Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured

This past summer has been a struggle, just as I would adjust to one change another would happen.  With two major changes at work and a church calling that takes up the rest of my time, along with temps in the high 70's and low 80's and humidity around 80%, running has taken a back seat.  But in the past few weeks I seemed to have begun to enjoy running again and the mileage is starting to pick back up, maybe it is because I know fall is around the corner and at some point I won't be praying for wind to cool me down.  

Today's run was 4 miles of small rolling hills and the 4 miles of more intense hills (there is no flat where we live).   I had worried about the last 1.5 miles because it was the same hill that kicked my but last Friday so I paced myself well the entire time and the last 2 hills were not that bad - good sign that things are getting back into shape.  (Grandbury/Bryant Irvin/Dutch Branch).

Then another .73 while I waited for my husband to pick me up.

Ave Pace 8:56

Happy Running!

lightening = no running

We are experiencing heavy rains and tornado warnings - yoga for 40 min.

5:15 am   78 degrees   87% humidity   - YUCK!

I knew today was going to be rough when I saw the weather and my pace was slow and sluggish, blaming it on the humidity :)

Roadkill for the day - 1 frog, 1 armadillo

Live animals - 1 frog, 2 rabbits

You would think I live out in the country, but no - in the city.

(2.5 regular start/Riesinger/Summer Creek)

Ave. Pace 9:04

I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out today.  My hip started bothering me around midnight and I took some advil and went back to bed, so the debating had already started.  I do not want to deal with any of the issues I have had all last year and I am being very cautious.   When my alarm went off the internal debate raged for about 20 min and I decided I would head out for 4 easy miles.  At 2.5 I decided to pick it up a little and ended up running mile 4 at 7:40 and then cooled down for 2 miles.   Hip was okay, a little tight at 2 miles and so I stretched and it did okay for the rest.   Except for the fast mile the rest was slow and sluggish.  I have noticed that as I am picking back up miles, I am having to work a little more diligently about picking up the pace as well.   

Ave Pace 9:00

Happy Running!

I had to go to San Antonio for work and spent all last night at a trade show and cocktail party.  I ended up wearing my very cute and normally very comfortable black strappy heels for 16 hrs  - my feet were killing me by the end.   Up early to run and the resort is on top of a hill and  I tried to see if I could find a route up top but it was too dark so I ran down the hill and up and down the street for another 2 miles and then back up to the resort.  The overall route was extremely hilly, Temp was 78, Humidity 92% and it was muggy and slow and sluggish - I need to get out of this funk.   Four miles done and with my tender hip, I called it good.

Ave Pace 9:44

Happy Running!

Plan for the week:

Monday:  4 + Weights

Tuesday:  6

Wednesday:  Yoga

Thursday:  6

Friday:  4-6

Saturday:  10

Total Mileage:  30

Mileage might be a little high and we will see how the hip feels.  I am hoping writing down the plan will help with follow through when the week gets crazy. 

5:15 am 75 degrees  94% humidity - it has got to stop!

I did my normal 2 mile warm up and then some hills at a picked up pace.  Nothing really spectacular.   I ended up getting home later than I had planned and Monday's are crazy.  My husband drives the early morning seminary carpool and I have to take my daughter to volleyball practice so I missed the weights - will try to get them in tonight.

Ave Pace 9:08

Happy Running!

Warmed up with my regular warm up  for 2 miles and then did the same work out the BBK's did last week.   1 mile of 1 min on/off; mile 2 - 2 min on /off  mile 3 - 3 min on/off.  They had two more miles to the work out but I am not there yet, so I finished off with a 1 mile cool down.  It wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my mind and it made the time go fast.   Splits for the work out portion:  8:23, 8:09, 7:49.

Ave Pace 8:42.

Happy Running!

I had originally planned for a tempo workout today but woke up not feeling well at all and convinced myself that I could take it easy if I still felt bad after 2 miles.   Warmed up for 2 miles and then ran hills (there are lots where I live) for the rest of the mileage.  I ended up feeling pretty good and pushed,  not quite to tempo pace, but not to bad with the hills.  

Workout splits:  8:39, 8:51, 8:46, 8:45

Ave Pace:  8:55

Happy Running!

6:15 am   71 degrees   94% humidity

Best run in a very long time and I felt great the entire time and could have run longer.   This was my longest run since May and I am happy it went well.   My route was flatter than what my normal routes are but I did have 5 miles (1 mile segments each) throughout that had rolling hills.   The only negatives where that my knees started bothering me a little in the last mile, most likely due to shoes with to many miles and increasing mileage, and that  that I experienced the worst chaffing - EVER!  I could feel my shorts rubbing but had no idea how bad until I got home - OUCH!

Splits:  9:52, 9:07, 8:55, 8:52, 8:51, 8:26, 8:32, 8:30, 8:11, 8:11 (last mile up hill home - hoorray!)

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE RUNNING TOU!

Off to a busy day of soccer, volleyball and baseball.   I will be glad when it is done and I am in bed.

Avg Pace:  8:45

Happy Running!

Review of last week:  Overall not too bad.  I missed running on Friday but I wanted to do a 10 miler and my mileage was high so I am comfortable with missing.  I also did not ever get in any weights or yoga which is not good, but 4 days of good running workouts is better.

Goals for this week:

Mon: 4 miles + weights

Tues:  7 miles - hills

Wed:  Yoga

Thurs: 6 miles

Fri:  10 miles ( this is the plan - we will see how it goes)

Sat:  no run - traveling for work

Total miles: 27

No real change in mileage for this week but I am ramping up cautiously.  The end of the week could get messy because I am traveling on Friday and Saturday.

5:00 am  68 degrees  94% humidity  -- it was lovely today!

Ran the "Big Block"  - very similar to the big block back in Utah but the hill comes a little sooner and is not quite as intense.   Didn't look at my pace once and that rarely happens.   As usual Monday fashion I made it back too late to do weights and got home from work at 7:30 (12 hours after I left).  So homework, kids in bed and now more work - no weights today.

Splits:  9:44, 9:00, 8:42, 8:52, 9:02

 Avg Pace 9:04

Happy Running!

5:00 am   72 degrees   91% humidity - another nice morning!

I have been wanting to repeat a workout I did early this summer for a while and this was the week.  We have a road outside our subdivision that measures 1.13 miles and is pretty hilly.  On the out direction you have a .15 steep climb then a gradual down hill for another .2.  Then it is up hill until the last .2 which is a pretty steep down hill  - and then you can return and it is just about as difficult both ways. 

One of my goals outside of the work out was to see how I compared to June's work out.  I did not look at the splits before, I wanted to just run hard and see what the out come was.

I warmed up for 2 miles and then stretched good.  On the first out mile, I started out faster than I should have and I knew it right away.  I tried to pace myself better but was not overly successful.   On the repeat I felt good until the last climb - about .35 left and I almost puked, no good reason why.   Headed back out and I was getting tired but it wasn't as bad as I had expected and then on the way back in for the last time my legs were on fire and I lost some focus.  I felt like I was running in slow motion and I had a difficult time staying in the zone until the last .4 and was able to kick it back in. 

In no way will I look forward to this anytime soon, but it will be worth repeating.  So here are the splits from June:

Out splits (1&3)  8:45, 8:21

Back splits (2&4) 8:34, 8:01

and here are the splits from today:

 Out Splits (1 & 3) 8:18, 7:59

Back Splits ( 2 & 4) 8:13, 8:05 - pretty disappointed by this - should be faster than #3

The good thing is I have picked up some speed since June or pushed quite a bit harder - possibly a combination of both. 

Ave Pace 8:34

Happy Running!

Last week was not good - at all.   Work has been crazy and with family and church, I have to balance it all with out having a meltdown due to exhaustion, so I missed most of last week, which is a bummer because I was off to such a good start!

Good things are this week involves no travel, no work visitors and no more early morning volleyball!  Thank you SCMS for moving 7th A team practice to after school.  So I have more time on Mondays and Wednesdays and I am looking forward to it. 

The plan for this week is the same as last couple of weeks:

Monday: 4-6 miles + weights

Tuesday: 7 miles - speed workout

Wednesday:  Yoga

Thursday:  7 miles - tempo?

Friday: 4 - 6 miles

Saturday: 10 miles

Total mileage: 32 - 36

5:15 am  51 degrees 88% humidity - nothing like a 20 degree drop in a week :)

Very sluggish miles, but I felt good.

Ave Pace 9:24

Happy Running!

5;15 am   50 degrees    91% humidity - still cold and I am not quite ready for it

Today was speed work and after yesterday's sluggish run I was not sure what to expect.   I warmed up for 2 miles and then stretched.    I then did 6 - 1/2 mile repeats with a .25 mile rest on the flattest ground I could find.    Apparently I  was garmin challenged as well because I messed it up a couple of times

1 - missed the lap button; 2:30 recovery

2 - 3:52; 2:28 recovery

3 - 3:56; 2:25 recovery

4 - 3:47; 2:33 recovery

5 - messed this one up terribly but best guess is 3:57; 2:28

6 - 3:47; recovery home

I felt pretty good the entire time and I now have a pretty good base line for future workouts.   I had a difficult time staying focused and thought it was time to recover during the middle of number 5 and this was the same problem with the last hill repeat last week, so focus is something I need to work on.

Ave Pace: 8:43

Happy Running!

Yoga - very lovely!

5:15 am   61 degrees 71% humidity - perfect!

Today was a tempo run and I am not good at them at all.  I have such a difficult time with pace and that line between pushing a little and pushing a lot.   I failed in making it a true tempo run because it really turned into more of a race pace for 5K/10K.   The first 2 miles had quite a bit of up hill and the last 2 had some gradual incline/decline and some flat.

2 mile warm up

mile 1 - 8:16

mile 2 - 8:04

mile 3 - 7:44

mile 4 - 7:33

1 mile cool down

Ave Pace:  8:33

Happy Running!