Pre/Post Thanksgiving Runs

Christy and I met up early for an easy run to start our Thanksgiving Day festivities. It was also our first run since the half marathon. It was nothing extraordinary just a nice easy run - 3.69 miles

Saturday we headed to Starkey Park for a bigger run in hopes of working off some of those Turkey day calories. It was a very brisk 40 degrees which is great running weather... once you get warmed up.

8 miles @ 9:41 average pace - I was a disappointed with this average but realized that our first warm up mile really slowed our overall pace. It was hard to loosen up and get warm in such cool temps but the remaining miles were very consistent and much quicker than any of my recent runs - faster pace by almost 30 seconds!

1-10:17

2-9:46

3-9:31

4-9:30

5-9:28

6-9:47

7-9:40

8-9:27

Women's Running Half Marathon

I am pleased to announce that I have completed my first Half Marathon! And even more pleased to announce that I would actually do it again ;)

RACE: A+ Incredibly organized, awesome goodie bag that included pink Crocs, very cool medals and great post-race treats. I am so happy with this event and I would definitely recommend it. There were more than enough water stops, two fueling stations and a tremendous turnout of excited, supportive and funny spectators - including our very own Strider President and cheerleader/photographer extraordinaire, David.

COURSE: I found the course to be very beautiful but a little more challenging than I expected. There was a good portion of the course that was old, uneven brick so we opted to run on the sidewalk - I was definitely trying to find the lesser of two evils. Despite that, the first 8 miles went by quickly and easily. My struggle began on mile 9 which was a slight incline (probably a 3% on a treadmill) the entire way - clear evidence that I'm a spoiled, sea-level Florida runner. This was also about the time that my very old shoes (no, I still have not been able to find new shoes!) began to feel like they were filled with hot coals. Mile 10 the sun came out but shortly after we were lucky enough to run inside Tropicana Field on the outfield. It was a very cool experience metaphorically and thanks to the a/c, literally as well. The last two miles were miserable for me and even in the homestretch I found myself feeling exhausted and defeated. Thanks goodness for Christy and her constant encouragement.

RECAP: I fueled at miles 4, 8 and 10 which worked very well. Adjusting and accelerating my training program did not. This is a BIG issue for my training in general and I plan to follow directions better while training for next season. I'm so glad that I participated in this race and I look forward to taking the lessons I've learned from this experience and improving in my next Half Marathon.

Treadmilling

This morning when my 4 year old daughter saw me sweaty and gross in gym clothes she asked if I had been "treadmilling?" Hilarious, right? Yup, I'm totally stealing that. Anyway, I had a good time treadmilling this morning at the Y. Pretty easy 5 miles.

Run: 5 miles

1 mile warm up @ 10:00

3 miles @ 9:13

1 mile cool down @ 10:00

Last ditch effort

This morning was my final long run before next weekend's Women's Half Marathon. I unexpectedly had to go out of town this week so my training was pretty much non-existent. I squeezed in a quick 3 miles after my flight arrived in PA on Tuesday but that was it and I was very nervous about today's run. Turns out, I was nervous for no reason! Christy, Dana and I met the Strider's for our usual Saturday run. The weather was perfect, the sun came up quickly and it was a solid run. I think we stopped for 5 water breaks and fueled at miles 4 and 7-ish. I felt great until the last mile and then the aches started to set in. I think I've found the right shoes to get so hopefully come race day my feet will hold up a little better.

I am most impressed with our pace - we shaved 5:47 off of last week's 12 miler and we weren't even trying to! I wanted to run at an easy 10:30 pace for two reasons:

1. I increased my mileage by more than the suggested 10% and I was concerned about injuries.

2. I wanted to keep it easy to ensure I could complete the mileage.

Now that I have some mileage under my belt, I can think about increasing the pace for Gasparilla.

Dear Shoe Companies,

Stop "updating" your shoes! You advertised them as great shoes last year so what was there to change?!

The Asics from my previous post were a bust. I anxiously awaited their arrival anticipating a cushioned, foot friendly run in my future but I was met with a huge disappointment. Although they are the same brand, same style and named Gel Kayano 15's instead of 14's, they were a completely different shoe. They looked and fit totally different. Boo. So my shoe quest continues...

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12... TWELVE! Muah-ah-ah

All about the numbers:

12 miles

2 hours

8 minutes

1511 calories

5 water stops

2 Gu's (which is 2 too many IMO)

1 great friend...

equals 1 triumphant run!

I'm thrilled to have 12 miles under my belt and happy to report that it was actually a pretty good run. The first six miles were easy, the next four miles were a little tough and the last two miles were miserable. I never felt like it was a cardio challenge and thankfully my legs felt relatively strong during the run, it was my shoes that did me in. I've been trying for a couple weeks to find a new pair but it's been very frustrating. I found out that my favorite Brooks Adrenaline's have too much support for my over pronation and the next shoe in line was the Brooks Infinity but the tow box was an odd fit and I was plagued with blisters. I ended up in a pair of Asic Gel Kayano 14's that I bought last year and never really wore that much. They weren't my favorite shoes then but they've served me well this season and pretty much wore them into the ground. After this 12 miler, I decided I HAD to get a fresh new pair but the best online store in the universe, Zappos, didn't have them in my size. I upgraded to the Gel Kayano 15's though, so hopefully my weary little feet will be pleased.

Hypothesis confirmed!

I have been adamant that my treadmill at home is much harder than any of the mills at the Y or running outside. I don't notice that much of a difference in speed but the elevation feels like a 2.5 or 3% incline. Which is a good thing in the grand scheme of things but not while I'm struggling through this half marathon program (more on this later). So this week, I put my theory to the test. Tuesday morning I attempted 12 x 400 with 90 second recovery at 9:22 on my mill. I only managed 6 intervals and had to walk most of the recoveries. It was brutal. My lungs were on fire, my legs were trembling and my brain was throbbing. Today I headed to the Y for a 5 x 800 @ 9:13 and viola - no issues. It felt exactly like what an interval run is supposed to feel like: challenging but possible. Interval 4 was tough and 5 was VERY tough but I completed it. So I was able to run longer, faster intervals on the Y mill without feeling like I was going to be sick and/or pass out.

Run - 5 miles

1 mile warmup

5 x 800 @ 9:13 with 400 recovery

10 minute cool down

It was nice to actually follow the schedule and complete the task at hand because those runs have been few and far between lately. Now I admit, starting the program in the middle and skipping every other week due to time constraints was probably not my smartest idea and I'm definitely paying for it. I now realize that I wasn't even close to being physically prepared to jump into the middle of the program. Additionally, trying and failing to do these advanced workouts has left me feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. So even though I'm just a few weeks from the half, I have decided to revaluate my training. I started over at week 1, day 1. I know that I can finish the half today if I had to and I don't have a PR to worry about so any benefit I get out of the remaining interval and tempo runs will be a bonus.

update

Thursday run - only 4 of 7 miles completed.

Saturday run - 6 very hard, slow miles.

10 miles!

Ten great miles on Sunday night! I was a little nervous about the run because my foot was really hurting from the 5k the night before. To my surprise, it ended up being a better run than I expected. Christy and Dana were fun running partners and very good company. We had two water breaks at miles 3.75 and 8. The last 2 miles were a bit of a mental battle so they were a little slower but our average pace for the 10 miles was much faster than I anticipated especially considering the traffic we had to dodge.

10 miles - 10:19 pace

1 - 10:06

2 - 9:52

3 - 10:06

4 - 10:22

5 - 10:08

6 - 10:24

7 - 10:39

8 - 10:31

9 - 10:46

10 - 10:33

Disney's Tower of Terror 5k

Team AthLeeT

Signing the guest registry

Since this was the last year Disney will be hosting the Tower of Terror race, I'm happy we did it but I understand why it's being replaced next year. It was organized and fun but I didn't feel like Disney really drove home the theme. I was expecting a spooky run through the park but the only special thing about the run was that it started at 10:30 p.m. - which wasn't a perk for me. The after party and zero waiting time for the rides was the real highlight.

The real mystery of the night was my run. How is it possible that my runs are faster and easier after I swim and bike? If I ran an 8:48 pace at the Longleaf Tri, wouldn't it be safe to assume that I would be a little bit faster when I just had to run? Not so much. This was a tough run for me and I ended up with another 8:48 average pace. I'm pleased with my time considering it was waaaaay past my bedtime and my first run since the tri but I guess I was expecting it to be easier. Overall it was a good night though.