Another month, done!!
First, totals for March:
Running - 104 miles (New PR!!!), 997 minutes
Spinning - 4 classes, 240 minutes
BodyPump - 3 classes, 180 minutes
Yoga - 30 minutes
Walking - 120 minutes
Elliptical - 20 minutes
Biking - 125 minutes
Swimming - 20 minutes
Total Time Exercising: 1692 minutes, aka 28.2 hours!! Whoa!
Races: Half Marathon: 1:52:50 (PR!), 10K
Rest days: 5!
I am veryyyy happy with my March!!! My goals were to cut down on rest days, and I cut them in HALF, and to add more crosstraining, which I clearly did! Meeting goals makes me very happy!!! So I will make a goal for April: add more swimming!!! I plan to run my first sprint tri in July, so I need to start improving on my swimming.
1st Quarter 2010:
I ran exactly 300 miles in the first 3 months of 2010! Awesome! I am overall just really happy with my fitness level right now. I am probably in the best shape I've ever been, including my high school track years. I just didn't care back then like I do now!
Happy April!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
My Second Half Marathon!
Ok, here is my RR:
Pre Race: Woke up around 8am and my stomach was in knots! I had DF go get me a wheat bagel from DD so I could get some food in my stomach. I ended up clearing my entire system out (gross sorry lol) and still felt so nervous!! I don't know why I'm always so nervous before races, must be all the pressure I put on myself. Anyways, so I had my bagel around 9 and then go ready and left around 10. I was going by myself, which I was kinda sad about but oh well. I found the place pretty easily and got my bib and really nice technical long sleeved t! Then I went to the bathroom, twice and just nervously wandered around and warmed up a bit lol We lined up at the start around 10:45 and then stood around until 11:12 according to my garmin, when we were finally off!
Race: I started pretty much on my goal pace, which was under 9mm. I knew there were some crazy miles coming up so I wanted to conserve, but also stay on pace for the parts that weren't hilly. So my first mile was 8:59, hows that for on goal pace! lol the second mile started to incline a bit but I still managed to stay on pace with an 8:55 mile. The next mile was the hardest by far. It was pretty much a constant climb, and not just a slow climb, one part was probably the steepest hill I've ever run up and I even had to stop and walk a few steps twice. I was pretty worried at that point, thinking how was I going to make it!! I still finished that mile at 9:36, which made me feel a little better because I hadn't lost that much time and I knew I could make it up on the downhills I was promised! Mile 4 continued the uphill climb, with a few more steep hills but nothing like mile 3! I finished that mile at 8:56, feeling pretty good since the tough part was over!
The next few miles flew by for me as they were mostly downhill. I was careful not to take it too fast, but felt really comfortable at an 8:30 pace. I slowly started passing people who had worked too hard on the hills, which felt good!
Here were my splits miles 5-10:
Mile 5: 8:30
Mile 6: 8:15 (lots of downhill if I remember!)
Mile 7: 8:30
Mile 8: 8:27
Mile 9: 8:32
Mile 10: 8:34
At this point I was ecstatic! I knew I only had a 5K left and was for sure smashing my previous PR, just was a matter of how much!! At mile 11 we started up the last hill and I decided to pass the girl I was hanging behind for most of the race, which was a good move because I finished the mile at 8:34 and was ahead of her by a bit so I'm glad I didn't stay where I was. Mile 12 I decided to pick up my pace a bit. I was tired, but I wanted to finish with nothing left in the tank and do the best I could! There were a few downhill places so it seemed pretty easy to finish the mile at 8:17. The last mile I felt awesome. I started passing people left and right! I passed a group of three guy and they pushed me to go faster and pass the next girl I could see. Not only did I pass her, but I passed a few other guys and started after the next girl. I finished mile 13 at an unbelievable (for me) 7:44!!! Seriously that is better than my 5K PR pace and after 12 other fast miles!! I sprinted the last .1 at a 7:36 pace and definitely did finish with nothing in the tank!! I finished with an 8:37 pace at 1:52:50, a PR by 7 minutes and 36 seconds. I couldn't beleive it!!! I wondered around with a huge smile on my face. Everyone was probably wondering who this crazy limping happy lady was! lol
What I learned from this race is: I am a lot stronger and faster than I ever thought I was and I can surely push myself beyond what I think my body is capable of!!
Now seriously, how can I get a faster 5K time?? lol I definitely think it's a mind block thing...
Pre Race: Woke up around 8am and my stomach was in knots! I had DF go get me a wheat bagel from DD so I could get some food in my stomach. I ended up clearing my entire system out (gross sorry lol) and still felt so nervous!! I don't know why I'm always so nervous before races, must be all the pressure I put on myself. Anyways, so I had my bagel around 9 and then go ready and left around 10. I was going by myself, which I was kinda sad about but oh well. I found the place pretty easily and got my bib and really nice technical long sleeved t! Then I went to the bathroom, twice and just nervously wandered around and warmed up a bit lol We lined up at the start around 10:45 and then stood around until 11:12 according to my garmin, when we were finally off!
Race: I started pretty much on my goal pace, which was under 9mm. I knew there were some crazy miles coming up so I wanted to conserve, but also stay on pace for the parts that weren't hilly. So my first mile was 8:59, hows that for on goal pace! lol the second mile started to incline a bit but I still managed to stay on pace with an 8:55 mile. The next mile was the hardest by far. It was pretty much a constant climb, and not just a slow climb, one part was probably the steepest hill I've ever run up and I even had to stop and walk a few steps twice. I was pretty worried at that point, thinking how was I going to make it!! I still finished that mile at 9:36, which made me feel a little better because I hadn't lost that much time and I knew I could make it up on the downhills I was promised! Mile 4 continued the uphill climb, with a few more steep hills but nothing like mile 3! I finished that mile at 8:56, feeling pretty good since the tough part was over!
The next few miles flew by for me as they were mostly downhill. I was careful not to take it too fast, but felt really comfortable at an 8:30 pace. I slowly started passing people who had worked too hard on the hills, which felt good!
Here were my splits miles 5-10:
Mile 5: 8:30
Mile 6: 8:15 (lots of downhill if I remember!)
Mile 7: 8:30
Mile 8: 8:27
Mile 9: 8:32
Mile 10: 8:34
At this point I was ecstatic! I knew I only had a 5K left and was for sure smashing my previous PR, just was a matter of how much!! At mile 11 we started up the last hill and I decided to pass the girl I was hanging behind for most of the race, which was a good move because I finished the mile at 8:34 and was ahead of her by a bit so I'm glad I didn't stay where I was. Mile 12 I decided to pick up my pace a bit. I was tired, but I wanted to finish with nothing left in the tank and do the best I could! There were a few downhill places so it seemed pretty easy to finish the mile at 8:17. The last mile I felt awesome. I started passing people left and right! I passed a group of three guy and they pushed me to go faster and pass the next girl I could see. Not only did I pass her, but I passed a few other guys and started after the next girl. I finished mile 13 at an unbelievable (for me) 7:44!!! Seriously that is better than my 5K PR pace and after 12 other fast miles!! I sprinted the last .1 at a 7:36 pace and definitely did finish with nothing in the tank!! I finished with an 8:37 pace at 1:52:50, a PR by 7 minutes and 36 seconds. I couldn't beleive it!!! I wondered around with a huge smile on my face. Everyone was probably wondering who this crazy limping happy lady was! lol
What I learned from this race is: I am a lot stronger and faster than I ever thought I was and I can surely push myself beyond what I think my body is capable of!!
Now seriously, how can I get a faster 5K time?? lol I definitely think it's a mind block thing...
Friday, March 26, 2010
Bike!
I finally bought a bike tonight! Here it is:
It's a Specialized Vita in Dark Blue!! It's a pretty blue, looks almost purple :) They had to get one in my size from another store, so we pick it up at noon tomorrow! Can't wait to get it on the road!!!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Taper Madness!
The past 2 weeks have been rough running. Last week I only ran 14.2 miles because I was having some knee pain and my half was only 2 weeks away. This week is taper week, so I only have 11 miles before the half Sunday.
On Saturday I ran a 10K, slowly. After that, the outside of my knees were killing me and I found out that was my IT band. So I went and got a foam roller and have been using that religiously since! Must not have pain on race day!
I ran 3 miles yesterday after 2 days off and my legs were actually sore after 3 miles! I thought it was insane! Especially since I took them so easy. Today I ran another 3 miles and ran a bit faster and I'm not feeling sore now, but we'll see how I feel in the morning!
I feel like all of this is related: Taper Madness. I'm paranoid that the few miles I'm running is not enough and I'm going to run horribly on Sunday. I'm paranoid that I'm hurt/will get hurt and therefore EVERYTHING is hurting!
I guess the only thing I can do is CALM DOWN and hope that everything works out! I did my training. I ran most of my long runs. Clearly, I put wayy too much pressure on myself!!
4 days left!
On Saturday I ran a 10K, slowly. After that, the outside of my knees were killing me and I found out that was my IT band. So I went and got a foam roller and have been using that religiously since! Must not have pain on race day!
I ran 3 miles yesterday after 2 days off and my legs were actually sore after 3 miles! I thought it was insane! Especially since I took them so easy. Today I ran another 3 miles and ran a bit faster and I'm not feeling sore now, but we'll see how I feel in the morning!
I feel like all of this is related: Taper Madness. I'm paranoid that the few miles I'm running is not enough and I'm going to run horribly on Sunday. I'm paranoid that I'm hurt/will get hurt and therefore EVERYTHING is hurting!
I guess the only thing I can do is CALM DOWN and hope that everything works out! I did my training. I ran most of my long runs. Clearly, I put wayy too much pressure on myself!!
4 days left!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
St. Patrick's Day 10K
Ran my second 10K today. My goals for this race were to use it as a training run, not to run fast and to have fun. Sounds like that should be easy, but I have a hard time slowing down sometimes!! My "A" race, a half marathon, is in 8 days, so I wanted to stay injury free for that!
The race didn't start until 1pm, so my SIL came over around around 9:30 and we took our time getting there. There were 5K people running so we wanted to find a parking spot early! I had a wheat bagel when we got there around 10. We went and picked up our race number and t-shirts and then just walked around for a few hours. Got a free donut whole from the Dunkin Donuts truck and just enjoyed the amazing weather!!
We lined up at the starting line around 12:30. It was hot. 70 degrees on March 20th, when it was just in the 40s a week earlier is definitely way too warm when your not used to it!! I was sweating before we even lined up and being surrounded by 5K people made it even worse! Plus, I could feel the sun beating down and felt thirsty before we started. Not a good thing!!
The gun went off at 1 and we were off! Well sorta. lol we all started running and then stopped abruptly lol not sure what that was all about! We started at an easy pace and it felt nice to just relax. Usually I would have been weaving all over the place trying to pass people. Thankfully my SIL reminded me that I was taking it easy :)
After mile 1, it all went uphill.. literally! The first hill wasn't TOO bad, but the heat just made it so much worse! The sun was beating down since it was at the top of the sky. We missed the first waterstop and saw a ton of cups everywhere and were really upset since we were so thirsty! We slowed down a bit and hoped for a downhill soon. HA! It flattened out a bit, only before turning into another huge hill! The hill was deceptive because it took a turn, where you couldn't see past and we thought that was the end, but it just kept on going! SIL needed to stop and walk a bit so we did. Finally we got to another water stop, but had to STAND IN LINE for water!! I have never had to do that before!! I don't think they realized how thirsty everyone would be.
We kept on trucking up hills and on short flat parts. Then came the mile long down hill at mile 4. About halfway through, my knee started hurting so we walked a bit until another water stop, where we had to wait in line again!! The last 1.2 miles was pretty flat and fast. We were so tired and overheated that we were so thankful to see the finish line as we turned the last corner to run the last .2!! I won't even say how long the race took us lol
We both walked out of there saying we would never run the race again, but I'm sure that will change next year :)
The race didn't start until 1pm, so my SIL came over around around 9:30 and we took our time getting there. There were 5K people running so we wanted to find a parking spot early! I had a wheat bagel when we got there around 10. We went and picked up our race number and t-shirts and then just walked around for a few hours. Got a free donut whole from the Dunkin Donuts truck and just enjoyed the amazing weather!!
We lined up at the starting line around 12:30. It was hot. 70 degrees on March 20th, when it was just in the 40s a week earlier is definitely way too warm when your not used to it!! I was sweating before we even lined up and being surrounded by 5K people made it even worse! Plus, I could feel the sun beating down and felt thirsty before we started. Not a good thing!!
The gun went off at 1 and we were off! Well sorta. lol we all started running and then stopped abruptly lol not sure what that was all about! We started at an easy pace and it felt nice to just relax. Usually I would have been weaving all over the place trying to pass people. Thankfully my SIL reminded me that I was taking it easy :)
After mile 1, it all went uphill.. literally! The first hill wasn't TOO bad, but the heat just made it so much worse! The sun was beating down since it was at the top of the sky. We missed the first waterstop and saw a ton of cups everywhere and were really upset since we were so thirsty! We slowed down a bit and hoped for a downhill soon. HA! It flattened out a bit, only before turning into another huge hill! The hill was deceptive because it took a turn, where you couldn't see past and we thought that was the end, but it just kept on going! SIL needed to stop and walk a bit so we did. Finally we got to another water stop, but had to STAND IN LINE for water!! I have never had to do that before!! I don't think they realized how thirsty everyone would be.
We kept on trucking up hills and on short flat parts. Then came the mile long down hill at mile 4. About halfway through, my knee started hurting so we walked a bit until another water stop, where we had to wait in line again!! The last 1.2 miles was pretty flat and fast. We were so tired and overheated that we were so thankful to see the finish line as we turned the last corner to run the last .2!! I won't even say how long the race took us lol
We both walked out of there saying we would never run the race again, but I'm sure that will change next year :)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Cross Training
I love running. That's no secret! A few months ago, I only ran. I ran 4 days a week and took 3 full rest days every week. CRAZY!
When I got a gym membership at the beginning of the year, I made a goal to see how many days in a row I could work out. Now obviously I can't suddenly go from running 4 days a week to 7, so I started crosstraining. Although I finally had to give myself a full rest day after 3 weeks, I fell in love with crosstraining as well as running!
Now, I'm a huge fan of double workout days! On Monday, I ran 4 miles in the morning and took a spinning class in the evening. Today I walked for 30 min (2 miles) on my lunch break and took a BodyPump class tonight. It's amazing how much my body can handle now. After BodyPump, I even felt like I hadn't really done enough working out for the day! Ha!
Anyways, next I want to try swimming. I have horrible stamina in the water but I'd like to do something about that! I may even need a few swimming lessons! The goal will be to be able to do a sprint tri this summer (since I always need a goal!). The one I have in mind only has a 1/4 mile swim so I feel like this goal is reasonable. This also means I need a road bike!
For now, I'm having fun piecing together a training plan! I'm still going to maintain the amount of running I'm doing, but build on the swim and bike portions using beginner tri plans I have found.
P.S. I like researching/creating training plans almost as much as executing them! haha :)
When I got a gym membership at the beginning of the year, I made a goal to see how many days in a row I could work out. Now obviously I can't suddenly go from running 4 days a week to 7, so I started crosstraining. Although I finally had to give myself a full rest day after 3 weeks, I fell in love with crosstraining as well as running!
Now, I'm a huge fan of double workout days! On Monday, I ran 4 miles in the morning and took a spinning class in the evening. Today I walked for 30 min (2 miles) on my lunch break and took a BodyPump class tonight. It's amazing how much my body can handle now. After BodyPump, I even felt like I hadn't really done enough working out for the day! Ha!
Anyways, next I want to try swimming. I have horrible stamina in the water but I'd like to do something about that! I may even need a few swimming lessons! The goal will be to be able to do a sprint tri this summer (since I always need a goal!). The one I have in mind only has a 1/4 mile swim so I feel like this goal is reasonable. This also means I need a road bike!
For now, I'm having fun piecing together a training plan! I'm still going to maintain the amount of running I'm doing, but build on the swim and bike portions using beginner tri plans I have found.
P.S. I like researching/creating training plans almost as much as executing them! haha :)
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