Training for the 2009 NYC Marathon

NYC MARATHON RACE REPORT

2009-11-08T10:29:00.038-05:00

Sorry it took so long to write my race report, but sitting at the computer is not so leg friendly right now. Haha. And lots of thinking/emotions going through my head (all good though!!!). And trying to post this LONG report with photos, was no easy task. Thank God Beachy/hubby, knows what he's doing. I'm not the writer in the family, he is, but here goes:

On Sunday, November 1st, I ran my first marathon, the NYC marathon, which runs through the 5 boroughs of NYC; from Staten Island, over the Verrazano Bridge, through Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and finally into Manhattan. I'm doing well, sore, but I'm a marathoner & actually thrilled with my 4:39:21 finish:)!! Wasn't the plan, but at one point didn't think I'd finish, and then was just hoping to come in before 5:30, so, to cross at 4:39:21 made my day.)!!

My Hubby took this pic on train ride home!!

I didn't blog about my last long run (before the marathon) on Saturday, October 17th, which was supposed to be a very slow 18miler. It turned into a 13.9 mile run because at mile 10 I tweaked my right calf. I tried to run through it (I thought it was a cramp, as I was running slowly & how could I pull something 2 weeks out from the marathon), but finally it got to the point where it hurt & I knew the run had to stop. In hindsight I should have stopped immediately when I felt it at 10 miles, but thought it was a cramp. After running NYC, I now know that during this last long run it was a pull/strain, not a cramp, because I now know what cramps feel like!! haha) I called my husband to pick me up (1st run in 22mths that I couldn't finish & that he had to pick me up). The only upside was training for NYC was complete. Race was in 2 weeks, and I was now in taper. Didn't realize my taper would mean no running at all for 14 days on account of injury, but I wanted to make sure the calf, specifically the soleus muscle, located between the Achilles & the calf would heal. I knew these 2 weeks didn't matter much, and I knew that as long as it healed, I would show up on race day, fresh and ready to go, instead of having tired legs.

All went well, calf/soleus was getting stronger/healing by the day, and before I knew it, it was Friday before race day (Sunday), and I was taking the train into NYC to go to the Expo to pick up my Bib# and shirt. This was amazing. I trained for 22 months and when they placed that bib# in my hand I can't explain to you how happy/thrilled I was to run on Sunday. The journey I had worked so hard over the last 22 months was finally here. I was running NYC in 2 days!!!

Saturday we drove to Staten Island to my brother’s place (he lives about a mile from where the marathon starts), had a great dinner (pasta with marinara sauce and chicken, with a 20 oz bottle of gatorade), were asleep by 9:30, and woke at 6am. Even got an extra hour of sleep due to daylight savings time, sweet. I woke feeling well rested, had my oatmeal and banana, and then we left for the start at 7:30. I packed a bagel with peanut butter & honey and a banana to have while waiting. Got to the race start around 7:45am, surprised it wasn't raining & the temps were pretty reasonable: windy and low 50’s I think. The day before, I hit a thrift shop and purchased sweat shirts and sweat pants to wear before the start & throw away. I looked pretty funny, as the clothes were extra large, but they kept me warm, and that’s all that mattered. Someone took a picture of us before the race. Here we are

Me (with my white head band) in my extra-large pre-race gear

As a member of the Richmond Rockets Running Club, I had the opportunity to join the NYPD running club. They had a tent, so we hung out there till it was time to head over to the start. About an hour before the race I ate the bagel and about a half hour before I ate the banana. Drank plenty of Gatorade, water and coconut water, that when it was time to head over to the start, I felt ready!!! Plan was to run with my brother John, friends John B and John C, all training indicated that we could run together, and come in somewhere around 4 hours. My goals for today were 1. Finish; 2. Beat 4 hours; and 3. If all the stars were aligned and I felt good, aim to break sub 3:50:00.

My NYPD running singlet & NYC Bib#29232

We got to our corral in our wave start, and soon realized we were in the wrong wave; we were in the last wave (#3) instead of wave #2. It was so crowded we did our best to walk up to the front of the wave, but in the end it really didn't matter as we had chips on and it would signal when we crossed the start & finish. I did call my friend Josh, to let him know that I would be starting later. He was getting ready to meet me at mile 14 or so, so he could run with me till mile 23.
The only difference was I started at 10:24 instead of 10:00, but I was thinking, no biggie as it gave my husband & children more time to get from Penn Station over to 63rd & First Ave, where I would see them around mile 16, as I came off the Queensboro Bridge. Let me tell you, knowing they were there was HUGE. Many times just thinking about them caused me to choke up, and kept me running when things didn’t seem so good.

Well, the cannons went off and the weather was perfect for running, and off we went in the mass of people. I have never run with so many people before. They say 43,000 people ran NYC this year. They separated everyone into either the Blue, Orange or Green groups, and then broke it down into Wave #1, Wave #2 or Wave #3, and then by letter corrals. We were in the Orange so we crossed the bridge on the upper level of the Verrazano Bridge, to the left. The site going over the bridge was breath taking. We tried to stay at about a 9:15 pace, but with the crowd that was hard to do, I didn't want to zigzag and waste energy at this point. It was very windy. I kept the throw away sweatshirt on till I was about half way across the bridge, and then threw it to the side. People were doing the same at this point, and you really had to watch your step as clothes were flying everywhere.

The mass of people running was amazing, and my calf that had been sore 2 weeks ago seemed to be holding up. Mile by mile we were over the bridge and into Brooklyn. It was really amazing to see the different neighborhoods. All was great until someone kicked my leg at mile 8.7 (still have the bruise on my left calf with their foot print). Here's a pic I took of it about 3 days after the marathon, of the bruise I had. Should have taken it that night, but you get the idea:)

sorry I took this myself, and it was the best I could do!

The kick in the calf caused me to fall head over heels to the pavement. Landed on my hands & thankfully went into a tuck & roll, so though I was bruised up, I survived & got right back up with runners' help & kept running. Thankfully no one fell on me, and the man that tripped me stopped and helped keep people from falling on me, then helped me up. Till that point I was feeling great. Afterwards was thankful the fall wasn't as bad as it could have been. Only thing that hurt at the time were the scrapes on my hands. But yesterday & today the pain of the bruises are now hurting. Josh found me about the 14 mile mark, I told him the legs felt ok, not great, and we plugged on. John C was still with me, and we worked our way around the crowds. We approached the 59th street Bridge, it was dark, but I still felt ok. Running over the bridge, I rolled my right ankle; it hurt, but didn’t think it was that bad. The next day, showed this:

Pic of my ankle the next day

Anyway, I kept running and was keeping about a 9:08 pace into mile 16 where I saw my husband and two girls cheering for me on First Avenue. What a thrill, it was, though it was very brief, because I was afraid to stop, for fear the legs wouldn't keep going, so I waved & continued on knowing I would see them again around Central Park. Unfortunately, my oldest, Rebecca was distracted and jostling for position in the huge crowd and did not see me run past. I tried to yell and get her attention to no avail, but she did say she heard me and I knew I would see her again at the finish.

But then the cramps started about a half mile later @16.5 in both calves. I tried running but by 17 (right around 1st & 72nd), I had to stop and walk. It killed me to stop, but I thought I could walk through it. So, from 17 - 23 miles I spent every mile getting a calf massage by my friend Josh who ran with me from mile 14.5 to 23 (without him I know I would not have finished THANK YOU!!!). I knew if I could just keep a 10 minute pace from here on out I could maybe finish in 4:00 or around there, but that was not to happen as the the massages allowed me to get a foot cadence going again at about a 10min pace, but it would only last for about a half mile, and then I'd have to walk again, pull over to the side and Josh would massage both calves again. And this would repeat till mile 23 where Josh had to bid me farewell/good luck as he didn't have a bib for this year's marathon & didn’t want to chance being thrown out of NYRRs club. He gave me my last massage at mile 23 and said do your best to keep running/stay in cadence, cause if you stop, the legs won't go and you'll really cramp. Well, I proceeded at about an 11:30 pace trying to keep my legs running and eventually entered Central Park. The only thought in my mind was keep going, you've come to far to quit now, my husband & kids are waiting for me just before mile 26 in front of the Plaza Hotel on Central Park West, so I plugged along. It hurt, but the thought of not finishing, or my family seeing me walking would hurt more. Finally I got to the point where I came back out of the Park and onto Central Park west & 59th street. Knowing that my husband & the girls were somewhere to the left in front of the Plaza. I kept running, scanning the crowd. Finally I saw them, hit with the most emotion ever (maybe matched by the birth of my children) I ran over to them, tears flowing down my face, I could hardly breathe. I went to Rebecca first, as she missed seeing me at 63rd & 1st, then Allie, then my husband. The emotions were wild; the crowd was incredible (I learned later that the whole group of people standing around my family all cried with emotion when they saw me hugging my kids. A spectator/ stranger even took a picture of me hugging Rebecca & emailed it to my husband the next day. If you by chance are reading this, THANK YOU for sending the picture, I truly appreciate it!!!).

Me kissing Rebecca (in the purple hat) on Central Park West and my hubby (in the black cap) waving his arm in the air.

I knew with their energy, I had enough to go .2 more and off I went. It was the longest .2 in my life (Vic you were SO right!!), but cramps and all, I crossed the finish line & showed my girls what determination & perseverance are all about. That, my friends/family/supporters was what this race was about for me. Not beating a time (though it would have been cool to Boston Qualify. There's always next time, and mark my words, I will run another marathon!!), but showing my little girls that when things get hard, you stick to your guns, and persevere!!!

I made my way through the crowd, and because I was wearing the NYPD running singlet, they pulled me out of the crowd, and over towards the NYPD tent. I was given a goodie bag with water, a protein bar (that tasted SOOOOO good), an apple, and soon found all my friends, and we made our way to the street, to the NYPD shuttle/van, that brought us to the hotel, where family, refreshments and a shower were waiting for me. In hindsight, I should have walked to the hotel. The 15 minutes or so that it took the van to drive us, just sitting there, my legs completely went dead/stiff. I could barely get out of the van, thank you to whoever it was that helped me off, I walked over to the bus to get my bag, and made my way into the hotel. The party was located on the mezzanine, which was about 16 steps up a stairway. OUCH OUCH OUCH. I found my family, got them settled in the eating area, and went upstairs to take a shower. It felt awesome! I should have taken the time to soak in an ice bath, but time was limited, and I wanted to see my family. Got back to them, ate, and hung out, then said our goodbyes, and we made our way to the subway, to get a subway to Penn Station, to catch the train back home. Overall, it was an amazing experience that I do intend to repeat some time in the future (maybe NYC in 20011)!!!

And here are some pics that NYRR so graciously took of me while I was running. Not pretty, but hey, they show the pain and triumph, I went through, while running this marathon!

I believe this was taken around the 13.1 mile mark, still feelin' pretty good!

Not sure where this was taken, but definitely taken near the end, maybe at the 20?

This one was taken as I shuffled across CPW before mile 26

Instead of a mile by mile time submission, I'm going to note the marathon splits that NYRR supplied. Here they are:

5 K 00:29:43.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:33.08

10K 00:58:15.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:22.68

15K 01:25:38.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:11.21

20K 01:53:18.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:06.84

Half-Marathon: 01:59:36.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:07.73

25K 02:21:57.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:08.37

30K 02:54:43.00 Pace/mile: 00:09:22.35 (Going into about 18miles I still had about a (9:08pace), but that time soon dwindled, as I hit the last 10K and was completely and utterly humbled by NYC. No training could have prepared me for what I experienced that day), but too persevere through the pain, made finishing that much more special!!

35K 03:39:09.00 Pace/mile: 00:10:04.51

40K 04:22:02.00 Pace/mile: 00:10:32.64

Finish Time: 04:39:21.00 Pace/mile: 00:10:39.74

All my training, I thought prepared me for this race. My runs were spot on, my nutrition and hydration has drastically improved over the past few months. Experts say you never know how a race will pan out until race day and when you cross the finish line. I don't think I was cocky thinking I could finish in under 3:50 for my first ever marathon. All my training, and even my races this year, all indicated sub 3:50 was within my reach. I do believe if I didn't cramp, I would have accomplished my sub 3:50 goal, but that is now behind me, and I must try to learn from this race, why did I cramp? And now humbled, must do everything in my power, so when I run marathon #2, history does not repeat itself. As, I said in the beginning, I am THRILLED with the time I finished in, and so happy to be a marathoner!!!!!!!

I must thank all my family/blog buddies/everyone, because you all were such an inspiration to me in finishing the marathon. I thought of you all often when I didn't think I could go on and remembered all your stories of marathon courage, your advice over the last 22 months, and just your unconditional "virtual" support and friendship. I did pace myself; I took endurolytes; 3 capsules every hour, drank water and Gatorade; rotating at every mile, not sure why I still cramped, but I MADE it, and will definitely do another marathon. I'm seriously thinking next year's New Jersey on May 2, 2010, (if I'm ready), or most likely Philadelphia 0n November 21, 2010 (where Beachy is thinking he'll run the Half).

Oh, and if you're wondering why I didn't post a finishers photo. Well, I didn't know at the time, but in talking with someone this week, I realized I didn’t stop after the finish for a Finisher’s Photo. Hahaha, I hurt so bad and didn’t want to stop walking. I had no idea what they were doing, just thought it was the parade of masses walking to collect their baggage and family members. Well, I know now for the next time to stop and smile for the camera. Though, I was smiling from ear to ear, cause I had just accomplished running/hobbling 26.2 miles, which 22 months ago, was just a far out, crazy wild dream!!!

YESTERDAY I RAN THE STATEN ISLAND HALF & HAD A HUGE PR FROM LAST YEAR, ONLY 3 WEEKS TIL NYC!!!

2009-10-12T11:05:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon. I traveled the day before to my brother’s apt (like I did last year), as not to have to wake at the crack of dawn to drive the morning of the race. Haha, but still woke at 5:15 the morning of the race. But it was so nice not having to worry about driving, parking and so on. I ate a salt bagel with peanut butter and honey around 5:45am, with my standard coconut water to wash it down. Was planning to bring another salt bagel for the ride to the start, but forgot it. Oh well. We caught the 7:05 train up to the start, and then walked the half mile or so to the start. And it was cold. The sun was coming up, but the walk was in the shade. I didn’t bring pants, as I wanted to acclimate to the cooler temperatures for the race, but in hindsight that was a mistake. I was freezing, and didn’t really warm up until about mile 4-5. Oh well, live and learn. And my zenzah running arm/calf sleeves should be arriving this week. So can't wait!! Thankfully when we got there the porto-potties were basically empty. Did my thing and then joined up with my friends. My friend John, is a member of the Richmond Rockets running club. After listening to him talk about how great they are, I finally had the chance to meet them (though I had met Amy, Nancy and John C., at the Bronx Half Marathon back in February). They were all awesome. We stashed our bags in the ‘van’, and headed to the start.

My goal for today was to beat 1:51:00. I ran this race last year in 1:57:36, and with my training this year I felt the 1:51:00 goal was doable. My friend Josh, felt I could do better than that, and gave me a plan that would have me crossing the finish at 1:47:11. I felt confident from training that I could do this, but I was concerned about a hill on the course at M8, so I ran the course a bit conservative, to make sure all went well at M8. I was able to really run that mile, and then kick it in for the second half, and really sprint to the finish. Knowing I had so much left at the end, makes me believe I could have run the race more solid/faster, but I am thrilled with my finish time. I crossed the finish at 1:49:05, I whole 8 minutes and 35 seconds faster than last year.

I took a gel 10min before the start and again at mile 7. I rotated water and gatorade from mile 4 on, but then no fluids after mile 11.

Here are my splits from last year, what Josh thought I could do, and what I did this year:

2008: Josh’s plan: 2009 results:

1:57:36 1:47:11 1:49:05

M1 - 8:56 M1 - 8:50 M1 - 8:42
M2 - 8:38 M2 - 8:50 M2 - 8:37
M3 - 8:29 M3 - 8:50 M3 - 8:31
M4 - 8:45 M4 - 8:10 M4 - 8:25
M5 - 9:01 M5 - 8:10 M5 - 8:20
M6 - 8:49 M6 - 8:10 M6 - 8:07
M7 - 8:50 M7 - 8:10 M7 - 8:16
M8 - 9:53 M8 - 8:10 M8 - 8:28
M9 - 8:59 M9 - 8:10 M9 - 7:59
M10 - 9:00 M10 - 8:10 M10 - 8:04
M11 - 9:11 M11 - 7:45 M11 - 7:59
M12 - 9:26 M12 - 7:45 M12 - 8:01
M13 - 8:43 M13 - 7:45 M13 - 7:47
.1 - :50(7:38pace) .1 - 7:45 .1-1:45 (6:49 pace).

When I ran the race last year, I went out too fast, so when I hit the hill at M8, I was completely spent and died. I was able to bounce back and maintain 9’s or so to the end, but when I crossed the finish (because a runner next to me told me I’ve come too far to quit now), I had nothing left, and was completely exhausted. I truly believe if this runner didn't help me, I would not have finished.

Ironically, I took the first 3 miles about the same this year as I did last year, I did run the next 4 miles a tad conservatively, compared to what Josh predicted, but that was because I was still concerned about the hill at M8 (I know Josh, I trained hard, and should have known/believed in the system, my bad), but I attacked the hill this year strongly, and was able to get the legs going to be more close to your predictions to the end (or I should say my mind, because my legs felt strong throughout). Guess I was concerned I’d crash and burn (when will that feeling ever not be there? I do believe and trust in the system, or at least I think I do. Because based on todays results, that belief didn't show up til after the hill at M8). But, I had so much left at the end, which makes me feel like I could have pushed harder during, and probably met your predicted paces. I do trust you, but I guess my lack of experience kicked in and took things a tad too conservatively. I’m still super pumped as I crushed my times from last year, and felt soooo strong at the end. I felt like I could have kept running. You have been a huge help and an awesome coach. I could never have prepared myself for NYC without your help/experience & guidance. THANK YOU 100 times over!!

Also, a HUGE shoutout to my hubby, aka BeachRunner411, for allowing me to take this journey and always being SO supportive of my long hours of training, which as time went on got longer and longer. I love you beachy!!!

Wow, NYC is in 2 weeks, 6 days. I started this blog/journey back on January 1st, 2008 (tho running started on Jan 2nd), it has now been 21+ months later, 295 runs, and over 1600 miles later. It has been an amazing journey, and though I’m extremely excited for Marathon day, it will be sad to see this journey end (and hopefully my next journey to Boston, as I aim to qualify for Boston on Nov 1st @ NYC). I am very prepared for this day. I have trained hard and to date have seen amazing results. Stay tuned for the final chapter, Nov 1st : the NYC Marathon!! The day, I will be starting my next blog: my journey to the Boston Marathon.

Sorry folks, tried to put the table above together, but it squished when i posted. Don't know how to fix it, hope it's not too confusing. Just wanted to compare last year to this year, and my final results this year to what Josh thought I could achieve. Next year I will achieve that time and better it, cause I won't be afraid of that hill at mile 8. Still not sure why I was this year, but have to leave some room for improvement for next year!!

STILL HERE, TRAINING GOING STRONG, HARD TO BELIEVE NYC IS IN 4 WEEKS.

2009-10-05T09:53:00.006-04:00

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted to my blog (sorry!!!). The good news is training is going well, and I am right on schedule for finishing NYC with a pretty good competitive time. The downside is I missed a few workouts a couple of weeks ago, but all is fine, I’m HEALTHY and that is all that matters!!!! Back on 9/10, at my yearly mammogram, they discovered another lump on my right breast. I went back on 9/16, for a needle biopsy which eventually revealed the lump was benign, thankfully!! My mom is a 1x survivor, so for years I have been getting checked yearly, and now every six months, so, though it was alarming, I took comfort in the fact that if it was something, they caught it early, and it would be dealt with. Though, at times, to convince my brain of this was hard. Hence, not having the strength sometimes to get out the door and complete a run. (It’s amazing the mind games your head plays at times) I never missed a long run, but getting out the door during that week, wasn’t always easy. So, I could have done without this drama before my favorite race of all time, the Cow Harbor 10K. Up until all of this happened, I hadn’t missed a run, and was feeling really strong. With the missed runs, not having my head in the game, and the needle biopsy, though I had built a huge base/strength in my training, I felt I wasn’t quite prepared for the 10K when the date approached.

The good news is I did run the Cow Harbor 10K race on September 26th, and raced to a new PR. Last years PR for this course was 52:41 (prior was 1:01:30), and with my marathon training, I believed I could break 50:00 this year. I crossed the finish line at 47:44 (7:41 overall pace), crushing last years time, shaving off 4minutes and 57seconds. To say the least I was thrilled with my time!! Woo Hoo!! And the best part is my head is definitely back in the game!!!!!

What else has been happening? I’ve run one 16 miler, one 17 miler, two 18 milers, a 19 miler and this past weekend I ran 21.4 miles over the George Washington Bridge, and up the hilly Palisades and back. This run was fantastic. Though I was a little disappointed, as it was supposed to be a 23 mile run, and I wanted that distance under my belt. But the group I was running with decided, due to the weather (it never did rain, but the skies were threatening rain storms), and in order to add the extra 2 miles to the Palisades course, I was told you have to run on the busy 9W highway that doesn’t have a guardrail separating the cars from the runners. I conceded to the group’s decision and plugged away at the 21.4 course at hand. I took the 1st half (10.7miles) very conservatively, and ran it in 1:44:32 (overall pace of 9:46), and then really pushed the 2nd half and finished in 1:32:33 (overall pace of 8:38). The best part is I ran the last 3 miles at a consistent 8:30 pace and felt when I finished that I could have kept going for more miles. I still would have liked to have run 23, but I learned that I could have done it if it was the mission of the day.

I took a gel 5 minutes before the run, and then again at M7, M12, M17 and M20. I drank Gatorade Endurance every other mile after mile 4. I also took 2 Endurolyte capsules before my run, and then every hour during my run. I still have not trained with water. Not sure why, maybe cause I don’t have the room to carry it, but during this run, I was thinking I should have run the first half with water, and then the 2nd half rotating water and Gatorade Endurance. Which is the plan I have for the NYC marathon, as the fluids will be on the course, and I don’t have to carry it. Not sure why I felt I should have run with water, except when the run was over, all I wanted was water. Could I have had too much salt/endurolytes in me?? Wondering if anyone out there has thoughts to share on this????

But, I am very pleased with my solid run. No pain, no cramps, stuck to the schedule and finished. I was told that if you run this hilly Palisades course in a decent time, that the NYC marathon will seem easy. Well, time will tell about that, but the Palisades run was a huge success in my book.

Oh and my legs yesterday and today are fine!! Hubby/BR411, gave me a deep massage on the legs the nite of the run and again on Sunday morning. No stiffness, and stairs were my friend. That was a huge boost in motivation for me. I'm still amazed my legs didn't hurt. Lets see how they feel after todays run. LOL

Next up for me is the Staten Island half this Sunday, October 11th. I ran it last year in 1:57:30 (which at the time was a PR). My goal for Sunday is to break 1:51:00. I believe I can do this, as I have accomplished this in my training runs. This will be my last race before the NYC marathon.

Again, sorry I haven’t blogged for so long. Back when I last blogged I was getting achy knee ITB pains in my knees (NOT when I ran, but when I was driving or sitting at my computer blogging). I found that when I stopped blogging, and sitting upright at my computer, that the discomfort in my knees went away, so blogging stopped, but I wanted to update everyone where I am at, and that all is still going strong for NYC Marathon. I can’t promise to blog consistently again, but I will do my best to keep my blog current.

Plan for today is a 9mile run: 2 mile w/u, followed by 5 miles @ a 7:50 pace, then a 2 mile c/d.

18 MILE LONG RUN @8:55 AVG PACE

2009-08-07T20:15:00.003-04:00

Plan for today was 18 Miles:
3 @9:00
12 @8:30
3 @8:10 or faster

Brought 32oz of gatorade fuel belt & carried 20oz of gatorade w Nuun (I know, a big no no, but didn't have time to place it on the course). Didn't get on road til 10:35. Temp said 73F and 43% humidity. Just perfect conditions for a long run. Ok, a tad hot at times, but loved NOT running in humidity.

Before the run I had 1/2 an egg & cheese sandwich & a banana, and coconut water. About 20min before the run I took a Gel. I took fluids and gel at the times you told me too. Btw, by the end I wanted to puke from injesting that 4th gel. Was really hard to get that one down. HAHA

Legs felt strong throughout, but as you'll see, I didn't hit your recommended paces. I didn't get great sleep last nite. Kids woke me again. GRRR.... So my plan for today was just get in a grove and FINISH under a 9min pace (wanted to beat last weeks 16mile avg pace of 9:05) So, tho I didn't hit the faster paces, I'm thrilled with the overall time I finished in, as I've never run 18miles before:)!! and I broke the 9min avg pace I wanted to:)!!

18 miles in 2:40:38 (avg pace 8:55) Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 163

Garmin showed these as my splits:
M1-9:00 Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 154
M2-9:03 Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 157
M3-8:53 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 153
M4-8:59 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 163
M5-8:44 Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 160
M6-8:50 Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 157
M7-8:47 Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 155
M8-8:49 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 157
M9-9:01 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 156
M10-9:02 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 151
M11-8:59 Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 155
M12-9:01 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 153
M13-8:58 Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 154
M14-9:03 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 153
M15-8:56 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 153
M16-8:50 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 152
M17-8:52 Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 156
M18-8:51 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 156

TEMPO RUN: ROUND 2; 6 MILES IN UNDER 51:00, OH SO CLOSE, BUT BETTER THAN LAST WEEKS(ROUND1) WOO HOO!!

2009-08-05T17:39:00.003-04:00

Today's Plan:
Tempo Run- Your mission ... Round 2: complete this 6 miles in under 51-minutes!

Well, I didn't hit under 51:00, but I did better than last weeks Round 1 (51:49) Hahaha, granted I only beat it by 8 seconds, but I'll take it!! It was hot as hell out there today, Temp said 80% w 72% humidity.

45 min before the run I ate 1/2 an egg & cheese sandwich, with coconut water, and then 15 min before the run, I took a Gel.

Legs felt heavy again for the first few miles, but then opened up. I'm pleased with this run because when I wanted to push the last 2 miles, my legs responded. FINALLY, and by the last mile I was sprinting for darn close to the whole mile. Woo Hoo:)!! So, I'd say in this heat/humidity, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:)!!

6 miles in 51:41 (avg pace 8:36 ) Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 168

M1-8:53 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 153
M2-8:55 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 157
M3-8:41 Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 154
M4-8:55 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 155
M5-8:32 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 160
M6-7:45 Avg HR 161 Cardiac Drift: 168

My HR avg/max for M5 was 153/160 My HR avg/max for M6 was 161/168
Finally, I pushed at the end and my legs responded. Haha, Josh, I heard you whispering in my ear, push, push, push:)!!

6 MILE RECOVERY RUN @ 10:08 PACE

2009-08-04T20:05:00.002-04:00

Plan: 6 miles @ Maintenance & Recovery

Legs felt OK, not great in the beginning, kind of like clearing out the cob webs, but by mile 3 things were all good and overall great run. Nothing hurt, just heavy.

6 miles in 1:00:52 (avg pace 10:08) Avg HR 129 Cardiac Drift: 147
M1-10:21 Avg HR 120 Cardiac Drift: 138
M2-10:02 Avg HR 130 Cardiac Drift: 140
M3-10:04 Avg HR 130 Cardiac Drift: 140
M4-10:02 Avg HR 133 Cardiac Drift: 147
M5-10:18(up a hill) Avg HR 131 Cardiac Drift: 143
M6-10:05 Avg HR 129 Cardiac Drift: 140

INTERVAL WORKOUT

2009-08-03T22:14:00.003-04:00

My youngest woke with pinkeye, and a subsequent doctor's visit revealed she had a double ear infection on top of the pinkeye, hence no camp, and no babysitter, so my run had to wait til hubby got home. No biggie, kids always come first!

So after hubby got home and I got everyone fed, I hit the road. 7PM, and hot but the sun was already going down, so instead of doing this workout at the track I chose to do it by the pond route over the bridge. It was delightful running at this hour. Never ran at dusk before. Got lots of funny looks, as I repeated this workout over and over the bridge 8 times LOL But legs felt strong and I nailed it!! All my sets were at 7:45 or faster!!! I also wore my fuel belt as it was hot and I didn't want to have to deal with stopping to get my fluids. I believe I drank after the 2 mile w/u, then after the 3, 5, 7th sets, then after the 2mile c/d. and then pounded the remaining gatorade. In all drank 32oz.

Oh yeah, because I was tired, and was running late, at 5:30 after my kids karate class, I had a cup of coffee (I know, a no no before a run, but I was exhausted), and I had a peanut butter on whole wheat bagel with honey. This was about 1 & 1/2 hours before my run. No issues at all during the run.

Today's plan:
2-Mile w/u
8 x 3-minutes @ 7:45/pace w/ 2-minute jogging recovery
2-Mile c/d

8.69 miles in 1:18:55 avg pace 9:05 HR avg 149; Cardiac Drift: 169

Here is the info that uploaded to my computer when I got home:

2.01 Mile w/u- time 20:12 avg pace 10:02 (6.0-7.0mph) (HR avg139; Cardiac Drift: 156)

.39M - 3:00 avg pace 7:45 (7.7-8.9mph) (HR avg159; Cardiac Drift: 163)
.18M - 2:00 avg pace 10:56 (5.5-8.3mph) (HR avg146; Cardiac Drift: 160)

.39M - 3:00 avg pace 7:45 (7.7-9.8mph) (HR avg154; Cardiac Drift: 159)
.20M - 2:00 avg pace 9:53 (6.1-8.7mph) (HR avg150; Cardiac Drift: 159)

.39M - 3:00 avg pace 7:41 (7.8-9.9mph) (HR avg159; Cardiac Drift: 167)
.18M - 2:00 avg pace 10:53 (5.5-7.3mph) (HR avg150; Cardiac Drift: 161)

.39M - 3:00 avg pace 7:45 (7.7-9.7mph) (HR avg157; Cardiac Drift: 160)
.20M - 2:00 avg pace 9:52 (6.1-7.9mph) (HR avg154; Cardiac Drift: 164)

.39M - 3:00 avg pace 7:40 (7.8-8.6mph) (HR avg160; Cardiac Drift: 165)
.19M - 2:00 avg pace 10:46 (5.6-7.9mph) (HR avg153; Cardiac Drift: 164)

.40M - 3:00 avg pace 7:30 (8.0-11.4mph) (HR avg160; Cardiac Drift: 163)
.20M - 2:00 avg pace 10:03 (6.0-7.1mph) (HR avg148; Cardiac Drift: 159)

.39M - 3:00 avg pace 7:45 (7.7-8.7mph) (HR avg159; Cardiac Drift: 163)
.19M - 2:00 avg pace 10:47 (5.6-7.7mph) (HR avg149; Cardiac Drift: 160)

.40M - 3:00 avg pace 7:25 (8.3-9.7mph) (HR avg160; Cardiac Drift: 163)
.20M - 2:00 avg pace 10:01 (6.0-8.4mph) (HR avg148; Cardiac Drift: 159)

Then 2 mile cooldown 18:43 avg pace 9:20 (6.4-7.4mph) (HR avg148; Cardiac Drift: 155)

13 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP(7/27-8/2), REST DAY

2009-08-02T12:41:00.002-04:00

Week #12 finished.

Overall, my legs feel good. Heavy at times, but strong.

Weekly Recap: 7/27/09 - 8/2/09

Mon- 5.6 miles - 2m w/u, 6 hill sprints w jog recovery, & 2m c/d
Tues - 8 miles easy @9:28 avg pace
Wed - 6 mile Tempo run @8:38 avg pace
Thurs - rest day
Fri - 16 mile progression long run @9:05 avg pace
Sat - 6 mile recovery run @10:05 avg pace
Sun - Rest day

Total miles for Week #12 = 41.60

Total weekly mileage Week #12 = 41.60

6 EASY RECOVERY MILES @10:05

2009-08-01T20:59:00.002-04:00

Plan: Recovery Run (9:30 Min/Mile) **NO PACE/RELAX**

Great run with my hubby around the pond. Ran the first 5 miles with him, & the last mile on my own. Legs felt VERY heavy for the 1st 3 miles, but then opened up after that. Hot, but not that bad. Drank Gatorade at miles 3 & 6. Had my coconut water, wwbagel w peanut butter & honey, about 45 min before the run.

6 miles in 1:00:30 (avg pace 10:05) AVG HR 135 Cardiac Drift: 148

Garmin showed splits as:

M1-10:18 AVG HR 130 Cardiac Drift: 146
M2-10:16 AVG HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 148
M3-10:08 AVG HR 132 Cardiac Drift: 142
M4-10:15 AVG HR 135 Cardiac Drift: 143
M5-10:05 AVG HR 135 Cardiac Drift: 147
M6- 9:28 AVG HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 147

Felt great to up the speed for the last mile. Legs feel good, no ill affects from yesterdays 16 mile long run in the heat/humidity. Woo Hoo:)!! Enjoyed Coconut Water right after the run, and then had my COFFEE:)!!

16 MILE LONG RUN @9:05 AVG PACE

2009-07-31T16:46:00.004-04:00

Plan:
3@9:00,
10@8:30
then 3 No slower than 8:10

Legs felt good today, I was ready for this run!! But man the 97% humidity sucked big time!! But got it done, it's over, ready for my next run!! I ate oatmeal/banana, and had my coconut water about 45 before the run. & 30min before the run, I downed a gel. During the run I drank gatorade at miles 3, 5, 7w/gel, 9, 11, 12w/gel, 13 and then rotated water/gatorade for miles 14,15&16. Ok, truth be told, I am SO glad this run is over. Ouch, it hurt, but a different hurt than before.

16 miles in 2:25:26 (avg pace 9:05) Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 178

Garmin showed these as my splits:
M1-9:12 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 152
M2-9:19 Avg HR 146 Cardiac Drift: 178
M3-9:23 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 169
M4-8:57 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 161
M5-8:40 Avg HR 154 Cardiac Drift: 158
M6-8:45 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 158
M7-8:59 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 156
M8-9:02 Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 152
M9-9:32 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 148
M10-8:58 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 162
M11-9:08 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 155
M12-9:18 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 156
M13-8:54 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 155
M14-9:07 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 156
M15-9:22 Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 155
M16-8:50 Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 156

TEMPO RUN- MISSION FINISH 6 MILES IN UNDER 51:00

2009-07-29T13:01:00.006-04:00

Todays plan: Finish 6 miles in under 51:00

Well, it was as thick as pea soup out there today. Temp said 78F w 97% humidity. YUCK, but I got out there as soon as I dropped kids off at camp/school. I decided to run the Cow Harbor 10K course, but just leave out the last .2, since I knew this course like the back of my hand, and would know when to push, etc.

Legs felt good, but a little tight, but they loosend by the end of the 1st mile. I took the 1st mile a little slower than usual as it's downhill, and I knew the humidity would suck me dry by the end (M1-8:01). I attacked the 2nd mile (James St), and was very pleased, did it faster than past runs (M2-9:02), and then opened up for miles 3 & 4 (M3-8:40 M4-8:31, legs still felt strong, and then going up Waterside, I could feel the legs getting heavy. Still pushed, but legs didn't want to go. M5-8:45. I was sprinting/pushing in my head, but I think the humidity finally got to me by mile6. @mile 6.5 I got the worst stitch in my rib cage ever. I almost stopped/quit (but that's not in my nature, I downed some Nuun and worked thru it), and finished M6 in 8:50. Good run over all!! I didn't hit my under 51:00 mark, but I came damn close and in this humidity, I say this run was a HUGE success!!!

I wore the fuel belt, and filled the 4 8oz bottles with Nuun. I drank at miles 2, 4 & 6 and then finished all the Nuun at the end of the run. I was completely soaked by the end of the run, and hurt, but jumped in a 7min ice bath when I got home, and feel good as new now!

6 miles in 51:49 (avg pace 8:38) Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 163

M1-8:01 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 152
M2-9:02 Avg HR 155 Cardiac Drift: 163
M3-8:40 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 163
M4-8:31 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 157
M5-8:45 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 157
M6-8:50 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 155

8 MILES @9:28 PACE

2009-07-28T13:31:00.002-04:00

Plan: 9:30 pace (stay within +/- 10s)

Legs felt strong and I wanted to stay with the hilly course by the club. It was hot out there, but not too bad. Took my noon with me, and drank at miles 2, 4, 6 & 8. Total drank about 32oz.

My plan was to push thru the hills, but not at the point of huffing & puffing, as today was an easy run (and I have my orders to hit under 51:00min tmo for 6miles:)!! I was very pleased I maintained the 9:29 pace throughout all hills/run. Legs felt great and tho the HR was higher today for an easy run, I attribute that to hot/humidity and hilly course, but again, no huffing and puffing, so alls good. Just hope I didn't over do it for tmo's run:)

I'm actually psyched for tmo's run:)!! I'm going to run the Cow Harbor 10K course again, just leaving out the last .2 I know that course like the back of my hand, and it's a hilly course, so will give me a good idea of where I am at.

8 miles in 1:15:50 (avg pace 9:28) Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 164
Mile splits:
M1-9:28 Avg HR 136 Cardiac Drift: 151
M2-9:30 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 156
M3-9:28 Avg HR 141 Cardiac Drift: 156
M4-9:27 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 156
M5-9:30 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 164
M6-9:29 Avg HR 146 Cardiac Drift: 158
M7-9:28 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 149
M8-9:30 Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 159

HILL REPEATS

2009-07-27T16:45:00.003-04:00

Plan:
2-mile w/u
6 x 75 second hill sprints w/ jogging recovery back down; 10 push ups and 20 crunches each time you get to the bottom
2-mile c/d

Didn't get out till 12:30 pm, not sure of the temp, but it was hot and humid. Legs felt good, and I felt like I pushed harder than the last time I did this workout. Still trying to make my hard run days HARD.

5.6 miles in 57:43 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 167

14 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP:7/20-7/26

2009-07-26T20:34:00.002-04:00

Week #11 finished.

Great week, but was forced to miss Tuesdays run because it rained and the kids didn't have camp. No babysitters, so run was cancelled. So, I pushed Tuesdays run to Wednesday, and missed out on 6 easy miles. But overall, not bad. First missed workout this training and if I'm going to miss a run, better it be an easy run then a speed workout or long run. Also a bit of a milestone this week by going 15 miles for my long run. Woo Hoo, great week!!

Week @11 Weekly recap: 7/20 - 7/26
Mon- 8 miles easy @9:29 avg pace
Tues - Forced rest day
Wed - 7.5miles: Gauntlet track workout
Thurs - rest day
Fri - 15 mile easy progression long run @8:57 avg pace
Sat - 6 mile recovery run @9:43
Sun - Rest day

Total weekly mileage Week #11 = 36.5miles

2009-07-26T20:19:00.002-04:00

Saturday, July 25, 2009

6 MILE RECOVERY RUN @9:43 AVG PACE

Plan: Recovery Run 9:30pace

Legs felt heavy today, but not sure if that was due to PT yesterday after the long run (they up'd the weights on the leg press machine), or the 15 miles, but after the 1st mile they felt better and all was good.

6 miles in 58:20 (avg pace 9:43) Avg HR 135 Cardiac Drift: 150

M1-10:05 Avg HR 120 Cardiac Drift: 141
M2 - 9:38 Avg HR 137 Cardiac Drift: 148
M3 - 9:41 Avg HR 137 Cardiac Drift: 146
M4 - 9:40 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 148
M5 - 9:40 Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 150
M6 - 9:36 Avg HR 137 Cardiac Drift: 148

M1-10:05 M2-9:38 M3-9:41 M4-9:40 M5-9:40 M6-9:36

2009-07-25T09:07:00.003-04:00

Friday, July 24, 2009

Plan: 15 mile progression long run
4 miles @ 9:20
8 miles @ 9:00
3 miles - no slower than 8:20

Fluids @ mile 3, 9, 11, 13
Gels @ mile 7 & 12

Legs felt good. I was excited for this run, as I'm feeling stronger, and I wanted to test out my Nuun that I bought to drink. I ate oatmeal and a banana one hour before my run, and 30 minutes before my run I took a Hammer Espresso Gel (never tried this before, and I liked it, and it didn't seem to matter with my system that I never had it before; no issues. YAY)

I wore my fuel belt, and filled the 4 8oz bottles up with water/mixed with Nuun (orange/ginger flavor). I also filled my hand held 20oz bottle with orange gatorade, and I stashed that bottle about a mile from the house, and would pick it up when I ran by. For the NYC Marathon they will have Gatorade Endurance on the course. I am looking for that, and once I find it, will train with it for my long runs of 15+ miles or longer.

I never felt thirsty while running, but took the fluids/gels at the planned times. I drank about 3oz at the 3 mile mark, and then finished the bottle when I took my first gel @ mile 7. I took the carb boom orange/vanilla flavor, as I didn't want to have issues while running, and have been using them for a long time. At mile 9 I drank most of the 2nd bottle of 8oz nuun, and another one at mile 11, finishing that one with the gel at mile 12. At 13 I drank the last of the nuun, and when I started for the home stretch, I grabbed the gatorade bottle, and when I hit 15, I downed the 20oz gatorade. I felt strong from the beginning to the end, tho I probably could have run faster the last 3 miles, I was just happy that I was able to give it a good kick at the end. Plan was for no slower than 8:20 for the last 3 miles, and I hit 8:35, 8:25 and 8:18. It was hot by the end, and I was sweating like crazy, but again, I had more energy for this long run than I have for any past long runs. So I think the Nuun was a success. I did weigh myself at the beginning of this run and at the end of the run. Hmmm.... I still managed to lose about 2 lbs over the 15 mile run, even though I consumed 2 gels, and 32 oz of Nuun/water, and a 20 oz bottle of Gatorade by the time I got home. I did spend the remainder of the day replenishing my fluids. With Coconut Water and more gatorade.

Also, want to point out, I think todays run was a milestone. Running 15 miles. In Feb I ran 16 on the TM watching my tv shows, but I don't think I had run this far outside. Woo Hoo, and to run it strong, WOO HOO!!!

Dropped kids off at camp, and was on the road by 9:30am. Temp said 70F and humidity seemed to be low, running conditions were just perfect.

15 miles in 2:14:20 (avg pace 8:57) Avg HR 146 Cardiac Drift: 162

M1 -9:20 Avg HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 150
M2 -9:22 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 151
M3 -9:20 Avg HR 136 Cardiac Drift: 143
M4 -9:21 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 157
M5 -9:00 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 157
M6 -8:56 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 152
M7 -8:55 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 151
M8 -8:59 Avg HR 149 Cardiac Drift: 153
M9 -8:56 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 154
M10 -8:57 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 160
M11 -8:56 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 156
M12 -8:58 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 153
M13 -8:35 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 160
M14 -8:25 Avg HR 155 Cardiac Drift: 159
M15 -8:18 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 162

2009-07-25T09:05:00.000-04:00

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Rest day, just chillan with kids.

2009-07-25T09:00:00.003-04:00

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009

Plan for today: The Gauntlet (Track Workout)

- 1 LAP JOGGING RECOVERY BETWEEN EACH SET
.5-Mile w/u @ 9:30 pace (2 laps)
100m Hard (1 straight away)
200m Hard (1/2 lap)
400m Hard (1 lap)
800m Hard (2 laps)
1200m Hard - @ 8:20-8:30 pace (3 laps)
1600m Hard - @ 8:10 or faster (4 laps)
1200m Hard - @ 8:20-8:30 pace (3 laps)
800m Hard (2 laps)
400m Hard (1 lap)
200m Hard (1/2 lap)
100m Hard (1 straight away)
.5-mile c/d @ 9:30 pace (2 laps)

- WORK WORK WORK! If there is NO pace listed I expect you to push HARD through the entire set ... there is no let down in exertion. You may be tired, but you push whatever you have the ENTIRE set until it is done to jogging recovery- Only after you finish through the 2nd 1200m can you walk at all AND then only for half a lap

WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED:
I hit the projected times I wanted (faster in fact), but what I found was that on the longer 1600m set my legs got stronger and stronger and just took off (same with the 1200m set), enabling me to hit your paces or surpass them. Whereas, with the shorter sets, my legs didn't want to take off. I'm guessing this is a sign of strength/endurance for the long runs, where my legs are getting stronger and stronger as the distance increases. I'm also, guessing this is a good thing, as I am training for the marathon, and I want my legs to be stronger every mile for the duration, no??

Tho at times, my legs did feel dead, they also felt strangely stronge at the same time, or during the same workout Haha. I'm attributing the deadness/lathargy I felt to the lack of sleep I got last nite (kids woke me 3x) and the fact that I once again did not eat before my workout. Tho this time, I had only been awake about an hour before I ran. We overslept, so with rushing to get kids off, I didn't get my breakfast:( I know, not good. I was going to take a gel to compensate, but forgot it:( I did use Nuun for the 1st time today, I fixed 4 bottles and put them on every corner of the track, about 72oz, I only drank during the recovery runs, and didn't drink at all until I completed the 1st 1200m set. I think the Nuun helped. Strangely I think I felt stronger/recovered quicker with it, but again, it was only my first time using it. I will use it on Friday, during my 15 miler.

7.5 miles total in 1:05:00 (HR 142-161)

Overall, I give todays workout a thumbsup, and can't wait to do it again.

2009-07-25T08:55:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Forced rest day, as babysitters kept flaking on me. Will do todays plan tomorrow, and just skip tomorrows easy 6. First day of my marathon training that I had to miss. All considered, I'm still being fairly consistent, but when it rains there is no camp, and when the babysitters aren't available = forced rest day:(!!!

2009-07-25T08:48:00.002-04:00

Monday, July 20, 2009

15 WEEKS TIL NYC: START OF WEEK #11

The Plan: 9:30 pace

8 miles in 1:15:56 avg pace 9:29 Avg HR 136 Cardiac Drift: 156

M1-9:32 Avg HR 123 Cardiac Drift: 143
M2-9:29 Avg HR 135 Cardiac Drift: 143
M3-9:30 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 150
M4-9:28 Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 151
M5-9:29 Avg HR 141 Cardiac Drift: 148
M6-9:28 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 154
M7-9:31 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 156
M8-9:29 Avg HR 126 Cardiac Drift: 157

2009-07-25T08:39:00.002-04:00

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Weekly Recap: 7/13 - 7/19

Week #10 finished.

Mon- 8 miles easy @9:28 avg pace
Tues -7.42 miles - 2m w/u, the 6x3min @8:00 w 2min jog recovery, & 2m c/d
Wed - 6 mile recovery run @9:27 avg pace
Thurs - rest day
Fri - 13 mile easy progression long run @9:00 avg pace
Sat - 6 mile recovery run @9:41
Sun - Rest day

Total weekly mileage Week #10 = 40.42

6 MILE RECOVERY RUN @9:41 AVG PACE

2009-07-18T13:46:00.002-04:00

Plan: 6 mile Recovery Run @9:45

Got out late today (12:05pm), cuz kids had karate & book club at the library, but I got it done, and supprisingly it wasn't that hot:) Temp said 82F w 50% humidity, way better than yesterday:)!! The 6 miles today were the first 6 of yesterdays long run, and my hr stayed low again, yay, I knew my HR was high yesterday partly because of the humidity:)!!

I weighed myself before and after this run to check fluids, and took G2 at mile 3 and 6 when finished, I was never thirsty, and probably didn't need it at all, but drank it since it was warm and I am coming off a long run yesterday that was really HOT.

It looks like I lost a tad over 1 pound. Hmm, wonder if that means I need to drink more during the run, or just make sure I get 16+ ounces in me at the end when finished???

Legs felt really good and strong today.

6 miles in 58:08 (avg pace 9:41) Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 156

M1-9:38 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 150
M2-9:45 Avg HR 146 Cardiac Drift: 153
M3-9:39 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 150
M4-9:41 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 152
M5-9:44 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 156
M6-9:41 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 152

13 MILE PROGRESSION LONG RUN

2009-07-17T20:36:00.003-04:00

Plan for today:
3 Easy (9:30 pace)
7 Moderate (9:00 pace)
3 Hard/Fast (No slower than 8:30 pace)
Fluid @ mile-4, Gel @ mile 7 with fluids to wash down the gel, then fluid @ mile 9 & 11.

Was on the road by 9:25am. Temp said 82F and 70% humidity. Legs felt strong. I had no discomfort on this run at all. On past long runs my calves hurt, or I cramped, or the bottom of my feet hurt by the end of the run. Non of this happened today:)!! Fluid/gel intake seemed ok. I did exactly as Josh instructed, tho at the end I was a tad thirsty, I still felt strong tho. Came home and downed a 20oz Red G2 Gatorade.

13 miles in 1:57:05 (avg pace 9:00) Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 162

M1-9:26 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 154
M2-9:33 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 157
M3-9:31 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 153
M4-8:58 Avg HR 154 Cardiac Drift: 161
M5-9:02 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 157
M6-9:03 Avg HR 154 Cardiac Drift: 157
M7-9:07 Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 156
M8-9:05 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 158
M9-9:03 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 155
M10-8:59 Avg HR 152 Cardiac Drift: 155
M11-8:32 Avg HR 153 Cardiac Drift: 162
M12-8:06 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 160
M13-8:40 Avg HR 155 Cardiac Drift: 158

(Last .5 mile lost my 8:06 pace as the sun was beating down on me:( But still a great run. Very happy:)!!

6 MILE RECOVERY RUN @ 9:27 AVG PACE

2009-07-15T17:10:00.002-04:00

Plan: 6 miles @ 9:30pace

Temp said 64F and there was no humidity. Ran around the pond 3x and up past Camp Alvernia (where the hills are). Fantastic run. Legs felt really strong, and I never broke a sweat. I felt like I could run forever.

I did not drink anything during this run and I was never thirsty at all. I did down a 20oz G2 gatorade (cherry) when I got home, but again, never thirsty during the run. Woo Hoo:)!!

6 miles in 56:43 (avg pace 9:27) Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 156

M1-9:25 Avg HR 130 Cardiac Drift: 143
M2-9:26 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 146
M3-9:27 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 154
M4-9:30 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 153
M5-9:30 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 155
M6-9:25 Avg HR 141 Cardiac Drift: 154

INTERVAL WORKOUT

2009-07-14T12:42:00.003-04:00

As soon as I got the kids to camp I hit the road. Legs felt good, and really liked this workout!!

Today's plan:
2-Mile w/u @ 10:00/pace
6 x 3-minutes @ 8:00/pace w/ 2-minute jogging recovery
2-Mile c/d @ 9:45/pace

7.42 miles in 1:09:07 avg pace 9:19 HR avg 143; Cardiac Drift: 162

Here is the info that uploaded to my computer when I got home:

2 Mile w/u- @ 9:51 pace (6.1-7.3mph) (HR avg131; Cardiac Drift: 148)

3min @7:53pace .38miles (7.6-9.1mph) (HR avg150; Cardiac Drift: 156)
2min jog recovery @11:43pace .17miles (5.1-6.2mph) (HR avg144; Cardiac Drift: 153) Drank water

3min @7:47pace .39miles (7.7-9.3mph) (HR avg153; Cardiac Drift: 157)
2min jog recovery @9:35pace .21miles (6.3-7.5mph) (HR avg148; Cardiac Drift: 155)

3min @7:58pace .38miles (7.5-8.7mph) (HR avg155; Cardiac Drift: 159)
2min jog recovery @9:40pace .21miles (6.2-7.0mph) (HR avg148; Cardiac Drift: 156)

3min @8:00pace .37miles (7.5-8.9mph) (HR avg157; Cardiac Drift: 162)
2min jog recovery @11:52pace .14miles (4.3-6.5mph) (HR avg142; Cardiac Drift: 155) Drank water

3min @7:47pace .39miles (7.7-8.8mph) (HR avg154; Cardiac Drift: 160)
2min jog recovery @9:37pace .21miles (6.2-7.4mph) (HR avg148; Cardiac Drift: 160)

3min @7:53pace .38miles (7.6-9.1mph) (HR avg154; Cardiac Drift: 157)
2min jog recovery @10:15pace .19miles (5.8-7.1mph) (HR avg145; Cardiac Drift: 156) Drank water

Then 2 mile cooldown @9:41pace (6.2-7.8mph) (HR avg143; Cardiac Drift: 153)

I did not bring anything to drink on this run. I chose to run around my pond route, by the church, as time was limited, and I knew I could quickly duck into the church and take quick sips from the bubbler, if needed. I did just that after the 1st, 4th and last interval before the 2mile cooldown. I was fine during the workout, never felt thirsty, but it was hot out there and I figured what the heck as I was running the recovery jog anyway, though by the end of the 2 mile run, say around 1.85, I was thirsty, and I was thirsty the whole walk back up to my house. When I got home I grabbed a 20oz G2 gatorade, grape flavor and downed it. Then I did the core workout, and Yoga for runners by chaz. Great workout. Compared to this same workout back on 6/23/09, I feel I did better and was stronger this time around. Though last time I did it on the H.S. Track and it was HOT, blazing sun. Today, around the pond, I had the luxery of having shaddy trees for some of it!!

8 EASY MILES @9:28 AVG PACE

2009-07-13T19:20:00.003-04:00

Starting week #10!!

The Plan: 9:30 pace

Legs felt really good today. Because my time was limited I had to do the out & back from the club, so the 1st 2 miles were uphill, which accounts for the higher HR. But again, no huffing and puffing so all was good. I drank powerade mixed with water at mile 3 and mile 6 today.

8 miles in 1:15:45 avg pace 9:28

Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 159

M1-9:30 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 155
M2-9:29 Avg HR 150 Cardiac Drift: 159
M3-9:29 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 156
M4-9:28 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 151
M5-9:27 Avg HR 142 Cardiac Drift: 149
M6-9:28 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 154
M7-9:25 Avg HR 141 Cardiac Drift: 153
M8-9:29 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 153

Legs realy wanted to take off today, but I stuck to the plan. Can't wait for tmo's speed workout:)!!

16 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP 7/6-7/12, REST DAY

2009-07-12T19:55:00.002-04:00

Week #9 finished. Legs feel strong and refreshed from this light recovery week. Can't wait for next week to ramp things back up again.

Weekly Recap: 7/6/09 thru 7/12/09

Mon - 7 miles easy @10:07 avg pace
Tues - 6 miles easy progression run @9:34 avg pace
Wed - 5 mile recovery run @9:43 avg pace
Thurs - rest day
Fri - 10 mile easy progression long run @9:16 avg pace
Sat - 5 mile recovery run @9:46

Total weekly mileage Week #9 = 33

5 MILES EASY RECOVERY RUN @9:46 AVG PACE

2009-07-11T11:26:00.003-04:00

Great run today. Had the pleasure of running w Hubby as my Dad was able to watch the kids!! Legs felt strong today, no lathargy at all!! Had a peanut butter and honey sandwich on Whole Wheat bread about 45min before the run, and had nothing to drink during the run. Wasn't thirsty at all during the run. Pushed the hills, as shown by my HR, but again, no huffing and puffing, and hit the planned splits

Temp said 69F and 64% humidity. Just a gorgeous day and great run

Plan for today was 5 miles @9:45

5 miles in 48:50 avg pace 9:46

Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 163

M1-9:49 Avg HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 163
M2-9:47 Avg HR 142 Cardiac Drift: 156
M3-9:48 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 156
M4-9:45 Avg HR 146 Cardiac Drift: 157
M5-9:41 Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 150

Week #9 done, bring on Week #10!!

10MILE SLOW PROGRESSION LONG RUN

2009-07-10T19:37:00.003-04:00

Plan for today was 10 miles:
First 4 miles @9:30
Next 4 miles @9:15
Last 2 miles @ no slower than 9:00

Legs felt good, tho at the start felt like cob webs, but by mile two they set into the grove. First 2 miles were uphill, which accounts for the higher HR, but again, no huffing and puffing so alls good. For the last 2 miles my legs just wanted to take off, but I held back and kept it in check with the plan. Nice breeze during the run and at end barely broke a sweat. During todays run I sipped powerade cut with water every 2 miles. Trying to acclimate myself hydration wise for the marathon.

10 miles in 1:32:49 avg pace 9:16

Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 159

M1 - 9:35 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 150
M2 - 9:37 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 155
M3 - 9:31 Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 153
M4 - 9:31 Avg HR 142 Cardiac Drift: 149
M5 - 9:12 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 159
M6 - 9:11 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 155
M7 - 9:14 Avg HR 143 Cardiac Drift: 150
M8 - 9:15 Avg HR 145 Cardiac Drift: 153
M9 - 8:47 Avg HR 148 Cardiac Drift: 155
M10-8:53 Avg HR 147 Cardiac Drift: 157

Recovery week is over tomorrow, I am definitely ready for next weeks workouts:)!!

REST DAY

2009-07-09T20:28:00.001-04:00

No run today. Enjoyed a very restful day with my children.

EASY 5 MILES @9:43 AVG PACE

2009-07-08T12:32:00.002-04:00

Plan: 5miles @9:45

Got out the door as soon as I got kids to camp (10:15am). Temp said 70F, and it was gorgeous out there, really no humidity at all. Legs felt great. Again, nothing to drink during the whole run. Felt strong, like I could run forever.

5 miles in 48:39 (avg pace 9:43)

Avg HR 134 Cardiac Drift: 150

M1-9:44 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M2-9:41 Avg HR 133 Cardiac Drift: 140
M3-9:48 Avg HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 148
M4-9:45 Avg HR 142 Cardiac Drift: 150
M5-9:41 Avg HR 137 Cardiac Drift: 138

NICE EASY PROGRESSION RUN

2009-07-07T12:55:00.003-04:00

Woke feeling tired again, but not like yesterday. I slept better, but not great. Got the kids off to camp and was out the door for my run. Temp said 70F, and it was gorgeous out there. A bit hot in the sun, but delightful in the shade. Again didn't drink coffee before the run, kept it for the reward after the run.

Plan for today was 2miles @9:45 2 miles @9:15 and 2miles @9:00

Legs felt a tad sluggish at the begining, but not as sluggish as yesterday. Since I ran mostly hills, I adjusted the paces. I wanted to keep it to a recovery run, and not a hard run, and the paces I ended w worked perfectly. I forgot my water bottle, so no drinky for me for the whole 6 miles. I never felt thirsty, and I finsihed strong. I felt like I could have run another 6-10miles. HR was a tad higher than what it should have been for recovery week run, but that is because I pushed the hills to keep pace, but I never huffed and puffed, so alls good!

6 miles in 57:29 avg pace 9:34 Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 165

M1-9:59 Avg HR 134 Cardiac Drift: 152
M2-10:00 Avg HR 133 Cardiac Drift: 157
M3-9:29 Avg HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 150
M4-9:30 Avg HR 142 Cardiac Drift: 153
M5-9:15 Avg HR 156 Cardiac Drift: 165 (really big hill)
M6-9:16 Avg HR 144 Cardiac Drift: 165

7 MILES EASY @ 10:07

2009-07-06T18:30:00.003-04:00

Today is the start of Week #9 This is also a recovery week so all miles are being run at slower paces.

Plan: 9:45 pace (stay within +/- 10s)

I didn't get great sleep, woke tired, and legs were very heavy/sluggish during the run. I did not drink coffee before the run & only took sips of powerade at M3 & M6. Never really felt thirsty, but felt great running after each sip. No knee pain at all, and was never winded:)!

7 miles in 1:10:54 (avg pace 10:07)

Avg HR 132 Cardiac Drift: 144

M1-10:18 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M2-10:26 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M3-10:28 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M4-10:06 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M5-9:53 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M6-9:46 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137
M7-9:57 Avg HR 121 Cardiac Drift: 137

2009-07-06T18:22:00.003-04:00

Sunday, July 5, 2009

17 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP 6/29-7/5, REST DAY

Another week finished. Really pleased with how consistent my running is going.

Weekly Recap: 6/29/09 thru 7/5/09

Mon - 7 easy @9:38
Tues - 5.58miles - 6x75 hill sprints, with 2mile w/u & c/d
Wed - 7 mile recovery run @9:51
Thurs - rest day
Fri - 14 mile long run (avg pace 8:48)
Sat - 5 mile recovery run @9:51

Total weekly mileage Week #8 = 38.68

5 MILE RECOVERY RUN @ 9:51 PACE

2009-07-04T20:42:00.002-04:00

Another beautiful day for a run. Got out the door around 9:20am, and took it nice and easy. No pain at all in the legs, tho they felt VERY heavy. I only drank water after mile 3 and at the end of the run.

5 miles in 49:16 (avg pace 9:51) Avg HR 131 Cardiac Drift: 145

The run went as follows according to my Garmin 305:
M1- 9:47 avgHR 123 - Cardiac Drift: 141
M2- 9:45 avgHR 133 - Cardiac Drift: 144
M3- 9:53 avgHR 135 - Cardiac Drift: 145
M4- 9:56 avgHR 132 - Cardiac Drift: 143
M5- 9:55 avgHR 134 - Cardiac Drift: 140

14 MILE LONG RUN

2009-07-03T20:24:00.003-04:00

Ok, tried to improve from last fridays long run. Yesterday drank water, and for dinner had penne with marinara sauce and chicken and drank 20oz of gatorade. Was supposed to wake at 6am, and out the door around 7:30. LOL, overslept, didn't wake til 8am and finally got out the door at 9:20. After having oatmeal and banana, and coconut water about 40min before my run. It was hot, but not bad. Temp said 70F and 73% humidity.

Plan for today was 14; 1-4 @9:00, 5-12 @8:30 and miles 13-14 no slower than 8:10.

Well, I didn't hit the above plan, but I did a lot better than last Fridays run.

14 miles in 2:02:50 avg pace 8:48

Avg HR 151 Cardiac Drift: 170

The run went as follows according to my Garmin 305:
M1- 9:05 avgHR 143 - Cardiac Drift: 153
M2- 9:05 avgHR 148 - Cardiac Drift: 158
M3- 9:05 avgHR 147 - Cardiac Drift: 154
M4- 9:05 avgHR 152 - Cardiac Drift: 164
M5- 8:35 avgHR 154 - Cardiac Drift: 161
M6- 8:35 avgHR 157 - Cardiac Drift: 170
M7- 8:35 avgHR 157 - Cardiac Drift: 160
M8- 8:35 avgHR 154 - Cardiac Drift: 159
M9- 8:40 avgHR 150 - Cardiac Drift: 157
M10- 8:40 avgHR 150 - Cardiac Drift: 155
M11- 8:40 avgHR 151 - Cardiac Drift: 158
M12- 8:40 avgHR 156 - Cardiac Drift: 159
M13- 8:45 avgHR 152 - Cardiac Drift: 159
M14- 8:45 avgHR 143 - Cardiac Drift: 153

Tho I didn't hit the 8:10 pace as plan for miles 11 & 12, I was able to keep it at an 8:45 pace, MUCH better than last fridays run, where the last two miles were 9:29 and then 10:10 to finish. Tho the run overall was much better than last weeks run, I still had some discomfort. For the last two miles I had a serious cramp in my ribcage that I just couldn't shake, and the bottom of my feet killed. Grrr. Never had that happen before, hope it doesn't again.

7 MILE RECOVERY RUN

2009-07-01T16:19:00.003-04:00

Todays run was supposed to be a 6 mile recovery run done at 9:45 pace. I mapped out a new hilly run to do, but made a turn during it, and ended up adding an extra mile. LOL Though it was a recovery run, I really liked the hills. I pushed, but not so much and the legs/lungs felt great. I was never winded and I kept the pace slow (avg 9:51) to make sure it was a recovery run.

7 miles in 1:09:00 (Avg pace 9:51)

Avg HR 137 Cardiac Drift: 159

M1 - 9:52 Avg HR 133 Cardiac Drift: 152
M2 - 9:50 Avg HR 131 Cardiac Drift: 157
M3 - 9:50 Avg HR 136 Cardiac Drift: 150
M4 - 9:51 Avg HR 141 Cardiac Drift: 159
M5 - 9:50 Avg HR 138 Cardiac Drift: 148
M6 - 9:52 Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 155
M7 - 9:55 Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 156

HILL REPEATS

2009-06-30T20:19:00.002-04:00

Plan:
2-mile w/u
6 x 75 second hill sprints w/ jogging recovery back down; 10 push ups and 20 crunches each time you get to the bottom
2-mile c/d

Got out as soon as I dropped kids at camp. Temp was 70F 60% humidity, another great sunny day.

Great workout, legs felt good, tho a bit heavy on the last .5mile of the c/d. But it was hot out there.

Did the Core6 workout immediately after the run, and then followed that up with Yoga for runners.

7 MILES @ 9:38 AVG PACE

2009-06-29T18:17:00.002-04:00

Today marks the beginning of training week #8

Got out for my run after I got the kids off to camp. Woo Hoo schools out for summer:)!!

Hit the pavement around 11:30am, and the temp said 75F and 60% humidity, it was blue skies and sunny: GORGEOUS!! Decided to run my 4 mile loop backwards, and then add the 3mile pond route to it. It was great.

7 miles in 1::07:31 for an avg pace of 9:38

HR avg was 136 and cardiac drift: 157

According to my Garmin 305 my splits were:
M1-9:41 avg HR: 120 cardiac drift: 130 (all downhill)
M2-9:39 avg HR: 141 cardiac drift: 157 (all uphill)
M3-9:40 avg HR: 139 cardiac drift: 154 (flat to downhill)
M4-9:35 avg HR: 144 cardiac drift: 151 (gradual uphill)
M5-9:35 avg HR: 135 cardiac drift: 151 (flat to gradual uphill)
M6-9:12 avg HR: 137 cardiac drift: 147 (flat to downhill)
M7-9:12 avg HR: 139 cardiac drift: 144 (flat)

18 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP: 6/22-6/28, & REST DAY

2009-06-28T10:47:00.003-04:00

18 Weeks til NYC. 7 weeks of training finished. I have not missed one day of training. Yeah, let the consistency continue!!!

Woke this morning around 7:30. Legs feel great. Had oatmeal and banana with O.N.E. coconut water, and will enjoy my day off/rest day!! Looks a bit cloudy out there but the plan is to hit the club for pool/beach.

WEEKLY RECAP: 6/22-6/28
Mon - 7mile recovery run @9:45pace
Tues - 6.68 track interval workout: 6 x 3min @8:00 w 2min jog recovery (15min w/u&c/d)
Wed - 6 mile recovery run @ 9:15 pace
Thurs - rest day
Fri - 12 mile long run (steady pace this time)
Sat - 5 mile recovery run @9:42 pace
Sun - rest day

Total miles for week #7 = 36.68

2009-06-28T10:43:00.002-04:00

Saturday, June 27, 2009

I woke Saturday morning at 8:30, after going to bed at 9:30pm. Great/fantastic sleep. Legs felt great, no soreness. I had my coffee and heavy cream, and I also ate oatmeal and a banana, and had a O.N.E. coconut water with it, then about 10:20 I went out for my 5 mile recovery run. I decided to run totally by heart rate, and to keep it average of 132ish, legs felt really good/strong, and had no knee issues with the slower pace, and I completed the run in 48:30 with an overall pace of 9:42.

I had no knee ill affects today at all from the slower pace. I’m more convinced than ever the occasional achiness I’m feeling in my left knee is from sitting, not the running pace. Sitting in an upright position, or driving position.

The run went as follows according to my Garmin 305:
M1- 9:45 avgHR 122 - maxHR 144
M2- 9:40 avgHR 134 - maxHR 139
M3- 9:44 avgHR 136 - maxHR 147
M4- 9:42 avgHR 134 - maxHR 141
M5- 9:39 avgHR 135 - maxHR 146

Today’s run was not as hot/humid as Fridays. The legs felt really good/strong, and again, I had no knee pain at all. I did run with my water bottle filled with O.N.E. coconut water, 20oz, and I drank about half of it during the run, and finished the rest walking back up to my house. After I did the core workout and yoga, I took a 10min hot bath. Then I had lunch, which was a whole wheat bagel with tuna fish, and a 20oz Gatorade. Then we spent the day at the club in the hot sun, probably 1-5pm. I drank about 32oz of pelligrino during the afternoon, and also noshed on some almonds, probably 2oz worth. Then for dinner we had Greek, and I had the lemon/chicken soup, greek salad and the gyro. I followed dinner with Baskin Robbins again; same mint chocolate chip ice cream. Don’t worry I won’t make a habit of the ice cream. I hadn’t had it in years before Friday nights date night, and my girls were jealous that we went out for ice cream without them. Usually we take them out and Gregg and the girls splurge, but not me LOL. Went to sleep around 9pm.

2009-06-28T10:33:00.002-04:00

Friday, June 26, 2009

Today's plan was supposed to be 12 miles in the progression that I had done last week. Miles 1-4 @9:00min pace, miles 5-10 @8:30 pace, miles 11-12 no slower than 8:00min pace.

I had a pretty good sleep Thursday into Friday morning. Woke at 8ish, and got my 8 year old off to school (my youngest was with me, as her school finished Tuesday, so I couldn’t run right awayL. I fed them, but I did not eat, other than my standard/staple coffee with heavy cream. Picked the oldest up from school at 10:45, and then waited for the babysitter to arrive who arrived around noon. She was supposed to be here at 11am.

I didn’t get out for my run till about 12:20, so it was a really bad move on my part not to eat first. I knew it, but I had to get out there. I didn’t just want to eat and then run. Since I was waiting for the babysitter to arrive, I didn’t know when she’d get there, since she was running late.

I don’t know if my not eating before the run, or not having enough to drink during the run, or if it was just the heat/humidity that did me in today, but I guess in the overall scheme, the run was still a good one, and I learned a thing or two.

I usually don’t eat before I run, and it works for me, but since it was so hot/humid and a 12 mile run, I think I learned not such a great thing to do on a long run. Unfortuneately, by the time I got out for my run, the rain had stopped, nada, nothing, not a drip and it was HOT. By the end of the run I was looking for sprinklers to jump in to. LOL. I would have run in the rain, but I was waiting on the babysitter. The downside of being a mom some times.

I also changed my route up a bit to add mileage to make it a full 12 miles loop. I didn’t want to do any repeat running, I wanted it to be one big loop. In so doing I added a couple of hills (the nature of my neighborhood). Not crazy hills, just not flat. But I LOVED the route and plan to do it again.

I did eat a Carb Boom vanilla/orange gel about 20min before my run, and then I had another one at mile 8. I also ran with my hand held water bottle that holds about 20oz of water, and ran out of water at about mile 9. Actually it was G2 mixed with water. I’d say, 15oz G2, 5oz water. At about mile 11 ½ I passed a pizza store, and ran in and they filled my bottle back up with cold water. I drank about 10oz of it immediately, and then at mile 11.5 I took a swig, and then at the end of the run, I pounded the rest.

After the run I drank 3 O.N.E. coconut waters, drank my EAS protein drink, and took a 7min ice bath. Then I had a whole wheat bagel with tuna fish, and a 20oz Gatorade. I definitely felt better/fine within 2hours. I also ate a handful of almonds (healthy fat).

At 6pm I had sushi for dinner and then Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream from Baskin Robbins for dessert.

The run went as follows according to my Garmin 305:
M1- 9:00 avgHR 142 - maxHR 149
M2- 9:04 avgHR 150 - maxHR 155
M3- 9:06 avgHR 144 - maxHR 153
M4- 9:06 avgHR 147 - maxHR 156
M5- 9:13 avgHR 140 - maxHR 152
M6- 8:59 avgHR 146 - maxHR 160
M7- 9:12 avgHR 148 - maxHR 154
M8- 9:13 avgHR 147 - maxHR 152
M9- 9:09 avgHR 146 - maxHR 155
M10- 9:14 avgHR 149 - maxHR 151
M11- 9:29 avgHR 148 - maxHR 176
M12- 10:10 avgHR 128 - maxHR 141

Miles 11 and 12 are down hill, and my legs really hurt doing it this time. It was painful. My calves were cramping and the legs just didn’t want to move. This was the same hill that last Friday, I ran 7:30 and then 7:53 pace to finish, and today I couldn’t go faster than 9:29 and then 10:10 to finish.

But again a great run and a great learning experience.

2009-06-28T10:31:00.001-04:00

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Total rest day today

6 MILE RECOVERY RUN @9:15 PACE

2009-06-24T13:13:00.003-04:00

Originally plan was 6 miles @9:45 pace, but since my left knee was achy yesterday, coach and I talked about it, and decided to up the slow pace to 9:15. We're thinking that maybe the slower paces are changing my gait too much and I was getting a little discomfort in the knee. Again, never during a run, only afterwards if I was sitting in an upright position.

I find it funny that my slow pace (or comfortable pace) is now 9:15/mile. When I started running back on January 2, 2008, at this same avg HR (146), I was run/walking about a 17min pace. Wow, I've come a long way:)!! Just hoping that this faster pace, won't take it's toll on me, and will enable me to recover properly. Will monitor it and make sure there is no knee pain, and that I am taking each workout one day (or week) at a time:)!!

So, I got out the door at 9:51am, and did an out and back route of 3 out/3back for 6miles. Legs felt awesome. I kept to the 9:15pace and the left knee was not an issue at this pace at all. No pain before, during or after run today:)!! I kept an avg speed of 6.5 for each mile.

6 miles in 55:35 for an avg pace of 9:16

HR avg was 146 and cardiac drift: 156

According to my Garmin 305 my splits were:
M1-9:13 avg HR: 141 cardiac drift: 152
M2-9:17 avg HR: 149 cardiac drift: 156
M3-9:17 avg HR: 146 cardiac drift: 153
M4-9:23 (uphill) avg HR: 147 cardiac drift: 154
M5-9:12 avg HR: 148 cardiac drift: 155
M6-9:12 avg HR: 147 cardiac drift: 155

Just a great run. Looking forward to tmo's rest day:)!! It was hot and humid out there today, but it didn't affect my run:)!

Followed the run immediately with the Core Fun (10 core exercises) and Chaz's Yoga For Runner's. Still not great at stretching, but doing this yoga and the foam roller is definitely helping:)!!

INTERVAL WORKOUT AT THE TRACK

2009-06-23T14:28:00.005-04:00

Plan: 15-minutes w/u @ 9:30/pace
6 x 3-minutes @ 8:00/pace w/ 2-minute jogging recovery (no slower than 10/pace)
15-minutes c/d @ 9:15/pace

Legs were a bit heavy when I woke this morning. Tho I did have great sleep:)!! But once I got to the track and started the workout, my legs felt awesome. My left knee did ache on the car ride home. Did not hurt at all while running. I don't think my legs like being in the upright sitting position for too long:( But I iced it as soon as I got home, and then it felt great again. Will monitor it!!

This was the first run with my brand new Garmin 305 and I LOVED it, so much more accurate than the 301, just wish I could get it to sync with BuckeyeOutdoors. Oh well, so close, but yet so far.

Here is the info that uploaded to my computer when I got home:

Total workout time: 1:00:00 Total mileage: 6.68 avg pace 8:58

15min w/u- @ 9:32 pace 1.58 miles (6.3-6.9mph) (HR avg133; Max146)

3min @8:02pace .37miles (7.5-9.2mph) (HR avg154; Max158)
2min jog recovery @9:43pace .21miles (6.2-7.4mph) (HR avg145; Max157)

3min @7:56pace .38miles (7.6-8.6mph) (HR avg153; Max159)
2min jog recovery @9:51pace .20miles (6.1-7.8mph) (HR avg145; Max157) had water

3min @8:06pace .37miles (7.4-9.2mph) (HR avg153; Max156)
2min jog recovery @9:44pace .21miles (6.2-7.6mph) (HR avg146; Max155)

3min @7:56pace .38miles (7.5-8.8mph) (HR avg154; Max159)
2min jog recovery @9:49pace .20miles (6.1-8.9mph) (HR avg151; Max160) had water

3min @7:55pace .38miles (7.6-10.1mph) (HR avg158; Max162)
2min jog recovery @9:54pace .20miles (6.1-7.9mph) (HR avg148; Max155) had water

3min @8:02pace .37miles (7.5-9.0mph) (HR avg156; Max159)
2min jog recovery @9:41pace .21miles (6.2-6.7mph) (HR avg147; Max154)

Then 15min cooldown @9:14pace, covered 1.62 miles (6.5-8.0mph) (HR avg146; Max 155)

Great workout. I put in where I stopped for water, which explains why my HR was higher during the jog recovery, because in order to maintain the no slower than 10min pace, I had to kick it in a bit, to catch up, after stopping at my water bottle and taking a couple of swigs. It was HOT and HUMID today:(!!

Followed above with the core 6 workout out. Felt great:)
Strength Core6
1-Min Planks 2sets
Bicycles 2sets of 25
Oblique crunches 2sets of 25
Crunches 1 set of 25
Hip Extensions 1 set of 25
Pushups 1 set of 20

7 MILES @ 9:45 PACE

2009-06-22T20:24:00.003-04:00

Plan: Nothing Fancy; 9:45 pace (stay within +/- 10s)

Legs felt good, but I did feel a twinge above my left knee. Nothing serious, iced afterwards, and went away.

My last run w my Garmin301:

7 miles in 1:08:09 avg pace 9:44 (avg HR 140 Max HR 157)
According to my Garmin301 splits were:
M1-9:42 (avg HR 145 Max HR 152)
M2-9:45 (avg HR 144 Max HR 157)
M3-9:45 (avg HR 138 Max HR 151)
M4-9:42 (avg HR 143 Max HR 155)
M5-9:45 (avg HR 144 Max HR 153)
M6-9:45 (avg HR 130 Max HR 153)
M7-9:45 (avg HR 139 Max HR 150)

Followed the run with the Core Fun (10 core exercises) and Karen Fowler's Yoga for Runners

19 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP: 6/15-6/21, REST DAY

2009-06-21T10:06:00.002-04:00

FIRST AND FOREMOST, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THE DADDY'S OUT THERE.

We got to sleep in today, which was awesome. My body feels better/rested and my legs feel great. Tho I pigged out at Outback last night celebrating Father's Day with my family. I ate a whole bloomin Onion by myself. BR/hubby still can't believe it. LOL

Well, one thing I am accomplishing, I have just completed 6 solid weeks of marathon training. WOO HOO:)!! Only 19 more to go!!

Weekly Recap: 6/15 thru 6/21:

Mon - 6 miles easy @ 9:35pace
Tues- 5.53 miles - 4 x 1 mile repeats w/ jog recovery & 1mile w/u & c/d
Wed- 6 mile recovery run @9:45pace
Thurs- rest day
Fri- 10 miles Long Run (w progressive paces)
Sat- 4 mile recovery run @9:30pace
Sun- rest day

Total miles for week #6 = 31.53

Week # 6 Officially completed Woo Hoo:)!!!!

2009-06-21T09:53:00.005-04:00

June 20, 2009

4 Mile recovery run. Plan was to keep the pace @9:30

8:30am - I got out the door early, as the day was going to be rainy and busy & I wanted to get the run in before the rain hit:)!! Temp said 65F and it was cloudy, but the sun did pop out during the run for a bit.

Legs were a bit crampy/heavy the first mile, but then they loosened up.

4 miles in 38:17 avgHR 143 - MaxHR 183

Mile splits/HR as per my Garmin 301:

M1 - 9:35 (avgHR 145 - MaxHR 180)
M2 - 9:33 (avgHR 142 - MaxHR 168)
M3 - 9:34 (avgHR 140 - MaxHR 170)
M4 - 9:35 (avgHR 144 - MaxHR 183)

My heart rate was all over the place. Some due to spike, some due to humidity (it was hot), but I'm also guessing the body may not have recovered from yesterdays long run, plus it didn't help that I didn't get great sleep:(

I didn't get my Core Fun workout in till much later, as I had a meeting at our club for the Kids Camp this summer. So at 12:15, I did the core workout.
Knee Crunches 1set 20reps
Hip Lifts 1set 4reps
Standard Crunches 1set 20reps
Push Ups 1set 25reps
Push Ups 2nd set 25reps
Obliques Crunches 2 sets of 25
Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps
Bicycles 2sets 20reps
Oblique Twists 0 0
Supermans 2sets 20 reps
1-Min Planks 2sets

LONG RUN - DONE WITH PROGRESSIVE SPEED

2009-06-19T16:11:00.005-04:00

Thankfully weather held off for me today (even saw the sun briefly at the end of the run:). Temp said 65F. As soon as I got kids to school, I got myself ready for this run.

Plan for today was 10miles. 4 Easy (8:45 pace) 4 Moderat (8:15 pace) 2 Hard/Fast (No slower than 8 pace) I think my friend Bruce calls this kind of a run progression???

To be honest I was nervous to do this workout. I believed I could do it, but the pacing set by my coach had me a tad worried. Thankfully I trust/believe in him, and just let my legs feel it.

After the run I immediately did the Core6 workout. My legs were heavy, and definitely started to tighten up and get crampy. I followed the Core6 with yoga, foam roller, and then a 7min ice bath. After all that, legs felt great again:) Tho I can feel them tightening up as I sit here typing away. Must finish quick and foam roller again.

10 miles in 1:23:53 for an average pace of 8:23

Avg HR 160 Max HR 196

According to my Garmin301, my mile splits were:
M1-8:47 avg HR 149 max HR 183
M2-8:47 avg HR 173 max HR 188
M3-8:51 avg HR 156 max HR 178
M4-8:51 avg HR 157 max HR 165
M5-8:17 avg HR 171 max HR 188
M6-8:20 avg HR 159 max HR 178
M7-8:17 avg HR 162 max HR 168
M8-8:20 avg HR 162 max HR 168
M9-7:30(downhill) avg HR 158 max HR 166
M10-7:53 avg HR 163 max HR 196

Core6 workout was:
1-Min Planks 2sets
Bicycles - 2sets of 25
Oblique Crunches - 2 sets of 25
Crunches - 2 sets of 25
Hip Extensions - 2 sets of 25
Pushups - 1 set of 25

REST DAY, NO RUN

2009-06-18T16:07:00.002-04:00

Thank God today is a rest day, as it has been POURING all day & the neighborhood is flooded. Hope it clears itself out by tomorrow's Long run:)!!

6 MILES EASY

2009-06-17T19:55:00.004-04:00

Plan today was to run 6miles easy, sticking to a 9:45 pace (+/-10secs 9:40-9:50)

Didn't get out for my run till 1pm, as this morning my 8yo daughter had her moving up/graduation ceremony. I still can't believe she's going into 3rd grade. Seems like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital:(

Temp said 66F, and blue skies and sun (tho it didn't last long, by 5pm, sun went behind clouds as we are expecting 5-6 more days of rain Grrrrr).

Great run today. Legs felt kind of heavy at first, think they just needed to wake up, as I had sat through the ceremony, just before my run. Overall legs felt awesome:)

According to my Garmin301, mile splits were:
M1- 9:41
M2- 9:47
M3- 9:41
M4- 9:45
M5- 9:51
M6- 9:44

Pretty consistent, and within the range Josh said:)!!

I'm a little bummed I realized into the first mile that I forgot to put my HRM on. Been so long since I wore it, I have to train myself to wear it again. Make it apart of my running gear and put it on every run!!

I followed the run immediately with the Core Fun workout. No yoga, but will get back to doing that again too:)

MILE REPEATS ON THE TRACK

2009-06-16T12:01:00.006-04:00

Plan for today was: .5mile w/u, then 4 x 1miles w 2min jog recovery in b/t, followed by .5 mile c/d. Basically I was told to push it so hard that I felt like I'd puke, or the way I felt in Saturdays race, sprinting up Cat Hill (for all you people who race in Central Park, YOU KNOW what I'm talking about LOL). and I was told to keep each mile within 5-10secs of each other.

Got to the track at 10:25, sun was peaking in and out of clouds, and it was breezy, so not hot. Did get hot during run, but workout felt awesome.

Did my .5mile w/u in 5:44, the proceeded to do the mile repeats. I set my Garmin 301 to interval workout, by distance and rest, for 4 laps. I've never done a track workout before, and was amazed how well the Garmin told me my pace. It was awesome (certainly helped that there we no trees around at all), and the 305 will be even better when it gets here.

This is the data that uploaded to my computer from the 301 when I got home:
M1- 7:25 (avg speed 8.1mph max speed 9.8mph and avg HR 153 Max HR 161
2min walk/rest - .21miles i jogged slowly this time (HR 142 Max HR 158)

M2- 7:23 (avg speed 8.1mph max speed 9.4mph and avg HR 159 Max HR 183
2min walk/rest -.13miles i jogged a little, mostly stood drinking catching my breath (HR 149 Max HR 169)

M3- 7:29 (avg speed 8.0mph max speed 9.8mph and avg HR 159 Max HR 169
2min walk/rest - 484.5 feet no jog, walked sucking wind, drinking (HR 140 Max HR 169)

M4- 7:31 (avg speed 8.0mph max speed 10.0mph and avg HR 161 Max HR 174
2min walk/rest -524.7 feet no jog, walked sucking wind, drinking (HR 137 Max HR 170)

Overall workout times are 4.53miles in 37:50
of that, I ran for 29:50 and covered 4miles and walked/rested 8min and covered .53miles

Ok, I didn't puke, but I definitely pushed, cause on the last mile I dry heaved, and some of my breakfast came up in my mouth. I know, too much information, but coach, you wanted to know LMAO.

I followed this workout immediately with the core 6 program, and OMG, I was SOOOO close to puking, but I did it.
Pushups 1 set of 20
Hip Extensions 1 set of 25
Crunches 1 set of 25
Oblique crunches 2sets of 25
Bicycles 2sets 25
1-Min Planks 2sets

My knee dropped to the floor on the 2nd set of planks, but I pushed thru it and got the plank form back and finished it out. OMG, what an awesome workout:)!!!

EASY 6 MILES

2009-06-15T19:54:00.002-04:00

Plan: Nothing Fancy; 9:35 pace (stay within +/- 10s)

Legs felt awesome today. This time I actually wrote out the split times I wanted to hit, so I didn't have to deal with the Garmin301 pace bouncing BS. Helped alot, tho i CAN'T wait for the 305 to come in the mail:)!! Also, when it comes going to start tracking my HR again:) to make sure my hard days are HARD, and my easy days are easy.

According to my Garmin301 splits were:
M1- 9:25 (I go downhill at the beg)
M2- 9:15 (not sure what my prob was LOL)
M3- 9:30 (getting better)
M4- 9:37
M5- 9:39
M6- 9:41

Well, overall pretty consistent, so I'm happy:)! Plus it was hot out there, and I got out late today, cause there was stuff going on that I had to attend to in the a.m.

20 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP: 6/8-6/14, REST DAY

2009-06-14T19:57:00.004-04:00

I woke today and my legs felt great. I expected to be sore, or at least a little sore after crushing my 10K yesterday. Hmmm... Does this mean I could have pushed harder? or just that I am conditioned enough and recover quickly? Strange. Maybe I've just learned something. Even when I don't think I can go any faster, maybe I should push a little harder anyway?? Hmm...

The sun finally came out around 1:30pm, so the family and I hit the club for some rays on the beach and a great BBQ with the in-laws. Fun times:)!!

Weekly recap: 6/8-6/14:
Mon- 6 miles easy
Tues- 3.55 miles - Hill sprints w/ jog recovery & 1mile w/u & c/d
Wed- 6 mile recovery run
Thurs- rest day
Fri- 4 miles easy
Sat- 10K race
Sun- rest day

Total miles for week #5 = 25.75

Week #5 training officially done:)!!

DASH TO 10K RACE RESULTS: NEW PR WOO HOO:)!!

2009-06-13T19:14:00.003-04:00

I woke this morning at 5:15, did the usual pre-race rituals. I ate oatmeal with banana, had my coffee with heavy cream & DaVinci Vanilla syrup. I left at 6:30 am to drive into NYC. Today was a little different. I parked up on 99th bt Park & Madison because the race was starting on 102nd Street. I wasn't going in with anyone. Kind of lonely feeling, but I was meeting my friend Josh, who is coaching me to get me to NYC. I got to the Parking garage at 7:30, walked up to the starting area, and then did the normal stuff before the race started.

I totally was absorbed in the fact that I was running with Josh, that I forgot to put on my Garmin 301. Kind of freaked, then laughed and said I wasn't allowed to look at it any way, and kind of nice to race without it. I didn't even look at the clock when we crossed the start, so I had no idea how things were going, all I knew was that I was running the course faster than I had ever before. LOL

I ran this course once last year, July 08, and the race was called Park to Park, and I crossed the finish line at 54:38, thrilled at the time because that was a 10K PR for me back then. Today, the race is now called Dash to 10K, or something. LOL Today, I crossed the finish line at 50:10, crushing my previous course PR, by 4min and 28secs. WOO HOO:)

I'm waiting for Josh to send me my mile splits (as I didn't have my Garmin on), and to explain the course, and how we ran it, LMAO, as I was so focused, my mind is a blur as to how the course was and how I ran it. All I know is I pretty much stuck to his hip, tho a few times I did slow down, but pretty much ran next to him pacing me the whole way. So, I will post again, in another post, that stuff, but for now here are my official results for the nyrr website:

NYRR Dash 10K
Distance: 6.2 Miles
Date/Time: June 13, 2009, 9:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 72 Degrees, 61% Humidity, Overcast

Sex/Age F44
Bib 3688
Overall Place 1140
Gender Place 206
AgePlace 13
FinishTime 50:10
Pace/Mile 8:05
AGTime 46:55
AGGenderPlace 99
AG % 64.6

Afterwards, hubby/BR411 said he wanted to get me a new running outfit because he was so proud of me, I said, what I'd really would like is a Garmin 305 to train for NYC because it catches the signal better. I really don't need any more running clothes. He said OK and ordered me the Garmin 305, should be here next week. WOO HOO:)!!! Thank you honey, I love you SOOO much:)!!

EASY SLOW 4 MILES

2009-06-12T15:35:00.002-04:00

Very easy 4 miles today. Average pace was 10:05 Legs felt good.

Followed the run immediately with the Core Fun workout:

Knee Crunches 1set 20reps
Hip Lifts 1set 14reps
Standard Crunches 1set 20reps
Push Ups 1set 25reps
Push Ups 2nd set 20reps
Obliques Crunches 0 0
Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps
Bicycles 2sets 20reps
Oblique Twists 0 0
Supermans 2sets 20 reps
1-Min Planks 2sets

And also got my 16min Yoga for runners by Karen Fowler in. Then I soaked in a hot bath tub.

Great workout, I'm ready to crush tomorrow's 10K

REST DAY & FIRST DEEP MASSAGE EVER:)!

2009-06-11T19:35:00.001-04:00

Really enjoyed a great rest day doing nothing.

Had a fabulous 50min deep massage. Ouchie, but good ouchie:)! Then when I got home I followed it up with yoga for runners with Karen Fowler.

Totally ready for my 4mile easy run tomorrow in prep for my 10K race on Saturday.

6 MILE RECOVERY/MAINTENANCE RUN

2009-06-10T16:33:00.003-04:00

Plan for today was 6 easy maintenance/recovery miles @ 9:45 pace +/-10 secs; meaning 9:40-9:50

Legs felt heavy again during this run. GRRRRR... Again, the Garmin pace was bouncing all over the place, so I decided to just run it, and see where it took me. I ran the pond run with the hills, and tho my legs felt heavy, I never got tired, and I felt like I could have run forever, and I ran the hill back up to my house.

6 miles in 1:00:10 (avg pace 10:01) Didn't hit the mark today:(

Splits according to my Garmin301:
M1- 9:50
M2- 9:55
M3- 10:10
M4- 10:09
M5- 9:50
M6- 10:16

So, grrrr with the splits. Again, the legs felt heavy, but I was never tired.

Followed the run immediately with the Core Fun workout:

Knee Crunches 1set 20reps
Hip Lifts 1set 9reps
Standard Crunches 1set 20reps
Push Ups 1set 25reps
Push Ups 2nd set 14reps
Obliques Crunches 0 0
Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps
Bicycles 2sets 20reps
Oblique Twists 0 0
Supermans 2sets 20 reps
1-Min Planks 2sets

And also got my 16min Yoga for runners by Karen Fowler in.

I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off and doing NOTHING:)!!

INTERVAL WORKOUT

2009-06-09T13:28:00.002-04:00

Plan for today was 1 mile w/u, then 6x60 hill sprint repeats, walk back down the hill, do 10pushups & 10crunches, (repeat 6x) followed by 1 mile c/d.

Though it was thundering & lightning & pouring out, I did my run outside. When push came to shove, I had no choice, TMs were all being used (I saw as I came from driving my youngest to school), and besides, I had NO CLUE how to do this workout on the TM. So, after whinning about the weather, for about 10min, and realizing that I was running out of time. I had to finish my run by 11:45am at the latest, as I had to take my 8yo to the dentist to get her 3 teeth pulled. The 2nd ones were already in, and the baby teeth wouldn't budge. LOL

So, I sucked it up and ran outside in the monsoon. YEAHHHHHHH and truth be told, it felt amazing:)!!

Contrary to yesterday when my legs felt a tad heavy, not so today at all. Not sure if that was because I had an extra step in my run, since it was pouring w thunder & lightning, or what, but legs really felt awesome today.

I may have run my w/u & c/d a tad too fast @ an 8:55pace, but it was pouring and I wanted to get it done. LOL Again, with each hill sprint my legs felt stronger (last time I tired at the end, not this time), and today I made it to the top with each 60 sec sprint. (Last time by the end I was only making it about 3/4 of the way). I did stop my watch after each hill sprint, as I walked back into my house to do the pu/crunches this time. I completed all the pushups and cruches. Today it just flowed. Felt great.

I followed this workout immediately with the Core Fun6 workout and then Yoga for runners by Karen Fowler.

Strength Core6:
1-Min Planks 2sets
Bicycles 2sets 25
Oblique crunches 2sets of 25
Crunches 1 set of 25
Hip Extensions 1 set of 25
Pushups 1 set of 20

This workout was great. Completed the whole thing. I left no time in between each set. Not sure if this was because I was in a hurry to get to the Dentist with my daughter, or if I'm just getting used to it. But I loved it:)!!!

And then I immediately did Karen Fowler's Yoga for runner's. The 20min workout. Felt great, and am really liking the stretching/flexibility benefits:)!! WooHoo

Just an awesome workout today. Ha, maybe it should rain/thunderstorm all the time... NOT:)!!

6 MILES HELD @9:35 PACE +/-10SECS

2009-06-08T17:09:00.003-04:00

Start of Week #5 for NYC:)!!

Plan for today was 6miles easy @9:35 pace +/- 10secs; meaning 9:30-9:40

Run got delayed a tad, as the guys arrived to rip out our driveway. Still had plenty of time to get the run in comfortably, do the core workout immediately after, and then pick up my kids at school.

Run felt good today, though legs felt a tad heavy. Not sure if that is because I didn't eat. I did have 1/2 a bagel with peanut butter around 10am, but since my run got delayed I probably should have eaten something else. Oh well, live and learn.

Run as a whole went well. My average pace for the 6 miles was 9:44, not great. I didn't hit my splits today as well as I should have:( My Garmin was bouncing all over the place with the pace, as the trees are now in full bloom:( Oh well.

Mile splits according to my Garmin301:
M1- 9:30
M2- 9:41
m3- 9:40
M4- 10:00
M5- 9:37
M6- 9:58

I felt like I was running consistently, but the data above states otherwise:(

Interesting to see how my legs feel tomorrow, and how they respond to the hill sprint repeats planned for tomorrow. Time will tell. I still have the 10K time trial on Saturday, that will be run with my coach!!

Followed the run immediately with Core Fun workout:
Standard Crunches 1set 20reps
Hip Lifts 1set 20reps
Knee Crunches 1set 20reps
Push Ups 1set 20reps
Push Ups 2nd set 20reps
Obliques Crunches 1set 20reps
Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps
Bicycles 2sets 20reps
Oblique Twists 0 0
Supermans 2sets 20 reps
1-Min Planks 2sets

Workout felt great. Really pushed it today. In the past I took a break between each set. Today I did them 1,2,3 BAM. Felt great. Man the planks are a killer but I held on till the end:)!!

21 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP: 6/1-6/7, REST DAY

2009-06-07T19:28:00.004-04:00

Enjoyed my rest day:)! Woke, and legs/muscles felt great. Hung out with family in the morning watching the movie "Wally", pretty good flick. Then I soaked in a hot bath tub, and then I completed yogamazings Yoga for runners. A 20min yoga program for runners. I liked it & definitely feel doing these yoga programs are helping me with my flexibility:)! Then the family spent the day at the club in the pool & beach. Good times:)!!

WEEKLY RECAP 6-1-09 THRU 6-7-09
Mon- 4 miles easy at conversational pace
Tues - 6.38 miles- interval workout; 15min easy warmup, followed by 6x3min @8:30 pace with 2min recovery jog, followed by 15min @9:45pace
Wed - 5mile maintenance/recovery run
Thurs - Rest day
Fri - 10K Time Trial
Sat - 4 mile recovery run
Sun - rest day

Total miles for Week 4 = 25.58 miles

Week #4 of NYC training done!

4 MILE RECOVERY RUN

2009-06-06T14:01:00.004-04:00

Plan for today was 4 mile recovery run, run at 10:00min pace; +/- 10secs, meaning 9:55-10:05.

Great day for a run. Just beautiful out there. Blue skies/sunny, temp said 63F. Ran with hubby this time around my usual pond run. Was nice having someone to talk to & reinforce the conversational pace:)!

4miles in 40:19 (avg pace 10:04/min)

According to my Garmin301 splits were:
M1- 10:11
M2- 10:08
M3- 9:54
M4 - 10:05

Legs felt really good. In the past, after a hard workout (and I would consider running yesterdays 10K time trial as hard, I would have taken at least 1 day if not 2 days off after because of being sore), not today, felt great and really enjoyed the recovery run:)

Followed workout immediatley with Core6 workout

Strength Core6:
1-Min Planks 2sets
Bicycles 2sets 25
Oblique crunches 2sets of 25
Crunches 1 set of 25
Hip Extensions 1 set of 25
Pushups 1 set of 20

WOOHOO!! Finally did Obliques. Since hubby was around I asked him to show me how to do them, and I did it. Yeah, now I know how to do them and can do them. Woo Hoo:)!!

After relaxing and a hot tub, did Karen Fowlers 16min yoga for runners. Felt great, and each time I do it it feels better and better:)!!

10K TIME TRIAL, CRUSHED MY PREVIOUS 10K PR WOOHOO:)!!

2009-06-05T12:10:00.006-04:00

Plan for today was 10K time trial, and Josh said I was on my own on how to approach it. Well, woke at 7:30 (got to bed late the nite before, 11pm:( had to get kids ready for school. Both finished hw, bathed them both, and got them both breakfast. Not bad for a pre race ritual, LMAO

Dropped them at school @ 9:15, came back to my house, packed a bag (clothes to change into as it was raining out), and then headed over to the Cow Harbor 10K start in Northport.

Temp said 57F, and it was chilly and raining. Not hard, but a good mist for the whole race. I wore my long tank bra, but decided to wear my bright yellow long sleeve Brooks jacket on top, more for SAFETY, then to protect me from the rain.

The CowHarbor course can be dangerous on a good day, with traffic, but with the rain and clouds I wanted the drivers to see me from a mile away. So, while running I did get a tad warm, but was never winded, and never had to stop to walk. Yeah baby.

Last time I ran this course was Sept 08, and tho I PRd at 52:41 then, I did have to walk up James Street, NOT today:) tho it was my slower mile because of the hill, but I plugged along:)

Run felt really good, strange running a race all by yourself. Tho, every time I felt down or wanted to stop, I thought of my hubby (BR411), Josh and all my twitter/blog buddies, and just kept plugging along and found this amazing strength I never knew I had. It felt amazing.

Total time: 50:06 for an average pace of 8:04

My splits according to my Garmin301:
M1 - 7:46
M2- 9:07 (James Street hill)
M3- 8:11
M4- 7:09
M5- 9:27 (gradual incline on Waterside)
M6- 7:59
last .2 - 1:27

So tho I didn't break 51:00, which was my goal, I crushed my previous course record of 52:41, in sort of crappy conditions (cold & rainy, running all by myself:( But I have the Garmin data to prove I did it, and I will show Josh the Garmin on 6/13 when we run the Dash & Splash in Central Park, when he really puts me through the 10K Time Trial, his way. Can't wait:)!!!!!

Oh, btw, I did have the sushi last nite:) and no breakfast before I ran. Feeling really good:)!!! Post race had hot coffee.

Forgot to do the core workout right away, but I did get it done eventually lol

Strength Core Fun

Knee Crunches 1set 20reps

Hip Lifts 1set 12reps

Standard Crunches 1set 20reps

Push Ups 1set 25reps

Push Ups 2nd set 10reps

Obliques Crunches 0 0

Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps

Bicycles 2sets 20reps

Oblique Twists 0 0

Supermans 2sets 20 reps

1-Min Planks 2sets

And also got my 16min Yoga for runners by Karen Fowler in. Woo Hoo, for a great day of exercise. BR411 even commented last night that he could feel my abs. YEAH:)!!

REST DAY

2009-06-04T19:16:00.001-04:00

Rest day, though I did do a 16min yoga session, but pretty much took it easy today in preparation for my 10K time trial tomorrow. Please rain Gods, leave me a 52min window of no rain tomorrow morning, PLEASE????? lol

5 MILE RECOVERY RUN

2009-06-03T11:27:00.002-04:00

Plan for today was 5miles of maintenance/recovery @ 10min miles (+/- 10secs; 9:55-10:05)

Weather was a tad fickle this morning. Looked like it was going to pour, but within 1/2mile sun came back out. Great run. Ran the run I ran last week, with the rolling hills. Legs felt really good and did not feel anything in my knees today:)!

Mile splits according to my Garmin301:
M1- 10:04
M2- 10:03
M3- 10:05
M4- 10:04
M5- 10:05 (this mile is all uphill)

Followed wo immediately with the core:)!!

Strength Core Fun
Knee Crunches 1set 20reps
Hip Lifts 1set 12reps
Standard Crunches 1set 20reps
Push Ups 1set 25reps
Push Ups 2nd set 10reps
Obliques Crunches 0 0
Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps
Bicycles 2sets 20reps
Oblique Twists 0 0
Supermans 2sets 20 reps
1-Min Planks 2sets

Really felt it today, but it was a good feel and I finished it. Wow, really felt the 2nd set of planks, but I held on for the minute. WooHoo:)!!

INTERVAL WORKOUT

2009-06-02T11:59:00.002-04:00

Great interval workout today. Plan called for 15min w/u, followed by 6 x 3min @8:30 paces then a 2min recovery jog, then a 15min cooldown at 9:45pace.

Got out there as soon as I dropped kids off at school, as the sky was turning black and I wanted to get the run in before the rain hit. Very humid out there, but felt ok during the run.Think the temp said 65F at start, and it was 70F at finish, but run felt fantastic. I did feel the knee a tad during the run parts, but nothing that hurt, and never had to stop. I did stretch big time when the run finished:)!!

I used my Garmins301s interval workout for the first time. WooHoo, it was awesome. Was nice not having to keep trap of this stuff in my head. LOL Set it for run for 3min, rest 2min, and ran my 8:30 pace for 3min, then did the jog recovery for the 2min. and set it for 6 sets. Nice.

Here is the info that uploaded to my computer when I got home:

Total workout time: 1:00:00 Total mileage: 6.32

15min w/u- 1.5 miles, 10min pace

set 1 - 8:37avgpace .35miles 10:29avgpace .19miles (recovery)
set 2 - 8:22avgpace .36miles 10:13avgpace .20miles (recovery)
set 3 - 8:30avgpace .35miles 9:52avgpace .20miles (recovery)
set 4 - 8:35avgpace .35miles 10:02avgpace .20miles (recovery)
set 5 - 8:20avgpace .36miles 9:45avgpace .21miles (recovery)
set 6 - 8:20avgpace .36miles 10:26avgpace .19miles (recovery)

Then 15min cooldown @9:45pace, covered 1.57 miles; avg pace of 9:34

Followed above with the core 6 workout out. Yes, done, felt great:)
Strength Core6
1-Min Planks 2sets
Bicycles 2sets 25
Oblique crunches 0
Crunches 1 set of 25
Hip Extensions 1 set of 25
Pushups 1 set of 20

Core workout felt great today. Still can`t do the obliques. Grrr.... But completed everything else. 2nd set of planks, with 5 seconds left, really felt it, but held on:) Pushups burned from 15 on, but I got all 20 done. Yes, girlie style, but I did it:)!!

4 EASY MILES AT CONVERSATIONAL PACE

2009-06-01T12:34:00.004-04:00

Start of week #4, according to Josh, this will be an easy week.

Plan for today was 4 easy miles at 9:35 pace (+/- 10secs)

Temp today was gorgeous. A tad chilly running around the pond, but temp said 57F at the start & 59F at the end. I didn`t even break a sweat during todays run.

Legs/knees felt awesome. Really working hard to keep the pace slow.

4 Miles in 38:40 (avg pace of 9:35)

Mile splits according to my Garmin301:
M1- 9:41
M2 - 9:45
M3 - 9:38
M4 - 9:36

During M2 I met up with a buddy of mine, and the pace slowed a tad, but still within my mark, so ok. We ran for a mile and then he went on his way:)

Followed the run immediately with the assigned core workout. Fun stuff:)!! And then had my EAS carb control energy drink for recovery.

Strength Core Fun
Standard Crunches 1set 20reps
Hip Lifts 1set 12reps
Knee Crunches 1set 10reps
Push Ups 1set 25reps
Push Ups 2nd set 10reps
Obliques Crunches 0 0
Heel Touches 2 sets 20 reps
Bicycles 2sets 20reps
Oblique Twists 0 0
Supermans 2sets 20 reps
1-Min Planks 2sets, held them both this time for 60 secs. YEAHHHH

Very happy with my core workout today. I did a ton more today than I did last week. Still can`t do the obliques, but I know in time I will do them:)!! Only could do 12 Hip Lifts, and 10 Knee Crunches, but that`s 12 and 10 more than I could do last week:)!! Pushups were hard. Did 25 for the first set, and boy did they burn, but I did it. Could only do 10 for the 2nd set, but still good. Good burn. Good improvement from last week. Feeling stronger already:)!!

22 WEEKS TIL NYC, WEEKLY RECAP: 5/25-5/31, REST DAY

2009-05-31T08:07:00.002-04:00

Rest day, no run. Hope to do Yoga for runners later.

Woke this morning & the muscle soreness I had seems to be gone:) YEAHH!!!!

WEEKLY RECAP 5-25-09 THRU 5-31-09

Mon- 5 mile interval workout
Tues - 5 miles easy at conversational pace
Wed - 1 mile w/u, 6 Hill sprints followed by walking down hill then pushups & crunches, then 1 mile cooldown (3.55miles)
Thurs - Rest day
Fri - 10 mile long run
Sat - 4 mile recovery run
Sun - rest day

Total miles for Week 3 = 27.55 miles

Week #3 of NYC training done!

4 MILE RECOVERY RUN

2009-05-30T17:45:00.002-04:00

Goal was to run 4 miles at a 10min pace +/- 10secs.

Temp was warm, 67F at the beg, 70F at the end, but the run was great. Legs/knee feel awesome.

I ran the pond route and did my best to keep it slow. Man, this pace feels slow Hahaha, something 17mths ago I never would have dreamed of saying. LOL

4 miles in 41:04

Mile splits according to my Garmin 301:
M1 - 10:03
M2 - 9:59
M3 - 10:04
M4 - 9:58

Pretty damn consistent, if I do say so myself:)!!!

Followed my run immediately with the core wo:!!

1-Min Planks 2 sets
Bicycles 2 sets of 25
Oblique crunches 0 failed LOL
Hip Extensions 1 set of 25
Pushups 1 set of 20

Completed the whole core workout, except for the Oblique crunches. Attempted, but failed on first one LOL, not strong enough yet and still a tad sore. Will try them next time:)Planks were great, held for 1min, then 2nd time, could only hold for 50secs. Still good tho:) Completed the pushups (girlie style), and by the 20th I was exhausted. But completed them:)!! Good workout:)!!

GREAT 10MILE LONG RUN & REVIEW OF A GREAT NEW RUNNING BRA I JUST FOUND

2009-05-29T18:58:00.004-04:00

Plan for today was 7 miles at 10s pace +/- 10secs and last 3 miles at 8:45 pace +/- 10secs

Woke this morning still feeling sore, but better than yesterday, and it felt like a good sore:)

Mapped out my 10mile loop, and headed out the door at 11:20am. Temps said 56F, and I got lucky, rain held off for the whole run:)

I walked up my hill to the flats, about .15, where I then started my 10mile run. Legs felt good right from the beginning. I took a carb boom orange/vanilla gel at mile 6, and really was feeling good.

10miles in 1:36:34 for an average pace of 9:39

Mile splits were (accordin 2my Garmin 301)

M1-10:40
M2-9:51
M3-10:03
M410:01
M5-9:59
M6-9:57
M7-9:50
M8-8:51
M9-8:45
M10-8:35

Legs felt awesome. Walked the hill back up to my house, tried to do the core exercises, but my ass muscles are still sore from the hill sprints on Wed LOL, you have to remember, I'm 44 years old LOL, and my arms and stomach muscles are also a tad sore, so the pu & crunches just didn't happen:( I will try the core again tomorrow. I felt it best to not push it, and let the muscles recover. Hope that's OK? Not sure if it is related, but wonderin if I'm sore due to the fact I got my 'monthly friend' this morning. I know, too much information, but I figure I'd throw it out there. It didn't affect my run, but wondering if it affecting how my muscles are recovering????

I did do the supermans, and the 1min planks. They felt awesome and didn't bother my other issues.

But overall I think I nailed todays workout and I'm pretty psyched:)

Now for my review of a new running bra that was brought to my attention. It is made by Gracies-Gear and it is AWESOME. The most comfortable running bra I have ever worn. And most importantly, I didn't chaffe, and it has a pocket that held my iphone while I ran. Just amazing. Here's a link to the one I tried. It's the long tank and it didn't ride up on me at all.

REST DAY/NO RUN TODAY

2009-05-28T08:30:00.000-04:00

Woke a tad sore this a.m. Not bad, was sore the first time I walked down the stairs, (walking upstairs was fine), but the second time I walked down them I felt fine. Guess I just had to get the kinks out. LOL

Resting today in preparation for my 10 mile long run tomorrow:)!

HILL SPRINTS W RECOVERY JOG FOLLOWED BY SITUPS & CRUNCHES

2009-05-27T12:45:00.001-04:00

wo today called for 1m w/u followed by 6 x 60sec hill sprints with jogging recovery back down; w 10 pushups and 10 crunches each time I got to the bottom, then a 1m c/d

It was cold and rainy out there today. Temp said 54F, but I only got wet on the mile w/u & c/d, cause I live in the woods, so lots of trees to cover the street, so I barely got wet when running the hill sprints:)

I chose my street to run the hill sprints. From my house to the top at the Stop Sign is .1M, with an elevation of 127 ft to 332 ft.

However, to get my 1m w/u in I had to run down the hill by the pond, so I ran that mile in 10min, then walked it back up to my house (another .21m), then stretched alot, then started the hill sprints.

Wow, I completed all 6 with pu/crunches, but by the 3rd hill sprint I wanted to puke. The pu were ok till around the 3rd set when they were getting harder, but I did them all. Granted they were done modified, but at least I did them, and my arms feel like they got an amazing workout. Crunches felt good throughout, tho toward the end they were tough too.

I found after each hill repeat, that I felt stronger running the first half of the hill, but then would teater out at the end at full exhaustion, but it really felt awesome, as I have never done a workout like this before.

When I finished my last set I cooled down with a mile run. I came right inside and did my post core workout. Another 20 pu, 20 crunches, 50 bicycles, and 2 sets of 1min planks.

I'm officially exhausted, hungry and wanting a hot bath tub. In my experience, that means I nailed this workout baby:) Tomorrow is a rest day for me, one in which I believe I just earned:)!!!

5 EASY MILES AT CONVERSATIONAL PACE

2009-05-26T11:16:00.001-04:00

Goal for today was 5 miles in the 9:35space range, no faster, and no slower than 10s.

Temp was a tad chilly at 59F and breezy, but while running it felt delightful. I chose a route with more hills in it today. Again, another full loop. It was awesome, legs/knee felt really good. I felt very comfortable out there, and kept my pace very consistent to what Josh wanted:)! Again, I find it easier to keep my splits/pace consistent at the 10min range. But my body WILL learn to do it at the faster pace too, I just KNOW it:)!!

Got out the door at 9:41am, right after I got kids off to school.

Mile splits were as follows:
M1 - 9:59
M2 - 9:52
M3 - 9:54
M4 - 9:41
M5 -10:25 (all uphill)

Miles 2.5 - 3 had me running an elevation of 97Ft up to 210Ft.
Miles 4-5 had me running an elevation of 64Ft to 205Ft.

I'm hoping by running on hills now my legs will get stronger. For the past few months I pretty much stuck to flat surfaces with the gradual slight incline. But since NYC is known to have hills I want to incorportate the hills, since I do live in a hilly section. I just don't want to over due it with hills, that my easy/recovery/maintenance runs all of a sudden become hard workouts, but todays just felt perfect:)!!

INTERVAL WORKOUT

2009-05-25T12:56:00.005-04:00

Todays sched called for 1 mile w/u, then 2 miles @ an 8:50 pace, then a mile @ a 8:30 pace, then a mile c/d. For a total of 5 miles.

Woke a little later than I planned, as time was rushed today b/c my kids were marching in the Memorial Day Parade. So I woke at 7:35, was out the door by 8:05, legs felt ok during the w/u, but was thinking how am I going to do the splits Josh wants me to when I feel tired. LOL Was in the sun all day yesterday at the club. Though I didn't have any alcohol. Haven't had any alcohol since 5/17, and from now on, not having any more alcohol:)!

Warmup felt ok, then it was time to hit the splits, watch kept going back and forth, but I was pretty sure I was on target or a tad fast for all the splits, but once I started, my legs just felt awesome. I guess I'm finding it hard to stick to a certain pace, and would rather run them a tad too fast, then too slow LOL Is this ok Josh?? Then I ran the last mile as a cool down.

Funny, I used to nail my splits when I was running them at 10min pace, now that I'm using speed work/invervals, I find it harder to hit the splits, but at least my times are on the faster end and not the slower end:)!!

5 miles in 44:56 (overall pace 8:56)

Mile splits were as follows:

M1 - 10:22
M2 - 8:22
M3 - 8:38
M4 - 7:57
M5 - 9:37

Workout as a whole really felt awesome. I felt like I could have done more splits, but was happy they were over, and really enjoyed the last mile cooldown.

23 WEEKS TIL NYC; REST DAY; WEEKLY RECAP 5-18-09 THRU 5-24-09

2009-05-24T11:18:00.004-04:00

Rest day, no run. Good quality time spent with family on this Memorial Day Weekend.

WEEKLY RECAP 5-18-09 THRU 5-24-09
Mon- Rest day

Tues - 7.12 miles total: workout consisted of 10min warmup followed by 10min @ an 8:50 pace, followed by a 2min recovery jog (This interval was repeated 4 times) and then ran an easy 10min cooldown

Wed - 5 easy miles run at conversational pace

Thurs - Rest day

Fri - 8 mile long run

Sat - 4 mile recovery run

Sun - rest day

Total miles for Week 2 = 24.12 miles

Week 2 of NYC training done!

4 MILE RECOVERY RUN

2009-05-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

4 mile recovery run. Ran around the pond, Temp 65F blue skies and sunny. Nice and easy, legs felt really good. Almost felt like the run was too slow Haha.

Mile splits:

M1 - 10:07
M2- 10:01
M3 - 9:33 (run was a tad downhill)
M4 - 9:49

Week 2 of training DONE:)!!!

LONG RUN THAT JUST FELT PERFECT TODAY

2009-05-22T17:14:00.000-04:00

Workout called for running all miles at conversational pace, and then the last .5 speed up and the last 400meters full out sprint.

I chose a new route today, as I didn't want to run round and round. LOL I mapped out a great 8 mile route, that included some gradual hills. Legs/knee felt awesome, tho the temp was about 80F, most of my run (thankfully) was in the shade, so it wasn't so bad. I brought 20oz of powerade mixed with water, and I also took a carb boom vanilla/orange gell at the 5 mile mark.
Don't know why I did, but I weighed myself before the run and I was 119, and after the run I weighed myself again and I was 117.2, granted my run was in the late PM, so not sure how accurate the original weight was, but looks like I lost about 2lbs on the run. Does that mean I didn't drink enough? I never felt winded, thirsty or anything, it was just an awesome run. Tho, the sprint at the end was a tad hard to do, but I did it:)!!

Mile splits according to my Garmin 301 were:

M1 - 9:43
M2 - 9:35
M3 - 9:21
M4 - 9:35
M5 - 9:06
M6 - 9:38 (there was a gradual hill)
M7 - 9:14 (a gradual downhill)
M8 - 8:38 (with the sprint at last part:)

Overall the run felt great and my legs felt amazing:)

REST DAY; NO RUN TODAY

2009-05-21T07:25:00.001-04:00

As with all running plans, rest days are important too, so no run for me today. Hoping to fit in a yoga session later on, will post back if I get it done.

EASY 5 MILE RUN AT CONVERSATIONAL PACE

2009-05-20T11:47:00.002-04:00

Got out the door at 10:23am. Just a gorgeous day; blue skies and sunny.

Great run, tho a tad hot out there today. At beginning of run temp said 64F by the end it said 71F.

Had 5 easy miles at conversational pace. Just ran my 5 mile route without looking at the Garmin 301 till the end when I hit the 5 mile mark. I didn't have to look at it because I set it to beep at me at each mile split, so when I hit the final 5 mile split, I knew my run was finished. Run felt real good out there today. Didn't wear a knee brace (I don't want to become dependant on it), and since it was an easy run, wanted to see if I'd feel anything. Knee past the test, pain free run. YEAH:)!!

Though not that important, but hard habit to break since I'm so anal on #'s LOL, here are the overal mile splits, which my Garmin 301 told me when I got back to the house and synced it to my PC. So fun running without being dependant on a watch. Just hit start, never look at the watch/Garmin 301, and after the run is over, it tells you all the cool things about how you ran the run; length of run, mile splits, elevation, you name it.

M1 - 10:23
M2 - 10:18
M3 - 9:39
M4 - 9:28
M5 - 9:12

RAN FOR TIME, NOT DISTANCE TODAY

2009-05-19T11:21:00.003-04:00

Todays run was run for a certain amount of time, NOT distance.
I was told to run for 1:08:08

with a 10min warm up at a very easy conversational pace Followed by
running for 10min @ 8:50 pace with a 2min recovery jog
This interval was repeated 4x
and then I jogged a very easy 10min cool down

I realize I wasn't supposed to clock mileage but the Garmin was on so (but I only referred to it to know when my 10min were up and when my 2 min were up) here it is: 7.12 miles, but this run was NOT run for distance, it was run for specific times at a certain pace intervals.

Knees felt great, legs felt great. I could get used to running workouts like this:)

24 WEEKS TIL NYC; NICE RECOVERY RUN TODAY; MY DAUGHTERS FIRST COMMUNION TODAY; WEEKLY RECAP 5-11-09 THRU 5-17-09

2009-05-17T09:01:00.008-04:00

Woke early before the rest of the family woke. Rainy/cloudy 60F. So much for our rain dance for today, as today is our 8 year old daughters First Communion. Still a blessed day and we are all very excited!

7:46a.m. - got out the door, and ran a very easy 3 Mile recovery run, wasn't quite sure how to run this pace wise, so just went out and let my legs go nice and easy. No ill affects from yesterdays dopey fall, thank God. There is a bruise/scrape on my knee but it didn't hurt at all during the run and my legs felt awesome.

3 miles in 28:52

Mile splits:
M1 9:51
M2 9:25
M3 9:36

I even ran up my hill back to my house to end the run. Nice:)!

WEEKLY RECAP 5-11-09 THRU 5-17-09
Mon- Rest day
Tues - 4 easy done at conversational pace
Wed - 6miles total 1/2 mile warmup, followed by 3 mile 30 seconds faster, followed by 2 miles 45 seconds faster, then 1/2 mile cooldown
Thurs - 4 miles done in negative splits
Fri - rest day
Sat - 8 mile long run
Sun - 3 mile recovery run

Total miles for Week 1 = 25miles

Week 1 of NYC training done! NYC here I come:)!!

LONG RUN - slow and easy

2009-05-16T19:42:00.002-04:00

Got up at 5am, had half a bagel with peanut butter, some coffee and was out the door by 6:05 to meet my friend Eva at 6:30. This time she came to my neck of the woods, and I chose a very nice fairly flat 8 mile course.

Nice easy/slow run out there today 8 miles in 1:24:18, an overal pace of 10:32

Mile splits:

M1 10:57
M2 10:52
M3 9:51
M4 10:17
M5 9:50
M6 10:31
M7 10:28
M8 11:30

Pace was definitely conversationally, and felt great.

Mapped an 8 mile route via mapmyrun, and it was about a .5 short, so wanted to add more to the route so ran through the HS parking lot and wasn't paying attention, when I went over the speed bump, clipped my shoe and went down like a ton of bricks:( Scraped hand, right elbow and right knee cap. Stung like a mother, but by the time I got home nothing hurt. Thank God. Iced the knee and then took a hot tubbie, and all seems fine now. Just dopey on my part. Note to self, no more running in HS parking lots. LOL

But overall I think the run went well. Until I fell on my knee, I had no discomfort. Two weeks ago I ran this same route, and by the end the rt knee was very tender:( So today was a thumbs up

Not sure how to run tomorrows recovery run, as todays pace was slower than my previous runs this week. Does recovery mean even slower tomorrow? Or recovery being same pace, just less miles??

REST DAY

2009-05-15T08:16:00.001-04:00

Today is a rest day. Will finish cleaning the house and grocery shop LOL Ready for my long run tomorrow morning.

NEGATIVE SPLITS

2009-05-14T10:50:00.002-04:00

Woke this morning with a bit of a sore throat, and it was cloudy and chilly. Got the kids off to school and got out the door before the rain really hit. Ran in some drizzle, but not bad and the temp said 60F. I wore my brooks yellow running jacket in case it rained, and it felt chilly when I left the house, but didn't really need it and all it did was make me hot LOL

I forgot my water for the run, cause I was going crazy cause I couldn't find my knee brace, the one I like for the IT band, but found the sleeve one. Don't like this one cause it is a tad constricting. Oh well, something is better than nothing. Rush out the door and into M1 realized I had no water. Oh well, couldn't stop to drink anyway as I was due to do 4 miles negative splits, no walking.

Still feel I may have done them too fast but it did feel good. Felt a twitch in rt knee a tad during M1 but was gone by M2. But over all legs felt great. Was a tad concerned that running 3 days in a row would be an issue, since yest and todays wo were hard per se, but I'm feeling good and there is no pain:)

Mile Splits are as follows:

M1 - 9:25
M2 - 9:18
M3 - 9:02
M4 - 8:39

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

2009-05-14T08:07:00.002-04:00

Another gorgeous day. Plan was to run a half mile w/u, then 3 miles at 30 secs faster, then 2 miles at 45 secs faster, then 1/2 mile cool down for a total of 6 miles.

Decided to run the 6 miles around and around the pond:) Finished in 54:33

Started the w/u at my regular 10min pace, hit the half mile at exactly 5:00min, legs felt great:)!
Then kicked it up a notch to run 3 miles at 30 secs faster:

mile splits as follows:
M1- 9:32 (wasn't sure at this point if I'd finsih, but when I hit the mile mark, legs felt great)
M2 -9:04
M3 -8:51

Then kicked it up another notch to run next 2 miles at 45 seconds/mile faster:
M4 - 8:42
M5 - 8:22

Then a half mile cooldown at 5:02

Legs felt awesome. This workout was fantastic. Though I'm sure I ran it too fast, it really felt good. Oh, and I wore the knee brace, and once again, no pain in the knee:)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

2009-05-14T08:04:00.002-04:00

Had a great run. Legs really felt great out there today. Goal was to run at conversational pace for 4 miles. Well, it was a gorgeous day out (finally no rain:), and the legs just carried me around the pond.

Ran the 4 miles in 38:15

Mile splits were as follows:

M1 - 10:18
M2 - 9:31
M3 - 9:14
M4 - 9:12

Well, it ended up being a negative split run, but the good news is my HR never exceeded 147 and there was no knee pain issue at all. Forgot to wear the knee brace, but the run was pain free so that was good:)

Monday, May 11, 2009

2009-05-14T07:59:00.002-04:00

24 weeks, 6 days until NYC

Well, it has been quite awhile, but I am now back to posting. Training for NYC started today. With a rest day; gotta love it:)!!

My plan is to run:

Mon - rest day

tues - run at conversational pace

wed - speed workout, where I have a 1/2 mile w/u, then run x miles at 30 sec faster, then x miles at 45 secs faster, then 1/2 cooldown

thurs- run each mile at negative splits

fri - rest day

sat - long run run at conversational pace

sun - recovery run

Starting over, training begins today

2009-04-13T10:45:00.003-04:00

Ok, back from a wonderful vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to start training. Still haven't got confirmation that my race on May 3rd has been switched to the Half, but I'm planning on doing the Half.

Weather was gorgeous out there today for my solo run around the pond. Ran a great 3 miles, running for 10, walking for 1min. No pains whatsoever, so a great start.

BEEN A LONG TIME, TRYING TO GET OUT OF THIS FUNK:(

2009-03-13T09:34:00.004-04:00

Hey all, it's been way to long since I have posted. and even longer since I have run:(!! As most of you know because of my husband/BR411 who still blogs, we were all hit with flu/Bronchitis back during the Feb school break. It has taken me a long time to recover from that, and on top of it other s&%t happened, and running just didn't happen. Hubby was laid off a few weeks ago, so I have been very stressed about that, and even looking to go back to work myself. Things are going well for us, so that is a positive, but it's still a stressful situation, and all of this happened on top of all of us being sick, so the stress levels have been higher than normal.

The strange thing is, now that my lungs and breathing are back to 100%, I am feeling pain in my right knee, on the outside. I'm guessing it's the IT band, but what has me frustrated is I haven't run. So why would it start hurting. Actually, the pain started while I was sick, it's just a lingering pain. Kind of feels like it is letting me know that I haven't run. If that makes any sense at all?? Yesterday I ran a great 4 miles in 40:48 around 'the pond' with Beachy, and though it didn't hurt, I could feel the tenderness in my right knee. This has me very concerned, as the Long Island Marathon is only 7 weeks away, and my training has been virtually non existent!!! I'm not concerned about running the Marathon, my concern is what would have caused my knee to flare up, since I haven't run? Could it just be strengthening issues, as it has done nothing in almost 4 weeks???

I still want to run Long Island, but am seriously considering switching to the Half Marathon (I've made a phone call, and am now just trying to find the location of where I have to go to make the switch in person). I am a little bummed I won't be running it, but I truly believe, under the circumstances (my miles just aren't there, as I missed 4 weeks of training, and this knee has me concerned??), that this is the best decision I can make. Considering, NYC is my ultimate goal.

I'm not pulling the plug today, as I can't find the place I'm supposed to go to. I did call and leave a message, hopefully I will hear back soon. I now have to focus on training for the Half, and getting my legs back in shape. I will definitely take this slow, and ramp the mileage up slowing, listening to how my body feels.

Thanks for listening, sorry this post was kind of a downer, but it really has helped me to put my thoughts into words. Hope all are well, and I look forward to getting back involved with my running community.

MEDIUM LONG RUN - 13 MILES ON THE TM

2009-02-13T17:26:00.004-05:00

Got to the gym with plenty of time to get my run in. Plan was for 13. Was feeling strong and felt I would shoot for it and bail if I needed to, since I ran the Bronx half just 5 days ago. But the legs felt good and I completed my run!! Still don't like how the TM stops when I hit 9 miles, but this time I was able to get my legs going to finish. I guess an upside was that my HR dropped even more when the TM stopped and then I had to start again, LOL

14 miles in 2:11:26, avg pace 10:06

Avg HR 131 Cardiac Drift: 144

M1 10:06 avg hr bpm 119 Cardiac Drift: 129
M2 10:06 avg hr bpm 127 Cardiac Drift: 136
M3 10:06 avg hr bpm 130 Cardiac Drift: 142
M4 10:06 avg hr bpm 133 Cardiac Drift: 146
M5 10:06 avg hr bpm 134 Cardiac Drift: 143
M6 10:06 avg hr bpm 131 Cardiac Drift: 138
M7 10:06 avg hr bpm 134 Cardiac Drift: 144
M8 10:06 avg hr bpm 135 Cardiac Drift: 144
M9 10:06 avg hr bpm 133 Cardiac Drift: 138
M10 10:06 avg hr bpm 134 Cardiac Drift: 136
M11 10:06 avg hr bpm 134 Cardiac Drift: 140
M12 10:06 avg hr bpm 135 Cardiac Drift: 143
M13 10:06 avg hr bpm 137 Cardiac Drift: 143

RECOVERY RUN - 5 MILES

2009-02-12T16:17:00.004-05:00

Got to the gym a bit late, playing on the computer and catching up with old friends on face book LOL So, my 6 miler turned into a 5 miler as I had to pick up kids at school. No worries though, it was a recovery run!

Ran 5 miles in 50:09

Avg pace of 10:00

Avg HR 132 Cardiac Drift: 146

M1 10:00 avg hr bpm 119 Cardiac Drift: 128
M2 10:00 avg hr bpm 132 Cardiac Drift: 140
M3 10:00 avg hr bpm 138 Cardiac Drift: 140
M4 10:00 avg hr bpm 138 Cardiac Drift: 146
M5 10:00 avg hr bpm 139 Cardiac Drift: 146

TEMPO - 6 MILES

2009-02-11T17:08:00.004-05:00

Didn't do a progression run today, but ran all my miles today at 6.0 speed. Legs felt really good.

Ran 6 miles in 1:00:03 Avg pace of 10:00

Avg HR 133 Cardiac Drift: 144

M1 10:00 avg hr bpm 122 Cardiac Drift: 133
M2 10:00 avg hr bpm 130 Cardiac Drift: 137
M3 10:00 avg hr bpm 134 Cardiac Drift: 141
M4 10:00 avg hr bpm 137 Cardiac Drift: 142
M5 10:00 avg hr bpm 139 Cardiac Drift: 144
M6 10:00 avg hr bpm 138 Cardiac Drift: 143

PLANNED SPIN DAY TURNED IN TO A COMPLETE REST DAY

2009-02-10T16:18:00.001-05:00

I was planning to drop kids at school and get to the gym for it's 9:30am spin class. That didn't happen. Did some stuff at the kids school and then since I missed the spin class did some errands, and then just hung out and relaxed.

I feel good, and will be ready for my Tempo/progression run tomorrow!

LONG RUN - 9 MILES ON TM, SHOULD HAVE BEEN 16, BUT RAN OUT OF TIME, AND HEY, I RAN THE BRONX HALF YESTERDAY LOL

2009-02-09T19:22:00.005-05:00

Woke this morning and the legs felt great! And I was able to sleep almost 10hours, so over all I was/am a very happy camper. I dropped the kids off at school, did some things and hit the gym around noon.

I knew my legs felt good, but wasn't sure if I'd be able to run the full 16 for my long run, so I set the TM to 5.8, and started running. First 6 miles were over before I knew it, and decided to keep going. Made it to 9 with no troubles and then the TM stopped. I want a TM that goes for 2+ hours!!!!! When I went to start it up again, for round two to finish the run, my legs didn't like how the speed was different. Going from a stop to a run. ARGGHHH. So I decided I had a great run and didn't want to push it.

Set the TM to 5.8, and ran all miles at that speed.

Ran 9 miles in 1:32:27 Avg pace of 10:16

Avg HR 139 Cardiac Drift: 154

M1 10:26 avg hr bpm 135 Cardiac Drift: 140
M2 10:15 avg hr bpm 138 Cardiac Drift: 152
M3 10:14 avg hr bpm 139 Cardiac Drift: 150
M4 10:14 avg hr bpm 141 Cardiac Drift: 154
M5 10:14 avg hr bpm 140 Cardiac Drift: 151
M6 10:14 avg hr bpm 138 Cardiac Drift: 149
M7 10:14 avg hr bpm 140 Cardiac Drift: 147
M8 10:14 avg hr bpm 140 Cardiac Drift: 153
M9 10:14 avg hr bpm 138 Cardiac Drift: 139

Tomorrow is no running, but I will try to get to my spinning class after I drop kids at school!

BRONX HALF MARATHON

2009-02-08T19:39:00.003-05:00

ADDED MY REAL RACE REPORT BELOW

Just posting results, as it's been a long day. I will fill in the rest of the race report tomorrow when I am more awake. Waking at 3:30am for this race has finally caught to me. Time for some ZZZZZZs!!

Official time 2:07:23

My Garmin says I covered 13.25 miles, but that included the zigzaging:(

Avg pace 9:43

avg HR 157 Cardiac Drift: 170

Great run. Didn`t want to push it, found a great comfortable pace and stuck to it!

M1 9:57 avg hr bpm 142
M2 9:25 avg hr bpm 156
M3 9:27 avg hr bpm 159
M4 9:25 avg hr bpm 160
M5 9:22 avg hr bpm 162
M6 10:11 avg hr bpm 163 (we were running into the wind at this point)
M7 9:32 avg hr bpm 161
M8 9:43 avg hr bpm 157
M9 9:43 avg hr bpm 156
M10 9:41 avg hr bpm 158
M11 9:43 avg hr bpm 155
M12 9:43 avg hr bpm 154
M13 9:43 avg hr bpm 159
last .1miles 1:33 avg hr bpm 167

The day started early, WAY early. Usually for my races, my alarm goes off at 4:30ish, but today I was up at 3:20, 10min before the alarm was due to go off. My 6 year old Allie woke, and wished me good luck, and then she climbed in to bed with Mr. Beachy, while I made my oatmeal & banana (my staple pre-race meal), and got out of the house by 4:10, to meet John B. at 5:00am, and to be at the race by 6am (we didn't know when they would begin to close the roads). We found a parking spot, thankfully on the Grand Concourse, and then found the start/finish, then walked to the Bronx Science High School to get our bibs. While we were walking, it was pitch black, and we were commenting how warm it was. I checked the weather on my iphone, and it was telling me 53 degrees. I didn't believe it. Once at the H.S., we got our bibs and hung out inside for awhile and this is where we met up with my brother's friends, John, Amy and Nancy. They were super friendly. We went back up to check our bags, around 7:30, and again commented on how warm it was. Sun was starting to come out, and the day looked just perfect. I checked the weather again, and it now said 55F and sunny. I really was thinking, I'm in trouble, I'm way over dressed. We checked our bags and made our way to the start at about 7:45am.

OMG, the weather could not have been more perfect, except I didn't believe it. They had been predicting 47F and 20-30MPH winds, and I figured at 7-8am it would be cold, NOPE, it was 56 at the start and winds, they say were only 7mph. I actually enjoyed the wind, cause it cooled me off LOL I wore way too much clothing and was HOT. I wore full length tights, and wind pants on top of those. And I wore a long sleeve cool max shirt, with a long sleeve cotton shirt on top. I knew at the start I was way over dressed, but didn't feel like ditching these clothes to good will, so I ran on as dressed. By mile 2ish, I was saying. Today's clothing should have been shorts and a singlet. LOL I actually welcomed the windy conditions, as it helped to cool me off LOL Oh well, race was GREAT.

I originally wanted to run this race at a 9:09 marathon pace (but my OVERALL goal was to run it as a training run, not to push it, as I really wanted to be able to run my run on Monday), but once I started I realized 9:09 wasn't happening as I was too hot. Plus, prior to the race I met Amy, who was running her first half marathon ever, and decided I'd run with her. She was thinking 9:30 would be doable. So off we went. It was amazing. We chatted the whole race and I learned all about her running/training journey. What amazed me most was that I have never chatted/talked/spoken during a run, let alone a race. Once we began talking I quickly thought, uh oh, am I going to make it? Will I end up sucking wind, keeling over from the conversation, but I didn't, and it was the greatest conversation to have with a new runner! As we hit about mile 4, and we were warmed up, I asked Amy if she wanted to speed it up a bit, and maybe aim for the 9:09, she said no, and I said, no problem, we're hitting our splits pretty well, lets stick with this. We both crossed the finish together and it was fantastic.

I still had a lot of gas in the tank, and was happy cause I knew I'd be running again tomorrow. Not sure if I will do 16 as planned, but I will definitely run 6 and then see how I feel!

TOTAL REST DAY - TOMORROW'S THE BRONX HALF MARATHON

2009-02-07T19:32:00.004-05:00

Really didn't do anything today except bring my girls to Karate at 9:30am. The remainder of the day/night was spent lounging around playing Xbox and relaxing and drinking water. I feel ready for tomorrows run.

Plan is to wake at 3:30 am, out the door by 4:15am so I can meet John B at 5am, and then be at the race site before 6am when they close the roads, and then between 6:30 - 7:30 get our bibs/t-shirt (you know, the only reason I'm running this race is for the Long Sleeve T-shirt LOL), then race starts at 8am.

Pray for warm weather. They are predicting highs of 49F, and 20-30MPH winds, so I'm a bit concerned it's going to be chilly/cold, as 8am is not high/peak temp weather time. YIKEs, and with serious winds. Oh well, I am a runner, and we run in anything, right?? LOL

MEDIUM LONG RUN - 8 EASY MILES ON THE TM

2009-02-06T17:05:00.002-05:00

1:05pm - Got to the gym, today had 11 miles scheduled for my Medium Long Run, but chose to do 8, as I have the Bronx Half on Sunday. Tomorrow is a complete and total rest day!! Realized when I got to the gym I forgot my little snickers, which I've been popping about every 3 or 4 miles depending on the distance I was running. Oh well, still had an awesome run and my legs really felt like they wanted to take off.

Set the TM to 5.6, and ran all miles at that speed. Ran 8 miles in 1:24:30 Avg pace of 10:34

Avg HR 132 Cardiac Drift: 146

M1 10:39 121 Cardiac Drift: 130
M2 10:33 129 Cardiac Drift: 142
M3 10:32 132 Cardiac Drift: 142
M4 10:32 132 Cardiac Drift: 141
M5 10:32 135 Cardiac Drift: 143
M6 10:33 136 Cardiac Drift: 144
M7 10:32 135 Cardiac Drift: 144
M8 10:32 138 Cardiac Drift: 146

Overall a great run, and my last run until Sundays race. As I am scheduled to run 6 on Sunday and 16 on Monday, I am flipping those runs. I think I will run 3 warm up miles before the race to make my miles for Sunday 16.1, and then have a nice recovery 6 mile run on Monday, and then Spin tuesday, etc. etc. etc. for the week.

I still would like to run the race at marathon pace (say 9:09), but will make that final decision at the start of the race. I think I'm ready for it, but I also am in the middle of training so I don't want to go crazy, plus it's going to be cold, so I'm just running it at a doable/training paced run.

RECOVERY RUN - 6 MILES ON THE TM

2009-02-05T15:05:00.003-05:00

12:40pm - Got to the gym, had a really good run today. Legs are really feeling strong! I finally found 'mini' snickers, so packed 2 up for my run. I ate 1 about 30 minutes before my run and then another half way thru (at the 3m mark). Not sure if I needed it for such a short run, but wanted to try it out. And never ate the last one.

I set the TM to 5.6 and ran all miles at this speed. I really felt like I could run forever, or bump up the speed and just take off, but remembered today was a recovery run and just enjoyed the slow, easy pace watching my tv show on my iphone.

6 miles in 1:03:22, avg pace 10:33

Avg HR 134 Cardiac Drift: 150

M1 10:39 124 Cardiac Drift: 140
M2 10:32 134 Cardiac Drift: 143
M3 10:32 135 Cardiac Drift: 145
M4 10:32 138 Cardiac Drift: 147
M5 10:32 138 Cardiac Drift: 151
M6 10:32 137 Cardiac Drift: 147

TEMPO/PROGRESSION RUN - 7 MILES ON TM

2009-02-04T20:57:00.004-05:00

Had a great run at the gym today, once again BR411 was on the TM next to me! He ran 3 and then worked out with weights, while I ran my tempo/progression run. Legs felt really good. With each mile they felt stronger and stronger. Nice, since again, I was a bit concerned how they would feel after yesterdays spinning class. Well, I think I passed the test, I did the Long Run Monday, Cross training spin class yesterday, and then my tempo/progression run today and each day my legs felt great!!

12:30pm - got to the gym, all TM's were available and hubby and I chose our mills and started running. I set the TM to 5.6 for the first 2 miles, then 5.8 for the next 2 miles, then 6.0 for the next 2 miles, then 5.6 for the last mile as a cool down.

7 miles in 1:12:00, avg pace 10:17

Avg HR 135 (no clue what the cardiac drift was, as it was in the high 220's due to interference, ARGHHH)

M1 10:39 118
M2 10:33 138
M3 10:13 141
M4 10:15 136
M5 9:54 139
M6 9:52 138
M7 10:31 132

Again, my legs felt great. Felt like I could have continued running forever, but stuck to the schedule as I don't want to over train, and I have a race (Bronx Half) on Sunday, though I plan to run that race as a regular training run (or maybe at marathon pace, we will see how I feel come race day morning: also depends on the weather LOL)

CROSS TRAINING WORKOUT TODAY: SPINING CLASS 'FINALLY'

2009-02-03T16:37:00.003-05:00

Well, I dropped my kids off at school today, and hit the gym at 9:30am for a spinning class. FINALLY after talking about doing spinning for MONTHS, I finally made it. I was a bit concerned how I would do/feel after yesterdays 14 mile long run, but my legs felt awesome when I woke this morning and I finally decided to BELIEVE in D10's wisdom of crosstraining, and got myself to the class. and man am I glad I did. OMG, it was AWESOME!! I definitely didn't push it, but I worked it for sure. Class was about 1:08:00 with warm up and cool down, and my Avg HR was 131, Cardiac Drift: 157

I think one reason that I liked it so much was that my legs are so much stronger today, than they were the last time I attempted a spinning class. God knows when that was. LOL With having a years worth of running miles behind me, this spinning can only strengthen my legs even more. Using muscles in my legs that running doesn't. I know, I know, D10, you said this to me numerous times, but I am finally in the right frame of mind to stop, listen, and do what you say!!

I felt very strong while riding the bike in the upright/running position, and felt OK when sitting on the bike seat riding the flats or coming upon the hills. Interesting that in the seated position my legs burned more, or felt more tired, as opposed to the standing position. But either way I completed my first CT spinning class and will definitely do spinning on Tuesday mornings and HOPEFULLY on Saturday mornings from 8-9am, if time allows for it, as it's the weekend:)

I really have to thank D10 for continuously encouraging me to get off the road and CT to give the legs a break, and bearing with me when I would say yes/sure, and then ignore/do the running thing instead. (I've been told I can be a stubborn old fool) I still think my legs can withstand running 7 days a week, as my runs are usually done at 70% HR or lower, and NO running intervals are involved (or speed work, other than races), so it's not so taxing on my body, but now that I have FINALLY taken the CT/spinning plunge (or more to the point, D's advice!!!), I will never go back. When I completed the class I was completely soaked (I LOVE THAT), and felt like I got a great workout.

I am now ready for my 6 mile run tomorrow. Unfortunately or fortunately depending how you feel about the Mill, my run will be done in the gym on the TM, again, as BR411 is outside as I type this, snow blowing the driveway, as we probably have 4" and more is still falling LOL. Snow sure is pretty, but enough is enough, I want Spring to come so I can get my roads back. LOL