Week 11 (delayed post)

Week  11 already?  Which means less than 5 weeks till the race.  Man how time flies.  As I noted in my previous post, my running was less than par last week.  I mentally prepared myself for the 11 miler we had coming up on Saturday morning.  I was not familiar with the route, but figured it was only 3 right turns, it couldn't be too difficult to follow.  When the run begin (btw, the group has gotten pretty small the last couple weeks... where have my running buddies gone??) I was chatting with one of the running coaches.  He was wearing a bright yellow shirt, and I told him as long as he stayed in front of me, I can probably just zone out and follow the yellow blur and I'll be ok.  Little did I know that was actually pretty true for my running habits.  Not so much the yellow shirt, but I run a lot better on trails than I do on streets because I can zone out on trails.  We started on the C&O trail which became the Crescent Trail and my first 6 miles were fantastic.  Around mile 3, I was noticing my running friends were starting to slow down, but I wanted to maintain my 10:30 pace.  So I proceeded on without them and I held a good yet relaxed pace. Not only in the front of my pace group, but in front of them, by some distance.  I was feeling good (despite not having any running buddies to chat with).  Around mile 6, we were to make a right turn onto River Rd (Bethesda area).  I am not familiar with this area, so I started to slow down to figure out where this turn was.  Finally the rest of my pace group caught up and we figured out where to turn.  Fine and dandy!  Except that stopping really didn't help my body.  My muscles started cramping up and feeling sore.  The next few miles sucked.  River Rd is hillier than I expected, which isn't a problem, except we had 12 people single filing on the sidewalk, trying to stick together, watching out for cars, uneven pavement, stop lights, etc etc.  It was horrible... it was then that I realized I do much better on the trails because I *can* zone out a bit and not worry about stop lights and other obstacles. 

My legs were really cramping up and I made it to Wisconsin Ave (Tenleytown area) and took a short walking break.  Then another LONG hill appeared and I ran/walked it, all this time in pain.  I drifted away from the rest of my pace group that was in front of me (but there were still a few behind me by quite a bit).  I told myself to at least stay in front of them, and I'll be fine. It took awhile for me to recognize where I was, but finally Glover Park landmarks appeared and I felt better, as I knew approximately how far the end point was from there.  I made it back to the store (there was a nice little decline) and ran a little further to make sure I had 11miles on my Garmino watch.  The route we were given was only 10.8m and the coach said we can just run that, or run around the block to get the 11.  Of course I'd go for the 11 ;)

Surprisingly, I held an average of 10:30 pace, and even the walking wasn't as slow as I felt they were.  Though not the greatest run for me, it actually was not as bad as I thought it was.  Now that I'm healthy again, I'm going to try and put in my weekly mileage and be ready for the 12 miler coming up this weekend!

week 10 = SICK :(

I've been M.I.A. from both this blog and from physically running.  After my really awesome Custis run the other weekend, I got super sick and was in bed for almost 3 days straight. Surviving off a cocktail of DayQuil and NyQuil, Airborne, orange juice and chicken soup.  I felt pretty pathetic all week.  Just as I was getting closer to health again, I had to go to Nashville for work for a few days.  And a super busy few days they were, which also cut into any attempts of running.  I know I know, excuses excuses.

I am now back from my unintentional week off from running, and my running is suffering.  My endurance went down significantly, my muscles are sore and I'm still not breathing properly while running.  Ok, so maybe I'm not back to completely normal yet, but at least I'm trying to run.  I guess.  I ran 4miles on both mon and tues, though neither felt like good runs to me.  Today I went to the track, but same thing... my body just wasn't up for it, so I left about halfway through.  I hope my body will be ready for the long run on saturday morning.

Week 9

Once again, I did not hit all my weekday runs (for one excuse or another).  I got 2 of the 3 workouts in, including the track session on Wed.  However, I felt guilty for missing my thursday run. I knew we had a 9 miler coming up this weekend, on the hilly Custis Trail and was pretty nervous that I won't make it all the way.  So I spent Friday evening resting and mentally preparing for the run.  We started from the running store as usual and ran down to the Theodore Roosevelt Island to do a (~2.5m) loop and then onto the Custis.  I was feeling a little sluggish at first, especially on the first hill.  We were running from Rosslyn up to Ballston and back down (backwards of my long run last week).  I was running with two other girls and we collectively griped together the first couple hills.  But somehow around mile 4 or so, I found this groove and I stayed with it.  The other two girls started falling back, so I kept going on my own.  I eventually caught up with the two girls who were a bit in front of me and surprisingly at another hill, I passed them as they fell back.  Before I knew it, I hit Glebe Rd (the turnaround point) and started descending all those hills I just ran up.  My legs weren't even feeling that bad.  It felt awesome.  I was going at a really comfy pace and passing by the other groups, cheerfully yelling "great job runners!  the turnaround point is so close".  Dude.. when did I become one of those runners??!?!  I cruised back to Georgetown and though the last half mile was starting to hurt, I was feeling awesome.  I had an overall 10:29 pace for 9.20 miles.  That was possibly one of my best runs ever!

Side note: We have now completed the "Mt Rushmore" in our weekly runs and have run by all four presidents :)
-Washington Monument

-Jefferson Memorial

-Lincoln Memorial

-Roosevelt Island

My toughest workout week so far

(that is since I started training for this half marathon).

Last week, I pushed myself so hard while training that I'm pretty sure I was a little delusion on wednesday night after my track workout.  The week actually began on a lazy note as we got a free catered lunch (steak fajitas!) at work on Monday.  I love steak fajitas, so I ate more than I normally would for lunch.  Big mistake.  I was still so full by the time I got home from work, I just couldn't get myself to go run outside or the gym.  Plus the new tv show Alcatraz was premiering that night and I wanted to check it out.  So I bummed instead :)

Tuesday morning, I went to the gym with the idea of running on the treadmill to make up for not running the night before.  What can I say? I felt a little guilty!  I ran about a mile on the treadmill and remembered why I run outside even when it's not good weather!  My body just hasn't been trained to be acclimated to treadmill running.  So I decided to go into the studio and do some core work and call it a workout.  Tuesday evening was our first of 2 indoor soccer games for the week.  Normally we play monday nights and it doesn't interfere with my running schedule.  Last week, I had to do a little planning ahead to make sure I could do my running and soccer without literally dying.  And lucky for us, we had no girl subs.  So the game consisted of all of us running around the little court for 50 minutes.  It was a tough game, but we pulled off the W!  Wednesday morning, my legs were hurting (every fiber of muscle was sore).  However I pushed through and went to the track workout that evening.  5 x 800s with 400 recovery.  As I got into my car afterwards, I honestly had to just sit and make sure I was ok to drive.  I felt a little off.  I figured I was hungry, so off to Trader Joes to find food. 

Since we had a second indoor game on friday night, also with no subs, I decided to do my long run on thursday and let my body rest and recover on saturday morning.  I'm sure my legs would not have been able to run the entire 8 miles the morning after an intense soccer game. So I went out during a long lunch break and ran on the Custis.  Have you run on the Custis?  It's hilly.  Here's the elevation I did... let's just say the 2nd half of the run was very hard (esp the last mile). 

Friday night, I played in the soccer game and then I finally got to rest up over the weekend.  My legs/body certainly deserved to get a break.

The hill at the Nat'l Zoo

I was curious, so I mapped out the elevation of the hill we ran at the zoo.  I learned the road/trail is called the Olmstead Walk, it is about 3/4 of a mile and is indeed all uphill. Not steep, just a long continuous hill. One that nearly kicked my butt, however I stayed tough and refused to walk.

7 weeks down, 9 more till Raceday!

I can't believe we just finished week 7 of our training program.  And it's pretty cool to notice improvement in my endurance and speed (at least on the shorter runs).  I've been working really hard to put in my weekly mileage and even made it to the track workout on Wednesday night in the cold, rain and windy conditions.  Our head coach was impressed that 9 people made it out, as he didn't expect anyone to make it. I admit it was a little miserable at times, but in the end, I'm glad I went.  

Yesterday we ran the 7m zoo run, which starts in Georgetown and brings us on the Rock Creek Parkway up to the zoo and through the zoo (think of the long gradual incline!) and then back to Gtown.  The hill was hard, since it was curvy and although I don't mind hills for the most part, I usually like them more when I can see the top and know how much longer I'll have to be running up.  One of the coaches was at the top of the hill to make sure he could document everyone finishing the hill.  This might be the first picture ever I'm smiling while running.  Totally posed ;)

Next weekend we step it up to a very hilly 8miler!  We'll see how the weekday runs go. Happy Running!

bacon!!

HAHAHA this is hilarious!  (Taken from: http://sale.images.woot.com/MotivationlezDetail.png)

Week 6 was a good one!

I hate to sound all full of myself, but I'm so proud of myself for putting in all my intended miles for my training plan this past week.  I haven't been able to do that prior to this week for one reason or another (i.e. laziness or lack of time).  I even had my first track workout on Wednesday night in the cold.  I was pretty nervous and intimidated of what the workout will entail, but it went totally fine.  Almost fun at certain points ;)

Saturday, my running group and I had a 7miler and we ran from Georgetown down to the new MLK Jr Memorial and back. This was pretty cool since I haven't had a chance to see the memorial up close and personal before.  It is BIG!  And beautiful and downright breathtaking.  And to see if before the city gets packed with tourists is an extra perk.

Hopefully I will be just as good about getting all my weekday miles in from now on.  It really made a difference... this past run vs the previous one (where a coach had to come back and check on me).  Happy Running!

Happy 2012!

I just completed my first run of the new year.  5.25miles in the chilly 30 degrees and windy temperatures outside.  I picked my favorite ballston-to-courthouse route which only had one main street that was affected by the wind and a few hills.  Overall a good run for me.  Yay for starting off the new year on the right foot :) Cheers to another year of running!

Now time for some college football viewing and doing some work in preparation for the work week.

Week 5

I'm back in the DC area and ran my last run of the year this morning with the running group.  We ran this 6 mile route which went well, but that last half mile was very tough... I had to stop and walk a little to catch my breath and hydrate a little.  Thankfully one of the running coaches who was a little ahead of me noticed me and came back to chat with me and help me finish the rest of the run.  Thanks Coach!

This was the route we ran. I've never really run in the Mt. Vernon trail before, so that was pretty cool.  I'd like to explore the trail a bit more in the future.

The head running coach informed all of us that this is the last week we can "fake it"... as in not really get our weekly mileage in and still be ok with the long run on saturday mornings.  This was a little bit of a wake up call for me since although I have been getting in most of my weekday runs, they weren't necessarily good runs.  So I will definitely have to get better about that.  Not a bad new year's resolution either.  

Happy New Year! and be safe if there is drinking involved (especially if any driving is also involved).