Training Run 1-30-08

Almost typed 1-30-01 in the title field...can't believe it's been 7 years since Allison was born.

I ran 3 miles in the cold, wishing I'd run the night before when it was warmer, but I didn't manage to beat the windstorms.  Felt good - especially since I followed a tip I found on Runners' World website (www.runnersworld.com) that said to lace your shoes looser to keep your feet warm in cold weather, so you don't cut off the circulation to your feet.  37:29 for 3 miles, about a 12 1/2 minute mile.

Definitely need to run twice this week so I'm ready for Holly on Sunday afternoon.

Run with Holly 1-27-08

Ran this afternoon with Holly after church...had chicken noodle soup for lunch, healthy but not too filling. We ran 4 miles, which turned out to be hillier than they appeared when I drove them, but as Holly said it was great cross-training and will make our shorter runs feel much easier now (neither of us think they'll ever feel truly EASY).

Holly is definitely faster than I am, but that was good for me too...forced me to push myself harder than I would have if I'd been alone. We talked for most of the route, about kids, politics, church, lots of things. It's good to have a friend who wants to spend time together regularly, who I have so much in common with.

52:59 for 4 miles...average around a 13.25 minute mile. A really good hard pace for a long run for me. Hopefully these will get easier too... =)

Training Run 1-23-08

Didn't want to run...but missed last night, and told myself I had to go out and run if I was going to have pizza for dinner and bake cookies later. I went out for the run while Alex and the kids went to pick up the pizza. 3 miles in 37:24, slightly under a 12.5 minute mile pace. I'm going to try to run 2 miles tomorrow and another 3 on Friday. Long run for the weekend is scheduled to be 4 miles...I need to call Holly and find out if she wants to get together this week.

Run with Holly 1/19/08

Paid the drop-in rate of $7 to run at the local gym. Started out too fast as usual - set the treadmill for a 12-minute mile and was struggling by halfway through the second mile. I ended up turning it down to about a 14.5-minute mile until the last mile, which I bumped up again because I was ready to be done.

Both Holly and I agreed that we would never have made it through the whole 4 miles by ourselves...we probably would have stopped at 2.5 or 3 miles and thought "well, that's further than the last time I ran...good enough." But we both finished, and it felt really good to have done it.

4 miles, 57 minutes. =)

I was supposed to run last night but was a couch potato instead...but I'll definitely run tonight. Don't want to fall too far behind the training schedule.

Training Runs 1-15-08 & 1-17-08

Tuesday's run was cold, and it had snowed, so I ran in the road instead of on the sidewalk. That was weird. 24:05 for 2 miles, no walking break. Not great, but OK...and it tells me how much too fast Saturday's run was.

Tonight I went to a baby shower at TGI Friday's, got home shortly after 8 pm, and spent time with the kids. Didn't really feel like running, but also didn't want to approach the prospect of running 4 miles on Saturday without running again tonight. So I went out...it was close to 40 degrees, so the sidewalks were safe to run on. This time I did the 2 miles in 23:32. =)

I've been trying to watch what I eat...not in any really strict kind of way, just in terms of choosing good fuel for my body instead of empty calories. Tonight at Friday's I had a side salad, mahi mahi with corn salsa and rice, and a small dessert (2 shot glasses of 2 different kinds of mousse...chocolate mint and peanut butter cup...yummy!). I thought about salmon pasta but decided I didn't need the cream sauce. I also have been getting back to drinking lots of water at work, have cut my coffee consumption down to one cup in the morning, and am packing healthy lunches (frozen Lean Cuisine grilled chicken and veggies as opposed to frozen Stouffer's fried chicken strips, or even better something I made myself).

Maybe I'll get faster if I'm not carrying extra weight. =)

Back in the saddle again...

...also known as..."I can't find my sports bra" and "My running pants are too long" are not good enough excuses to avoid running. =)

After talking with Holly last week, we both re-committed to training for the Columbus 1/2 marathon in April (www.columbusdistanceclassic.com). I'm especially excited because it's a John Bingham race and I will get an official Penguin medal.

Seriously, Holly and I have committed to running our long Saturday runs together - which we figure will keep us honest and committed to the shorter weekday runs so that we don't embarrass ourselves on Saturdays. For me personally, I'll definitely have to get the weekday runs in because the last time I ran with her (see the PRISMS 5K in August 2007) she was a lot faster than me. I've improved since then, but I'll still need to bring my A game.

With that in mind, and a sunny 40-degree day, I headed out this afternoon. My goal was 2 miles, and to see how things went. I went out too fast, as I usually do when I haven't been running for a while, so I hit the 1-mile mark at 10:45...nice to know I could do it, but too fast for me for an easy training run. I walked for about 100 yards and then ran the rest. I ended up finishing the distance at 23:35 including the walking break...a good time but the run was NOT easy, and tells me exactly how out of shape I am.

My goal for this week is to run at least 2 miles every other day (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) so that I'm ready to start my official training program next week (week starting Sunday 1/20). Hopefully then by the time Holly and I do the first long run together I'll have some endurance built back up so that I can hold my own.

Happy New Year!

10K Race 11-11-07

Wow...I've been really bad about posting. Of course, I've been pretty bad about sticking to a training schedule, too.

I drove to Columbus in 40-degree rainy weather, which turned to sleet at a couple points during the drive. I have to say one of the reasons I decided to still go do the race was just because I'd already paid the $25 entry fee.

I got to the race, waited around chatting with some other people - 3 guys and a girl. Why do people lie to perfect strangers about their projected pace?? Do I look like someone they need to fake out?? This girl was saying she was worried because she runs about a 13-minute mile...I was thinking "I run faster than a 13-minute mile...she's got to be kidding." Then at the start, she lined up with the 3 guys, who had all been talking about 8-9 minute miles. I wondered how soon it would be till I saw her drop back, or if she would try to stay with them. I wondered if she would run with me if she dropped back.

I never saw her. To the point that she had already left the race location by the time I finished. Some 13-minute mile.

Anyway, I lined up in the back of the 10K runners but in front of the 3K runners, where I belong. A few of the 3K runners were saying they were going to run the 10K but now had changed their minds due to the weather. I figured 3K was not worth $25, and if I was going to get cold and wet running I might as well set a new PR for distance. So I stuck with the 10K.

My goal time going in was 1 hour 15 minutes. I knew I could run faster than that, but I'd never run the distance before, so I figured that time would allow for if I ran out of gas and had to walk at the end. I hit the first mile marker at about 11:30, faster than I had expected, but I decided to just see how long I could maintain a faster pace...as I said to one of the Dublin police officers keeping traffic off the course, "It's too cold to run slow!"

The course would have been really pretty if the weather wasn't so bad. We ran through downtown Dublin with all the shops and past some of the big estate homes, and through the Midwestern Auto Group luxury car dealerships. However, the race promoters lie - they said this was a fast course, which I took to mean "flat". That course was NOT flat. I am so glad for all my hill training...I needed all of it.

However, it still was a pretty fast course...I came in 113 of 116, but that still means my 3-race streak of not coming in last continues...

New PR for 10K: 1:08:03!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did the math and I think I actually broke the 11-minute barrier by a millisecond or two!

Results are posted at www.columbusrunning.com/t3results07.htm. There are pictures there too, but there are none of me - the photographers had left the finish line by the time I got there. Too bad...I would have liked a picture of me running, because I wore a T-shirt from Steve & Barry's that has a penguin in a straitjacket and the caption "cute but psycho".

John Bingham would be proud. =)