Running week of September 27-October 3

I've been running but not posting lately. Tonight I did a 5k run that starts every Monday night at 6:30 from a local Irish pub and goes through town; the local running club puts it on. It's more of a fun run than a race; we time ourselves and write it in the book. I did it last week for the first time and plan to try and do it regularly, and see if I can keep improving. My time tonight was 24:50 even though I had a few (very short) walking breaks b/c I just felt like I needed to catch my breath. Not a bad time at all, especially for me!! Actually, it's the fastest 5k I have ever done; last week was 25:37 (I did get held up crossing a couple of roads that time, so that's part of why tonight was better). It's basically a flat course so is fast as long as traffic cooperates. Then after the run there's potluck food at the pub and you can get a drink if you want, and hang out for a while. It's a nice change from my usual runs.

After Imogene, I kind of slacked for 2 weeks between starting back up at Crossfit and travel. I decided today during my Pathetic-with-a-capital-P run that I need to identify some sort of a running goal in the next couple of months, probably an event...or just quit completely. I have some longer term goals, so I need to figure out some short term ones that would compliment the long term...or become a couch potato. Must contemplate.

In the meantime, starting back up at Crossfit has been hard on my running even though the Crossfit workouts haven't felt that hard (I've been seriously scaling since I'm not allowed heavy axial loading). Hopefully I'll get back into the groove here over the next month or so and feel mo' better. Also need to get back to more regular core maintenance. Not enough freakin' time in the day.

Jolt, that club run sounds like a blast!

Last week's cold has turned out to be a bit of a blessing-- I ran so much less than usual because I felt so crappy, and I think I needed the rest. Today ended up being 8 miles, after a detour for a leaking natural gas line. They'd been looking for the leak for about 10 hrs when I came through the area, and still hadn't found it. But it's right by an intersection on a busy arterial, surrounded by a busy gas station and a couple car mechanics. Haven't heard anything explode yet, so far so good....

Mile repeats for me.

What a difference 30°F makes! Last time I did mile repeats I was gasping for breath, and couldn't keep my heart rate down in the intervals unless I walked the whole half-mile. Now, granted today I was doing them at a slightly easier pace (like, 0:10 mm slower), but I only had to walk about two minutes of each interval before my HR dropped and I could do a slow jog.

Last time I did three repeats and thought I might do four the next time. I never did program a fourth one into my watch, but when I got to the end of the third repeat I definitely had another one in me. I went back and forth in my head and just went for it. Of course the one thing I didn't have my watch set to display was lap distance, and I didn't get a good look at the total distance at the start of the lap, so I had to go by time and my recollection of where on the track I started my last repeat. Wound up doing 1.07.

Anyway I feel sooooooooo much more confident about race pace now! :D

I have a mountain bike race on Saturday. So I'm doing a couple of easy runs. A 2-miler and a 3-miler.

I started a new base-building plan last night. The goal for the first many weeks is consistent running. This week it is 3 mile easy pace runs, every other day. That'll be three runs this week, and four the next. Last night was 3 mile run number 1. I mapped out a bunch of options from my work and chose a route I'd never really run before. When I got to 3.1 miles, I walked the remaining 0.25 mile back to the parking lot as my 'cool down'. All good. I wore my Terra Plana's because my VFF's gave me a blister the last time I wore them.

Funny thing about today. Today I am a bit achey in my lower body even though I only did 3 miles at an easy pace. Last Thursday I did 4 miles at a faster pace and had no aches at all. The difference? Last Thursday I showered and then put on my Zoot compression RX recovery tights and wore them for 3 hours. I didn't bother this time. What a difference!

I had another thought, too.

A couple of weeks ago I read something about iron. As much as I hate taking dietary advice from magazine articles, I realized that since the rabbits ate my chard to the ground :mad::mad: I really hadn't had much greens since the spring crops bolted. So I started taking iron pills.

Really didn't notice any difference on the long runs and figured I probably wasn't deficient... but it occurs to me that oxygen transport really wouldn't be that much of an issue at low intensity anyway. Maybe it was that as much as the temperature that made last night's workout so good.

Either way, all good. :)

3.5 miles (.3 of that was walking) on the treadmill today (steady, cool rain outside). Looking forward to some fall runs outside when it dries up out there!

Nice 7 miler out last night. It was really good to have better weather!

Easy stuff for me after the century on Saturday... did 2 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday, will do three tonight and possibly three tomorrow (it's raining this week so better running than riding.)

Ankle has been fine throughout.... I think laziness is good for it. ;)

So I ran 3 days in a row this week, all pretty good runs. Tues 4 miles on treadmill with middle 2 miles speed work. Wed AM 4 miles outside, pushed myself some & satisfied with pace. Still not where I want to be but getting there. Then today was my 10 miler. Started slow & easy. Then latter half I kicked up pace some. My half marathon is about 7 weeks out. I think I can hit 2:20 ok, but need/want 2:09! So very focused training now!
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10 miles this morning for me. It was a great morning, 50 F and a beautiful sunrise and then a clear blue sky. But due to laudry issues, I ended up wearing the only sports bra that's ever chafed; my legs feel great but there's this ugly red mark near my right armpit. Time to go shopping, maybe

3 mile run number two was last night. I really had to force myself to keep running until the 3 mile mark. My HR was a solid 10bpm higher than it was the previous run, but I'm pretty sure it was due to the heat. It was still over 80F at 6pm and humid (for us, anyway). It was not a good run, but at least it's done.

I had to drive into town this morning, so I took my running gear with a plan for a tempo run on the MUP. 5.4 mi @ 9:04mm, plus a mile-ish warm-up. A bit quicker than the race pace I need, and I don't really know that I can sustain it for 26.2. That 9:15-9:20 is really elusive to my legs. Last tempo run I nailed the average, but that was hilly - a lot slower on the climbs, a bit quicker on the descents and flats.

Anyway it sure was nice to have a flat place to run for once. :cool:

Did my own personal best of 7.14 miles at a snail's pace (11 something...). But, was only slightly sore the next day - although fairly wiped out. Amazing how I could put that effort on the bike & not even notice it the next day but running is so much more difficult for me right now. I just started running a couple of months ago.

I'm thinking about doing a half marathon in November. If I can kick my mileage up by 1 mile/week, I could do it.

You bet you can do it! The only half I ever specifically tried to train for, I got sick during training and only got up to a 10 mile run before the race. Just make sure you take it easy on the long runs.

Dogmama, you can do it! It might be slow, with walk breaks, but you have a month to stretch that 7+ miles to 13.

I'm doing a 10k tonight, or at least that's the plan. Right now I'm wavering between going fast, or just running it at my goal pace for my upcoming HM. Might depend on how large the field is-- it'll be hard to not go fast if it looks like I might have a chance to win my age group. And it'll be the best weather I've ever had for a 10k...

Hope everyone's enjoying a change of season!

I ran about 2 miles yesterday. I am starting my training for next September's triathlon. I have 11 months left. I took it easy but probably should have done something shorter than 2 miles anyway, it's been years since I've run at all. The funny part was when I got home.

The kitten helped me stretch, by licking all the sweat off my right knee, and then chewing on my knee.

Did a trail run yesterday of about 5 miles with 1200 feel of elevation gain. Had to walk a few times in some sections because it was getting too steep for me to be able to manage running. Boy are my lungs out of shape. Trying to do more running to get into x-country skiing shape. Woooo Hoooo.

Did 3 mile run number 3 today. We drove to the next town to run on a MUP because it's too scary to run on the road I live on. My H actually came with me and ran with me. He's not a runner at all but he did well. I had to keep holding him back for the first half and then I was trying to speed him up/keep him going on the second half. We did an 11min/mile pace the whole time. He has no concept of pace. I noticed that each time we ran near other people, he sped up. Men! ;)

I felt great though. :)

So much for perfect weather for Sat.'s 10k-- at race time, we had 20 mph winds, and it started to rain around mile 4... Still, I managed 55:57 on a hilly, windy course; 1st in my age group (there were 2 of us) and 4th among the women (just a few seconds out of 3rd!). We were out in the midst of horse farms, and some of the horses wanted to race, too. The llamas we passed just stared, though!

Way to go skhill!

I did 14.5. Tapering, and breaking in my new shoes. First time I've worn tights since the spring marathon.

I had a great 10.5 miler yesterday. Amazing weather!!! I finally really feellike I have my legs back.

I posted on my blog about a crummy thing that happened to me while on a ride this weekend. That was the low point!

Posting a little late...

On the 3rd my SO and I did one of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5ks. I've never done one of their events before. It was so inspiring, seeing all of the survivors in pink shirts and all of the people out there to support them.

I started sobbing when I put the "in memory of" card on the back of my shirt. I can't believe it's almost a year since my sister died.

The race started out slightly downhill, so lots of people went out too fast. I managed to talk myself into taking it a bit easier than I felt like. It was good, though, because the second half of the race was a slight, but noticeable uphill.

I was feeling good, so I started to push it a little. Bad idea. I tweaked my calf around mile 2. I should have walked, but I knew I'd be out of commission afterward anyway, so I kept running. I guess I was going along better than I thought because I finished in 25:51. Wow. That's about 3 minutes faster than I thought I would. I'm going to be limping for a few weeks, but it's worth it.

My SO finished in 35 min. This was her first 5k and only the second time she's run the full distance. I'm very proud of her.