Group Run Win!

I'll start by saying that I think they were in the mood to run slow... either way this was a great run for me!  My favorite group run is when we all stay together so we can talk.  My contribution to the conversation is a series of short answers between gasps but the others are great at chatting while running along.  I'm seriously envious of this.

Our run starts at the old courthouse right in the middle of downtown.  It's pretty difficult to start a run here with the wonderful scent of food coming from every direction.  There are several restaurants all around the square, some with outdoor seating.  The courthouse is being renovated and the grounds around it are always neatly landscaped.  This little section of town has a great feel to it.

We head away from downtown and run through an old historic neighborhood with tree-lined streets.  This is just a two mile loop but the group is usually at a pace that forces me to take at least one walk break before we get back to downtown.  Last night I did not walk!

Our next two miles are in the opposite direction out almost to the highway and then back through another tree-lined street to downtown.  This loop takes us by Sonic Drive-In and last night they had a band playing in the parking lot. Yes, a band at Sonic! We thought it was a bit strange but at the time we were discussing whether we were smelling doughnuts or elephant ears... fall is definitely in the air and I think we might have mistaken french fry grease for the scent of the Cleveland County Fair.  It's almost time for the carnies to show up and set up those rickety rides.

Oh I didn't walk on this loop either!  As a matter of fact, I was leading the pack (not sure how I ended up in the front) when we came back into downtown and right by the outdoor seating at the new burger joint on the corner. I have to admit, that was pretty special.

I do love summer but today I'm daydreaming of fall temperatures and great group runs!

Speedwork... or something like that

Hey, it's me! I'm trying to remember to show up here at least once a week. On my long run Sunday, I discussed speedwork with another runner.  I like getting opinions on different ways to do effective speed workouts. 

My problem is that most include 400 meter repeats or even 800 meter repeats with a short recovery in between.  I never feel like I am getting anything more than intervals that are a little faster than my normal run pace.  What am I doing wrong?  Should I push myself harder?  What if I just suck?

So tonight, with mixed opinions from different people, I came up with what will work for me...for now.

At the track.  Goal is 2 miles total in around 30 minutes-ish.  Short and sweet with hard effort.

Walk 400 meters (one lap) to warm up my legs.
Alt running 100 meters and walking 100 meters to recover in between until I hit 2 miles total.
I prefer to run the straights and walk the turns...helps save my knees.
As I make the turn heading to the straight, I start slow run and end in a full sprint.  At the end of the back straight, my garmin had close to 6min per mile pace. Sweet!
Walk to recover and ease back into running pace at the front straight ending in full sprint again.  At the end of the front straight, garmin had around 7min per mile pace. Ugh...tired.
Do it again! And again! And again!  I made myself keep this up until I was pretty close to 2 miles and then I walked about 200meters to cool down. 
Stretch.  Done!

I'm going to try and make this my Tuesday night habit.  Might alternate hill repeats every other week since that awful stadium hill is right behind the track.  We'll see how this goes!

That Warrior Dash Post I Promised.....

Saturday afternoon was the much anticipated Warrior Dash.  Here and gone with only the muddy pictures to prove we did it.  Kim and I had a blast on the course.  Neither of us took it serious as far as our finishing time so that made it much more fun to goof around on the obstacles. 

I have to admit, I did skip two of the tallest to prevent a nice fireman from having to rescue me.  I have an issue with heights that has gotten worse with age.  I simply freeze and my legs turn to concrete.  So knowing that it was best for everyone, I didn't climb the giant wall or go over the big wooden one that had no cargo net.  The others, I jumped right over or in...the pond was almost an issue for Kim since she's shorter and it was pretty deep on the end where we entered.  Then getting over the big logs in the water was a challenge for her short legs. 

We crawled under a dark shed on our knees, climbed in and out of dumpsters, under barbed wire, through the pond, over fire logs, through the mud pit on our belly... mud was everywhere!  We made a curtain with a sheet on the back of her car and stripped down in the field where we parked.  Good thing we wore clothes and shoes we could throw away.  Tired and sunburned, we rode home laughing about how dirty we were.

Catching up and it's Warrior Dash time!

I knew when I started this blog that I would get slack... sorry.  I've had a great few weeks and the mileage has been about the same.  Still it's forward progress and mileage.  We had a girls' weekend at a friends house in Hilton Head two weeks ago and it was so nice.  Lots of junk food and wine.  I did, at least, get up early each morning and run to Starbucks.  I intentionally didn't take coffee with me so it would force my hungover butt out the door for coffee really early.  We were up and running around 6am the 2 miles to Starbucks and then took the scenic route back to the house.  It was nice!  Felt bad the entire next week from all the junk and managed to get some miles in.

This past weekend we had a 10k race so I knew I would get my long run of 6 miles in.  That was my reason for signing up.

This week I'm looking forward to tracking Hurricane Irene while she strengthens and heads right toward the NC/SC coast.  My personal prediction is that she heads east and grazes the Outer Banks with flooding in eastern NC/VA areas.  I'm sure I will be glued to the Weather Channel all week just waiting to see where they send Jim Cantore.

Then it's time for the Warrior Dash on Saturday!  We signed up for this so long ago that we lost the excitement.  I'm going to rally the troops this week and get the girls stirred up a bit.  Should be fun!  I'll be sure to tell you all about it,

Week Three

Total mileage this week was 16. Getting there...

Monday - always yoga after work
Tuesday - track laps with hubs 3.5 miles and it was hot
Wednesday - laundry night
Thursday - group run uptown 4 miles
Friday - rest day
Saturday - 5k race toughest course ever but it was fun - roller coaster hills
Sunday - 5.75 miles with Bryan to town and back - mentally tough run

Best run of the week was Thursday night because I felt good and it was cloudy.
Worst run was definitely Sunday. Started at 10am and it was already hot and sunny. The route to town and back has little to no shade. I was defeated from the start... mentally I just couldn't make myself enjoy it so I just followed Bryan and kept the whining to a minimum.

I will do better at getting out of bed to get my long runs before the sun is full blast. I also need to remember that driving to a shady location to run needs to be priority on super hot days.

Girls weekend coming up Friday so I will be running around the flat paved trails at Hilton Head Island! Squeeeee!

Week Two and Things I Need

...well more like things I want
Anyway, Week Two was a bust.
Mon - yoga
Tues - nada
Wed - nada
Thurs - group run at Crowders Mtn - difficult trail but fun 3.5 miles
Fri - chores: rode the mower around for a few hours
Sat - slept in and it felt good, Presby Crit that evening
Sun- group run at a new paved greenway, nice and shady 4 miles
Total mileage = 7.5 which means I suck

Now things I need (besides the obviously, money):
Sports massage (hip is getting wonky feeling)
All those products in my magazines that will make me young and energetic (pffffft...)
Tickets and someone to go see Foo Fighters with me in November (it's on a week night, who does that?)
Upper body strength to help me through the obstacles at Warrior Dash on August 20th at 1pm in the mid-day southern heat/humidity. We have to be crazy to do this...
And last but most important... MILEAGE! We have a half mary in October!

It's a new week so let's make the best of it... 1 - 2 - 3 - GO!

Week One

I was shooting for 13 miles this week and only made it to 11. Close enough with this heat and humidity.

Monday - yoga class
Tuesday - excuses not to run
Wednesday - 2.13 miles run/walk with Bryan around stadium loop (hills)
Thursday - 3.18 miles group run on trails at the river
Friday - rest day
Saturday - 2.95 miles group run at Knobby 5k course in Casar (terrible hills)
Sunday - 2.27 miles w/Bryan at Gateway Trail (hills)

I am sick of hills this week. The Knobby 5k is in two weeks so I have that long to dread running that course again. Worst 5k course I have ever run but a friend is putting it together and I'll feel guilty if I don't show up. The heat is killing my speed but for now I'm just trying to continue logging those miles. Continuing to say no to the treadmill as long as I can. We'll see how next week goes!

Thursday night group run

We usually meet uptown and run the same loop but tonight we ran the trails along Broad River Greenway.  It was a nice change of scenery.  We ran down river about a mile and turned around.  This part of the trail is overgrown pretty bad and the poison ivy was hard to avoid.  Once back at the parking area, we ran up river where it's wider and covered with sand for soft running.  The group kept going and I turned back because it was getting late.  My total mileage was 3.18 but it felt like more.  I took off my shoes (new balance minimus trail) and rinsed my legs and arms at the parking lot.  Home and straight to the shower to get the river funk and poison ivy off.  Enjoying a bit of the tour de france before bed but just knew I needed to post this before I get out of the habit.  Hoping I can look back later and see progress.  Night all! (by all I mean my one follower Sherri)

I'll run tomorrow

It's Sunday night and I'm thinking about that half marathon in October... thinking I should start trying to stick to a training plan.  My weekly mileage has been pretty low to none lately.  I can blame it on the heat or just being lazy.  It just seems so easy to put it off another day since October is so far away.  So... I putting it here to keep me honest.  Yoga on Mondays, always.  Tuesday I will run even if it's a bazillion degrees outside.  Promise!

Homemade Iced Coffee Fail

I have a problem.... I love coffee.  I mean, really love coffee.  I enjoy my coffee at home each morning and then bring a travel mug full of coffee goodness with me to work.  By lunchtime, I am craving my next fix.  We have a local coffee shop but they constantly have new employees that probably don't even drink coffee.  I can't imagine... but anyway, they either ring up my order wrong or the espresso has a bitter taste.  So I often get frustrated at the lack of proper coffee shops in my town and look for alternatives.  This morning I tried something new after browsing Pioneer Woman's recipe for iced coffee.  No I didn't follow her recipe.  I tried my own... drum roll.... it's awful.  Actually has a hint of old coffee pot or ashtray somewhere in it.  I made an extra large pot of my normal coffee, enjoyed it with breakfast, prepared travel mug for work, and poured the remainder in a Nalgene bottle.  I topped it with lots of skim milk and vanilla syrup.  So exciting!  Now it's after lunch and I pour my coffee goodness over some ice in my favorite Starbucks plastic tumbler cup.  Hoping that will make it taste like Starbucks iced coffee.  One sip... eh.  Two sips... uh oh.  Three sips... what is that twang? Four sips... ok this is not good.  I accept defeat but I will drink it because that's what a junkie would do.