After taking the week off, I completed my first solo 8 miler. It was 8.22 miles in 1:59:29. (14:32 pace). I did it without an ipod and amazingly didn't go crazy with boredom! What was I thinking about during that time? I have no idea. Sometimes on a downhill, it was how good I felt. On the uphills - I was thinking about Hill Difficulty (Pilgrim's Progress). After 5 miles, why did my face feel funny? (It was dry - there was no more sweat on my face) Was I going to be able to finish after my week off? Then as the sun went down, I just wanted to be back in the neighborhoods again and off the busy street - and why was that guy standing at his doorway just looking out? Is he some pervert that's going to follow me? Then it was relief at finding sprinklers going so I could cool down. The challenge of looking at my map underneath streetlights to find my way - ah! Another sprinkler! I drank the last drop of the water I carried, filled up my bottle from the sprinkler and poured it over my head. Several more pours and I was soaked! I was at the end before I realized it as I had missed a dogleg earlier. I was going to walk the rest of the way, but when I saw my watch said 1:58:02 - I decided to run so I could stand in the same spot I started my watch and stop it officially under 2 hours. :) And I did!
The most amazing thing I've discovered is: it's no big deal to go out and run/walk 8 miles. All I have to do is pick a route and go do it! It's only one step at a time! Literally!
On another note, I was surfing and found video online from a Prefontaine movie. They showed a rock, apparently at the place Pre died, painted with the date of his death. 5-30-75. I checked another website and confirmed that is the date Prefontaine died in the early morning hours. I am taking this as confirmation that running is something I'm supposed to do. I was born on 5-30-75.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
A little Seafood & a little ER...
This past weekend was the Seafood Festival 5K. Even with Tropical Depression #10 headed straight to Pensacola, I was determined to run as the Seafood Festival was my first 5K ever last year. :) And yes, I was even going to run with my dear daughter, rain or shine. :)
At 3:30 am - it was pouring! But by 5 am it had stopped and the radar showed the worst of it was over. The race was gorgeous with a great cool breeze - much, much cooler than the Seafood 5K of last year!
I was talked into becoming a coach at the last minute (right at the starting line) and tried to coach two fellow Galloway runners, Lou & Christine to a sub 40 minute finish - but none of us made it! My time ended up being 41:32 - worse than my first run ever of last year... BUT none of that compares with helping Lou & Christine make it to the finish line in just over 42 minutes!
I do know one thing, though. I am NOT a natural coach! I can't think of anything encouraging to say - and felt like everything I said probably only made their run worse!
But - I was the first stroller to finish - probably thanks to the Tropical Depression and lower turnout. :) Still, it was nice to dream that maybe they'd have a stroller division one day. :)
That was Saturday and Sunday morning I awoke, took my walk, did all my wifely and mother duties all day long and went to bed exhausted. (Can you really feel like you've done well in a day if you DON'T go to bed exhausted?) - only to wake up at 3:30 am with a nasty, nasty bug! Yep, had to call my babysitter to come get my daughter while my husband took me to the ER!
Needless to say, I was off of work Monday and Tuesday and did not get my first run in this week. :) I'm still rather weak and am facing a 7.5 mile Trail run this weekend. But - despite Eden's 2nd Birthday Party on Saturday, and the fact that her best friend will be spending the night on Friday - I am still going to go to the run. :) Bugspray and scenery. yippee! I'll just take it slow - but one step at a time, we'll get there!
(Didn't I say that it would be all of the off-road events - not the on-road ones - that would be the challenges?)
At 3:30 am - it was pouring! But by 5 am it had stopped and the radar showed the worst of it was over. The race was gorgeous with a great cool breeze - much, much cooler than the Seafood 5K of last year!
I was talked into becoming a coach at the last minute (right at the starting line) and tried to coach two fellow Galloway runners, Lou & Christine to a sub 40 minute finish - but none of us made it! My time ended up being 41:32 - worse than my first run ever of last year... BUT none of that compares with helping Lou & Christine make it to the finish line in just over 42 minutes!
I do know one thing, though. I am NOT a natural coach! I can't think of anything encouraging to say - and felt like everything I said probably only made their run worse!
But - I was the first stroller to finish - probably thanks to the Tropical Depression and lower turnout. :) Still, it was nice to dream that maybe they'd have a stroller division one day. :)
That was Saturday and Sunday morning I awoke, took my walk, did all my wifely and mother duties all day long and went to bed exhausted. (Can you really feel like you've done well in a day if you DON'T go to bed exhausted?) - only to wake up at 3:30 am with a nasty, nasty bug! Yep, had to call my babysitter to come get my daughter while my husband took me to the ER!
Needless to say, I was off of work Monday and Tuesday and did not get my first run in this week. :) I'm still rather weak and am facing a 7.5 mile Trail run this weekend. But - despite Eden's 2nd Birthday Party on Saturday, and the fact that her best friend will be spending the night on Friday - I am still going to go to the run. :) Bugspray and scenery. yippee! I'll just take it slow - but one step at a time, we'll get there!
(Didn't I say that it would be all of the off-road events - not the on-road ones - that would be the challenges?)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Just out for a walk...
Today I was deeply mired in the Slough of Despond - but went for a 50 minute walk just before sunset and it really cleared the cobwebs out of my head. Jeff Galloway told me that forward motion helps the mind stay positive. I'm even considering leaving work to go home, eat dinner at home, do some laundry and get prepared for my 30 minute run in the morning. We're assigned certain pages out of the Galloway Training book to read and I have a lot of catch-up reading to do as I haven't done it for 3 weeks!
I've been in the habit of running my weekday runs at the same pace as my weekend runs. And that will keep me a slow runner. I need to up the pace, add acceleration gliders, do the turnover drills, and aim for a 2:1 interval on Mondays and Wednesdays. (I found out on Saturday that I was the only one in my pace group who wasn't doing 2:1s during the week.)
So, I think I will head home, move the laundry ahead, make some dinner, and curl up to read and plan my workouts for the week. Keep moving!
I've been in the habit of running my weekday runs at the same pace as my weekend runs. And that will keep me a slow runner. I need to up the pace, add acceleration gliders, do the turnover drills, and aim for a 2:1 interval on Mondays and Wednesdays. (I found out on Saturday that I was the only one in my pace group who wasn't doing 2:1s during the week.)
So, I think I will head home, move the laundry ahead, make some dinner, and curl up to read and plan my workouts for the week. Keep moving!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Still in the Running
It's a bit of an understatement to say life has been busy. It has been full-out non-stop at home and at work. (Well, truthfully, home has taken a back seat to work. It's Saturday today and I'm about to go back to work for the 2nd time today. ) The biggest blessing is that my daughter is with my in-laws right now. That's the only reason I have the time to pause and post my first blog in two weeks.
I may have paused in my blogging, but I haven't paused in my running. I ran my 2nd solo run last weekend in Huntsville, Alabama (where my in-laws live) running 6 miles in 1 hour and 24 minutes. (a 14:06 pace) The scenery was great. The hills were much bigger than anything in Florida, and the feeling of accomplishment was wonderful. It's SO easy to just go out there and do it when you don't allow the mental back-and-forth of "Should I? But I don't want to..." I don't have time for mental indecision. Life's too busy. Get out there and run, or go do the laundry. (I'd rather run.)
With my dear daughter out of town, I joined the Galloway group for the run this morning. I am so glad I did. All of the reasons I want to run with the group were in effect this morning: motivation to get the run in early in the weekend, people to talk to during the run, running a new route I've never run before. We ran 6.9 miles in 1 hour & 45 minutes. (A 15:11 pace.) I'd never run the Barrancas Bridge before - that was impressive.
The best moment of the run was when a co-runner (who shall remain anonymous) enlightened another member of the group as to why she had fallen behind several blocks before, "I HAD TO PEE!" ... and then she realized she'd left her shirt behind, too. :) At least it got your mind off of the run. :)
A show of my committment came when it was 8 am and I was supposed to be on a conference call for work - but I was still on Pace Blvd just about to turn to Garden Street. Not knowing the planned mileage for the day until we were already on the run, I had thought we would've been done before 8. But I improvised, pulling out my cell phone, dialing the conference call number, and participating in the call while running down Garden Street. (I also went straight to my cubicle after the run and worked for several hours before going home for lunch and a shower. It's a good thing no one is there on Saturdays. I wouldn't have made many friends the way I smelled!)
But this is a great example of what my half-marathon training is all about: setting a goal, achieving it one day at a time, improvising when necessary, and not giving up! I'm not doing it perfectly (only put in one weekday run instead of two for the past two weeks) but I haven't given up either. I was still out there this morning and 7 miles is 7 miles and something to be proud about. Keep running!
I may have paused in my blogging, but I haven't paused in my running. I ran my 2nd solo run last weekend in Huntsville, Alabama (where my in-laws live) running 6 miles in 1 hour and 24 minutes. (a 14:06 pace) The scenery was great. The hills were much bigger than anything in Florida, and the feeling of accomplishment was wonderful. It's SO easy to just go out there and do it when you don't allow the mental back-and-forth of "Should I? But I don't want to..." I don't have time for mental indecision. Life's too busy. Get out there and run, or go do the laundry. (I'd rather run.)
With my dear daughter out of town, I joined the Galloway group for the run this morning. I am so glad I did. All of the reasons I want to run with the group were in effect this morning: motivation to get the run in early in the weekend, people to talk to during the run, running a new route I've never run before. We ran 6.9 miles in 1 hour & 45 minutes. (A 15:11 pace.) I'd never run the Barrancas Bridge before - that was impressive.
The best moment of the run was when a co-runner (who shall remain anonymous) enlightened another member of the group as to why she had fallen behind several blocks before, "I HAD TO PEE!" ... and then she realized she'd left her shirt behind, too. :) At least it got your mind off of the run. :)
A show of my committment came when it was 8 am and I was supposed to be on a conference call for work - but I was still on Pace Blvd just about to turn to Garden Street. Not knowing the planned mileage for the day until we were already on the run, I had thought we would've been done before 8. But I improvised, pulling out my cell phone, dialing the conference call number, and participating in the call while running down Garden Street. (I also went straight to my cubicle after the run and worked for several hours before going home for lunch and a shower. It's a good thing no one is there on Saturdays. I wouldn't have made many friends the way I smelled!)
But this is a great example of what my half-marathon training is all about: setting a goal, achieving it one day at a time, improvising when necessary, and not giving up! I'm not doing it perfectly (only put in one weekday run instead of two for the past two weeks) but I haven't given up either. I was still out there this morning and 7 miles is 7 miles and something to be proud about. Keep running!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Solo at Sunset
Yesterday I ran my first solo run. I searched for local routes at www.usatf.org/routes and picked one that was four miles. I packed Eden up after her nap and we drove down to the end of Palafox. I'd never been to the end of Palafox before. I didn't know that it's a nice little park where people go fishing and you can walk on the pier. I ran from there to the beginning of the Gulf Breeze-Pensacola bridge.
The first mile was very hard. My calves were tight and my feet were hurting. Wednesday had been my last run - so this was four days later. Maybe I waited too long? Or maybe I went out too fast? I greatly shortened my stride both running and walking - and after the first 20 minutes were over, it wasn't so difficult.
It was hot! And the little breeze that was there was going the same direction I was - so I couldn't feel it at all! :) I thought running on the water would affort a bit of breeze - but it was just hot and still. I made it to the bridge after 30 minutes and it was just neat to nod "hi" to the people fishing and think to myself, "I made it all the way over here on my own two feet!" The sun disappeared behind the clouds just after I turned around, so we weren't blinded by a sunset as we made our way back. (And now the breeze was not going my way, so I got to enjoy it a bit!)
Eden literally had her dinner on the run! She ate 1/2 of a PB&J during mile 1. Lima beans during mile 2. The 2nd half of the PB&J on mile 3 and topped it off with way too many grapes on mile 4. Yep, she was happy!
I had brought my iPod and put it on at mile 3 - but I couldn't hear her if she talked to me - so I turned it off. But I gave her a hand-held tape recorder with her sitter, Mary, singing songs on it - so we were jamming to "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" as we ran down Main Street.
All in all it was a good run. The surprising thing is that I did it. I really went out there, got in the car, drove to my run, and ran it! I made the route, made the appointment with myself, arranged my day around it, and did it! I feel like Eden who constantly says now, "I did it! Mommy, I did it!" :) I do have to thank the Galloway Group for helping me see the importance of getting out of my neighborhood and running new routes. It removes the mental cobwebs.
Maybe, just maybe, I can do this thing on my own. (And maybe my nutrition will catch up with my aspirations, too!) Thank you for your support.
The first mile was very hard. My calves were tight and my feet were hurting. Wednesday had been my last run - so this was four days later. Maybe I waited too long? Or maybe I went out too fast? I greatly shortened my stride both running and walking - and after the first 20 minutes were over, it wasn't so difficult.
It was hot! And the little breeze that was there was going the same direction I was - so I couldn't feel it at all! :) I thought running on the water would affort a bit of breeze - but it was just hot and still. I made it to the bridge after 30 minutes and it was just neat to nod "hi" to the people fishing and think to myself, "I made it all the way over here on my own two feet!" The sun disappeared behind the clouds just after I turned around, so we weren't blinded by a sunset as we made our way back. (And now the breeze was not going my way, so I got to enjoy it a bit!)
Eden literally had her dinner on the run! She ate 1/2 of a PB&J during mile 1. Lima beans during mile 2. The 2nd half of the PB&J on mile 3 and topped it off with way too many grapes on mile 4. Yep, she was happy!
I had brought my iPod and put it on at mile 3 - but I couldn't hear her if she talked to me - so I turned it off. But I gave her a hand-held tape recorder with her sitter, Mary, singing songs on it - so we were jamming to "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" as we ran down Main Street.
All in all it was a good run. The surprising thing is that I did it. I really went out there, got in the car, drove to my run, and ran it! I made the route, made the appointment with myself, arranged my day around it, and did it! I feel like Eden who constantly says now, "I did it! Mommy, I did it!" :) I do have to thank the Galloway Group for helping me see the importance of getting out of my neighborhood and running new routes. It removes the mental cobwebs.
Maybe, just maybe, I can do this thing on my own. (And maybe my nutrition will catch up with my aspirations, too!) Thank you for your support.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)