All in a Day's Work

We started out from Peete's this morning at 7:30 without our friend "C" who was home sick. "Picture Lady took her place and what started out as a struggle turned into a really nice Saturday run. It was cold to start with, but I think it is because it was technically still 6:30 when we started (I know we will appreciate "daylight savings time" when it warms up a bit but not yet) K and I put in at least 6 miles, and I think a little more but I am not the one with the GPS, I do know that we averaged about a 9:17 pace which makes me very happy, especially after the hard time I had earlier in the week. "Picture Lady" ran/walked for 5 miles and kept up a very nice pace which seemed to really make her happy. It was nice to have her company and we crossed paths for a bit around the 2 - 2 1/2 mile mark. I don't know if we are just getting more comfortable with eachother but there was a lot of burping and spitting going on, you'd have thought we were a bunch of teenage boys. Never mind how we got it done, the point is that we did, and we got to sit and have a cup of coffee together, and then head off to watch our kids play basketball and soccer. My son's team won their first and last game of the season and I was so glad to get to see it all. Even though the day is little more than half over, I am feeling quite content to have accomplished so much already! Next run is Monday afternoon 4:45 at Cheesburger Park (Chesebrough just does not roll off the tongue!) I am hoping "C" is feeling better by then and that she reads this post so she will know that we missed her today.

Saturday's Run

We are planning on running from Peete's at 7:30 a.m. I am hoping to go out at least 6 miles or maybe more, depending on how I'm feeling in the morning. Some of my friends will probably turn around sooner and beat me to the coffee afterwards. I hope the weather is just as nice as today.

Just Say It

Patty and I ran today from Chesebrough down the bike trail toward Heritage Park and back for about 3 miles at 9.23 pace. I thought it was a decent pace considering the strong headwind and the fact that we had to run the hilly portion of the trail twice. On our way out we were talking about how negative thoughts could really affect how your run turns out, so we kept our conversation light and mainly discussed work. The funny thing is, I think we both felt like cr*p the whole way, but neither one of us wanted to say it first, until we were done. Then we let loose about how awful we felt the whole way. I think neither one of us wanted to ruin it for the other while we were running. No matter how crummy I felt today, I'm glad I was finally able to get together with my friend and run. Don't forget to wear your pink tomorrow in support of our teachers!

It Wasn't Pretty!

C and I made it out for a run together this afternoon, and even though "it wasn't pretty" we were glad to have made it through. It seems like so much time had gone by since we ran together, and we spent the whole 4 miles, just catching up on eachother's lives. We both agree that we are due for new shoes, it seems we all bought new ones right about the same time. I don't know if it was the shoes or not, but I was surprised at how fatigued my legs felt. I expected them to be nice and springy since I had not run Monday, and boy was I disappointed. Hopefully we will be able to run again tomorrow with K, and there will be something left in these "old" legs. Regardless of whether it was a great run or not, it was nice to be out in some nice weather, with a good friend.

Triathlon Training

The professional triathlete was back again today at the Storm practice. M, C, and I ran with a group of kids to Copperhill and back from Valencia High as part of our run. That was the easy part. When we got back, the triathlete had us all working on our core muscles. He basically had us doing 45 second intervals of different abdominal, triceps, back, and push up exercises, which he repeated several times. Mind you, the kids and obviously the men have never been pregnant so their abdominal muscles are more intact. The exercises were very tough and I was feeling it, especially the arms since they were still sore from yesterday's swim. I understand the importance of a strong core for running, but I still hate doing them. Wednesday is supposed to be a track workout, so M and I are hoping we can get away and just run on our own. I'm looking forward to Thursday when we can all hook up again for a run. It's been too too long!

How Far Did We Go?

It was another beautiful day and there were no excuses for not running, it was warm but not too warm, slight breeze but no wind, and nice and sunny. The husband and I decided to try the "train bridge" run because I had described it to him, but he didn't know exactly where it went. We started at Heritage Park instead of Peete's because we weren't going to have coffee afterwards so there was reason to begin there. Just after we crossed the bridge there is a gate now and that was locked so we had to hop over the fence (I don't think they want us back there). Other than that it was a really nice run, my legs are feeling good, and I felt like we kept a pretty good pace, I even unconciously started speeding up for the last half mile, because that is what K always does and I guess my body is just used to it. I kept a good pace until the last 10th of a mile when I just felt like I was done, that is the usual for me also. So far this week I have shown the husband 3 of our regular routes so maybe he will have some new places to go on his regular runs. I have really missed running with my friends though and hope that this week will work a little better with all of our schedules. My husband has been very patient with me and impressed with our various routes, and much improved pace, this he mentioned several times (he also scolded me for running down the middle of the "Heritage Trail" at the end of our run today). Oh well girls, I need to run with you now, I think I have worn him out. I would appreciate a feature on our blog with our favorite routes and what the mileage is for those times we aren't together, either that or I will have to invest in a Garmin.

Running Form

Today was absolutely gorgeous! We couldn't have asked for better running weather. I was joined by M and C at the kids' track practice today. We had a special speaker from the Newton Running Shoe Company come by and speak to the kids about running form. He is a professional triathlete sponsored by Newton. If you get a chance, you should visit their website and listen to why they created their shoes the way they did. I've had my Newtons for about 6 months and I really like them and will buy another pair soon, but in pink. Anyhow, while each athlete was getting their gait analyzed, C and I ran around the track to get more miles in. Then we left the track and headed to Heritage and back. In the end, we ran about 5 miles with a lot of stop and go. The best part of the day was when the Newton guy gave away free Newton socks and hats to kids who answered questions from the clinic correctly. I asked my son to listen carefully and try to win me a pink Newton hat. Thank goodness he is smart because I got my pink hat and now I just need to order my pink shoes!

Here's a link to the Newton Running video:

http://newtonrunning.com/run-better/newton-running-videos/run-right-video

Grumblings

This week has not been a good week for running, whether it be by myself or with my friends. It looks like this weekend is not going to be much better. It seems that with the start of our kids' track season, our own running has taken a back seat. We had plans to scope out Mentryville on Sunday, but it looks like that may not happen. The only running I've been doing is with little kids and a husband and that has made me a bit grumpy, not to mention the fact that I stood out in the cold until 7:15 last night timing the high school meet. I'm really hoping that next week will be better.

Running with the Husband

Since I am off of work for the rest of this week, I enlisted my husband to run with me this morning. I had written it on the calendar, because I knew early in the week, that my friends and I would not be able to get together today. It didn't look good when I woke up to the sound of pouring rain, (i questioned letting my brand new 16 yr. old driver take himself to school in it) I figured that a run was out of the question, but around 9:30 the husband and I noticed the rain had almost completely let up, since there was some blue poking through in the distance we figured it was just a matter of time until the skies were sunny so we headed out. I wanted to show him our route from Chesebrough Park because it is very close to my house and I thought he might like it. When we got to the park though, it was just pouring and we decided to head back home, no sooner did we drive half a mile and the rain slowed down to a sprinkle again, so we turned back. We ran in a light rain for about a third of the run, a pretty good headwind for the next third, and sunny skies for the last third. I have to say that I am very glad that we decided to go out despite the weather, because today I felt the best I have in a long time. My best guess is that we ran around a 9:20 pace and it felt good the whole time. Whether it was the coolness of the air, or the stepped up hill and speed work we've been doing, or maybe just the company of my husband, it doesn't matter, because now I will go out for my usual run and hope that I feel as good as I did today!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I've been meaning to read this book. I never did find out from my friend if it was any good. In any case, I'm always reminded of the book every time we run in the rain. Not knowing how the weather was going to hold out later, I decided to run with Patty in the morning and take advantage of the day off from work. When we started, there were just intermittent drops here and there. We knew ahead of time that we were going to make it short and run only about 3 miles so I thought it would be a good chance to see how fast we could run 3 miles almost at race pace. (You can never really simulate race pace unless you're actually in a race). With the last bit of hills and all, we ran 3 miles in 9.05/mile pace. I was hoping we could get under 9, but I think we started too slow. Maybe that could be a goal for us, to run the same circuit in under 9 minute pace. As we were ready to head on home, the rain really began to fall. . . . . .just in time!