Heart of the Rockies Half Marathon

This was by far the smallest half marathon I've ever done.  When Shanna and I arrived in Loveland we barely spotted the check-in tent. It was the easiest check-in ever! In about two minutes we had our bibs and went back to the car to stay warm. When we finally decided it was time to hit the porta potties and head to the starting line it had warmed up quite a bit.  One probably with the starting line...we had no idea where it was!

Finally someone made an announcement that we were all going to walk to the starting line together. We finally got to a super narrow path.  I didn't hear the official start but Shanna and I finally saw a tiny sign on the side of the trail that said start. Um...yeah, this should have been better marked.

Being a small race there was no chip timing or waves, it was just a go for it kind of race. Unfortunately since we didn't get right up in front, we got stuck in a huge crowd of people which didn't break up for a couple miles. At this point I decided you know what, I'm going to run with Shanna and just enjoy the scenery.

I enjoyed the scenery right up until we ran by a dairy from about mile 6-8. It stunk! Check out the cows. 

Not how I pictured an organic farm either. Josh was on his bike doing a great job being our personal papparazi.

Yep, I rocked green KT Tape. Around mile 9 I decided I just needed to pick up the pace a bit. I speed up a little bit to just hurry and finish. I was getting hot and it was the longest I had run since Nashville back in April.  This goes down as my slowest half on record but it was fun and nice running with Shanna.  Plus how could I not enjoy a 70 degree day in November?

Time: 2:25    Distace: 13.14 miles    Avg. Pace: 11:02...yikes I know.

Gearing Up for Race Day

It's already race time! Tomorrow morning is the Heart of the Rockies Half Marathon in Loveland.  Did I get in those speed sessions I was planning on? Nope. Did I do another long run or two? I did one. Ten miles last Tuesday. I don't think my five miles on Wednesday count as a long run but they felt nice. Since my knees acted up on that last 10 miler I decided to give them a break. I might have to break down and use some KT tape tomorrow but we'll see how they're feeling.

Today I'm rocking my compression socks and continuing to try to get hydrated.  Even though I've had at least 3-4 large bottles of water just at work alone, every day this week, I'm still thirsty like I'm sitting out in the summer sun. It's crazy!

Speaking of summer sun. Can you believe this forecast for the weekend? Looks like I'll be rocking shorts and a t-shirt again for this race. I can't believe it! Hello global warming is all I can say for nearly 80 degress in Colorado in November. Can't complain though I'm not looking forward to the commute to/from work once the snow hits.

  

So tonight I'll be eating some of this...

and this...

...while I relax and drink 5 more bottles of water and Gatorade. Hopefully I won't feel as blah and exhausted as I have the past few days when I wake up tomorrow morning. Race report to come.

Then I Ate a Huge Burrito

My long run did not happen this weekend. My original plan was to do a two-a-day run on Saturday. After a quick 4 miles with Josh and Lucky we had errands to run and a house to clean before Josh's b-day party. Oh and Husker game to watch. So the second 6-8 miles I was going to do just didn't happen. Before I knew it I needed to get those bacon wrapped dates made, spinach dip going and that baked brie baking.

It turned out to be a bit of a drunk night for myself and our guests apparently. Just goes to show that even though we're on the down slope to 30 we still can get crazy from time to time...evidence of the vomit in the bathroom we found the next day.  I was a total waste of space on Sunday. I basically was hating life.  Note to self...you can no longer drink like you did at 21. I think that is the last time I'm drinking for a little while. Beer isn't that fantastic that I cannot resist it and I'm just not really a big drinker anymore.

Monday was Josh's 29th b-day. I made him dinner, we went to the gym, but since it was his b-day I didn't want to spend hours running. Probably rude thing to do.

Last night was my night to get it in.  I left work and nearly got blown off the interstate. The winds were insane. Rather than do the running man I decided to run on the dreadmill. 

Time: 1:38   Distance: 10 miles   Avg. Pace: 9:49 min/miles

I stopped at 10 miles though I was planning on 12. My knees actually started hurting and swelling so I figured I better stop. Don't want to have to drop from the race in a week and a half.  (Bonus-I drunkenly talked Shanna into running the race with me! Yes!)  I couldn't really find a good elevation chart of the course so I used MapMyRun to make one myself.  It looks pretty flat to me, just how I like it!

After running Josh treated me to the Garden Fresco Burrito with Green Chili from Tres Margaritas...I ate the WHOLE thing. It was delicious. Oh and they made Josh wear a sombrero while they sang to him and gave him a weird red, white and green shot...yuck. Of course the one time I don't bring my phone or camera to take a picture. Drat!

1/2 on a Whim

After the RNR Denver Half I am feeling even more determined to get the sub-2 hour half under my belt. So after searching all lunch I found one that I don't have to fly or drive for a gazillion hours to.  It's right up the road from me in Loveland. 

Yep, I just went ahead and registered myself for the Heart of the Rockies Half Marathon which is in three weeks!  That gives me a bit of time to get in some speed sessions and two more longer runs.  I'm not going to have the sea level advantage and I haven't seen what the course elevation is but Loveland is about the same elevation as Longmont (lower than Denver) and from what I remember from the two months we lived in Loveland, it's flat as a pancake. We're even going to run right by the condo we lived in. I'm sure there will be a few hills in there somewhere but I'm looking forward to it.  Maybe I'll even talk Josh into running the 10k while I do the half.  Hopefully we won't have snow or ice. That would just be crummy. I am all for temps in the 30s or 40s though. My best runs are in those cooler temperatures.

Never done two races this close together but hey, it's almost like training right?

Did you say PR!?!

Today something totally unexpected happen...that's right I set a new 1/2 marathon PR. I honestly was shocked while I was running and realized that I was going to PR.  Especially since I hadn't trained. But let me back up.

Last night Josh and went down to our friend Russell's house.  Russell, Josh and our friend Jason and I enjoyed some of my delicious homemade spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Mmmm. Totally hit the spot. I went to bed early like a good runner while the boys stayed up. Unfortunately for me I was a light sleeper because when Josh came to bed it woke me up and I was unable to fall back to sleep for any significant amount of time. 

I rolled out of bed about 4:30 am, did my normal morning routine and jumped in the car to head to the race.  Once I got downtown I made my way to Civic Center Park.  I am glad that I had done this race before because there was zero signage telling people where to go. I was really surprised since the Rock N' Roll races are usually better organized.  I held onto my warm clothes as long as possible before heading to the corral. 

By about five after 7 am I was on my way across the finish line.  I was feeling good, not worrying about my pace when my first walk break alarm went off. I thought about ignoring it but decided hey, this is my plan and I should stick to it.  When we hit the only really steep hill around mile 4 people were dropping. The hill was hard but I powered up it. I remembered passing a lot of people in that same spot last year. 

A lap past the zoo, around the Denver Nature and Science Museum and I was already more than half way...still feeling good! At that point I looked at my watch and realized that I could probably PR if I just kept moving at about the same pace.  I didn't want to get cocky just yet.

Next up was Cheeseman Park. I remembered that last year there was a fairly long incline.  Not a problem I was still feeling great.  By the time I was half way up that it was time for a walk break and a my last gel.  This is apparently right where I missed Josh and Russell who had been waiting there to see me.  Once we were out of the park there was only a little over a mile left.  Even better it was flat with a slight downhill about a half mile from the finish and I was still on track to PR.

When I saw the shoot to the finish I sped up.  I breezed past the 13 mile marker and sprinted.  I was proud of myself for having enough energy to speed up.  I crossed the finish line and knew I had PRed and it felt good!

Splits courtesy of my Garmin:

Mile 1-9:33
Mile 2-9:38
Mile 3-9:27
Mile 4-9:23
Mile 5-9:44
Mile 6-9:45
Mile 7-9:36
Mile 8-9:06
Mile 9-9:42
Mile 10-9:33
Mile 11-9:38
Mile 12-9:23
Mile 13-9:03
Mile .25-1:54

Time: 2:05:10   Distance: 13.25 miles   Avg. Pace: 9:27 min/mile

So really I hit the 13.1 distance at 2:03:53. Which is awesome and a huge PR.  That is nearly 10 minutes faster than I finished this race last year and 2 minutes faster than Moab (which was primarily downhill).  But of course that's not what my chip time was.  Not gonna lie I'm kinda bummed I had to take the marathon medal even though I only did the half. Oh well. A medal is a medal.

Chip Time Stats:

Time: 2:05:09   Avg. Pace: 9:32 min/mile

Still a PR, but only by about 50 seconds.  Hey I'll take it! Maybe I shouldn't train more often. That or this run/walk thing is an excellent idea.  I really need to run a sea level race and I definitely be under 2 hours.  Hmmm.

I met Josh and Russell back at the car and we met my dad and brother Ted at Toast in Cherry Creek North. I was so hungry I had a really hard time deciding what to eat. I finally settled on the breakfast burrito with a pancake on the side. Definitely satisfied my sweet and salt craving.  As we were driving back to Russell's house to pick up Josh's stuff we passed by Bonnie Brae Ice Cream. Of course we had to stop for a celebatory cone. Mmmm.

My legs are a bit sore but I think that once I foam roll I'll be all good.  Woohoo for unexpected PRs!  As it turns out I may be faster than I give myself credit for. This is motivation to get my act together for my next race.

Walking is not giving up

This weekend I decided I wanted to get in one more long (using that word loosely here) run before the Rock N' Roll Denver Half Marathon this weekend. Being lazy and not wanting to experience the disasterous trying to run the Res (oh right the marathon is going on), that's ok I'll run from Roger's Grove (closed through October)-again (still ran 12 miles), Josh and I set out to do a few loops around the neighborhood.

Now I have not been training for this race.  I honestly haven't looked at the awesome training plan I created for myself in at least two months. Yeah I've been bad. But you know what? Life happens. Stuff comes up, plans change and it's not always possible to get in all your runs. With all of this going on I decided that I wanted to test out run/walking. Now I haven't purposely run/walked a race ever. Ok well I did walk when taking gels in Seattle and mid-race decided to run/walk Nashville (only because of the horrid conditions) but I hate walking during a race. It's always hard to motivate myself to start running again. Plus it's only 13 miles. I know I can run it without stopping, but at what speed this time?

So the test began. I set my Garmin to alarm every 11 minutes. That way I'd run for 11 the first time, walk for one minute then run for ten and so on.  Josh broke off and headed home after the first lap but I continued on.  Here are my stats:

Time: 1 hour 25 minutes    Distance: 9 miles    Avg. Pace: 9:29 min/miles

Pretty impressive pace for taking walk breaks isn't it? Now when I say walk, it's not leisurely it's a fast pace.  This helped me realize that walking isn't giving up and is actually a great option for finishing a race you're not really ready for.  We'll see how it goes this weekend.  If I can maintain the pace I did this weekend I'd be on track to beat my time from last year easily.  Then again, my neighborhood has like no hills.  Here's what the course looks like:

It doesn't really have rolling hills but from mile 2-5 it's a pretty steady incline. Then again from 8 to mile 11 before it heads downhill.  Eek. 

My bottom line for this race: Have fun. Enjoy the sights and don't worry about pace.

Working on It

I keep telling myself today is the day I give the trip updates, etc. but there are just not enough hours in the day lately.  Couple bullets before I get my butt in gear:

-Trip was great. Paris is awesome and super romantic. Would totally go back for a third time.  London eh, kind of like being in America. Didn't dislike it but didn't love it. High Tea was a big highlight.

-Training has gone down the drain. Still doing the Denver Half but it's going to be sloooooooow. That's ok I think I'll be running it for fun with Shanna and her friend from out of state. Ran 12 miles on Sunday...slow but then again I wasn't really trying.  Ankle currently hurting even with insoles.

-Saw awesome concert with Rache, Josh and her friend Amanda. Darius Ruckers and Brad Paisley put on an awesome show! Few tears when the Justin Moore sang a song called "Grandpa."

-Got a promotion at work. Yeay!

-PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOANS!!!!  I can't believe it. Thanks to the sale of the Subaru and Josh's parents sending us a check for trip expenses I am now student loan free! Now we just have Josh's to contend with.

Little teasers for all of the update I need to do. I'm going to try to get them all done before Josh and I celebrate our 2nd anniversary this weekend (super excited for that!).

Whirlwind

Man it’s been a whirlwind lately. The past month has flown by. Updates from our trip to come but let’s recap what happened after I got home from Missouri and California.

That evening Josh’s friend Peter and his new girlfriend came over for dinner. Nice to see Peter but after no being home for 10 days all I wanted to do was hang with my boys and veg out on the couch.

Monday it was time to get back to the gym and Tuesday I finally got in another run and tons of laundry while Josh was a golf league. Wednesday we had dinner at our friend’s Ryan and Claire’s house…awesome. I hadn’t seen them in a while and it was nice to relax and enjoy dinner with them out on the patio. Thursday Josh’s dad was in town. We went out to eat at Martini’s Bistro. Of course I had to have some key lime cheesecake.

Friday I had a surprise dinner for my friend Sarah G in Boulder. She was totally surprised which was awesome!

Saturday, another crazy day. I did an 11 miler:

Distance: 11 miles Time: 1:45:36 Avg. Pace: 9:36 min/miles

My legs were a bit on the sore side from that one. Stretch, snack and shower later we were headed to Denver to celebrate Claire’s b-day. We had dinner at Lime which was delicious. Then there was a little of this...

and a little of that.

Great time…not so great hangover the next day.

By Sunday I was crashing hard but started getting ready for our trip. The next few days leading up to our trip were no picnic either. I think this is the first time in a long time that I’ve had something to do every day and night for several weeks in a row. Thank goodness for vacation!

I'm Home!

But not for long.  Lucky and Josh greeted me at the airport on Sunday night. I was so excited to see my boys! This trip was the longest that Josh and I have been apart since before our wedding. Crazy right?  That night Josh's friend Peter and his new girlfriend came over for dinner. They are in town visiting from Minnesota.  Once they left I crashed hard. I am so exhausted in every way possible.  In fact I've had to take a nap every day after work just to get through the rest of the evening.

My training schedule is totally off. I did another hilly run in California on Saturday morning and ran a solid 5 miles on Tuesday night.  Luckily it wasn't too difficult to re-adjust to the altitude though it did slow me down. 

California Runs (3 total) Stats:

Distance: 10 miles   Time: 1:28:34   Avg. Pace: 8:51 min/miles

Stats (for Tuesday):

Distance: 5 miles    Time: 48:02    Avg. Pace: 9:38 min/miles

It's been a whirlwind since I arrive back in Colorado.  Tuesday was my downtime night for the week. Last night we enjoyed yummy food and great company with Ryan and Claire. They were nice enough to make dinner for us. Tonight my FIL Jim will be in town. We're going to eat at our favorite restaurant in Longmont, Martini's Bistro.  Mmmm...key lime cheesecake.  Tomorrow I'm partaking in a little surprise and then Saturday we're heading to Denver to celebrate Claire's birthday. Busy busy.

So glad it's almost time for vacation! We will be on our way to France a week from today. I can almost smell the cheese and taste the wine already.

Freshman Year

After a long week, it was nice to wake up at my Mom's house this morning.  I scheduled a few tweets for work and headed out for a quick run before getting back to the grind.  It was a hilly run that looked like this:

Even with the hills I was able to maintain a pretty good pace.  Gotta love the 4000 ft elevation drop. I'm totally off of my training schedule but I figure I can get in a couple good long runs before we head to Europe in 13 days!

Time: 36 mins   Distance: 4.05 miles   Avg. Pace: 8:53 min/miles

After getting cleaned up and some work done it was time to take my little brother Riley to freshman registration.  It totally brought me back to when I started high school. I vividly remember going to my registration, even what I wore.  As I watched the kids in line, unsure of themselves, with anxiety and excitement taking their school pictures, trying to open their lockers and getting their class schedules I was thankful I was all done with that.  Though I did meet two of my BFFs Sarah and Lisa that year. 

Riley is playing freshman football this year which I think is great.  It's also a great way to get to know some of the new people that he'll be going to school with and being confident heading into the new world of high school.  He is also quite the ladies man. Every time we walked somewhere on the campus there were girls waving and calling for his attention. It was so cute.

After registration I took he and Emma for a celabatory frozen yogurt treat.  We stopped by FroyoLife.  It was delicious!  I basically tried half the flavors and had fun with all of the toppings.  Between the three of us we ate 2 lbs of froyo.  Delicious.  It was awesome getting some one on one time with my Californian siblings.  They are getting so big and are just great kiddos...ok teenagers.  I will be 30 years old when Riley graduates in 2014.  Man I feel old!

We headed home and so I could get some work done before Mom and Mike got home.  We had a nice evening talking, eating a delicious chicken, caper and artichoke dinner Mike made and hanging out.  It's nice spending some time with them not in heavy duty grieving mode.  Tommorrow my Uncle Ben, his girls and my Aunt Jan's family is coming over for a little BBQ. 

Sore...throat that is

After two days of presenting at a trade show I figured my voice would be a bit on the tired side. But then I woke up yesterday morning with a pretty bad sore throat. This morning I can barely swallow.  I think I have strep...ugh. I'm going to head to the doctor and hopefully they can get my all doped up so that I can get all my work stuff done for the week and enjoy the weekend at the lake.

Last night I was bound and determined to exercise since I didn't on Tuesday night after the closing of the show.  Instead of doing a speed workout I did a tempo run. Not going to lie it was hard. Breathing hurt and my ears were ringing.  I pushed through though.

Time: 37:35  Distance: 4 miles  Avg. Pace: 9:24 min/miles

Summertime and the livins easy

Friday night was baseball night for the Van Kirks.  We met our friends Cassie, Monte and their adorable son Porter at Coors Field.  Not only did the Rockies beat the Cubs, they set a record in the 8th inning for the most consecutive hits in one inning.

Yep you're seeing that right, the Rockies decided to make the loss really hurt with 12 runs in one inning.  We stopped at The Gin Mill for a few hours afterwards before heading home. I was super excited to hit the pillow when I crawled in bed around 1:45 am.

My plan was to get up and head out running around 6 am.  Yeah that did not happen.  I rolled out of bed around 8:30.  I arrived at MacIntosh Lake just before 10. It was already nearly 80 degrees. By the time I hit 3 miles I knew there was no way I was going to get through 7 more out on the lake with zero shade.

Jumped in the car and headed to the gym.  Finished up the run there no problem. I tried my first Hammer Gel...not bad. Consistency was pretty good as was the flavor. What really sold me was that I had no GDF.

Stats:

Time: 1:37:16   Distance: 10.01 miles   Avg. Pace: 9:43 min/miles

Saturday night was ladies night! Thalia, Rachael, Sheila and I met at Thalia's before heading to the Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum concert. Oh Tim.....

The show was awesome! Wish we would have been able to get a bit closer. We enjoyed it nonetheless.  We made it back to Thalia's around 2 am.

Completely exhausted I still made it back home and up to Estes Park for a quick hike in Rocky Mountain National Park with Josh, my sister-in-law and my nieces.

The Luckiest

I'm the luckiest. I have such a wonderful husband. Look what he sent me just because...

Oh yeah and after happy hour with some of my favorite ladies I went for a run. Not going to lie my ankle and calf hurt the entire time...not horribly but I could feel them like a sore muscle. First time I felt like I could have just kept making laps around my neighborhood.  It really is amazing the difference between dreadmill and outdoors. I think I finally settled into a pace that was sustainable for me...at least for now. Need to bump it up to reach my half marathon goal.

Stats:

Time: 39:45 mins.   Distance: 4.14 miles    Avg. Pace: 9:36 min/miles

So about deodorant

Last night was busy. After another crazy busy day I headed home to get ready for my sister and brother-in-law and our niece and nephews to arrive for the night. They had a busy day at Cheyenne Frontier Days and planned to crash at our house then head back up to Cheyenne for an air show later today. Anyway, I ran into the house, opened the windows, turned on our house fan…so hot, through the sheets in the dryer, fed our little fur-baby and headed to the gym. If I was going to get in my workout I had to do it right away.

Luckily there was actually a treadmill available. It was amazing for one to be open during the after work rush. I got on and started my 1200 meter warm-up. On the schedule I had 4x1200s @ 7:51-8:13 min/mile pace. First bad sign, I forgot my water. Second bad sign, there was already condensate on the windows.

Then a nice middle-ish aged women got on the treadmill next to me. I was almost finished with the first recovery interval when it hit me…the third bad sign. It was that awful I forgot my deodorant this morning but thought I could squeak by without it even though it’s almost 100 degrees outside smell. Yikes. Now of course, we’re all working out and I’m the first one to admit after a run I am smelly. But this was overwhelming. I actually began feel nauseated. It was stifling really in the heat of the gym.

Between that and knowing I had to hurry up to meet everyone for dinner at The Pumphouse I cut my workout one interval short. So I ended up doing 3x1200 @ 8 min/mile pace. Better than nothing right!

Stats:

Time: 40:23 mins   Distance: 4.5 miles   Avg. Pace: 8:58 min/miles

I went to dinner straight from the gym. Sweat and all. I’m sure Josh was thinking man did you forget deodorant too. It all comes back around.

Tonight I’m enjoying some Indian food with Rache at our local place, Flavors of India. It’s so good. Can’t wait to catch up and eat lots of saag.

Oh yes and a big CONGRATULATIONS to Hilary and Ed Lammon! They welcomed their baby boy on Monday. He's so adorable isn't he. No name has been decided on yet, so they're still calling him bean.

I think that he definitely looks like Ed, at least for now.

On the road again

By 4:10 am on Saturday we were on the road headed to the Westminster Park-N-Ride to catch the SkyRide to the airport.  I think I was nervous about the car purchase because I could not sleep at all the night before. Our flight was uneventful and we landed without incident in Dallas a few hours later. Mitch from Classic of Denton was there with our new car to pick us up! There it is, our new car! Of course it's not brand new, it's a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid.

We headed to the dealership and after a few hours of paperwork and listening to the finance guy ramble we headed out towards home.

We were starving when we hit Bowie, TX. We made it to Main St. and saw this cute little place named Nostalgia Antiques & Soda Fountain that said they had fresh sandwiches.  I have never been to a place quite like it. It was a restaurant and soda fountain inside an antique store.  My Grandma Walker would have LOVED it!

We got our sandwiches, chips, drinks and desserts for only $23.  Love that all meals came with dessert. So tasty. I definitely recommend it if you happen to be in Bowie.  Don't forget to write on the inside of the phone booth.  We jumped back on the road and headed towards Amarillo.

We drove through small town after small town before we reached Amarillo early evening. The one thing all these towns had in common...Dairy Queen. The smallest one was under 500 I believe, yet they all had a DQ. Texans love their ice cream apparently.

First stop in Amarillo...the Cadillac Ranch of course! It had been raining off and on all day so of course it was one huge mud puddle. It was much easier to walk in barefoot.

We cleaned up in a nearby puddle and headed back out on the road. We had only made it a few miles before a big red barn caught our eye. 

Yep we ate dinner at a steakhouse called the Country Barn. It was delicious. Quite possibly the best apple crisp ever. It also had awesome sinks like this:

Only in Texas.  We were planning on staying in Dalhart, TX which was about an hour and a half away so we needed to get back in the car. Of course we had to stop at a western store.  You know it's going to be good when this is out front.

I had no idea that cowboy boots and hats were so pricey! I don't think there was a pair of boots under $200 and we saw a hat that was over $1k! 

Man it gets dark on 287 through rural Texas.  Of course we were too busy playing with our Sync system to notice that we were suppose to turn to get to Dalhart.  Figuring Boise City, our back-up wasn't far we continued North.  Yeah, Google Maps lied to me.  Boise City was not only not in Colorado, but it only had two motels and neither one of them were that appealing.  Here's where we ended up:

It may not have been so bad about 40 years ago but it was gross...totally rundown. At least the sheets were clean. Both Josh and I checked before setting foot in them.  I kept my flippy floppies on at all times outside of the bed.  Needless to say we never need to go to Boise City, OK ever again.  We got outta there asap.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We made room for the new car in the garage. My poor little Honda was kicked to the curb.

I did a quick run around our neighborhood. There was a bit much indulgence this weekend.

Time: 31:09  Distance: 3.29 miles  Avg. Pace: 9:28 min/mile

Total stats for the week:

Time: 2:19:55  Distance: 15.04 miles   Avg. Pace: 9:18 min/mile

I almost forgot! We went up to Ft. Collins to pick up our chickens from the farm. 

We are part of the Jodar Farms CSA so we get four fresh, natural, cage free chickens a month. Yep, I held a chicken.

Not Ready for That

I had this ingenious plan to do my 'long' run for the week last night since we'll be spending 14 hours in the car this weekend. Lucky for me, the run was only 6 miles. I'm doing two weeks of mileage build up with a week of 'taper' following the next cycle. Worked really well for Nashville so I'm doing it again.

We didn't get home from signing our new car loan until 6:30 which meant we weren't done with dinner until 7:30. If I was going to fit in an hour long run I needed to get my butt in gear and get over to the gym. Bad plan #1.

So I get to the gym and start running at a comfortable 10 min/mile pace. But one mile in I decided to make this run a tempo which is what I would normally do on one of my weekday runs.  Bad plan #2. I was not ready for a 6 mile long tempo run.

The first few miles were fine. I got to 2.5 miles though and the brat I had just eaten decided to get it's revenge. Yep, hop off the treadmill and get to the bathroom asap.  Back running again I got the next mile and a half or so down, started feeling nauseated. Awesome.

I paused the dreadmill at this point, drank some water and gave myself a little pep talk instead of telling myself I sucked at running and it's pathetic that this run is so hard for me. After all this was no problem at all a few months ago. Boo.

I finally finished the run. It felt like it took FOR-EV-ER. It was not my best plan ever to do this as a tempo run. Definitely going to hold off a little longer before doing a tempo longer than 4 miles...at least for a few more weeks.

Stats:

Time: 56:20    Distance: 6 miles    Avg. Pace: 9:23 min/mile
2 miles @ 10 min/mile pace   4 miles @ 9:05 min/mile pace*

*Yeah had I been actually thinking I'd have done 2 mile warm-up, 2 mile tempo, 2 mile cooldown.

Legs are a bit sore today but I'm pretty sure it's from my intense deep tissue tendon rub at PT yesterday morning. Yes, it made my eyes water and I winced in pain. Whatever it takes to get me back to 100%. I'm for it.

If It Walks Like a Duck...

...it must be a runner after their first speed workout. I am sore today! Yesterday I was telling Josh how I didn't think the No More Trouble Zones DVD really worked me out as much as the 30 Day Shred (which was disappointing considering it's twice as long) because I wasn't sore at all.. I don't know if it was the combo of doing the DVD on Monday night then the speed workout, or just running intervals for the first time in months, but man. I swear I'm walking like a duck today trying not to work my thigh muscles at all.

I have to say this interval workout kicked my butt!  This is what I looked like after.  According to my training plan I needed to do 8x400 meter (.25 mile) intervals at about a 7:30 min/mile pace.  Note that this was my speed interval pace and not my sprint interval pace...eek.  I didn't note however in my plan what my recovery intervals were supposed to be so I made those 400 m @ 10 min/mile pace.  I know that there is a way to program this in my Garmin, but I'm lazy and would rather just have the treadmill do it for me.  Plus I'm pretty sure I would have quit all together or slowed down significantly had I been on an actual track.

Here's how it went:

1 mile warm-up-10 min/mile
.25-7:30
.25-10
.25-7:30
.25-10
.25-7:30
.25-10
.25-7:30

Already overheated at this point I took a 2 minute break to throw some water on my face...the gym was HOTT hot.

.25-10
.25-7:30
.25-10
.25-7:30
.25-10
.25-7:30
.25-10
.25-7:30
1 mile cool down-10 min/mile

Time: 52:26 minutes    Distace: 5.75 miles    Avg. Pace: 9:07 min/miles

This was hard for me. Just reinforced why I need to do this speed work.  Overall I ran 3.75 miles at the 10 min/mile pace and 2 at the 7:30 min/mile pace. Not fast for some, but definitely fast for me since I'm just getting back into it. Can't wait until next weeks torture, I mean speed session.

Tempo Tuesday

I did my first tempo run in months last night.  I was pretty stoked about it. Josh and I headed to the gym because it was about a million degrees outside and in our unconditioned house. Even our humid gym felt pretty good. I wasn't planning on doing a tempo but after 5 minutes on the dreadmill I knew I needed some variety to get me through my 4 miles I planned to do.  I was one of those people last night....yes I ran in just my sports bra.  Well and of course shorts, etc. It was just so hot after the first mile and weighing passing out and being flung off the back of the dreadmill into the elliptical machines vs. showing some skin, I figured it was the lesser of the two evils. Here's how it went:

Mile 1-10 min/mile
Mile 2-8:57 min/mile
Mile 3-8:57 min/mile
Mile 4-10 min/mile

Distance: 4 miles    Time: 37:55 mins    Avg. Pace: 9:29 min/mile

Amazingly I wasn't even dying running a sub-9 min/mile. There may be hope for me yet. I picked up my orthoditics yesterday. I was instructed not to run with them until I can walk in them comfortably for 7-8 hours at a time. When we got back to the gym I put my sweaty feet into my need to be retired Asiacs and wore them for about an hour. I figured some sweat should help me break them in a bit faster. Now I understand why I shouldn't just run in them right away. They feel strange and are kind of hard so the bottoms of my feet were not happy.

Bit on the sore side today.  Knot in calf has reappeared and my ankle is tender.  Tonight is a cross-training day so Jillian Michaels is on deck to kick my ass.

Training Commencing

I ran 7 miles yesterday. Yes they were on the dreadmill only because it was already really hot out. That is officially my first long run of half marathon training. It felt pretty good though I felt like I was moving like a snail.  I did 5.5 at a 10 min/mile pace, then .5 at 9:30 min/mile with the last mile at 9 min/mile pace. I was just so tired of being inside that I wanted the run to be over. I feel pretty good about it. I did stop at 5.5 miles because I was having chest pains reminiscent of the pain I had a few years back caused by Costochondritis.  After getting some water and walking around for two minutes I felt ready to finish. My legs were a little sore after the run which I expected as it was my longest run since Nashville and the first time in months I've run that much in one week.

Last week's stats: 14.5 miles  Avg. Pace: 10 min/miles (we're going to be picking it up this week!)

I'm still having some pains today, but hopefully it's just heartburn from all the crappy food I've been eating lately.  Super excited to throw myself back into training...for real this time. I'm picking up my orthoditics tomorrow morning. Yeay! I also finished up my training plan which goes all the way up until the Rock N' Roll Marathon in Arizona this coming January. I'm not commited to the marathon yet, but the course looks pretty awesomely flat and it would be nice to go somewhere warm in January. Of course there are other expenses with traveling like that and I only have two weeks of vacation each year which I'd rather not burn right away again. Regardless, I thought having a plan intact would be a good idea.

I would really like to run a sub-2 hour half. My last half in Moab I ran just under 2:06 which was an 8 minute improvement from Denver. Pretty nice improvement I'd say.  Because I've been out of the game and am totally out of shape, speed workouts are a must and are twice a week for this training session much like last time.  I wandered over to the McMillian Running Calculator and it spit out my paces necessary to achieve my goal pending all else goes well.

I'm feeling a bit itimidated right now, but I'm sure once I get into the swing of things I'll be fine. The long run paces are no problem. We'll see how the rest goes.

Rolling with it

This week I found out my friend Heather is getting married! Yeay! She met her fiance Dan just a few months before Josh and I started dating at a house party we went to. I remember going back to the sorority house that night and talking about that cute guy she met. Last year they had their beautiful daughter Kylie and unfortunately I was unable to go to her baby shower since she lives in Boise...sad. Needless to say as soon as I got the date for her wedding I booked my flight to Boise!  I'll be heading there the weekend of Sept. 17-19th...yep the weekend after getting back from Europe. I'm going to be one tired chica.  It's also the same weekend as the Crossroads Half Marathon.  As excited as I was about the race, Heather's wedding is way more important.  So my next half won't be until October.

Last night I took to creating a training plan for myself with thoughts of training for the Arizona Rock N' Roll Marathon which is in January.  Not that I really want to go support the state of Arizona and their ridiculous, racial profiling, anti-immigration law, but it's an available winter marathon. Anyway, it's that or Vegas which is in December but I won't have vacation time until the start of the new year.  So I set out to create a training plan which is almost done. Heather just ran her first half so we'll see if I can talk her into heading to Phoenix for the race with me. My plan is based off of the Runner's World Less is More plan which has only 3 days of running. One speed workout, tempo run, and long run. It's all about quality and not quantity which works well for me. I'm also going to continue to cross-train and take a couple rest days per week.  We'll see how it goes.

Josh and I ran around our neighborhood last night. I have to say it was not my finest run.  It was only 3 miles but felt like eternity. It was my first outside run since Nashville and I could feel it. The treadmill is awesome because it keeps you at a steady pace. Last night my pace was all over the place. I ran as slow as 10 min/mile pace all the way up to 8:43 min/mile pace. Yeah, all over the place and panting the entire way. I'm not sure if Lucky's tongue or mine was hanging out further.  I felt so out of shape. Of course Josh was there to remind me that I've been injured and I'm out there doing it. It's going to take a little while for me to regain all my fitness. At least that is two runs this week for a total of 7 whole miles. Haha. I'm considering trying to get in a run early early tomorrow morning before we head to the lake but I'd have to be out the door at like 5, not sure that's going to happen.