Back in the saddle?

Tonight I ran an entire run with my husband!  We haven't done that in quite a while.  He had the watch but accidentally reset it during the run, so we don't know our time.  That's fine with me, though-it's nice to do a run without worrying about time every once in a while.  Today was kind of cloudy and yucky, but once it got dark, it was beautiful!  It felt very much like October!

I'm getting up early tomorrow morning!!!!!  I'm announcing this publicly, so I HAVE to do it!

Yeah, I did it!  I got up at 4:45 am and met two girlfriends at the canal in the DARK!  We ran very slowly, kept stopping to stretch, etc., so I didn't have time to go any further.  That is fine, because I did 5 miles last night, and I knew 10 miles in less than 12 hours with minimal sleep would be rough. 

The timing was perfect.  My friend sent me a text message right after I logged off the blog last night asking if I wanted to meet them, so I jumped at the opportunity, knowing that it would ensure that I would get out of bed!  I also knew I would have to get to bed soon, so I did not even start watching the Bachelor (a guilty pleasure), because I knew if I started it I would watch the whole thing and not even start to get ready for bed until 10:00!  Killer self-discipline, except for the half-bag of chips I ate right  before my run last night.  I was so full I didn't eat dinner-oops!  Maybe next week I'll give up sugar and white flour!

I met my two friends on the track again today.  They did speed work and ran stairs while I ran 5 miles around the track.  It's actually not boring with my iPod.  I was trying to run a 10:00 mile but got to 2 miles in 20:40, so I had to pick it up at that point.  I finished in 49:24, 9:53 pace.  However, that includes a last mile in about 9:00, 7:00 pace for the last curve around  the track, and a full-on sprint at the end (which felt awesome, by the way!).

I'm finding that I have to concentrate more to hold the 10:00 pace, and that's not as automatic as it was last week.  I'm not sure why that is.  It still feels good, but it's a change that I have noticed.

For all of you traveling to St. George today (if anybody), have a safe trip!  GOOD LUCK in the marathon, although I'm sure everyone will be blogging before then!

First of all, I have to tell you all how much of a miracle that there is an entry for me today.  I love running-it's on my top 5 list of my favorite things in the world.  However, early mornings are in the bottom 5.  So, it's VERY hard to drag my butt out of bed early in the morning, unless I'm meeting someone.  So, this morning, the plan was for my husband and I to run together.  The alarm went off at 5:30, and my husband rolled over and said, "I think I'm going to skip the run today.  My legs are sore."  But guess what-I got up and ran-BY MYSELF at 5:30 am!!!!!   And I enjoyed it!  I always do once I'm out there, anyway.

The plan was to do 5 miles, but I felt good, so I kept going.  I finished in 55:23, a 9:53 pace.  My splits always seem to be either 10:10 or 9:50.  I can never seem to run straight 10:00 miles.  I picked it up at the end until I got below 8:00 pace, according to Garmin.

I'm so proud of myself for getting up!!!

Today I ran with my group along the canal.  It was actually chilly when we started at 7:30!  The run went really well, and I finished in 1:49:05, a 9:55 average.  My splits were:

9:47, 10:01, 10:00, 10:14, 10:04, 10:03, 10:01, 9:59, 9:46, 9:46, 9:26.

And, I ran 30 miles this week.  My goal for October will be to average 30 miles per week.  I'm on my way!

GOOD LUCK to everyone running St. George tomorrow!  I'm looking forward to reading your race reports!!

Soooo, I've been trying to follow Sasha's recommendation of running 5 miles per day at a nice easy pace of 10:00 per mile for the last 3 weeks or so (granted, one week I only ran 4 days).  So, this evening I started my run, nice and easy, thinking I'd better pick it up because I was going way too slow.  So, imagine my surprise when I look down at Mr. Garmin, who says I'm running 9:30!  I keep running, keep running, and still 9:10 to 9:40.  So, I decide to do 5.6 instead of my normal 5.  I swear, for most of the run, it felt too easy!!  My splits were: 9:36, 9:45, 10:02, 10:00, 9:55, 8:53 (.6 mile), for an average pace of 9:45.  Total time was 54:38.

I think I mentioned last week that it was starting to feel not quite so easy to maintain 10:00.  Improving by 15 seconds per mile to the point where it feels easy is very encouraging!  I'm very excited to see what my body will be able to do after a month of running 30 miles per week consistently!  I'm getting up at 4:45 again tomorrow to do an easy run with my friends.  Let's hope that tonight's run has become the rule, rather than the exception!

Congrats  to EVERYONE who ran St. George over the weekend.  You all inspire me to run my heart out and set challenging goals for my running!

Today was an early, easy run in the dark with two friends.  I ran with them last week, but today we ran faster, about a 10:30 pace, down from 11:00.  One of my friends, the one who is new to running, is improving.  She was able to pick up the pace from last week and didn't stop to walk at all!  The blog is the next step! 

I am in a world of hurt with these blisters.  I have one on the outside of my big toe, where my shoe rubs.  My toe is slightly callused there, and I'm afraid it's going to turn into a bunion.  It doesn't hurt while I run, but it kills in my pointy work shoes (which are actually pretty comfortable)!  I'm afraid that my shoes might be the culprit, but I just bought them!  Luckily, they don't bother me much during the actual running!

Tonight's run was a testament as to how a run can just make your troubles go away.  I was very stressed out at work today, to the point where I was crying (breaking the #1 work rule!), and I just wanted to come home and cry some more.  But I made myself go out for a run, and I'm so glad I did!  I forgot all about my stressful day and thought about how much I like the blog instead!

I finished in 49:35, and my splits were: 9:56, 10:09, 10:06, 9:59, and 9:26.  Average heart rate was 158, however, it steadily crept upward.  It's a mystery....

I got a chiropractic adjustment and massage today.  It felt great, but MAN!  I have some tension or something in my shoulders!  My chiropractor is funny-he makes fun of my job and my running.

Today was 5 miles on the treadmill.  I got home at 6:00 and didn't want to do the whole run in the dark.  And I REALLY wanted my iPod, so I went to the gym.  I don't know if I would characterize the middle 3 miles as marathon race pace, because I don't know my goal marathon race pace right now.  But my splits were: 10:00, 8:57, 8:57, 8:57, 10:00, all at 1.0 incline, which is the same as running on level ground outside.  The middle 3 miles felt harder than a 9:00 felt to me just 6 weeks ago, but I didn't feel any more tired than normal at the end of the run.  It was fun to change it up a bit. 

Off to Grey's Anatomy!

I ran by myself this morning.  My group is running tomorrow instead, so I was on my own, just me, Mr. Garmin, and iPod.  I made it to the turnaround point (6 miles) in 59:57.  I think I even got the runner's high on the way.  :-)  Haven't felt that in a long time!  Soooo, I turned around, planning to pick it up a bit.  I was cruising along at about 9:45, stopped for Gatorade, and saw two men pass me.  They looked pretty hardcore, with their fuel belts and all.  I started running again and found myself right with them, doing 9:15-9:30, and I decided to keep up the pace with them.  Then, one of the guys and I almost got hit by a car (not as bad as it sounds).  I found out he was doing 10, and it would be his farthest run ever!  He's training for PF Chang's in January.  So, appearances aren't everything!

When I hit 9 miles, I decided to really pick it up, and I just kept it going, faster and faster.  Turns out, I ran the second half over 4 minutes faster than the first half!!  Yeah!  My splits were: 10:00, 10:10, 10:07, 10:00, 9:48, 9:52, 9:39, 9:29, 9:37, 9:16, 9:11, 8:43.  I feel really good now. 

When I looked in the mirror, I had 2 bugs stuck to my face-ew!  I ran through a couple of swarms of bugs, closed my mouth, and held my breath!  Luckily I didn't swallow any bugs-I have done that before!

I'm feeling a lot stronger.  The question now is: do I (a) start increasing my weekday mileage next week, (2) increase the pace slightly, (3) do both, or (4) keep doing what I'm doing?  I have a half marathon coming up on November 11.  One caveat: next weekend I will be in Flagstaff, at high altitude.  I'm not sure I will be able to complete over 10 miles at that altitude.  Any advice regarding the next step in my training would be appreciated.

I'm increasing my mileage now.  My husband and I were able to run together, so that was nice for a change.  He tweaked his program a bit to run with me.  :-)  The whole run felt very easy, except for dodging potholes in the dark!  It's hard, even with the headlamp.

Total time was 59:39, a 9:57 pace.  My splits were: 10:06, 9:50, 9:56, 10:07, 9:58, 9:43.  Even with adding a mile, the run didn't feel any harder than normal, so I guess that's a good sign!  I'm anxious to get back down to a 9:00 pace for my easy runs, though.  I'm being patient!

It was DARK on my run tonight (guess that's what happens when the sun goes down!).  I had the headlamp on after the first mile.  I ROCKED it tonight.  I decided to pick up the pace a bit.  It still felt fairly easy, although my body could definitely tell it was going faster.  I finished in 53:21, averaging 9:32.  Yeah!!!!  My splits were: 9:45, 9:27, 9:35, 9:39, 9:36, 8:51 pace for the last .6 mile.  The weather was so beautiful.

I talk about my running at work, and everyone there knows about it.  Soooo, about a mile or so into my run, I saw my boss on the trail (I've never seen him while running).  Well, I can't let my boss think I'm a slow runner, after all my talk at work!  So that might be a reason for the faster splits. 

Then, when I was almost home, I saw a big black dog.  Now, I am scared of most big dogs.  There is one big black dog on my street that has snapped at my husband or me several times, so I am VERY scared of big black dogs in my neighborhood.  So, I saw one between me and my house and thought, Thanks for ruining my awesome run!  But the dog started barking like crazy and running away from me!  It probably saw my little headlamp and thought I was some weird creature.  It made me laugh!  (I'll still probably be scared of that dog, though!)

Another good run on the Bridal Path, in the dark again.  Average pace was 9:40.  I picked it up a little again, but plan to take it easy for the rest of the week, so I can do my 14 miles in Flagstaff this weekend.

My splits were: 9:44, 9:36, 9:52, 9:52, 9:39, and 9:01 pace for the last .6 mile.  Total time was 54:07, an average pace of 9:40.  I ran the second half about 7 seconds slower than the first half.  I almost got hit by a car too!  Even the headlamp can't avert all disasters!

There must be something going around on the blog.  I didn't sleep well last night either!  I woke up several times and could not get back to sleep!  Hopefully tonight will be better.

Well, I have exceeded my goal of 30 miles per week so far this month.  So, now the goal is at least 35 miles this week, and increase by 10% every week until I hit 40.  Once I hit 40 miles per week, I will reassess if I want to keep increasing mileage.  This is exciting, because I have only run this kind of mileage in the late stages of marathon training (although high school cross country is probably an exception).  I am looking forward to seeing how consistent 40-mile weeks changes my fitness level (and hopefully my dress size too!).

Well, this morning I was dragging.  I ran a little faster than normal last night, waited less than 12 hours, and ran again.  I don't think my body is used to running every 12 hours.  It's funny that I can do 12 miles at a time on the weekends, but not as two separate runs during the week.

Anyway, it was COLD out this morning!  It was still really dark when we started, and after hearing all the scary stories on the blog last night, I was a little creeped out.  So I made my husband run the same route as me, even though he went ahead in front!

Total time was 56:15, average pace 10:03.  My splits were 10:19, 9:54, 10:04, 10:02, 10:08, 9:43 pace for the last .6 mile.  I haven't run that slowly in a long time.  But I'm not beating myself up over it-I'm proud of myself for running twice in 12 hours.

I hope to get up tomorrow and run early again.  BUT, I have a big morning in court tomorrow, so it will depend on how much I get done today in preparation.  Tonight we get to pack for Flagstaff!  Can everyone tell I'm excited to go??!?!

Oh goodness!  What a run!  I am very proud that I was able to run that far in Flagstaff.  We ran really slowly and felt great for the first 8 miles, despite a brutal headwind.  We stopped to refill our water at 8 miles and then continued.  I started feeling tired around 10 miles, and it went downhill quickly from there.  By 11 miles, I was hurting.  It was all I could do to turn around and start back.  The goal was 14 miles.  I really wanted to stop at 12 miles, but I decided I would run a half marathon and walk the last .8 miles.  So, I made it to 13.2 and walked.  Average pace was 11:15.  It was obviously much slower than normal, but I'm glad we made ourselves go slowly, because I don't think we would have made it the whole way if we had tried to do our normal pace.

The terrain was beautiful!  The leaves are changing, so there was color everywhere.  Running in Flagstaff always brings back a lot of memories, from high school cross country runs, to training for my first marathon, to falling down in the dark 6 weeks before my first marathon and having to skip it, etc.  I did a lot of challenging trail runs when I lived here.  Once I ran up Snowbowl Road and back down.  Fun stuff!

My body feels like it went 20 miles! 

Tonight I ran on the treadmill.  To keep it interesting, I kept changing the pace for each new song on my iPod.  I ran the last mile in 8:41, a tad faster than my goal marathon pace for my next marathon.  Whether that's a realistic goal, I don't know.  But it felt good.  I finished in 56:32, an average pace of 9:25.

Days like this make me love running more than ever.  I've been so stressed about work that I haven't slept well in a week, even when I was "relaxing" in Flagstaff.  I was freaking out this morning, but I buckled down and had a fairly productive day.  I left work at 6:00, knowing that it is imperative that I have an even more productive day tomorrow to meet my deadline.  I was dreading the run, but, wouldn't you know it, I am now completely recharged and ready to kick it at work tomorrow.  I also knew that I would be extremely grouchy if I didn't get my run in for the day.

And, I have to say, if it weren't for the blog, I very well might have skipped today's run!

I felt kind of icky on my run tonight.  I had GI issues and just generally did not feel 100%.  I finished in 59:57.  My splits were: 9:58, 9:53, 10:07, 10:14, 9:59, and 9:46.  Maybe my body just decided to take it easy, since I picked up the pace last night.

On the plus side, I finished work a little earlier than normal tonight and got started on my run while it was still light out!  I didn't have to turn on the headlamp (aka the endless source of ridicule) until over halfway through the run!

Tonight was another somewhat icky run.  Total time was 59:31, average 9:55 mile.  The Garmin was off by .03, though.  I ran until it said 3.0, turned around, and it logged 5.97.  I have the new 305, and it hasn't done this before.  Oh well.  My splits were: 10:08, 10:00, 10:06, 10:14, 9:56, and 9:26.

I'm somewhat confused by two nights in a row of sub-par performance.  I'm getting the same amount of sleep, eating lots of carbs, and staying somewhat sane at work.  I remember when training for past marathons that I was supposed to cut the mileage back every 4th week.  This will be my 4th week of 30+ miles.  Maybe I'm overtraining a bit???....Any advice or insight would be much appreciated.

Well!  So much for feeling icky!  I decided to kick it up a notch and see if my body would respond in the same way it does to a 10:00 mile, and it did!  It almost felt easier, in a way.  I made a point of focusing on my pace the whole time and really engaging my mind as I ran.  Total time was 56:52, with an average pace of 9:29.  According to Garmin, my max pace was 4:42!  Ha!  My splits were: 9:40, 9:33, 9:33, 9:34, 9:31, and 9:04.  Yay!  My heart rate recovered quickly.

It's getting darker earlier every night.  I needed the headlamp for almost the entire run.  I saw my boss again on my run, but this time he was driving.  Thankfully, he saw me and didn't almost hit me with his car-that would have been awkward!  Then, I got hooted at by guys in cars TWICE.  It's really obnoxious, but I gotta admit, an ego boost too.

I have decided to change my goals.  I bet my potential goes beyond what I posted as my original goals, so I'm going to give it a whirl.  If I run 2008 miles in 2008, I should blow past my original goals!

So, I just tried to change my goals, but I had trouble accessing the text.  Then I made changes, but they were not saved!  I'll be the first to admit that simply having figured out how to blog is a technical miracle in my world!  Any technical help would be appreciated.

Well, today I crashed and burned, and it was entirely on account of my own stupidity!  First, I decided to sleep in and start my run at 9:30.  On any other weekend, it would have been fine, but it has been hot in Phoenix all week, and the high today is supposed to be back up in the mid-90s.  So I knew it would be warm, but I was prepared.

So, I started my normal run on the canal, stopping at water stops, not thinking about the fact that, because it was later, the coach people would come and pick up their coolers!  I had planned on running 12 miles on an out-and-back course along the canal, but when I got to about 3.5 miles, I decided to mix it up.  So I ran into a residential area.  I wasn't sure where I was, but then I came across the street where my mother grew up.  So, I thought, yippee!  I'll run down memory lane, all the way to her old house.  So I did, and it was beautiful.  It's a wonderful older neighborhood full of character (and trees and grass!) with a great view of Camelback Mountain.

Anyway, I was running along, it was getting warmer, and I finally realized that (1) my water was very hot, and (2) it was almost gone.  And, has everyone ever had a hot Gu?  It is disgusting-don't ever do it!  It took me almost to my turnaround point to realize: there is a reason I stay on the canal-water!  I never think about it, because I just top off my water bottle at every stop, so I always have a full bottle.  Oops!

I realized the 12 miles was not going to happen.  I made it to 8 miles, and then I had to walk.  I walked one mile to the gas station, called my husband to come get me, and walked one more mile to where he picked me up and took me to my car.  He, on the other hand, ran 16 miles at a great pace!  I guess that's what happens when you run early and hydrated!  Oh well.  I still ran over 30 miles this week, and I WILL NOT sleep in next Saturday!!!!

Tonight was 6 miles with my husband, which was fun.  We ran it in 59:47, average 9:58 pace.  The laps got messed up, so I don't really know my splits.  I don't wear the heart rate monitor on the run, but I measured at the end, and my heart rate was down to 130 within less than a minute.  We talked for the first 4+ miles, which was fun, and also a good measurement of fitness.  We were able to talk easily without huffing and puffing.  Good start to the week!

Tonight was a great run.  I ran without the iPod.  I consciously went faster.  My body knew it was going faster, but I didn't really feel more tired, if that makes sense.  I think I'll run at this pace a couple times a week, see if it affects my running on other days, and gradually pick up the pace until I'm running this pace all the time.  I changed my Garmin to give me my splits every half mile instead of every mile, and I liked it. 

Total time was 55:51, a 9:19 pace.  My mile splits were 9:26, 9:17, 9:20, 9:28, 9:23, and 8:55.  Yeah!

The rest of this week, and next week, are going to be challenging to keep the running going as I start big-time trial prep and....TRIAL.  I've been keeping up the running schedule, and it has really helped me stay focused at work, so the plan is to continue!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

I ran on the treadmill at the gym tonight, because it was already dark by the time I left work.  On the plus side, I didn't have to wait for a treadmill.  Everyone is apparently out celebrating!  Total time was 58:18, a 9:40 pace.  The whole run felt very easy (great sign!).  I kept the same pace going for the last mile.  Usually I pick up the pace quite a bit for the last mile.  Tonight the last mile felt so easy, I felt like I was barely moving!  My heart rate was very low at the end, too.

Work has been stressful lately, but I've been making a point to keep up the running.  It is helping me deal with the stress tremendously.

I ran over 150 miles this month-well over my goal!