Three Things Thursday

1. Did you know that in only ELEVEN days school starts? I don't know if A is more excited than me or not. I am REALLY looking forward to going back.

2. I've been doing the RLRF program for about two weeks now. Hard to say yet if it is helping or not, but I like having a PLAN. This weekend I am running a half (locally), and it is the first time I'll have ever run a course twice. I hope it doesn't suck.

3. I AM OFFICIALLY REGISTERED TO RUN THE SAN FRANCISCO MARATHON IN 2012. I'm so super duper excited.

My Mojo is Back!!

RLRF (MP, WK7, KR2)

5 year olds take AWESOME pictures.

The 5 year old that TOOK my awesome picture

In order to complete this workout, I was going to have to go to the gym EARLY. Normally we have about 80-90 minutes of workout time because the daycare closes at 8:00. So to extend my workout time, I had to get my running in BEFORE dinner. Arrived just after 4:30, dropped the kids off, hopped on the treadmill.

MY MOJO MUST BE BACK!!! This was NOT the worst run ever!!

10 miles @ MP

Goal pace - 10:42

Actual pace - 10:40

Total miles - 10.02 in 1:47:00

AWESOME!!

As an aside... Did you notice that my blog has been re-formatted again? Check out the discount link for Razzy Roo headbands! They provide excellent product and customer service at an awesome price. Check them out if you haven't already!

Giving Back

Here are some pictures that were taken of the aid station that A and I worked on Sunday at the Boulder 70.3 triathlon. It was a LOT of fun!

RLRF (MP, WK 7, KR1)

Holy. Crap. This program is NO joke.

10-20 min warmup

3 x (2 x 1200) (2 min RI)

(4 min between sets)

10 min cooldown

That's me in the blue plaid top and black running skirt. I figured that since I had such great luck wearing the OTHER shirt Lisa J sent me, this one might help with my INTENSE run. (FYI, these shirts are soooo comfortable. Love them).

20 min warm up @ 11:08 (goal 11:09)
1200 @ 6:42 (goal 6:40), .18 in 2 min, 1200 @ 6:42 (goal 6:40), walk 4 min
1200 @ 6:42 (goal 6:40), .18 in 2 min, 1200 @ 6:41 (goal 6:40), walk 4 min
1200 @ 6:41 (goal 6:40), .18 in 2 min, 1200 @ 6:40 (goal 6:40), walk 4 min
Cool down - 10 min @ 11:06 (goal 11:09)

Total - 8.42 miles in 1:28:11

This wasn't a super FUN workout, but I did it. I had the goals, and I met them all. It was definitely a challenging run!

No Rest For the Wicked

Saturday

I had a long run scheduled. A really long run. Remember that Lisa J sent me some awesome new running tops? Well I decided that wearing one of them would be PERFECT for my run of insanity on the treadmill. Agree?

So yes. I set my alarm for 5:35 (am if that wasn't clear), got dressed and drove to the gym.  Did you know that the gym is practically deserted at that hour? RLRF run schedule:

RLRF (MP, WK8, KR3)

20 miles @ MP

+ 30 sec/mile

That's right.  TWENTY miles. Other than my 4 marathons and 1 ultra, I have only run 20 miles ONCE. And that was last October. And it took me 3:48:42 to run 20.14 miles. Well, let me tell you that it went... great. I mean, as great as it could possibly go.

20 miles @ MP

+30 sec/mile

Goal Pace - 11:12

Actual Pace - 11:07

Total miles run - 20.21 (longest training run EVER)

Total treadmill time - 3:45

I. Freakin. Rocked. This. That is all.

As an aside, I decided to try the race belt that Hippie Runner sent me. I obviously didn't need it since I was at the gym on the treadmill, but I wanted to know if their claim of "no bouncing" was in fact true. I'll say this... I wore it the entire first hour of my run (took it off when I had to reset). It didn't bounce at all during that time, in fact, I forgot it was even there. I did have my iPhone in there, so there was weight that I should have noticed. Once minor complaint is that I can't make it as tight as I would like so I have to wear it a bit lower than I am normally comfortable with, but since it doesn't move around, I'll deal with it. GREAT PRODUCT.

Sunday

Yeah, don't think for a SECOND that I am bad ass enough to do this race. But... I did sign me and A to volunteer. The aid station that we were scheduled to work was a Vegas theme, and we committed to working for the busiest four hours of the race. Did you know that in 24 hours notice it is nearly impossible to come up with an appropriate "Vegas" costume for a 5 year old? I did my best. Luckily I still have the outfit I raced in for RnR Las Vegas. Here we are pre-race:

And here is the aid station that we were going to be working along the run portion:

It. Was. Hot. Crazy hot. A was the only kid volunteering and she was given the task of handing out cups of ice. I was at the first table handing out cups of Gatorade. We arrived at the trail head parking just before 9:00 am, and the bulk of the runners started arriving sometime after 10:00. I really thought that A would only be able to stand the heat and standing for 2-3 hours. My sister was racing, and since the run part of the course was a loop, we got to see her pass twice. A was SUPER excited about that:

A hands W some Gatorade

In addition to cheering on my sister and all the AWESOME athletes, I was lucky enough to spot Beth (and husband Ken) from Shut Up and Run doing their first half Ironman! It's very different to be on the volunteer side of racing, and I have to say that it was a fun and rewarding day. I know how much I look forward to the aid stations when I am running and I hope that we provided the racers with some relief in the insane heat.

A decided that we would stay until the very last runner came past because "all the runners need to have something to drink." Man, I love this kid. It was sometime after 2:30 that the last runner (who looked pretty damn strong) came by. We helped tear down and clean up a bit, then we headed out. It was 98 degrees when we got back to the car. Insane. I would have broken down and cried if I would have been racing in those conditions. There was NO shade on the course.

A absolutely LOVES the shirt that she got for volunteering:

If you haven't volunteered lately, you should.

Munchkin Mile - Exhausted.

A wanted to go running this morning. I was psyched when we got outside and it didn't seem nearly as hot. A finally realized that her skirt had pockets and begged me to let her hold my car keys in her pocket (and if I needed her to carry anything else, she DOES have another pocket you know). It's important to stretch before you run:

After about a minute she complained that her skirt was falling down because of the weight of the keys... haha. Quick stop and then we are off. Even though it wasn't as hot as our last run, A seemed exhausted. She really struggled with this run and needed more frequent walk breaks.

Tomorrow? Super duper long run.

Three Things Thursday...

... and why the bloggy world is the BEST.

1. I'm registered to run the Edinburgh Marathon in May, and I plan to meet up with one of my favorite bloggers... SILLY GIRL! (Who sent me an AWESOME shirt last month!)

2.  I'm absolutely DYING to do the early registration for the San Francisco Marathon. And I'm desperately trying to convince Heather at 365 Awesome Days days to run it as her FIRST full marathon...

3. I've been in a running rut and Lisa over at Because I Can sent me a care package in hope of making running more FUN for me. I can't wait to wear one of these for my long run on Saturday.

The pink is really purple, my house has poor lighting

Thank you so much to all my bloggy friends!

RLRF (MP, WK 8, KR2)... AND!!

I came home today to find an awesome package in my mailbox from Hippie Runner! Yay to having new stuff for the gym!

4 headbands and 2 belts!

Of course A LOVED the peace symbol one. I'm sure she will run in it, but for now it is just a fashion statement:

I selected the cute one with the skull pattern!

And I of course had a rad outfit to wear with it:

On the agenda for today's run? Marathon program, week 8, key run 2.

6 mile run:

1 mile easy,

4 miles @ mid-tempo pace,

1 mile easy

I actually was not dreading this run. I mean, sorta dreading the middle 4 miles since I've been struggling so much with speed of late. So, new headband intact, I set off. The first mile was pretty easy. It actually didn't feel nearly as hot, and I was doing pretty well. The faster mid-tempo pace wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. It felt pretty darn good actually. A good run? Really? The last mile, at the slower "easy" pace was actually the toughest. Shock!! Anyway, here's what I did:

1 mile easy - 11:05 (goal 11:09)

4 miles @ mid -tempo pace - 39:09 or 9:47 per mile (goal 9:49)

1 mile easy - 11:01 (goal 11:09)

I guess that means I sorta nailed it! Although I suppose I should've done a tad bit slower on that last mile. Anyway. The headband was pretty awesome. Not quite as tight as what I'm used to, so there was some adjusting, but I think that it did a pretty decent job of wicking away the sweat! When I wore it down a little lower on my forehead (bandanna style), it seemed to work even better. I think this will be great to wear under a hat/visor. I'll be trying the belt this weekend on my long run.

Wordless Wednesday

RLRF (MP, WK 8, KR1)

Son of a...

Wow, this program is no joke. And you might be wondering why I hopped in at week 8 in the middle of an 18 week long program. Well, as much as I race, it never will really  make sense to start at the "beginning," and since it is only EIGHT weeks until my 50 mile race, I figured I'd just start there.

So, the run of the day is listed like this:

10-20 min warmup

1 mile (400m RI) - goal 9:01

2 miles (800m RI) - goal?? 9:30?

2 x 800m (400m RI) - goal 4:22

10 min cooldown

I obviously have no idea what I'm doing, but I had written down a cheat sheet based on a sort of "average" of my crappy HM results of late to determine my 5K time of approximately 28:50. So with THAT information, here is how I deciphered the above:

Since I've never done any sort of training program, I did actually bring this piece of paper with me. I guess it helped. The one problem that I had was determining what my two mile pace should be. The RLRF book stops at 2000 meters. I guesstimated that I should try a 20 second or so slower pace than the mile pace, but man. I almost collapsed on the treadmill. (I know, I know, I should be doing this on a track).

Anyway. The entire workout was pretty manageable, with the exception of that 2 mile stretch where I wanted to die.

10-20 minute warmup - good

1 mile - 9:01 goal, 9:03 actual

2 miles - goal unknown, would have liked 18:44, actual was 19:24 (with stops)

2 x 800s - goal 4:22, 4:23 actual

Goals pretty much met, but that 2 mile nonsense? Killer.

As an aside. I wore the above skirt to the gym. I probably have only worn it one or two other times. It rode up the entire workout. NEVER had another skirt do that. Anyone else have that problem? It was super annoying and distracting. It got a BIT better when I put my phone in my pocket for some added weight.

July Rewind

Miles Run - 103.07 (Impressed I hit this number since I struggled all month and my pace is now over 1 mph slower than I used to comfortably train).
Races Run - 3 (3 half marathons)
PR's Set - Big. Fat. Zero. Although I had two races that were almost PWs.
Minutes of Plank - 93. Yep, you read that right. 93 minutes. I didn't miss a single day of planks and I'm now up to 3 minutes.


July sucked. It's been stupid hot and I'm burned out and tired. I remember a few years ago very comfortably training at 6.4-6.6 mph on the treadmill. Honestly, even low 5 mph now seems ridiculously hard. I struggle to even run continuously for longer than 15-20 minutes. So. What's the solution? I don't want to stop running. But I don't want to hate it and feel like it's doing more harm than good. Therefore, starting today I'm going to revamp both my attitude and my training.


Bring it on, RLRF... (although I'm already terrified about tonight's run).