Sunday, January 30, 2011

Challenge Week 4

HOLY MOLY! I almost ran 100 miles this month! Plus, I am now officially registered to run The Borderfest Half Marathon March 6th, so I'll be attempting to tackle one of my Fitness Goals for 2011 - Run a half marathon in under 2:00 hours.

On another note somehow I didnt realize I got paid yesterday, so all that window shopping I was doing the past two days (eyeing those awesome nike running shorts, tops and gu) was for nothing! Academy, just wait till tomorrow you can have my hard earned money then.

Monday: 8.01 miles
Tuesday: 6.03 miles
Wednesay: 0 miles
Thursday: 3.47 miles Xtrain- Rev Abs
Friday: XTrain - TurboFire HIIT 15/RevAbs
Saturday: 6.2 miles* (10K/PR) :D
Sunday: 9.02 miles

Unless noted with a * all distances ar courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 110. I either forgot my Garmin or needed to charge it.

Total Miles for Week 4
32.73 miles down
904.5 miles to go
95.5 miles - Month of January

I'm having an affair....

We have been together through thick and thin. They have seen me sweaty, at times in tears, and on a rare occasion bloody. Since we started this whirlwind romance, I now feel strong, sexy and powerful. We have made some fantastic memories together and there will be many more to come. No one understands me like they do, I know that whenever I have had a bad day I can home and everthing will be a million times better after we spend some time together.

I just cant hide how I feel anymore so I must confess, that I am having an affair with.... my running shoes.

It's amazing how something as small (for me sz 9 not small) as shoes can make someone else feel like a million bucks.

So here's my question: Do you have an affair with your shoes? And do you replace your shoes every 500 miles as recommended?

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Challenge Week 3

I am slowly hacking aways at this massive goal. I really need to kick it into gear if I plan on running the Borderfest Half Marathon. I have an 8 mile run on schedule for tomorrow. By the looks of it, knocking out 40 miles this week is the plan, guess its time to stop screwing around.

I think I need to take my workout clothes to work so as soon as I get home I can take off.... It gets dark too soon and even with my new headlight I'm still hesitant about running in the dark. I'm afraid El Cucuy is going to get me. Thanks, Mom. I'll be forever scarred with stories of the Boogyman lurking around in the night.

Monday: 6.01 miles
Tuesday: 5.01 miles
Wednesay: 2.38 miles
Thursday: 2 miles */ Xtrain- Rev Abs
Friday: 0 miles/XTrain - RevAbs
Saturday: 3.16 miles (5K/PR) :D
Sunday: 0 miles

Unless noted with a * all distances ar courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 110. I either forgot my Garmin or needed to charge it.

Total Miles for Week 3
18.56 miles down
937.23 miles to go

-Happy Running

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Challenge Week 2

Ok so I have already broken one of my challenges. I seriously wanted to cry! Last Monday, my car decided to take a major poo on me. I had a blow out on my way home from work. I pulled over, somehow managed to jack up my car, got out the spare and the crowbar before someone pulled over and did the hard work for me. Major thanks to all the other chivilrous men who drove on in thier trusty steeds, while I lay stranded on the side of the road. Ok sob story over, well not quite, when I got to the tire store they told me I needed ALL new tires or I would probably have another blowout soon. By the time I got out of the tire store it was to dark to go out. I was soooooo angry, drained and stressed. :(

I will still strive to complete the 1000 mile challenge!

Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 3.08 miles
Wednesday: 4.59 miles
Thursday: 2.36 miles
Friday: 3 miles*
Saturday: 1 mile*
Sunday: 1 mile*

unless noted with a * all distances are courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 110. I forgot my Garmin the other days or it needed to be charged.

Total miles for week 2
15.03 miles down
955.79 miles to go

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Race Recap: The Longest Causeway 10K

Its been a week since The Longest Causeway 10k. It was my first 10k ever and I LOVED IT. I registered online the day before online registration ended. I felt like I trained pretty well. I had a few 7 and 6 miles runs thrown in there as well as some great speed days.

But....on thursday 2 days before the race which was my last speed workout I think I pulled a muscle or bruised the outside of my foot, I was really hurting. I got home and stretched, iced, then put on some IcyHot hoping maybe it was just sore. No such luck. Friday rolled around and was nursing my tenderfoot all day at work. As a teacher, I dont do much sitting around, so Friday was horrible pressure on my poor little baby.

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed half debating staying home because of that little nagging pain. I hoped that once I got the chance to warm up and stretch I wouldnt be so conscious of it. I finally pulled into Port Isabel and still had to make the ride over the bridge. 10k participants had to park at the finish area and be shuttled back to the start of the race. I thought it was pretty cool that it was just a one way race.

Once there I found a couple of friends and we chatted away. My friend Carolyn was running her first 10k ever as well and I think first race in general. She is doing few races, 10k, half marathon, and cycling to ramp up for The Tour De Cure where she'll ride 160 miles for the American Diabetes Association as a Red Rider (a rider with diabetes). She is beyond inspiring. If you are interested in donating to Caroyln's fund for a diabetes cure post a comment and I'll email you her info!

We started lining up and someguy asked me to take a picture of him....I was thinking 'yeah, sure, uh this is wierd' so I did it anyway. While I did the 1, 2, 3 click, he was telling me how he was nervous because this was his first 10k and how he didnt want to walk. I told him this was my first one too and that there was no shame in walking, and said I would if I needed too (I wasnt planning on walking though) which i think he took as an insult :( he sorta smiled and laughed it off. Oh well.

I plugged in my tunage. My Eminem Pandora station has yet to fail me! I was getting all ramped up and boom the race started. I never imagined the race was soooooo big. There were over 3,000 people registered. So I did lots of dodging and side stepping some of the slower runners, until I had comfortable path. I sped through the first mile (under 8:00 min/mi) like always, I need to make a mental note to slow down some at the beginning. Then came the BRIDGE! It was a steady incline for at least 1-2 miles. I could feel the slow burn in quads. And then it turned into a gradual down hill. I was finally crusing, the weather was perfect, overcast and cool. It wasnt till we made the turn on Padre Island Blvd "The Strip" that the sun decided to wreak is revenge on us. I could just feel the sun beating it's evil heat rays on my back. Not nice sun. Not nice at all.

At this point mile 4, I didnt really know my position so I tried to pick off as many female runners as possible. I wanted a medal and the only way to do it was to pass all the ones I could see. I past about 5 or 6 women that way before I settled on the fact I couldnt see any other lady runners. I just pushed on until I could finally see the finish line and was soooooo glad I was getting really tired my legs were starting to feel it, especially my foot.

After I finished I waited and ran the last 200 or so with another one of my friends whom I made during our Team In Training Marathon season. It was her first 10K too. Francis did an amazing job! I am so proud of her and husband Jason for being troopers and driving the 1hr+ to make the race from McAllen.

I saw a big group gathering and had a feeling they put up race results. I had decided that if I didnt place in my division I would leave(Im a party pooper like that), but I had high hopes that I did. I pushed and shoved my way to the front and low and behold. I placed..... 4th in my division in 52:09 (a PR for me!) but NOT good enough to get a medal. I cursed under my breath and left.
It wasnt until the next day where I kicked myself, after really seeing the results, the 3rd place woman in my div. beat me by 10 seconds and we live in the same city. AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Overall it was a great race, there were plenty of water stations, volunteers, and cheering spectators not to mention the course is beautiful. The Queen Isabella Causeways never open to travel over by foot so it really was a fantastic experience to run over looking the gulf. I will totally register again to run it. I had a blast and next year I will get a medal! Thats a promise! I also hope I can redeem myself at Jan 29th's South Texas Sizzler 10K.

Time: 52:09 min
Pace: 8:24 min/mile
Div Place: 4th (20-24)
36th female/200something overall

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Challenge Week 1

Here is the accountablity part of my challenges. I've run at least a mile since the 1st of the month and am steadly chipping away at my 1000 miles challenge.

Saturday Jan 1st 2 miles*
Sunday Jan 2nd 2 miles*
Monday Jan 3rd 6.2 miles
Tuesday Jan 4th 1.31 miles
WednesdyJan 5th 5.21 mile
Thursday Jan 6th 4.18 miles
Friday Jan 7th 1 mile*
Saturday Jan 8th 6.29 miles
Sunday Jan 9th 1 mile*

***unless noted with an * all distances are courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 110. I forgot to run with my Garmin the other days or it needed to be charged. :(

Let see what week 2 has in store and how many more miles I can smash through.

Total for Week 1
29.18 miles down
970.81 miles to go