Running in the Middle

Hello April Showers.  Got rained on and buffeted by the wind, but I'll take it since it was above 50 degrees.  3.6 miles Avg Pace 9:02   I know, I'm slow, but I don't care.  I'm just happy to run injury free for now.  And it was really nice to get out a run today after taking the whole easter weekend off.

This was a nice comfortable 4 mile run.  It was beautiful outside, just a little bit on the breezy side which is never my favorite.  But I recently read of another blogger here who ran 100 miles in windy weather, so I know I have no right to complain.  :)

Glad I got at least 3 miles in today.  Felt so tired after having a three year old for a blanket most the night.  Tired mom's run slow, but at least I ran.  And it was warm and sunny, yeah for me.

This was my long run for the week.  8 miles 9:40 avg pace.  This is the first time I have gone this far in a long time so I tried to take it nice and easy.  I'm just working on building up my base miles gradually, I'm hoping if I am patient and do it right I can stay injury free.

5k tempo run.  Out and back gradual uphill the first half.  Was huffing and puffing, but felt good to turn around and go back downhill.  Excited to be getting some splits below 8 min finally.  Even if it was running downhill.

I was not looking forward to this run today, I'm having a bad attitude today.  It is cold and windy outside, two things I don't deal well with.  But I just went out and started running, and after a mile or so I got into and really enjoyed myself.  I was planning on doing 5 easy miles, but worked out to be more like 2 easy, 3 tempo.  I have a bad habit of trying to hammer out every workout.  I need to learn to hold back, it should be easy to let yourself slow down, right?

Went to gym today to try and get in a little cross training.  Went around the track for 1.6 for a little warm up.  Then 15 minutes on the Lateral Helix machine and 12 more on the elliptical.  I would have gone longer on the elliptical but I spent to much time chatting with my sister while we stretched on the mats after my warmup, and I only had one hour for daycare.  But that's ok, I'm going to get a good long run in tomorrow morning.

Well this was a long run record for me today, I have never been this far before.  15 miles, 9:40 AP. Toby from the blog invited me out for a group run and had some really great company this morning.  It is really nice to have people to chat with, makes the miles just fly by.  My legs feel fine, I think it helped that we stopped for several water breaks and stretched.  After this run I feel like a Full Marathon really will be an obtainable goal for me this year.  Hoping to run one this fall, just not sure which one yet.  Gotta pick a good one for my first.  Now for a nap I think.

4 on the indoor track, 3 slow, 1 fast at the end.  It felt good to run after 2 days off.  Had to start really slow as I could feel my legs still recovering from my Sat. long run.  I know I pushed it going 15 when I probably should have only done 10.  I survived it, but had some soreness to recover from.  I thought about Boston a lot while I was running, its a hard thing to get out of your head.  It's just so sad and unfair.

Went out for a quick run before the celebrations begin for my daughters birthday, she is turning 5 today.  We are taking her out for a day of fun.  Did two kinda slow, and one kinda fast, then the .6 was medium.  Just so chilly out this morning I didn't feel like I really got very warmed up.  And my legs feel so cold when I got back home, look forward to warmer days.

My first run as a 32 year old.  7 miles, I felt old and slow.  Probably because I ate to much birthday cake and dinners out for three days in a row.  

Too cold and windy outside for me today, did 3 mile tempo on the indoor track and it was pretty fun.  Then 10 minutes on the Lateral Helix Machine.  The legs were feeling good tonight and I'm hoping they can stay that way.  My right IT band has been bugging me a bit the past few weeks and my husband really helped me out by giving me a deep scraping massage on it.  That made all the difference and it felt great, or I mean I didn't feel it on my run tonight.  yeah.  

Hour and 10 min Bike ride with my toddler in tow for that extra added resistance.  My butt has never quite agreed with a bike seat since my pubic ramus stress fracture in 2011.  But it was just too gorgeous out to stay home and do the dishes, so I made the best of it.  I have a goal to get in more cross training this year, so I think this was good.  Will get my run in this evening.  

 PM  - 3 mile out and back, uphill then down.  Took me two miles just to get the legs warmed up, a little tired from my bike ride this morning but I got it done. 

Why does it always feel like I'm running uphill in the wind lately.  Maybe it is just cedar hills, but there always seems to be a little to much breeze going on.  5.4 at a medium pace, and my right foot was feeling weird.  I think my pureflows are great for the short fast runs, but I'm thinking of getting something a little heavier on the cushioning for the long runs.

When I woke up this morning and got ready I put on my brooks pureflows and my feet instantly started hurting.  I have been having a little trouble with them, but this morning really confirmed that those shoes are really wrong for me.  So I put my ghost 4s on and they felt so much better.  Had a little pre-race anxiety, I'm sure that's because I have not done any races since last year in Oct.  I need to not wait so long for the next one.

Did half mile warm up jog slow few minutes before the race.  Had a really good start and only thing was in the first mile my pants kept slipping a bit.  By mile 2 that was not a problem anymore.   My splits were 8:19, 8:28, 7:39 and 7:02 for that last .12 so says my garmin.  I was really happy with the 25:13 today.  Despite all the super fasties out there, this was really good for me.  My goal time was to get 26 minutes, or about a 8:20 AP.  But I really surprised myself and dug deep for a 8:07 AP.  Took home a little trophy for 3rd in my age division, that was a surprise too.  This was such a big race, I thought the talent pool would go a little deeper.  But hey, I'm not complaining.  I'm happy to come home with something to show my girls.

I would have to say I was really impressed by how this race was managed.  The race started exactly on time.  The course was great, every mile marker was spot on.  Awesome volunteers helping everywhere, amazingly good food at the end. Not to mention really nice finisher medals for everyone and cool trophies for the winners.  I'm going to keep this one on my list for next year.