the "Wild Wings" group & I ran with Jane S. & Kate J.
Since my legs were still heavy from speed work, I made sure I took it easy.
With two really LONG stop lights, it was "easy" to take it easy...
Tuesdays & Thursdays are definitely my easy days.

3.03 miles - 34:24 - easy

This morning I got in 4 miles....and it turned out pretty decent on my tired legs.

4 miles - 35:03 - progression
9:31, 8:49, 8:22, 8:21

With the craptastic weather that's going on off & on all day, I wish I had got up earlier & done 6 or so miles.  If it's not lightening...we run, though...rain or shine.

7 X 800s two days after a 15 miler....who am I?

Trust me…I'm as surprised as anyone else that I ran 7 X 800s two days after running 15 miles.

We have had between 8 & 11 runners show up every week for the last 6 or 7 weeks. It's been "bonding" time to say the least. Joe & I'll likely stop doing speed work altogether mid-Sept. My long runs will be REALLY long then & I cannot risk injury running 800s a few days after running 18 to 22 miles.

I did a warm up of about 1.4 miles at a 10 minute pace.

Then we took off. My garmin did something crazy on the first one so I ran it by myself.
I shortened my "rest" break in order to start with everyone else on the 2^nd 800.
Overall I think I was probably resting about a minute to a minute an a half in between them.
My goal was to slow them down some this week & for the most part I did.

3:41, 3:32, 3:35, 3:27, 3:34, 3:34, 3:32

I then did a 1.12 cool down run around the track. Overall mileage was right around 6 miles if I did my math right.

This morning I soaked in a tub of cold water for about 10 minutes & then I did 30 minutes of "yoga for runners". The plan this afternoon is to do an easy 3 miles with the "Wild Wing" group in Cool Springs with Jane S.  Good times!

15 humid miles & another 5 humid miles....

The goal yesterday was to hold back as much as possible, keeping the first 7 as flat as possible, then hitting the hills the last part of the run.  Mission accomplished.
We started at 5am as usual with Jo Ann, Mandy, Andrea, & Traci.  Nobody confirmed for a 5:30am pick up so we ran until a few minutes after 6 before we came back for more fluids.  It was around 70-ish degrees when we started & it was humid.  At 6am we noticed a slight drop in the humidity/temperature but it crawled back up there again towards 7am.  Andrea headed back to her house for just over 10 miles (training for Rocket City in Dec).  Mandy did 12 & Jo Ann joined her since her tummy was acting up instead of doing the 15.  Mandy, I believe, is just maintaining half marathon shape until her marathon training for Nola begins.  Traci & Jo Ann are entertaining the idea of a marathon, maybe Rocket City, maybe Carmel.  Jo Ann is actually signed up for Carmel next April.  If she can figure out what her tummy can handle, the woman has a sub 4 marathon time in her.  She's 51 yrs old so this would be a Boston Qualifying time for her!  I cannot tell you all how giddy I get on Friday nights knowing I'm meeting these peeps for a long run in the morning.  They are great friends, amazing runners, & are always dependable & on time.  ;-)

15 miles - 9:13 pace - 2:18:14
This 15 miler is way slower than I was doing in the winter months but hey, it's August, it's humid, & I refuse to beat myself up over it.  Heat training leads to better running in the Fall when it does cool down.  I know that a year ago this run would have been around a 9:30-ish pace for me but I'm a much better runner than a year ago. 

Mi 1-9:17 (so very hard to hold the pace back)
Mi 2- 8:39 (ooops....slow down!)
Mi 3- 8:57
Mi 4- 8:59
Mi 5- 9:09
Mi 6- 9:05
Mi 7- 9:37 (circling MJ's while everyone reloads their fuel)
Mi 8- 9:19
Mi 9- 10:12 (and here come the humid hills)
Mi 10- 9:21 (It's just Joe & me now)
Mi 11- 9:32 (climbing & drinking my fluids)
Mi 12- 8:53 (some down hill finally)
Mi 13- 9:05
Mi 14- 9:08
Mi 15- 9:03 (finished w/o any toes cramping)

This morning I got my weights out of the way & did the bike for 30 minutes.  I met Jo Ann, Amy L, Katie, Kelly, & Elizabeth for 5 recovery miles at a 10:16 pace.  It felt even more humid than Saturday to me.  Welcome to the real weather in the south in the summer!  I can't wait to stretch these miles out of my legs at yoga today.

Tomorrow, I'm doing P90x ab ripper either in the morning or before I join the "speed work" group.  The goal is to slow my 800s down.  Yeah, I know that is weird but I'm purposely slowing them down from the 3:30-3:34s.  My goal marathon time is sub 3:55.  If I slow down to a 3:40 on these, I think my legs will recover a little better by the next day & Wednesday.  These 40+ mile weeks have to be "managed".  ;-) 

2nd run: "2 a day Wednesday"

I ran the hilly 5+ mile hilly route with Diana, Jay, Amy L, David V, Vicki, Crystal, & Jo Ann.  Most of them added a flat 2 miles to this for their "long run" for the week. I stayed with them & ended up with 7.08 miles at a 9:55 pace.

11.72 for the day & most of it HILLS!

Today: 2 miles round trip to my gym very slowly, 40 minutes bike, & yoga for runners

Friday: ab ripper, more stretching, especially the IT Band

Saturday: going to get the 15 miler done since 2 peeps have confirmed they'll do it!  

My drink of choice today below. 

Happy TGIThursday!

3 "recovery" miles & 4.64 early morning miles in the rain

Yesterday morning before work, I did 35 minutes of my "Yoga for Runners" dvd to try to stretch out some of the "speed work" from Monday night.  I felt ok but I have to admit, the 3 "easy" miles I did with Kate J. yesterday with the "Wild Wings Run" group were hard.  My legs were feeling the effects of the speed work & last week's 42 mile week, plus I was HUNGRY!
I did 3.01 at a 9:50 pace then I ran into the restaurant & ordered a plate full of boneless wings.  My body was craving protein so bad I was shaking. Joe & I were were shoving them in fast & then I accidentally dropped two of them on the floor!  Not cool!!!

This morning I was excited that it wasn't raining hard but it was a light sprinkle. I did 4.64 miles at the front of our 'hood where it's hilly.  My legs did feel better than last night, thank goodness.  This actually "looks" like a progression run but it was totally unintentional.  41:25 time, 4.64 miles, 8:56 pace....9:35, 9:11, 8:42, 8:29, & the last .64 was uphill at 8:33....
I'll take it as my first run on "2 a day Wednesday".

The plan tonight is to run with Crystal for most of if not all of her 7 miles.  She's going on vacation this weekend & doesn't want her long run of 7 miles hanging over her head.  She's also about 2-3 weeks ahead of her "Middle Half" training but she's 27 years old with youth on her side & obviously, an overachiever.  ;-)

Speed work @ Ravenwood High School

I raced home to stretch & knock out P90x ab ripper before meeting DD & Jo Ann at Publix to car pool to Ravenwood.  I'm determined to get on a track for the remainder of my speed work because it's so much more nicer on the legs.  We'll see how that goes once school starts, though.
I did a 1.26 miler warm up on the track.  For some reason, it was a little hard to get them going & I'm sure the 42 miles from last week didn't help any.  My warm up was 1.26 at 12:50 but I think I stopped & talked during this also.
The cool down was 1.06 at a much faster pace of 9:31.  LOL!
Even though I did 6 X 800s last week, I decided to keep it at 6 this week, too.  Not that yesterday was terribly hot at all but I could tell a difference over last weeks early morning temperature in Michigan during the 800s.  These felt a little harder & it showed. (3:36, 3:34, 3:34, 3:30, 3:34, 3:34)  I rested for a minute in between these & drank my grape Nuun.  I had finished off a big bottle of zipfizz at work.  I was plenty hydgrated, thank goodness.  Next week, we'll shoot for 7 X 800s.  Joe keeps reminding me that my 800s are faster than they were during the winter, which is great.  I'll chalk it up to being better conditioned & heat trained.

By the time we reach 10 X 800s & then do a one mile time trial the week after, I'll be ready for this to be overwith because my long runs will be up there.  I have switched them around again & I'm still unsure about the placement of them but they'll get done. 

Overall I feel great.  I'm getting enough sleep or my body is adjusting...who knows.  Marathon #13 will be my 3rd attempt to go under 3:55.  The Monumental Indianapolis folks have teased us with previews of the shirts.  They look like bike shirts.  Cool!

Last weekend in July...

I'm pleased with this run simply because I did 14 miles last Saturday, also, under way better conditions than this weekend. The humidity really started to get to me towards the end even though I drank as often as I could. I ran with a pretty heavy fuel belt too. I took in one power gel at mile 7 with caffeine in it & drank caffeinated Nuun cola & orange zipfizz.  (Loaded with electrolytes).  We started just after 5am with more runners than usual.  Some had a different pace/distance plans. 

 Jo Ann, David, Traci, & I stuck to our plan & ran together.  Although, I never stopped my garmin when we were back at MJs for the 2 different fuel stops. I would circle the parking lots & building slowing down some while they refueled & we gathered more runners.  (I wanted a "true" 14 miler.). We ran the first 3 flat, then added the hilly loop, finishing the last 3+ flat. 

14 Miles - 9:01 Pace - 2:06:21

Mi 1- 9:12

Mi 2- 8:49

Mi 3- 8:46

Mi 4- 8:59 (fuel stop #1)

Mi 5- 8:54

Mi 6- 9:07

Mi 7- 8:55

Mi 8- 9:08

Mi 9- 8:53

Mi 10- 8:47

Mi 11- 9:27 (fuel stop #2: circling MJs waiting on those getting more fuel)

Mi 12- 9:06

Mi 13- 9:21 (toes & glutes cramping)

Mi 14- 8:56

Early Sunday run with those training for "The Middle Half"- flat run & way cooler temps

6.57 miles - 9:15 pace - 1:00:46

(This isn't my recovery pace. LOL!)

Mi 1- 9:51

Mi 2- 9:12

Mi 3- 9:04

Mi 4- 9:12

Mi 5- 9:20

Mi 6- 9:06

  .57- 8:48

This was supposed to be recovery for me but due to the low temperature we all took off.  Had Amy L. been there I would've backed off & run with her. I also did weights & the bike at the gym.

I also took a short much needed nap this afternoon.  Now all I need to do is stretch this mess out at yoga at 4pm today.  

I hope speed work goes well tomorrow. The plan is to do 6 x 800s at Ravenwood's track. I did 6 last week instead of the planned 5 but I don't see me bumping it up tomorrow.  Too tired!  :-p

I'm well over 1,000 miles for the year now as we start closing out July.  If my body stays healthy, I will blow my yearly mileage record out the door. I think it's only about 1,200-1,300 anyway.  

Thank you God for this mild summer you've given us so far in 2013. 

2nd Run: "2 a day Wednesday"

The second run went much better than the early morning run at a warmer temperature. Go figure? I told DD that I think the speed work on Monday afternoons in the heat is really starting to pay off. My legs felt like they could really take off yesterday. I was running with 2 or 3 guys leading the "9 minute pace" group for most of the run. We did a few "courtesy loops" so I'm thinking this probably could've been even faster. I needed this run as I head into the weekend knowing I will do another 14 miler on Saturday with the "Super Secret Society 5am running group". LOL!  We're starting at Mama's Java at 5am & the "secret" will be posted on JP's Friday morning NRC weekend run plan post as always. ;-)

As for the former "c25ker Runners" they are rocking the hills on Wednesday nights. The faster runners did "courtesy loops" for the slower runners last night. They are already up to 6 – 6.5 miles as their long run for The Middle Half on Oct 12^th. They're doing awesome!

47:19 – 8:37 pace – 5.49 miles

Mi 1- 8:47

Mi 2- 8:51
Mi 3- 8:26
Mi 4- 8:50
Mi 5- 8:15
   .49- 8:30

1st run on "2 a day Wednesday"

I was wide awake early enough to get in 5.32 miles before hitting the shower this morning & heading to work.  I always hate the first day back at work after being off a few days.

This run was just straight out "blah".  My body is tight from yesterday's car ride & it's screaming for yoga.  I'm definitely doing the "Yoga for Runners" dvd before Saturday morning's planned 14 miler.  (Yes, we plan to do another one...) 
Just wasn't feeling it this morning but I think I'll enjoy this afternoon's run a lot better.  I'm thinking I'll run with Joe on another route that takes us through Bent creek.
Jo Ann is running with Meredith & the other former "c25k'ers" are knocking out the 5+ mile hilly route.  They know it pretty well now & hopefully Meredith will become very familiar with it over the next few weeks. 

5.32 miles - a lot of hills on tired, tight legs - 9:01 pace - 48 minutes flat

Mi 1- 9:34
Mi 2- 9:01
Mi 3- 8:53
Mi 4- 8:57
Mi 5- 8:43 (at least I sped up just a bit)
   .32-9:21 (uphill finish)

Michigan training runs

Saturday, we took advantage of being only one mile from the shaded paint creek trail.  It was 70 degrees when we finally got out at 7:15am. The trail was pretty busy with cyclists & runners.  There was some sort of training run going on because I spotted a small, unmanned fuel station set up.  

I ate a bagel with cream cheese & took in a caffeinated power gel before we got going.  I drank my caffeinated Nuun & ate caffeinated power chews. They went down easy without much chewing. 

There's a slight down hill going out & of course we had to do an out & back on this route.  :-(

The final mile has a big up hill back to Joe's parents neighborhood.  

14 miles - 8:54 pace - 2:04:41

Mi 1- 9:07

Mi 2- 8:32

Mi 3- 8:28

Mi 4- 8:30

Mi 5- 8:27

Mi 6- 8:35

Mi 7- 8:31

Mi 8- 8:59

Mi 9- 8:53

Mi 10- 9:01

Mi 11- 9:00

Mi 12- 9:24 (up hill starts to slow me down)

Mi 13- 9:20

Mi 14- 9:55 (up hill & concrete...yuck!)

I'm A-ok with this run, it wasn't in my initial training plan for this trip but my body was ready for it.  It was fun!

I ran 6.25 miles (3:1 intervals with my cousin) Sunday morning on some of the Brooksie Way half route.  Joe & I had driven most of the course on Saturday.  It's supposedly one of the hilliest half marathons in Michigan. (It doesn't hold a candle to Viola & the Franklin half marathons. Ha!!)

Monday we ran from my cousins place in Rochester, MI over to Rochester high school. (1.44 mile warm up). I knew the speed work group in Nolensville planned to do 5 x 800s.  We ended up doing 6 x 800s. The cool down was 1.83 back over to my cousins place.  

We had to dodge the cheer leader practice but the track was pretty empty. 

My first 800 was the slowest at 3:36, then....3:31, 3:16 (too fast!), 3:23, 3:32, 3:30.  We rested a minute to one & a half minutes in between them. What a difference it makes running on a track versus around an elementary school!  I'm going to suggest a "field trip" to Ravenwood's high school track soon.

It was a good trip but I'm ready to get back to training with my running buddies! 

NRC Wednesday night run with Meredith & a 500k finisher....

I ran last night with Meredith, former "Couch to 5ker".  She's signed up for the "Nashville Women's half" (her first!) & doing her long runs with the Fleet Feet store running group program.  She officially started her training last Saturday with a three miler with FF.  We did the 5+ mile hilly course last night.  We did 5:1s & she held a 12:19 pace overall.  She had never done that route & it was HOT.  The girl has guts!  I had thought she ran this once before with her sis, Lauren, but she had run 5 flat miles in Lauren's 'hood. 

Roy T. finished the "Last Annual Vol State Race" this morning with a time of 7 days & 42 minutes.  Truly Amazing!  What an adventure he & Dar must have had out there.  We are still tracking Diane T. & as of last night she still had about 111 more miles to go.  They have until sometime Sunday to finish this race, I believe....?

Life just isn't worth living without a great adventure!
I hope everyone has an "adventure" this weekend.  Happy Running!

Google "Reader"...gone..."Feedly" is finally up...

Google Reader is no more & we had plenty of notice of it's demise so I created a "feedly" account in order to read blogs that I've been following for YEARS. I have cleaned out my account & I don't have near as many to follow anymore because the bloggers stopped posting. I'm trying to find ways to get rid of things that are a "time suck". I've actually not had time to even start a new book in the last six months or so. My goal over the next 5-6 months is to find more time to just relax. We have had our calendars filled to the rim for many months & while I like having plenty of things to do I think it's time for some "down time".  Feedly is going to take some getting used to but I'll have 18 hours of car riding to do over the next week & I'm sure I'll figure it out.

All that being said, I don't have time to spruce up this boring little blog. It will just have to "be" & if it's boring, snoring…then so what. It's really for me…to keep me accountable for what I want to accomplish. After all I still have that a "goal" to reach & I sure don't want to be chasing it for YEARS with one excuse after another that's for sure.

Yesterday was pretty hot but we met up with the Jacks & Jayson at the Wild Wing group run.

I ended up running 3.51 miles & most of that was with Wayne. We kept it easy & talked the whole time.  We ended up with a 9:44 pace & I was A OK with that. I think you could have fried bacon on the side walks. I also managed to do the first 30 minutes of my "Yoga for Runners" dvd. Sometimes I feel like that dvd is like a long, slow run…I love how it makes me feel but hate that it's so long.

It's Wednesday so here's my first run on "2 a day Wednesday".

I am thinking it was around 75 degrees this morning at 4:50am & freaklishly humid. This is probably the warmest morning I've run so far this year. This afternoon will likely be the warmest afternoon I've run all year too…. I'm truly amazed that I got this 5 miler in under a 9 minute pace without melting down on the hills in my 'hood. I'm so much stronger than I was a year ago on these same hills.

5.02 miles with lots of hills – 8:52 pace – 44:32

Mi 1- 9:41

Mi 2- 8:58
Mi 3- 8:38
Mi 4- 8:14
Mi 5- 8:50
  . 02- 8:36

This afternoon I'll run 5:1 intervals on the hills of Nolensville with Lauren's little sister, Meredith.

She's a "Couch to 5k" graduate & is doing her first half marathon downtown Nashville in late September, The Women's Half. Bless her heart, she picked a hilly one.  Lauren, I see that you're reading this blog while on vacation in Aruba.  Stop reading this boring $h*t & go have some fun. ;-P

Tomorrow, I'll likely hit the gym & work on my IT Band strengthening. I may log a few slow miles with the Lenox Village "South Siders" run group, too.

Oh yeah, I have to finish packing for Michigan too.  Can't wait to run FLAT!!! 

speed work....

Yesterday I did P90x ab ripper in the morning & met the "speed work" group after work at about 6:30pm. We stood there staring at the blazing sun wishing a cloud would cover it like last week. I bet there were 30+ runners who showed up either to "just run"...."walk"....or "do speed work"....on a Monday night. This running club started by meeting on Wednesdays & Saturdays...now there's an "unofficial 3rd week day meeting". LOVE IT!

We had Pam P. Russ, Diana P., Stephanie S., David D., Tandy, her daughter, Jamie, & Jo Ann. Joe ran in our 'hood since we had Joey. Joey is on a plane by himself for the first time heading to MI to spend time with his grandparents. He's 13 so this is a big deal. ;-)

I ran 1.22 very slow to "warm up" the legs. We then whined a little more about the heat & got started.

We started right at the end of the road where you turn in behind Nolensville Elementary. Luckily, everyone that was running last night had already arrived.

My 800s were like this.....3:25 (too fast!), 3:31, 3:32, & then I pushed for 3:27 on the 4th one. We rested for about 1 to 2 minutes in between since it was so hot & we needed our fluids. After my 4th one, I had to lay down on the sidewalk so the world would stop spinning. LOL! I did 1:14 as a cool down once I peeled myself off the sidewalk. Overall.......4.36 miles in the heat.  The ones new to speed work did an awesome job!

Next week........we'll be in Michigan & I should be able to do 5 X 800s in the morning up there....somewhere.....maybe the high school track will be open...

I'm hoping the Paint Creek trail isn't too "buggy" like it was last summer. I would totally love to run 8 or 10 miles on it Saturday morning.

Today I am going to try to stretch some of the "speed" out of my legs before I head over　to run with Wayne & Kate J.　at the Wild Wing Cafe run meet up.　 Wings...yum!

Easy like Sunday morning & LAVS tracking...

We met up with our early Sunday morning group for an easy 6.2 miles at an 9:43 pace.  I got my weights in & time on the bike at the gym, then did Erin's yoga class in the afternoon.  This group is mostly made up of the former "Couch to 5k'ers" as I've stated before on here & they are doing GREAT!  One is a 1/2 marathon veteran but she's gearing up for her first full marathon in Huntsville in December.  I'll miss them next weekend along with the "Early 5am Saturday group" while we're in Michigan.  We sure had a good run Saturday & some good laughs this past weekend!

As we finished with the Sunday group, a little bit of rain started falling.  Turns out Diane T. was walking in a monsoon around that time out on the LAVS course. She said she got wet then cold. When I heard from her, she had just left the Subway restaurant that we had met Roy & Dar at the day before. She's a veteran of this "Last Annual Vol State" event. (It's about 28 years old, btw.) 
When we sat with her in the McDonald's on Saturday while she was taking a break, she gave us a little history lesson on this event & who the regulars are... one of which is a fella named, John Price, apparently he ran/walked across the US & England.  We had the pleasure of meeting him when we were in Subway with Roy.  Interesting character.  ;-)  As I type this Roy is well past half way done.  I cannot wait till he's done, rested, & back with us on a Wednesday for some post run food & some LAVS stories!

Today, I did P90X ab ripper & I'm psyching myself up for speed work tonight.  Per a suggestion of Fleet Feet's Tammy (via Pam P.), we are easing into some 800s....just 4 of them while others knock out some 400s in the heat.  For a "loosely" organized Monday night group, we have got ourselves a plan going with even more NRC runners joining us tonight.  Hot Summer Speed work can't get much more fun!  ;-P

13.1 mile training run & adventure

We started at Mamas Java shortly after 5am this morning with Andrea, Jo Ann, & Traci.  Joe had us pushing the pace from the start but we kept it flat.  I'm working on trying new things with nutrition so I had a caffeinated power gel with me that I took at mile 7.  It went down well & wasn't near as thick as the gu. 

We ran just over 3 miles flat then swung back to Mamas Java for the 5:30am runners.  Derek, Mandy, & Grant joined us there. Then we headed out on the hilly 6+ mile loop.  I had circled Mamas in order NOT to stop my garmin so by the time we left there for the hilly loop I had 3.5 miles. We did the loop in reverse of how we've been doing it lately.  It always seems more difficult for me this way.  

When we got back to Nolensville Pike, I needed another 2.5+ miles so I stayed with Derek & Grant.  The weather was AWESOME!!! 

 I realized I should've been drinking more when my left toes started to cramp a little so my last few miles slowed down.  I don't care. It just felt good to get in a solid 13.1 miles in July!!  

13.1 miles - 1:54:52 -8:46 pace

Mile 1: 8:31

Mile 2: 8:03

Mile 3: 8:13

Mile 4: 9:00 (circling 5:30 crew)

Mile 5: 8:50

Mile 6: 8:47

Mile 7: 8:39 (power gel...not a bad taste at all)

Mile 8: 8:35

Mile 9: 8:19

Mile 10: 8:50

Mile 11: 9:07

Mile 12: 9:47 (cramping toes)

Mile 13: 9:18 (up hill in front of old MJs)

      .1: 9:24 (circling new MJs parking lot)

We hung out & ate breakfast with DD & Grant in Mamas.  

We showered & headed to find Roy & the Diane's who are doing a 314 mile, 10 day running event.  I cannot think of the name of it but it is definitely something I will never do. LOL!   We didn't find Diane B. but we found Diane T. & Roy in & around Parsons, TN.

This little road trip was an adventure for us but nothing compared to what these two are experiencing.  Diane is "unsupported" & Roy is "supported".  Can't wait to hear their stories when they're done. 

Fun filled day that's not over yet....

facebook & my blog....

A small portion of my boring running blog was posted on facebook while I was sleeping last night.  I woke up to a lot of alerts from friends who saw it who haven't been kicked off this person's page yet.  Crazy!

This person "unfriended" me after the Carmel marathon.
(I hid the status updates over a year ago due to the "negativity" constantly posted by this person.)

What brought this to everyone's attention this week is that this person accused the running club of leaving them out of an event that was a "neighborhood event" not a "running club event". Really?! (Reminds me of the Seth & Amy SNL skit)
This is the type of "negativity" I stayed away from in order to train the past year, thank God.

Assuming the worst about a running club when you hardly ever show up for anything that involves the club whether it be a morning run or an event the club is doing is just wrong?

This person also asked me last year to help watch their food intake on "myfitnesspal".  When I said something about candy, Sonic food, & the fact that they needed to lose weight to get their Boston qualifying time, this person got mad & deleted me from their "myfitnesspal" friends list. 
Hey, when you ask my opinion, you will get it....truth hurts.

There are 600+ members in the run club now thanks to the "Couch to 5k" program.
Yes, there are going to be groups that break off that run the same pace, same time, same place, week after week.  That happens with a group this size.  We always put out there in the long "string" of running plans what we are doing.  Then Amy K. puts it on the run club website for all to see that go to the website for info.  Nothing is any different from a year ago, except that the "string" of running plans has got a lot longer & harder to follow on Facebook.  The thing that is different....I personally contact the "regulars" that I run with on Wed or Thurs to see what they're doing on Sat morning.  I'm a planner...& I am anal about my training these days.  I have a goal that I still have to reach if my body allows me to reach it.

This is all the attention I'm going to give this "behavior" because this is MY running blog & I have a lot of running to do, a lot of training plans to make, & so many races in my head that I'm excited about & as you know I'll post about them here...good or bad.  

We have been given a gift in July....Yes, as one member said, "It's Christmas in July!" here in middle TN.  I cannot wait to run tomorrow morning in the low-mid 60's temperatures!!!!

Have a fabulous weekend whether you're racing or running!

running away from the storm...

Our 5+ mile hilly run got cut short last night due to lightening. I ended up with 3.5 miles (easy10 min pace with the former "c25kers") which gave me 8 for the day.  At one point Scott A. said he was running right into a "wall of rain".  They turned around & tried to out run it.  We all would have kept running had it not started lightening really bad.

I also did P90x ab ripper & stretched....as a matter of fact, when I woke up this morning I did the first 35 minutes of "Yoga for Runners".  My plan is to finish up the dvd after work today or tomorrow.  It seems that Thursday's & Friday's tend to be my easiest days.  Maybe that's why I tend to run strong on Saturdays.  ;-P   I purposely dropped my miles down a bit this week in order to do speedwork & recover from it.  In a sick sorta way, I'm looking forward to doing it again on Monday.  We've got a few more runners that plan to join us next week.  I really am trying to make sure I get some "rest" days but yoga for me really is a stress reliever.  I love it & always feel so good after I do it.  I just don't view it as a hard workout at all.

So, I guess I'm eating my words about not caring to go back to Nola.  The super secret society of early morning weekend running gals (is that title long enough?) have wheels churning for a "girl's trip" to run the full or the half in Febuary.  Love these gals....all fun & no drama queens!  ;-)
The race is on Super Bowl sunday, Feb 2nd.  Yes, I can see me watching the Super Bowl in Archie Manning's restuarant.  LOL!

The week has flown by & I'm so glad tomorrow's friday.  I'm really happy about Saturday morning's temperature!!  A wonderful "gift" in the middle of July....overnight low of 63 still showing on my phone! 

"2 a Day Wednesday"

I got out & ran 4.5 miles with plenty of hills this morning.  I think my pace was around an 8:49. The reason I say I "think" is because the first mile didn't register.  I remember hitting a button to turn the light on the garmin on & I must have done something really wonky. 
Anyway, judging by the effort, I think the first mile was around a 9 minute pace.  My legs took off!  Funny how about 2 days after speedwork your legs feel like that...or least mine did this morning. 
The 2nd & 3rd miles were at 8:18 & 8:14.  I will be so glad when I start seeing sub 8's again.
It was so humid, when I bent over to stretch...a puddle of sweat formed on the sidewalk where I stretch at the "stretch wall".  Crazy!  BUT....looks like we'll get a break in the weather by friday...my phone is reading an overnight low of 63 degrees.  Wow! 

I'm hoping to run 5+ miles slower on the hills with the "former C25k" group tonight.
Love them!

Speed Work in the heat...

We organized a small group who wanted to get some speed work done. 
Lauren & some others had expressed a need do speed work this summer so we have finally got it going. 
Last night was technically our "2nd session". 
We did a one mile warm up.  Mine was at around a 9:30 pace.
Then we all hit the 400s.....Eight of them.  It was hot but we watched the sun go behind a big cloud then we started up.

All 8 of mine were 1:41 but the 7th one...it was 1:42.  We rested roughly a minute in between them.
I then cooled down (or rather jogged around while sweat dripped off me) for 1.65 miles at about a 9:00-ish pace....  Once my legs got going on the first two 400s, the rest seemed easier.  Really odd how the body works like that.

Pam P. brought her orange cones & her neighbor, Stephanie.  We also had Stephanie S. Diana P., Tandy, etc...  There were others meeting at the school to just get some miles in...this club now has an "unofficial" Monday evening run going on.  Love it! 
I love the postive energy we get from this group...some of the best runners I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.  There are no negative attitudes in this group & we're going to keep it that way.

Indiana weekend....

It felt good to zip 5 hours away to Indiana to see good friends, who just bought a new house on a lake.  They also have a new dog that I fell totally in love with...a rescue named, Louis.  I ran just over 4 miles on Saturday morning & the first 2.3 of it was with Hannah & Louis.  Flat, flat, flat.....it was around a 10 minute pace.....just needed to loosen the legs up a bit & rest.

This morning before we left Indianapolis, Joe & I went downtown Indy to scope out most of the 2nd half of the Monumental Marathon that we are doing Nov 2nd.  We parked the car & ran 8.04 (8:55 pace) of it.  It was humid, but overcast, flat, with a few tiny rollers.  The first half is definitely flatter than the last half, which means, I need to make sure I am running hills the latter part of my longer runs when training kicks in soon. 
The Broad Ripple area of Indy is so beautiful.  I cannot imagine how gorgeous this area is going to look once the leaves have changed.  Whether my 3rd attempt to BQ happens or not, I'm looking forward to running these streets with Joe, Kim, Russ, Kristina, & Danielle G. 

Firecracker 5k race report & a friday morning 10 miler

With the temperature drop, the front coming through, & all this rain, of course I got a sinus migraine headache.  I woke up yesterday morning about 4am & had to take a "mac daddy" migraine pill.  Needless to say, I felt "foggy" for a while.  I didn't feel 100% that's for sure but I felt "ok" by 7:00am.  The last mile & a half of the 5k, my sinuses drained.  That's normally a good thing during a training run but not during a 5k.  It rained nonstop during the 5k but it wasn't bad.  I've run in MUCH worse & of course after we finished it pretty much stopped raining.  My time was 23:58 but my garmin read 23:54 (3.14 miles).  This wasn't a PR but considering how I felt, I'll take it. 

1.16 mile warm up.....11:01 pace

3.14 miles - 23:54 - 7:37 pace
Mi 1- 7:12 (too fast)
Mi 2- 7:32
Mi 3- 8:07 (I was spitting a good bit the final mile...drainage)
  .14.- 7:31

This morning I met Mandy & Danielle G. for 10 easy miles at 5:30am in Crockett park.

10 miles - 1:32:20 - 9:14 pace
Mi 1- 10:06
Mi 2- 9:22
Mi 3- 9:58
Mi 4- 9:17
Mi 5- 9:12
Mi 6- 9:20
Mi 7- 9:17
Mi 8- 8:42
Mi 9- 8:46
Mi 10- 8:22 (sped up the last few miles & felt strong despite the 5k the day before)

We are headed to Indianapolis for the rest of the holiday weekend & hope to run some miles there.  We definitely want to check out the last half of the Monumental full course.

"rest"

I tend to do "active" resting.  Meaning on days where I don't run, I sometimes spin my legs on a stationary bike at the gym, do yoga, a 16 minute P90x ab ripper dvd, or I walk.  (Or a combo of all of them.) 
Some peeps totally do nothing but "rest" on rest days.  I choose to do what I want to do & so far it's not bothered me at all but due to my sore hammies, I skipped this mornings planned easy 3-3.5 mile run.  I chose to do ab ripper & stretch some more instead of rolling out of bed for such a short run.

Other than the tight hammies, I feel awesome.  I'm very happy to be running the 5k tomorrow & possibly running 8-10 miles Friday morning, then getting a message.  It's going to be a great weekend in Indianapolis on the lake with good friends. 
Happy 4th of July!

First week of July...

I rolled out of bed for 4 miles this morning feeling "groggy".  I didn't sleep well so I choked down a vanilla caffeinated gu with some water & got out the door a 4:55am.  I felt tired, period & I tried to avoid some of the hills. 
My plan is to run an easy 3 miles with Wayne & Kate J. with the Wild Wings group tonight giving me 7 miles for the day. 
Tomorrow morning, I'm going out for an easy 3-3.5 miles. Thursday morning, I'm running the Maryland Farms Firecracker 5k.  I do NOT expect much since I HATE heat & I HATE 5ks.  It's like pulling a bandaid off a hairy scrape on your knee.  OUCH! 
My 5k PR is from last December & it was something like a 23:40.  I will do good to get anywhere near 24 minutes in this heat but it is what it is.....I'm considering it "speed work" for the week!

4 miles - 8:25 pace
Mi 1: 9:27 (yawwwnnn...)
Mi 2: 8:04
Mi 3: 7:49
Mi 4: 8:19

the weekend...running with a purpose....

I did cross training on Thursday & Friday...bike, yoga, ab ripper...
Saturday, I was up at 4am & out the door at 4:30am to park at MJ's for a one mile warm up run to the ball park to meet the 5am girls.  Jo Ann, Andrea, Traci, & I took off for 3.67 miles before we met Mandy & Danielle at 5:30am back at the ball park. All of us took off for the hills on Sunset, Waller, & Maxwell roads. By the time we got back to the ball park, we had another 7.13 miles.  I stopped my garmin 2x so I'm not counting this as a full fledged 11-12 mile long run.  My heart rate rested for probably 2 minutes in between the runs.  

I cooled off, got breakfast back at MJ's, & handed out cold wash cloths to the participants of the "Miles for Amelia" event.  I ended up walking 2 miles after i ran with Lauren C. who is recovering from an injury.  She's been given the "ok" to start running slow intervals.  Can't wait to till she can run again!  The event was awesome & the club exceeded what they needed to raise so much so another family was helped with renovations for their daughter.  How cool is that?!!  Talk about running with a purpose!  We had 3 runners complete the marathon distance around that ball park track. Joe was one of them.  Thanks to his sponsors he raised well over $500.00!  We had a silent auction where I won a massage at the Y. :-)

My weekend runs below:

1.04 + 3.67 + 7.13 = 11.84 miles

1.04 flat mile: 9:58 pace - warm up
3.67 flat miles: 8:43 pace

Mi 1- 9:08
Mi 2- 8:42
Mi 3- 8:23
 .67 - 8:38

7.13 miles hilly: 8:50 pace

Mi 1- 8:41
Mi 2- 8:47
Mi 3- 8:53
Mi 4- 8:45
Mi 5- 8:41
Mi 6- 9:02
Mi 7- 8:59
  .13- 8:51

About 15 of us stayed 

until the last walker finished at 3:00pm. Needless to say, we were happy to stay in for the evening.

Early this morning I ran an easy 5.71 miles with Vicki, Crystal, Amy, & Katie.

My pace was 9:55.  The weather was great for the last weekend in June in TN!! Low 60s!  I got my weights in, 35 minutes on the bike, & planning to hit up yoga later. 

This week.... Firecracker 5k & a trip to Indianapolis!

"Two a day Wednesday"....nosomuch....

My legs were still way too heavy from the 1 mile time trial on Monday & the half marathon two days before that on Saturday. The time trial really put them over the edge. I will not do that again so soon after a half marathon race that grueling….ha!

Yesterday, I ran 1.1 miles with Joe before we met the Wednesday night crew….9:01 pace.

Then we both took off with the "5k to 10k to ½ marathon group". Yes, I've renamed the group & created a private facebook site for them only. I'm limiting it to probably less than 25 runners.
The NRC facebook site has gotten crazy confusing. I feel like all I do is scroll so it's to the point to where I make running plans privately days ahead of time with the "usual suspects" that I know will show up & run my pace or close to it and/or push me. (Then on Friday, we make a post on "JP's message" via the NRC page & we're done with it…no more scrolling.)
Anyway, we took off on the 5 mi hilly route with a few who had never done it before because they have it in their minds they can't do hills and/or they're slow. Some are folks who want to lower their current half marathon times & some are first timers training for the Middle Half. Doing at least one day of hills will surely help that's for sure. I came in with Elizabeth (first time on this course) who took two bathroom breaks, one at a portapottie at a construction site & one at someone's house less than a half mile from the school. LOVE HER! ;-) Joe finished with Tiffany, who also did the route for the first time. As the weeks go by I'm confident they'll get more efficient & faster but it is summer after all & the temperature isn't helping any at that time of the day. Heat & hill training now, will help them in October. ;-)

So, I had a total of 6.28 miles combined yesterday (along with P90X ab ripper) when it was all over with at a slow pace, much slower than I'm used to but I was due a break. I'm not running one step until Saturday morning at 5am.

We are looking forward to helping with the "Miles for Amelia" event at the Nolensville park this Saturday & we have nothing else planned.  YES!