2 months...

Wow, 2 months since I posted. Strange, but sometimes life happens. It's been a rough couple months but I have been running with some consistency at least and hopefully it will pay off. I've been trying to find a 5k to race that fits into my schedule to test my fitness but things seem to come up every weekend and I haven't had the opportunity yet.
I have started my marathon training more or less and have some long runs coming up. I'm sort of wishing I had more time to train, increase mileage and gain speed but I'll just have to do my best. October seems far away right now but the summer flies by and there just aren't that many weeks.
I have a few speed workouts on my watch I'd like to upload soon if only for my own sake. It's nice to have a record to gauge my progress against. I still need to do more tempo runs and actually run a few races but other than that running is going okay.

Just the numbers.

Here are my intervals from last Tuesday and this Tuesday.
The only other run I did was a slow 3.5ish run Sunday. The weather was crap and I was just sort of down and not feeling it all week. I did do my core workout Wednesday but Thursday-Saturday were a big FAIL. I also didn't eat the best which generally brings my mood down and my weight up. However, I haven't weighed myself in a while. If I see weight gain on the scale it translates to slower running in my head so I try and avoid the scale before a race.

From last Tuesday:
5 1/4 intervals with 1/4 recoveries - 4.5 miles total.
1:25
1:31
1:33
1:31
1:27

From this Tuesday:
2 1/2 intervals + 3 1/4 intervals with 1/4 recoveries - a bit over 4 miles total
3:10
1:31
1:33
1:34
3:30 (I was really stuggling in the middle of this interval - should have picked it up more)
It was raining the whole run tonight. In fact its been raining most of the week.

My running goals for the rest of this week are to
1) Do a tempo run
2) Do a run over 6 miles.
This needs to happen so hold me accountable!! I'm pressed for time because I'm going home for Easter this weekend. Do you guys celebrate/have plans? I still hunt Easter eggs even though I'm 30 because I'm mature like that.

Skunk Recap

Sunday I ran the Skunk Cabbage Classic. I guess it is named for the Skunk Cabbages along the course - only somehow I missed them. God knows there was nothing else to look at so I'm not sure how - maybe because I don't have the slightest idea what a skunk cabbage looks like but no matter. There was a pretty sweet pheasant farm we passed twice...but I digress. The race was pretty small but it seemed like there were some fast runners there. There was a 10k as well as the half and that started 15 minutes beforehand. The race started late - 10:15 so there was plenty of time for me to eat breakfast (pb, banana, honey on a sandwich thin) and have coffee, find the start and get registered without waking up insanely early. Before you get bored, my finsh time was 1:48:27, pace 8:17. So I made my sub 1:50 goal! Okay, I realize it may not look that impressive to some of you, and may look great to others, but this was a pretty good run for me. I hadn't done a lot of distance lately and this is almost 7 minutes faster than my previous half-marathon PR which was 1:55 and change. Granted, I've only actually run 2 halfers - not counting the 2 halves of the full I did, but still a significant improvement. And, I faxed in my time to Chicago so hopefully I'll get into a corral for the Chicago marathon. I think it will make me feel better just because the race is going to be so giant that even though there would be 4000 people in my corral that is better than not being in one.

This is one of the hardest races I've done - I think partly because of the distance and while the hills weren't anything major - they did wear me down after a while. I think the other reason was because they didn't allow ipods as the roads weren't closed for the race. That was a long freakin' time for me to run on my own with no music - and the race was out in the country so there was nothing to look at. It was mind-bogglingly boring and hard to stay in it mentally. But I kept going and got through it at my goal pace. I'd love to get this pace closer to 8s for a half in the fall - and I think I could run faster on a flatter course but all in all I'm very happy with the run.

I also kept my splits pretty even - it was nice not to go out too fast and see really slow splits at the end of the race. I think the gradual uphill start helped - mile 4 was actually my slowest mile of the race and I think I ran the first and second halves in almost exactly the same time. I took a couple clif shot blocks and some gatorade, starting right before mile 7 which I think helped too. Although, I still need to perfect my eating/drinking while running technique. I wanted one more clif shot instead of the gatorade but didn't get a water so, oh well. Whatever.

The other good news is I'm recovering a lot faster than I did from the hilly 10 last weekend. I ran 4.5 today with 5 quarter intervals and felt pretty good. I'll have to get my splits from that up but I'm tired so for now here is what Garmin had to say about my race: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78568965 That's it, I'm out!

1/2 is tomorrow - wish me luck!

Well, tomorrow is the big day. In a couple minutes I'm going to have to stop reading blogs and get packed up for our mini trip to Ithaca, NY for the Skunk Cabbage Classic. Ithaca is only an hour or so from here but we decided to leisurely drive out today and spend the night there. The race actually starts late tomorrow - 10:15 so I could have driven out on my own but this sounded more fun. The race is the Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon: http://www.halfmarathons.net/usa_half_marathons_new_york_skunk_cabbage_classic_half_marathon.html That elevation profile is making me tired just looking at it. I've said it on here before but my goal is to break 1:50. I'm not as prepared as I should be but it seems like I should be able to do this. I'm worried about the challenging course, or if it is a windy day - but I'm just going to try my best and stay positive! I know a lot of it is mental.

After the race we are planning to meet my parents here for brunch - the menu looks like it will almost be worth the pain of running the race: http://www.carriagehousecafe.com/

Recovery...

Today I ran a couple miles and then did most of my core workout. It was so nice outside I had to run a little but honestly I could still feel Saturday's run in my legs. Obviously the biggest problem is I don't run enough mileage consistently but does anyone have any tips for a faster recovery?

I try to eat protein after hard workouts and I have been wearing my compression socks. I am REALLY bad about icing, I really only do it if something is hurting. And by hurting I don't mean sore, I mean when it feels like something is off, sometimes my hip or knee will bug me and I'll ice it just to ward off injury. I should probably make it a point to ice after long runs...

I'm really long overdo for some blog updates and pictures so I apologize for that and will try and work on it. I'm still new to this and haven't really had a lot of time. Actually, I just spend my time reading other blogs instead of beautifying mine. haha.
GO UCONN!!

It's on!

Okay, I'm still sick but I did manage to get in my 10 miler yesterday morning. I'm going to try and link to the garmin data - check out the hills: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/76949805

I've been having some trouble with my garmin finding satellites - I think I ran about .6 miles before my garmin connected - it does not like getting up early! I actually think the buildings "downtown" at the beginning of the run got in the way when I first turned it on. So, I think my run was just about 10 miles even though the Garmin has 9.32. Time was 1:18:34 (8:26 pace). The run felt hard although I didn't really feel like I was going that fast - so I was pleasantly surprised with my time being as good as it was. Like I said - my goal for the race would be sub-80 but I'm sick and certainly was having problems pushing it, and I was chatting for part of the run and stopped at a water stop so I still think that is a reasonable goal.

How do you guys deal with water stops? I typically do NOT like stopping completely but got trapped behind people yesterday and had to.

Also notable, I did not use my ipod at all. I tend to depend on my ipod for runs but this one seemed fine without it, I had it with me and just never ended up using it! I know I should get used to running without it but sometimes I need that extra push. Do you run with music?

So - based on my performance yesterday, I think I'm going to try and do that half next weekend. I just need to focus on sub 1:50 and not try and go out too hard. I feel like I should be able to do this, I think I could have done another 3 or so miles yesterday at the same pace if they were flat miles. Hopefully I'm not completely off base there!

In other news, the Yankees ( I love AJ Burnett and am ready for him to have another great year) AND UConn both won yesterday. An amazing sports day for me! I'm a Syracuse fan but since they are out I am cheering on the Big East all the way! I also really admire Kemba Walker and would love to see lead the Huskies to a championship! We had friends over yesterday for the game and it was really fun. We're trying to entertain more - and I think we also need more "couple" friends to hang out with. We all really clicked yesterday and it was a fun vibe. We did chili and pulled pork so no stress about dinner cause everything could just stay in the crockpot and be ready whenever. Lots of food and good times :) Now I'm just trying to take it easy today - maybe work a little and get over this cold. I'm planning on a speed workout Tuesday and maybe 2 other runs, somewhat easy this week and then the race is next Sunday!

the goat

Okay, I got sidelined with a cold this week - serves me right for complaining huh? But before that - I did get in a decent tempo type workout with some hill action on Saturday morning.

There's actually a pretty awesome 10 mile race here May 1st - The Mountain Goat Run. I ran it a couple years ago and have been wanting to do it again since but it conflicts with the time we have been taking vacation. I'd love to do it this year, but since I am certainly not a competitive runner by any means I do try to keep running in perspective and figure the time is more important to spend with my husband. Although, fair is fair and next year I think we should go a week earlier or later so I can run my race! Anyway - here is the elevation profile for the course:

Piece of cake right? haha. There are two killer hills...the last one after mile 6 really gets you. Lucky for me they have training runs for this race so I get the fun of running the course even without being able to do the race.

This coming weekend I plan to do the whole thing for my long run, but last Saturday I just did the first half, 45:15 for the 5.66 miles (8:00 avg pace which was my goal!) and my splits were:

7:55, 8:37, 8:19, 7:45, 7:34, 7:42 (last .66)

I was very happy with this run and my negative split times. That is something I need to work on. Again, clearly I really struggled with my pace on the hill. My goal for the race would be to break 80 minutes and this run felt hard so I don't think I'm there yet. Then I got sick and didn't run or workout until today when I just ran an easy 3. Oops.

I am going to be in so much trouble if I do that half next week. haha. The plan right now is to run 10 or 11 Saturday morning and if it goes okay do the half I originally planned on next weekend. Yes, I am horribly prepared and haven't run long much at all...yet somehow I still think I can pull a sub-1:50? Hopefully I'm not setting myself up for disappointment, but if nothing else it will help me gauge my actual fitness vs. where I'd like to be at this point!