2 WEEKS UNTIL THE QUEENS HALF MARATHON

2 weeks to go!!!

Ran my 10 mile long run yesterday at the gym on the treadmill. Was actually great!! Watched my tv shows on the ipod and set the TM to 0% incline and 6.0 speed. And hour and forty minutes later, 10 miles done:) LOL

Plan for today is to run the nike+ Human Race 10K, so at some point I will log that mileage and post back the results, but plan is to run it in about a 10min pace, nice and slow and easy:)


Nike+ Human Race 10K
Well, I guess I should explain this nike+ Human race 10K race. It is kind of a vertual race, though, there are some locations where you could run it live. Like my sister in law and nephew did tonight at Randals Island, in Manhattan New York. But me, as I couldn't get there, I chose to run it at the gym, on the treadmill, conected to my nano (via the nike +) took it slow and easy, and had a great run, 10K came in at exactly 55:00 minutes. More miles logged for my Nike+ challenges. Gotta love it:)

VERY EASY 4 MILES ON THE TREADMILL

As I still have the kids with me, I took advantage of when I dropped them at Art class today and ran on the TM at the gym:) I didn't get there till 2pm and by then it was very hot and muggy outside, so since it's been awhile, I decided to TM it while watching one of my favorite shows on my iphone. Great run, before I knew it, the run was over:)

4 miles in 38:47 for a 9:42 pace
Didn't wear the HR monitor but felt awesome and never got winded, so I'm sure I was well within my zone:)

3 WEEKS TILL THE QUEENS HALF MARATHON

Well, it's not actually the HALF that I am training for (that one is the Staten Island Half marathon on October 12th), but I am running the Queens half marathon on Sunday, September 14th. I decided to add this race to my race schedule, and run it as a training run, as I SO prefer running with people for long runs. LOL Plus I heard the course is fairly flat, and I thought it would be a nice warm up (since I've never run a HALF marathon race before). And I will run it as a training run and see how things go. I will also have the Cow Harbor 10K race 6 days later on Saturday, September 20th). So, I have had a little break from racing, but their are 3 races on the calendar for me, coming up:)

Legs felt really good after last Sundays 14 miler. However, due to no babysitters (I SO CAN NOT WAIT FOR SCHOOL TO START, 10 days and counting!!!!), I was not able to get any runs in Mon, Tues, Wed and Thursday:( I did join some friends on Friday morning and ran the Cow Harbor 10K course. Legs felt great, weather could not have been more perfect (dry and 74ish), and I finished it in 53:48, and it was a training run. I was thrilled!!! Legs and lungs felt awesome and the HR stayed around 160. Why am I so thrilled?? This is the course I ran in 2005, where I finished in 1:01:30. So, to say the least, I am very excited with how my training is going. Granted come race day this year, I would have run a half marathon 6 days before (but only as a training run), and who knows what the weather will be like?? Some years it's perfect, some it is raining, and sometimes it's hot, only time will tell).

And today, because hubby was home to watch kids, I got in a very easy 4 miles in 44 minutes (HR stayed around 135), around the nearby pond. I got out the door at 8:30am, but it was already humid. Decided to take today short and very easy and do my long run (hopefully) tomorrow.

So, that's it in a nutshell. 10 days till school starts when I will once again have a very consistent running schedule again, as kids will be in school. YAY!! The downside is, for the past 2 weeks I've been in kind of a forced taper:( as I had the kids and couldn't run:( So, the mileage will pick up again just in time for my races. LOL, but I will be careful to taper as the races get closer.

3 weeks till Queens Half

3 weeks 6 days till Cow Harbor 10K

7 weeks till the Staten Island Half (at which time, I will officially be guaranteed entry into the 2009 NYC marathon).

So, my first goal is almost accomplished:)!!!!

I DID IT!!!! RAN THE 14 MILE LONG RUN ALL BY MY LONESOME

Well, yesterday's quality run at the track with the family was the perfect medicine for boosting my morale. I soooo was not looking forward to this long run by myself (as my bro is injured with a slight groin pull, though he thinks he'll be back this week. YEAH!!) Anyway, I got out a bit late today, hit the pavement at 1oam, and though it was lonely and by mile 9 I wanted to quit, I stuck to it and finished the 14 miles at an average pace of 10:31. And finished strong with the last mile at 9:18 YEAH!!!

I would have much preferred to head out East to my brother's FLAT neighborhood, but that wasn't an option:( So I stayed close to home and combined a few routes that I run. So, a bit hillier than I would have liked, but it's done. I definitely feel good about this run, as it's the longest I've ever run before, and I did it all by myself:) Hopefully I won't have to run alone again, but now I know if I have to, I can!!!

Digits for today's run are as follows:

14 miles in 2:27:12 a 10:31 pace and the HR stayed between 121 - 157 even with the hills:)

M1- 10:42 M8- 11:04
M2- 10:51 M9- 10:38
M3- 10:22 M10- 10:31
M4- 9:58 M11- 10:41
M5- 10:16 M12- 11:25
M6- 10:53 M13- 10:05
M7- 10:16 M14- 9:18

One thing I learned about this run was that although I had my fuel belt with the 4 water bottles, each of which I think holds 8 oz. I filled them all up with water and finished them all by the end of the run. I realized today, during this long run, on a hot day, that I really need to start experimenting with gatorade or shot blocks, as I think today I could have used the sugar and electrolytes!! After the run I downed about 60 oz of G2 throughout the day, and right now, at 9pm the legs feel awesome. I will run a short 4 recovery run tomorrow:)

BAILED ON THE LONG RUN, BUT GREAT FAMILY RUN AT THE TRACK:)

First I want to mention that my hubby got a shoutout from Steverunner over at phedippidations. I was listening to fdip's latest podcast (Fdip 148) last night, and with about 10 minutes left, I hear steverunner say "this weeks phedippidations featured blog is titled beachrunner411 a new runner's blog, there is no challenge more important than the challenge to improve yourself, etc....) Wow, pretty awesome!!! Now if that's not motivation for my husband to get out their and run, I don't know what is. Thanks Steverunner:)!!! and honey, I couldn't be more proud of you for getting out there and running:)

As for me, I couldn't get myself motivated to run my 14 mile long run by myself (as my bro is injurred/driving his oldest to college), so I did the next best thing to boost my spirits. I ran with hubby and kids at the local high school track:) Got out much later than we planned, almost noon, on a wide open (no trees) sunny track. LOL but the kids and hubby did great, considering it was warm out there. I got in 4 nice and easy and I WILL do my long run tomorrow morning!!

Digits for today are as follows:
4 Miles in 37:50, average pace/mile = 9:27 Not bad considering we stopped alot to fuel ourselves and the kiddos:)

NICE EASY 6 MILES

Got out late today (2:20pm), but at least I got it in (missed yesterday because too much "stuff":( going on), and it wasn't too hot. Hot yes, but not too hot. LOL Run felt good. Legs felt good. My brother injured his groin, so I'm not sure how I'll do with my long run Saturday:( I am due to do 14, and it is just SOOOO much easier to do with a partner. Oh well...

Digits for today:
6 Miles in 58:32
Avg pace of 9:10
Hr avg: 148 cardiac drift: 165 (not sure about the HR readings today, as I could not get a reading on the Garmin face, or at least it didn't show on the Garmin face, but after the run when I downloaded the info to the computer, it showed HR information for each mile run. Interesting... So, like I said, not sure if it was accurate or not, and now wondering if I need new batteries for the strap. Got the Garmin on March 28th, and I've used it for 66 runs. I always have the watch fully charged by USB before every run, but wondering if the strap now needs a new battery. Hmm... would have thought it would last longer???

M1- 10:08 M2- 9:58
M3- 9:56 M4- 9:30
M5- 9:33 M6- 9:23

REALLY GOOD 6 MILES TODAY:)

Had a really good/strong 6 miles today. I'm finding running 4 days a week the past few weeks cause time is limited with the kids around, that I am really getting in 4 good quality runs:) Running them faster and harder, and the heartrate is staying below 155, which I am very happy with!!! So, I'm not going to record each miles HR, just the averages over the whole run.

Digits for today:
6 Miles in 55:00 Avg pace of 9:10
Hr avg: 128 cardiac drift: 155

M1- 9:35
M2- 9:33
M3- 9:02
M4- 8:54
M5- 9:22
M6- 8:32

Tomorrow will be an off day, as we will be out in East Hampton, Long Island for the day with my husbands college buddies and their wives and kids. Weather forcast is for blue skies and sunny, so it should be an awesome day:)

STILL HERE, STILL TRAINING, JUST NO TIME FOR BLOGGING:(

Well, I am still here!!! Things are going very well with family and training. I just don't have the "ME" time I had when kids were in school to blog or for that matter use the computer in general. LOL How many days till school starts???? LOL


I can't believe it has been 2 1/2 half weeks since I last posted. A lot has happened since then. The most important is that my husband, finished his first 5K race ever. He was amazing!!! Ran it strong and should be very proud:) It was a very HOT and HUMID night, and the race was a bit unorganized, but he went with the flow and when the horn sounded took off. He asked me to pace him, but I let HIM set the pace, I just told him every now and then how fast he was going (using my trusty Garmin 301). The course was hilly, so his pace fluctuated from a 9 minute pace to about an 11 minute pace, but when he crossed the finish line he came right in at a 10:15 pace, which is right around where he wanted to be. And let me tell you, when he sprinted to the end, he was passing people, and there were a TON of people that finished a long time after him. He should be very proud. He started running in March. Set a goal and training plan to run this 5K race, and accomplished these goals and then some!!! Congrats honey, now let's work on putting the next race on the calendar!

As for me, I've been having a blast playing with the kids. And I have been getting my training in. Here they are short and sweet:

Wed, 7/23 - I got 5 miles in on the TM in 50:00

Mon, 7/28 - was the 5K with hubby in 31:41

Thurs, 7/31 - 4 miles on the TM in 41:00

Sat, 8/2 - LONG run of 10 miles in 2 hours

Sun, 8/3 - 4 miles in 41:24

Tues, 8/5 - 5 miles on the TM in 50:00

Thurs, 8/7 - TEMPO run of 5 miles in 46:00

Sat, 8/9 - LONG run of 12 miles in 1:57:30


Here are the digits for todays 12 mile run:
M1- 10:01 M7- 9:16
M2- 10:14 M8- 9:59
M3- 9:52 M9- 9:55
M4- 10:19 M10- 9:54
M5- 10:10 M11- 8:54
M6- 9:37 M12- 9:12

My goal was to avg a 10 minute mile and came in at 9:48 avg, so I was very pleased. I was psyched I was able to stay consistent at this distance. Best of all, I felt like I could have run a lot longer when the run was over. Oh, I've run my last 2 long runs with my brother. Hoping to get one in next week too, but he has to drive his oldest to college, so we're going to aim to do the Long run this week on Friday. Well, I haven't quite kept to my training schedule, but I am getting the runs in (just mixing up the days) But at least I'm getting the mileage in and it feels great!! So, my training is right on schedule:)

Tomorrow, hubby, kids and I are going to a Met game. First time taking the kids, and we have awesome seats. Go Met's