Chug-along-chica!

Day 2--So far Christi is winning the sleep challenge. (Ah!) I got all panicked last night when I read her entry, so I booked it to bed, and laid there--trying frantically to fall asleep. (Which, as we all know, just doesn't work.) So it took me a long time to fall asleep and I ended up getting only 8:10 again. Well, today I am going to work hard so I'll be really tired and sleep a long time. This is getting serious!

This is Monday's report btw.  I wrote it on the wrong day and am feeling too lazy to change it.  (Why isn't there a cut and paste?)

Day one of the sleep challenge with the famed Shuffling Sista!

I got 8:10 last night, which is respectable, but I am hoping to get more tonight. I really want to be rested enough to increase my mileage. Last week was 28. From now until the Striders Half (april 5th) I plan to keep it above 30, and hopefully up to 40 for all of March. I will need fabulous recovery to pull that off without hitting any snags.

45 min. walking with Sam & the dog.

The above was supposed to be on Sunday's entry.  Oops!

5 Miles outside with my beloved dog.  It was quite a PR for him.  I stopped to give him water a couple of times, but I'm really proud of him.  Ave. pace was 10:37, including stops for Sparky's VPBs.  Dogs have it easy.

Day three of the sleep challenge. As of yesterday, I was behind by 70 min., I think. But with my 8 hours and 50 min. last night, I gained 1 hour and 50 min.! That puts me ahead by 40 min. I believe. Yea! But I must not underestimate the Shuffling Sista, as she has shown great propensity for champion sleeping. He he he. As a special bonus, I am feeling remarkably well rested. :)

3 Doggie-be-good miles with Sparky. 10:05 pace on ave.--felt fabulous.

2 more miles tonight in the dark.  Christine wasn't able to make it for some reason.  I would've gone longer, but I got scared--some guy on a bicycle was trying to talk to me.   After last week's adventure I guess I am a little jumpy.

8 Hours and 20 min. of sleep. Hope that is good enough to keep me in the lead!

I just finished an hour long martial arts-themed workout class at that gym. It was pretty fun, but after running so much, it didn't seem to give me that good of a cardio workout. Probably because at least half the time I was standing around trying to figure out what to do! Let's just say that I have very little Bruce Lee in me. Maybe next time I'll try spinning! I signed up for a 2 week trial membership at this gym. I may spring for the year membership...I'm still going back and forth.

5th day of the challenge, and I put in another 8:10 of sleep.

After a relatively reluctant start, I did 5 miles outside with the jogging stroller.  I really miss chocolate on days like this.

Oops. There goes my title as Sleep Champion. I'll tell you what, the Shuffling Sista is NOT to be trifled with! She is the Queen of the Quilts, the Champion of the Chaise Lounge, the Princess of the Pillows! Let us take a moment to offer obeisance...........okay, that's enough.

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3 miles outside with the double jogger and the dog. I rigged it up so that the dog pulled the weight of the stroller, and I just ran. (At least it worked that way for the first half of the run. The second part, I was dragging both the dog AND the stroller.) Don't kill me, but it was 71 degrees. A little hot for my pooch--I had to stop in the middle and give him water.

Barring unusual circumstances (which actually happen quite frequently) I will run 3 more with Christine tonight. Well, Christine bailed on me, so I ended up running 2 more miles alone around 8:15. I guess I am STILL freaked out from that one scary run last week. I just can't do this night running alone anymore! I was running through a short dark alley in my neighborhood, when I saw some movement from behind a bush. I was startled by a piercing scream...until I realized it was coming from my own darn throat! The "movement" turned out to be 2 teenagers who had been *ahem* lying down, and suddenly sat up. I was SO close to pepper spraying them, thinking they were a big dog or something. Well, I hope they will find somewhere else to be sneaky in the future. Otherwise I will be there to scream at them, and threaten them with pepper spray. I'm gonna need therapy if these sort of things keep happening on my runs....

Many good things to report about this race!

1.) I took 1 min. 51 seconds off my post high school PR.

2.) I placed in the top 10 chicas, which I have NEVER done in my entire life for a race over a mile. I was 8th for the women, 4th in my division, and 27th including the guys. There were about 300 participants, I'd estimate.

3.) I beat "Ded Moroz," the 8:00 guy. My average pace was 7:56, and that is not accounting for the slightly long course.

4.) My improvement in time was not because it was a super-easy course. There were several smallish hills and gradual inclines. It was an out-and back course. I asked several people with Garmins what the distance was, and they all said 3.14-3.16. So this is an official old lady PR, people! The footing was excellent, though--mostly paved, and some hard packed dirt. The temps were also ideal. I was MOST appreciative that it ended with a little downhill section.

The only unfortunate thing was that I didn't get one of the beee-yootiful medals they were giving out. The Super-Chicks who came in #1 and #2 overall were both in my age division, and I had high hopes that they wouldn't count them for the age div. awards, but they did. : (

I can't remember much about the details of the actual run. I just kept thinking about keeping up my rhythm. My music really helped--and I had it turned up LOUD! I didn't want to hear the sound of my jagged breathing.

Mentally, I think I handled this race pretty well. There were a couple of times when negative thoughts tried to bog me down. The worst are the thoughts like "you won't be able to hold this pace" or "you are not doing very well", but I just dug in with a strong "YES I CAN!" and "YES I AM!" and they went away. One thing I think I am really gaining from running is the ability to outlast stuff like that. Just refusing to give up and keeping on keeping on through discouraging moments usually yields very good results. I see this in other areas of my life than running, so I am grateful for that.

You guys are going to laugh at my race attire--the FRB singlet and HOT PINK shorts!

This was taken AFTER the race, so I am a little frazzled, but you can see that I was not completely wasted. I didn't look like I needed to go to the hospital, so that is definite improvement!

Overall, I am very pleased that running easy has produced such good results. I train at 10-11:00 pace. Often even slower! (Wonder if Sasha will allow me to go faster now...) And I do zippo speedwork.

My mile splits were pretty consistent 7:45. 8:03, and 7:54. I felt that I could have sustained that pace for at least another mile. Whoops! Gotta go teach some piano lessons. Happy running everyone.