So of course I was hemming and hawing about being unmotivated to go for my scheduled 3 miler on the way home.

Ryan suggested that we run together & I immediately said “Yes, that would be great!”

I knew running with Ryan would be a good distraction for me – I’d have someone to talk to (read: something to take my mind off of being miserable) and  I also knew it would be a good way for me to push myself.  Ryan is naturally much faster than me so I knew that by running with him I’d be forced not to give in & back off of my pace!  (Even his “slowed down” pace is a huge push for me!)

I decided to give what I now call “straight running” another shot & we agreed to take a 1 min walk break at every mile marker.

Much to my surprise, we finished 3.0 miles in just 35:34 which is SUPER for me! That’s an average of 11:50 per effing mile.  Yippie! Definitely impressive considering my body is used to running only 2 minutes at a time right now with all of my long runs being 2:1 intervals.

I even managed to run the last mile faster than the previous – an extra little push to see if I could do it!

By the time we finished running, my mad mood was GONE and I was feeling energized and positive again. Hell, even 1 mile into the run I was feeling better! 

I guess getting in a workout really IS better than skipping one – both physically and mentally!

WHAT ABOUT YOU: Does getting in a workout zap your bad moods?

He doesn’t compete in very many events that I’m not also competing in (meaning, we usually run the same races) but he’s always my biggest cheerleader at triathlons since he hasn’t been bitten by the tri bug yet.

This weekend it was MY turn to cheer for him!

On Saturday morning, Ryan set out for 50 single track miles in Ididaride, a “50 mile off-road bicycle challenge” held each year in the small town of White Springs, FL & hosted by the Suwannee Bicycle Association.

My job for the day was to be there at the beginning & then again at the end.  Since the race takes place on single-track trails off-road, there was basically no where for me (or anyone else) to go cheer, but I scoped out the course & found ONE SPOT early on in the event – near mile 10 – where the riders would pass us on the road before heading back into the woods

Gooooo Ryan!

I hooted and hollered for a minute & was lucky enough to get a quick smooch from him before he set out again for the remaining 40 miles.

That meant I now had some time to kill.  Enter: The hotel fitness center.

I decided now would be a good time to get in a BRICK workout & since I’m a big sissy, I didn’t want to brave the road in an unfamiliar area.

My plan was 45 min on the bike followed by 3 miles on the treadmill.  Thank goodness there was a TV in there so I didn’t lose my mind!

The bike was uneventful – I set it on “Alpine Mode” and got in some good “hill climbs” and got in a total of just over 12 miles.

On the treadmill (which I didn’t get any pictures of) I ran a “straight” 3 miles instead of doing walk/run intervals hoping I wouldn’t get bored.

I set the treadmill at 5.2-5.4 and ran until each mile ticked over.  I took a 1 minute walk break at each mile and averaged out to a 12:02/mi overall pace.  The extra push of “straight” running kept me distracted…so did the episode of Flip That House on TLC… 

The biggest surprise was that my legs didn’t feel heavy moving from the bike to the treadmill…but I’m chalking that up to the fact that I was on a recumbent bike instead of a regular bike…and probably not actually working as hard as I do when I’m out on the road.

After my workout, I had just enough time to get cleaned up & back to the Ididaride finish line to see Ryan come in:

He finished in 6.5 hours & even though it took him longer than he hoped for, he still had a smile (and some scratches) on his face!

Congratulations Ryan on a ride job well done!

With any luck I’ll be riding this event next year too…Every time a rider passed me I thought “Geeze, I want to be out there too!” I guess I’m just not cut out to be a cheerleader!

***************

OH – before I forget:  I actually DID run on Thursday morning! We got in 9 8 miles before the sun even came up! (I’m just unreliable at actually posting a recap when I say I’ll post one!)

Here’s my terribly grainy proof: The Ringling Bridge in the distance as we finished our 6th mile.

We took the miles slow & easy and my headlamp worked wonderfully! I surprisingly felt pretty darn good on the run – and for most of the day after.  But you better believe that by 3:30pm I was ready for a nap under my desk!

My legs were still feeling a bit tired from Saturday’s race so I knew I was going to take it super easy. Plus I picked up some new shoes (same model, just a new pair) a few weeks ago but hadn’t started breaking them in yet. An easy run sounded like the perfect time to give them a shot!

I also “crafted” a solution for my night vision problem & wanted to see how it would work:

Yep – that’s a LIGHT held onto the brim of my hat with BINDER CLIPS!

I won a clip-on LED bike headlight on Friday night at a women’s cycling clinic & just knew I could find a way to make it work for running!

Sure, it looks clunky, but I figured it wouldn’t be much heavier than other headlamps & hat-clip-lights out there!

THE VERDICT? 

The shoes were not so good.  Sure, my new pair is exactly the same as what I’ve been wearing for years…but they didn’t have the heel wedges I’ve gotten used to running in. (They are literally stuck in my current pair.)

My feet actually felt fine, but my Achilles tendons were screaming by mile 1 so I decided to cut my run short & only go 2 miles instead of my intended 3.

I’m thinking the irritation was from the extra “reaching” they had to do to get to the ground when normally the heel wedges make contact about a half inch sooner.

I’ll be sticking to these beauties until a new pair of inserts (ordered post-run) arrive!

Current shoes with about 200 miles on them.

And the LIGHT. WAS. AWESOME!

I could see SO much & didn’t feel unsafe at all during what’s usually the darkest part of my run.  (I still wore my reflective vest too, and a red blinky light on my back)

I could see every little divot and hole in the pavement and I’m sure everyone saw me coming!

Honestly, my only “complaint” about the light was that I could see all of the bugs in the air, which was gross and slightly disturbing. 

And the extra weight on the brim of my hat didn’t bug me at all once I got used to the feeling of it being there.  The movement of the light with my stride didn’t bother me either.  (I’m guessing it would be a whole different story if I used it on the blinky setting – just standing still that one made me dizzy!)

And now, just for fun,  here’s a video of Miss Dottie going to town on her “birthday toy” earlier this week!

If you can’t see the video, click here.  I’m still not sure I embedded it correctly!

We get her the same stuffed bone year after year for her birthday. She loves them and squeaks them like a maniac for a few days, then rips all of the stuffing out.  She’s had one every year since the day we brought her home 6 years ago!

Happy Wednesday!

I’ll be back tomorrow – hopefully – with a recap of my first weekday long run!  9 miles starts at 5:00am! Eeek!

My usual running partner from the Karna group was out of town so I was huffing it on my own…trying like MAD to keep up with the rest of the ladies in the group.

I partially succeeded – they were only about 30 yards in front of me  the whole time (whereas on regular runs they end up anywhere from .25-.50 min in front of me).

I kept thinking, ”What kind of assistant coach am I if I can’t keep up? What a JOKE!”

In the end, I kept an average pace of 11:56/mi which is super considering most of my long runs are in the 12:15 range. 

But I was feeling super frustrated and honestly, on the verge of tears because I felt so inadequate. 

For the race, instead of “chasing” the group the entire time, I let them start about 3 min ahead of me & I jumped in towards the back of the pack for my trip over the bridge & back.

This let me have my “own” race – instead of obsessing over how far away I was (or wasn’t) getting from the rest of the team.

I rocked out to some techno – hello Skrillex and Swedish House Mafia – and tried not to let my mind get the best of me.

When the race first started, my legs felt like lead weights.  I guess running for fast-ish miles then standing around for 30 min waiting for the race to start took its toll. So it took me about 10 min to loosen back up.

I eased off going up the bridge, and then let myself sail down the other side.

I’m actually in this picture, I promise! (Source)

By the time I hit the turn around & made my way back up the bridge I was feeling a bit better. 

I hadn’t looked at my Garmin once & at that point my time was at the bottom of my list of concerns. All I was concerned about was not finishing the race in a funk.

Although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited when I saw 24:00 on the clock at the 2-mil turn around point!

In the end, I didn’t PR (last year my chip time was 45:51) but I came super close with a chip time of 46:20 for an average pace of 11:33/mile! So much for worrying about hitting a 12:10 pace, huh?

It felt really good to know that I can PUSH for 8 miles – I guess that’s the whole point of a “race”, isn’t it?

So I’m feeling better about things – and resting up for this week’s long run, a 9 miler which may or may not take place on Thursday morning before work. 

WHAT ABOUT YOU: Do you “race” races and push harder/run faster than your weekly long runs? Or do you simply get through the miles at the same pace you would for any other run?

This is amazing because we meet at 5:45am…and I live 40 minutes away from the track…you do the math on what time I need to get up…

That’s what the track looks like at the END of our workouts!

This week was a GREAT workout – once I got moving.  We walked 1 lap to start & boy was I dragging ass!

But then we started running – and I felt pretty darn good!

We’re pretty casual about our workouts & don’t do exact “measured” or “timed” intervals on the track.  Instead we have a few “landmarks”  (like the goalpost, the gate in the middle, the sign at the end) that we use as a guide for when to start & stop each effort and we alternate between “running” and “jogging” and walking – so all perceived effort.

And you know what?  I think it’s paying off!

Really?!  3.76 miles at an average pace of 11:33??  At 5-effing-45 in the morning?? And that includes the final lap of walking to cool down!

I’m noticing that my run intervals on “regular” run days are getting a bit quicker too – instead of being in the 12:00 range I’m wavering between 10:30 and 11:00 now!  Which means my overall pace during “regular” runs is averaging about 12:15.  (Although I would be remiss without mentioning that I still walk far too slowly during my walk intervals – bringing those up would help my overall pace SO much!)

All of this hard work is being put to the test tomorrow morning.  Me & the other ladies from Karna will be running 4 miles together then running a 4 mile race.

(source)

I don’t have any wild and crazy goals for the race…In fact, I don’t even know what my current PR for the race is (I’ve ran it 2 or 3 times before…seesh, I can’t even remember THAT). 

But I will admit, a 12:10 overall pace would be sweet!

Until then, I’ll remember all of the hard work we’re putting in on Thursday mornings. 

Dare I say I’m already looking forward to next week’s track session?!?!

The stereo system in the spin studio was on the fritz majorly…which meant we could hear NOTHING during the entire class. 

Scratch that.

We could hear things – just not MUSIC.  The sound system was like a pendulum that caused us to go from “hearing nothing but the sound of the spin bikes” to “hearing only loud crackles and fuzz coming from the speakers”.

It. was. rough.

I’ve never had so much trouble getting into the zone during this spin class.  I mean, the playlist was GREAT, we just couldn’t hear it! The instructor even added a song especially for me!

But alas…it was not to be. She played it – but it sounded like absolute gobbledygook!

Honestly, if Kristen (the founder of Karna Fitness and my running group) wasn’t instructing I would have walked the eff out. (I have no problem walking out of a class if it’s not working.) For me, it’s the music that makes spin class so good.  A great instructor is a bonus, but bad music is a total buzz kill!

My fingers are crossed that things are fixed by next Wednesday!

WHAT ABOUT YOU: Would you leave a group fitness class if the sound system was out of whack? What’s the “final straw” for you?

(I may or may not have had to look that up because I couldn’t remember when my last swim actually happened…)

What happens to me after 21 days of not swimming? My body basically forgets how to swim!

From my very first stroke I could tell it was going to be a tough swim.  My legs kept sinking…my breathing was all over the place…I kept getting mouthfuls of water…

So instead of stressing myself out focusing on freestyle tonight I decided to do a mixed interval workout, switching strokes every 100 yards. Here’s the breakdown:

Using the “other strokes” as a sort of rest (instead of actually stopping at the end of the lane and taking a breather), I managed to swim the 1200 yards in 34:11. 

Sure, I didn’t get in very much work on freestyle – but by the end of my last free interval, I could feel that I was getting then hang of my stroke again. 

Was it pretty?  Most certainly NOT. 

But was it better than nothing?  YES.

Are my arms and back muscles already sore only 2 hours later?  YES!

I really need to keep on track with swimming – if nothing more, once a week.

From this point onward, Tuesday night = my standing date night with the pool.

I set out for a run on Tuesday at about 7:00pm, all decked out in a bright yellow reflective vest and a hat with reflective strips all over it.

And then I realized that people and cars could see ME…but I couldn’t see anything!

I guess it’s been a long time since I went for a run in the dark.  It’s not so bad while the sun is still setting – or in the case of you morning people while it’s rising.

But it was PITCH dark in some spots – and I was terrified of tripping or twisting my ankle in a hole because I couldn’t see the ground in front of me.

So – It looks like my first “running purchase” of 2012 is going to be a headlamp. 

(Photo Credit)

Or maybe a set of Knuckle Lights?

(Photo Credit)

All I know is that I wasn’t even in the most unlit part of the neighborhood and I could. not. see. a. thing.

Other than the whole “not being able to see” situation the run was pretty decent.  3.24 miles in 39 minutes for a 12:08 average pace.  My run intervals were all under 10:45 pace which is good for me.  I just gotta focus on not meandering during my walk intervals!

WHAT ABOUT YOU: Do you run with a headlamp or other light source when it’s dark out? Any recommendations for a good one?

After several weeks of lack luster workouts…and…ahem…lots of rest days…I really had a doozy lined up this weekend.

First up was a 6 mile training run with the Karna Fitness running group.

(photo credit)

We did our usual 2 min run : 1 min walk intervals and I finished up in right around 1hr 15min for a 12:19 pace, a perfect for a long run for me.

After the run, my pal (and running partner) Kerri and I sped over to the Legacy Trail to meet up with a group we’ll be riding a 2-day event with in April.

We committed to riding 20 miles – 10 out, 10 back – while the other 4 riders were planning on getting 30 in.

The first 10 felt hard, like a good “push” effort.  The “10 back” was sheer torture.  Ok, really just the last 5 sucked. 

My calves started cramping up, my hips were cramping up…I was just tired.  I was fueling and hydrating, but I was beat.  Nothing like a reverse brick to jump start your workout routine after the holidays, right?

I finished off the weekend today with a trip around the Wilderness Parks “Main Loop” with Ryan.

It’s SO great to be back on single track trails again – I can’t believe how much I missed mountain biking! (Nor can I believe how much more confident I feel out there now!)

I even took the lead for a few miles today – which I basically had to be forced to do before. 

I was going along at a pretty good clip…taking turns and riding over roots like a champ…and then I crashed.  And by “crashed” I  mean “overcorrected, then re-overcorrected, then ended up on the ground”. 

That’s where my bike landed…I was to the left, laying on my stomach, perpendicular to the bike with my feet between the seat and handlebars. 

Somehow I managed to un clip and bobble around – even hopped on one leg for a bit – before I faceplanted.  It felt like 30 seconds passed.  Probably really only took about 2. 

Believe it or not, it was NOT scary – and was absolutely hysterical.  Ryan saw the hole thing go down & was trying really hard not to laugh until he realized I was laughing too.  (I’m actually still giggling to myself a little bit now as I write about it!)

Here’s the damage:

Yeah – just dust on my knees.   Terrifying, no?

In the end we logged just over 15 miles of single track for the day.

My rear end is NOT happy with me after 2 days in a row of “in the saddle” time.

But logging 41 miles over the span of 2 days feels pretty good…especially considering I haven’t logged that many miles in a single WEEK since the beginning of November.

Welcome back motivation.  Welcome back.

And it’s not just any marathon.  It’s a big one!  One that 30,000 people run – 4 of whom will hopefully (if we get our registrations in fast enough) be me & Ryan and my parents.

Race day is October 28, 2012.

Those are only hints I’m giving about which race it is…for now.  But it’s pretty obvious, no?

Ten months is plenty of time for me to mentally prepare, right?  I’m not so worried about the physical part.

Geeze – what on earth have I gotten myself into by committing to this?