MEDIUM LONG RUN - 13 MILES ON THE TM

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

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

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

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

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!

MEDIUM LONG RUN - 8 EASY MILES ON THE TM

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

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

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)

LONG RUN - 14 MILES ON THE TM

12:20pm - Got to the gym and thankfully no one was on the TM, haven't run 14 on a TM this year and with the 'new years resolutioners' the gyms been crowded and was a bit concerned I'd get kicked off. While I ran, all the mills were being used, but they cycled off and on perfectly, so I was able to complete my run!

14 miles in 2:23:52, avg pace 10:16

Avg HR 140 Cardiac Drift: 151

M1 10:39 125 Cardiac Drift: 137
M2 10:14 135 Cardiac Drift: 154
M3 10:14 137 Cardiac Drift: 146
M4 10:14 138 Cardiac Drift: 145
M5 10:14 141 Cardiac Drift: 150
M6 10:14 142 Cardiac Drift: 151
M7 10:14 140 Cardiac Drift: 145
M8 10:14 139 Cardiac Drift: 147
M9 10:14 142 Cardiac Drift: 149
M10 10:14 140 Cardiac Drift: 151
M11 10:14 141 Cardiac Drift: 147
M12 10:14 144 Cardiac Drift: 151
M13 10:14 145 Cardiac Drift: 152
M14 10:14 148 Cardiac Drift: 151

JUST SIGNED UP FOR THE BRONX HALF MARATHON WHICH IS IN 7 DAYS & HAD A GREAT 6 MILE RUN WITH BR411/HUBBY

I've been putting it off cause I don't want to freeze my ass out there, but decided I need a long sleeve t-shirt (and isn't all this running about getting the t-shirt LOL) I've completed 19 runs for January 09 for a total of 107 miles, and ran today for 6 more miles for a total of 113 so far for the year, but all the miles have been run inside on the TM. I'm not worried about the distance of the race Sunday, I can easily cover the 13.1 miles, but a bit concerned that I'm going to freeze, but like I said, I WANT THAT SHIRT. LOL Plus, I'm due to run at least that for my long run and I'd rather run with a crowd. LOL so I will be going into the Bronx next Sunday for the Half Marathon!

2:10pm - Was able to run with hubby/BR411 at the gym on the TM cause my folks came over and watched the girls. Thanks Mom and Dad!! I know you all are probably saying "what, you ran inside today, when it finally hit 47F", but BR411 didn't want to run outside for his long run, as the roads are still icy and very sandy, so I agreed and we hit the gym. Thankfully there were two TM's available next to eachother and off we ran. It was nice running side by side. Can't wait for the warmer weather to come so we can run together more often.

I set the TM to 5.6 and ran for 1:04:00, legs felt good and I think it was a nice warm up for tomorrows long run (14 scheduled).

My avg HR was 144 cardiac drift: 221 (HR interference again, ARGHHHH)

M1 10:40 136
M2 10:40 131
M3 10:40 131
M4 10:40 131
M5 10:40 135
M6 10:40 135

MEDIUM LONG RUN - 9 MILES ON THE TM

1:15 - got to the gym after a crazy morning, and new today was supposed to be an 11 mile run, but I had to be done by 3pm to pick Allie up from school, and I didn't want to push it, so I set the TM to 5.6 for the 1st mile, then 5.8 for the remainder, and ran for 1:32:06. Legs felt good, and glad I didn't push it! Decided to try something new today as an experiment, and it worked great. I had two small size snickers, I cut each in half and had 4 small pieces. At the 3 mile mark, 6 mile mark and 9 mile mark I at one of the small pieces. It was great and didn't upset my stomach at all. Not sure if snickers was what I was supposed to use, but I didn't have Milkey Ways.

The only bummer was that they vacuumed again and skewed my HR numbers, but heck, I'm still happy with the numbers over all, and the run felt great!!

My avg HR was 144 cardiac drift: 225

M1 10:40 165
M2 10:39 136
M3 10:40 140
M4 10:40 142
M5 10:40 144
M6 10:33 144
M7 10:40 144
M8 10:40 143
M9 10:39 142

HEART RATE EVEN LOWER TODAY:) RECOVERY RUN - 6 MILES ON TM

2:10pm - Got to the gym and jumped on the same TM, set it to 5.6 and ran 6 miles in 1:03:16, I ran the EXACT same run as yesterday, everything the same, same TM, same speed, everything, except my HR was even lower today!!!

Avg HR was 131 Cardiac Drift: 142

M1 10:36 127 Cardiac Drift: 136
M2 10:33 134 Cardiac Drift: 142
M3 10:31 137 Cardiac Drift: 140
M4 10:32 143 Cardiac Drift: 142
M5 10:31 145 Cardiac Drift: 140
M6 10:32 146 Cardiac Drift: 142

I am so psyched to see that my Heartrate is improving! I really believe in this kind of training and I'm seeing the results, lets just hope come 5/3 on Marathon day I can reap the rewards!!!!

Have finally decided how my training is going to go:

Monday - Long run (so that I don't take up family time on Weekends!!!)
Tuesday - spin or recovery run, not sure but I want to fit in 2 spin classes a week
Wednesday - Tempo run
Thursday - Recovery run
Friday - Medium Long Run
Saturday - spin class or recovery run, again, not sure
Sunday - General Aerobic run, run like a progression

My basebuilding has finished and I feel very prepared for the above. I feel like I can run the 7 days a week, but I have read so much good stuff about spinning that I really want to incorporate 2 days of spinning (a great cardio workout, works muscles not used or a bit different than running). I just don't know where to put the spinning in. I knocked out Tuesday and Saturdays 6 mile recovery runs and put in the spin class, but my only concern is if I will be able to handle a spin class after a long run and after a Medium Long Run. I guess next week will be the test, just hope I don't over due it LOL

And I will do yoga 2 days a week, the core conditioning has only been extremely helpful and it has not negatively affected my running at all. Lets just hope that training continues the way it's been and that I'll be even more prepared for Marathon day!!

RECOVERY RUN - ANOTHER GREAT 6 MILES ON THE TM

1:10pm - got to the TM, busy, but my favorite TM was available. Jumped on, set my iphone to play my favorite show and set the TM to 5.6, this time I ran all miles at 5.6. Legs are really feeling strong. Ran 6 miles for 1:03:24.

Avg HR was 137 Cardiac Drift: 146

M1 10:39 127
M2 10:34 134
M3 10:32 137
M4 10:32 143
M5 10:32 145
M6 10:33 146

I am really pleased with my heartrate. Thought it might be elevated today, as I ran yesterday, and yesterday I got "my friend", but it really wasn't and the run felt great!!

6 MILE RECOVERY RUN

9:30 - After I dropped my kids at school, I hit the gym for power yoga, (9:30 - 11am). I'm really enjoying it. It was my 4th class, and I already feel a difference when I run, and during the class I can tell that I am doing more of the moves, with less discomfort. LOL Guess this old body can become flexible.

1:15pm - FINALLY got to the gym at my normal time, so there was NO rushing whatsoever. YEAHHHHH!!! Set the TM to 5.6, ran for 1 mile, then upped it to 5.8, and ran the next 5 miles at that. Legs are really feeling strong and I am way excited about my heartrate.

My avg HR was 131 cardiac drift: 144

M1 10:39 127 Cardiac Drift: 118
M2 10:12 134 Cardiac Drift: 129
M3 10:14 137 Cardiac Drift: 132
M4 10:13 143 Cardiac Drift: 134
M5 10:13 145 Cardiac Drift: 136
M6 10:13 146 Cardiac Drift: 138

8 MILES ON THE TM

2:37pm - got to the gym after a great lunch with my parents and the BRfamily. We ate at a local restuarant called "Buffalo Grill" and I ordered a Buffalo burger with cheddar cheese. Decided I would eat that, then rest for an hour and a half before I hit the gym for my long run. Well, was supposed to run 12, but got to gym late and got in as much as I could before the gym closed, 8 good miles. I was a little concerned about eating before my run, as I usually don't, but I didn't eat breakfast this morning as I was running around doing stuff with the kids, and I knew that I had to eat something.

To my suprise the meal didn't bother me during my run. Not at all. But I did wait 1 1/2 hours to run LOL

Set the TM to 5.6 for the first .25, then bumped it up to 5.8 for the next .25, then went from 6.0 - 6.5 for the next 6 miles and for the last 1.5 ran at 6.0 Really felt good.

My avg HR was 136 cardiac drift: 147

M1 10:15 127 Cardiac Drift: 141
M2 9:53 134 Cardiac Drift: 150
M3 9:53 137 Cardiac Drift: 150
M4 9:52 143 Cardiac Drift: 153
M5 9:43 145 Cardiac Drift: 155
M6 9:14 146 Cardiac Drift: 152
M7 9:45 143 Cardiac Drift: 153
M8 9:58 141 Cardiac Drift: 147

UNEXPECTED, BUT AWESOME TEMPO RUN

Didn't get to the gym till 3:10, and I had to get Rebecca from the bus stop at 4pm, and since I wanted to run 5 miles, I set the TM to 6.0, at about a mile and a half I felt something in my right foot (nothing major, but made me realize I had NO warm up, stupid, stupid, stupid. Guess that happens when you're rushing and HAVE to get the mileage in LOL Well, From 1.5 to 2.5 I ran at 5.6 then 5.8, and the right foot felt fine, so I ran the next at 6.0, to get me to 3.0 miles, then I got the phone call (a bonus of my iphone/ipod, phone, it was BR411 asking if I was getting Rebecca at the bus stop or is he supposed to do it, as he is now home on Fridays. Well, that call came in at 3:43, and I still had 2 miles to go, I told him yup, I'm getting Rebecca, and cranked the TM up to 6.3 for half mile, then 6.5 for half mile, felt good, then 7.0 and finally 7.5 I don't think I've ever run that fast on a TM, but it felt good HR hit 185, LOL Thank goodness I don't do hard workouts often, but I think I'm good, or better for todays tempo run.

Oh, and I made it to the bus stop with 1 minute to spare LOL

5 miles in 48:13

HR avg was 144 and Cardiac Drift: 185

M1 - 9:56 136bpm Cardiac Drift: 159
M2 - 10:12 139bpm Cardiac Drift: 154
M3 - 10:10 142pm Cardiac Drift: 150
M4 - 9:47 147bpm Cardiac Drift: 157
M5 - 8:16 161bpm Cardiac Drift: 185

GOT THE CUPCAKES DONE, 5MILES ON THE TM, BUT NO YOGA

Oh well, somethings gotta give, and with Allie's 6th birthday, THAT wasn't a choice, so cupcakes were made, got to the gym had a great run, but there was no time for power yoga:( Will aim for Monday for that!!

1:50pm - got to the gym, again EMPTY, love that!! Set the TM to 5.8, kept it at that for all 5 miles, ran for 51:25.

HR avg was 139 and Cardiac Drift: 147 Another great run!!

M1 - 10:22 133bpm
M2 - 10:16 140bpm
M3 - 10:16 141pm
M4 - 10:15 141bpm
M5 - 10:15 141bpm

Unfortuneately, Mr. BR411 got stuck in meetings in New Bedford, MA until 4pm, so he won't be home for dinner to celebrate Allies bday:( He is expected at 9pm, depending on traffic, so I will keep the girls up later than usual (don't think they are going to complain about that LOL), and we will celebrate in the morning. Then this Saturday we celebrate with Mr. BR411's family, and then my family the next Saturday, so again, it is the never ending birthday, oh to be a kid again LOL

Just looking at last year this time, granted I had just started running with the C25K program, but by 1.22.08 I had completed 7 run/walks for a total of 11.5 miles, this year, for 1.22.09, I have completed 13 runs, for a total of 67 miles. Not sure if I'll reach my goal of 2,009 miles for the year, but I know I will blow away last years mileage of 760.99.

1st PROGRESSION RUN: 5 MILES

Decided to run a progression run. It felt awesome, and if all goes well I will try to incorporate 2 progression runs into my training each week.

1:30pm - Got to the gym and TM's were all vacant. Yahoo!! Time was an issue, so decided to run a progression run so I could still get my miles in. First 2 miles were done at 5.6, next 2 miles were done at 5.8 and the last mile was done at 6.0 Legs really felt great. Wish I had more time today to run, but had to get kids from school.

Avg HR was 134 Cardiac drift: 150

M1 - 10:39 120bpm
M2 - 10:33 132bpm
M3 - 10:10 136pm
M4 - 10:11 140bpm
M5 - 9:50 142bpm

Tomorrow is my daughters 6th birthday, and I spent most of today making cupcakes. I am hoping I will get to yoga from 9:30 to 11am, and then get in a TM run at the gym in the afternoon, but may drop by her class and do a craft, so not sure. Some days I wish there were more hours in the day to fit everything in. LOL but I will do my best to get back to the gym for a nice slow easy TM run

EASY 4 MILES ON THE TM

In-laws came and took the kids to lunch, so I finally had some free time to go to the gym and get my run in. I looked at the calendar, and there are no school vacations for 27 days, so, I should be able to get some good quality marathon training in between now and then!!

1:00pm - got to the gym and it was packed, but the TM's were vacant. YEAH!! Man, I still can't believe the resolution workout people are still hitting the gym. Good for them, and thankfully a TM has been vacant each time I've gone to the gym, but enough is enough. But the upside of a crowded gym is that they didn't vacuum, so I got a great reading on my Garmin HR monitor.

Set the TM to 5.6, and ran for 4miles in 42:14

Avg HR was 128 Cardiac drift: 139

M1 - 10:39 120bpm
M2 - 10:31 128bpm
M3 - 10:31 132pm
M4 - 10:31 134bpm

GREAT 10 MILES ON THE TM

Haven't run since Wednesday, nor have I done pushups or situps. Doing the house rearranging and participating in PARP took a lot out of me, so I relaxed Thursday and Friday. I woke today very rested and eager to go.

1:15pm - Hit the gym. It was packed but thankfully there was a TM available. YEAH!! It was the TM that maxes at 60min, so I had to break up my run into two 5 mile stints. But at least I got a long run in. Can't remember the last long run. LOL

Legs felt very strong, felt like I could run forever, but chose to stick to the plan.

My avg HR was 136 cardiac drift: 147

M1 10:40 123
M2 10:39 131
M3 10:40 139
M4 10:40 141
M5 10:40 140
M6 10:33 137
M7 10:40 136
M8 10:40 137
M9 10:39 138
M10 10:41 139

4 SHORT MILES ON THE TM AND PARP PLAY AT MY KIDS SCHOOL

Had a great day. Participated in PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) at my childrens school. It is a month long reading program to get kids reading. It kicked off today with a play about "once upon a time", where I played one of the seven dwarfs. I had a blast!!!

Yesterday I suprised BR411 by redecorating our house. I moved all the furniture around. I love the new set up, but today I was fairly sore. My house project yesterday had me moving furniture, etc, from 9am to 3pm. Felt fine while doing it, but woke this morning utterly exhausted (choosing to do this move yesterday was not the smartest move for me as Monday I did a ton of exercise), only to have to join in the school festivities today. The first play was put on at 10:15 for the AM kindergartners and 1st graders, then we had a long break and the second was put on for the PM kindergarteners and 2nd graders at 2:15pm

In between the shows I got a 4mile run in at the TM, with BR411 running on the TM next to me. Unfortuneately, my legs gave out at 4 miles, so BR411 didn't get to complete his 6 miles. Though I was exhausted, the miles felt good. Basically set the TM to 5.6 @ 0% incline and ran for 42:03. I would have taken today off, but since I did the move on Tuesday, I didn't get a run in, and I didn't want to go another two days with no run:( That happened over the weekend because of the snow, and I hate that!! Some day, we hope to have a TM, but right now our house is a little too small to accomodate one:(

But, today day was fantastic, and now I'm ready to crash LOL