Getting Closer

So today was a run that I really needed. I know that sounds weird, but after a week of runs where my ankle was hurting me, it was nice to have one where the pain wasn't that bad. Also, it was nice to have one in which my pace improved by over a minute versus all other runs of the week! Also, I have noticed I say "also" way tooo much in my blogs and I need to nix that.

But back to the run.
We ran at Lake Pflugerville Trail which has become our defacto run place. Mainly because running the block around the house is a harder 5k route and less scenic, Old Settlers Trail my husband doesn't like that much, San Gabriel Park in Georgetown which we last ran at is far away, Town Lake Trail ( WHICH I REEEEEALLLY want to go back to and run because we have only run it once) is really far from the house and Brushy Creek is a little bit further away too.

Im worried we are getting spoiled by running at Lake Pflugerville though because it is a generally flat course although there is not shade, so that does make it harder then the way more hilly Brushy Creek in that sense. Still Brushy Creek is harder, but that makes it cool. We have kind of been in a running trail rut but after 4 months, I guess that is to be expected. Its hard to find new trails that are close by. The good thing about races, especially if it is a hard course like that 4th of July race, is that it makes you appreciate your regular training places.

So, for the third time, getting back to the run. Almost all of my long runs have been here, so when Im shooting to increase my distance, this is probably the best place to do it. I don't have GPS on my phone or a Garmin ( sp?) so it's good to know that the trail is in general a 3 mile loop. Its marked sporadically, but generally in quarter mile increments.

I was so happy to finally go 5.5 miles because it has been so long since I have run that distance. I have less than a month to increase my distance because not only do we have the 10k in September, but there is a 10 mile race that we would like to do October 31st.My husband thinks we will be fine and we will have trained enough to do that. I am less confident because the furthest I have ever run is 6 miles. Which would mean that i would need to boost my running by 4 MILES in 2 months so that I am well prepared to run 10 miles and not kill myself. I don't think I will be able to do it and I don't want to let my husband down. :(.

So what Im thinking is that I will just continue training and trying to increase my long run every Sunday to the best of my ability and we will see. If I can increase my mileage to 8 miles by our 10k race date, then I will feel confident in my ability to do 8 miles. But like I said, I will have to see. I only have 3 more long runs or so before that race so it seems highly, highly unlikely I will increase my mileage that much. I generally try to follow a loose form of the 10% rule in that long runs are usually only about 10 minutes more then the week before.
Man, I have rambled!



For those of you who like running and tattoos, this is a pretty cool websites. Especially, if you are like me, and hope to one day have a running tattoo it's good for some ideas of inspiration, although most of the tattoos are some form of the running wings which I feel is a little overrated:
http://www.columbusrunning.com/tat4ever.htm

The Week of Ankle Pain

This week marked less than 30 days till our 10k race. And for the most part, the week of ankle pain. I don't know what I did, but every time I have run this week, my right ankle has been hurting so bad. My pace has been horrible.
But on the good news, I was really happy that we were able to run in Georgetown. We haven't run there since we did the relay race in June. The park is really cool, and I actually got to run some of the same route as our very first race back in April. That was like a weird de ja vu. Also, this was one of the first times since like May where the temperature felt really perfect for running. We were sweating at the end, but it wasn't a typical August run where you feel like the heat is perpetually slapping you in the face. Also, this is one of the first weeks in a while where I have already run 3 times and still have plans to run at least once more. Im hoping by increasing the amount of times I run, I will get a stronger overall mileage base. Right now, for 20 weeks of running, I average approx. 9.53 miles a week.





This is a really cool blog I found the other day while looking around on, you guessed it, RUNNERS WORLD. Its called "Shut-up and Run." and I love how this woman writes about running. She has spunk, attitude and a strong writing voice. I wish I could make my blog this good.
http://www.twentysixpointtwoormore.blogspot.com/

More Sleep, Less Wind

So, as you can probably tell by my status, I barely got any sleep and the wind was bad. I have one month and 11 days until the 10k ( 6.2 miles) and the furthest I have run in 2 weeks is 4.75 miles. Oi vey! Should I be concerned by my lack of distance? I don't know. All of my last 6 runs were continually longer then the last. Normally, we switch back and forth between medium runs, speed runs, and long runs. But these last 2 weeks, I have been trying to play catch-up and have been laying heavy on the longer end of runs. However, I think this is having an adverse effect on my runs because I am pushing my legs too much, too fast. So I think I need to cut back my distance a little bit, restagger and try again. Plus, definetly getting more sleep couldn't help. We stayed up way to late to get up and go run.
Here's a map of where I ran:


Man, Im trying to expand my horizons and look outside of Runners World for links to interesting running related stuff. But it's tough because the Runners World website has a lot of interesting stuff! At any rate, ( ugh, such a lazy expression!), I saw some info on this DVD that Im going to try and see if I can Netflix:
http://www.runlikeagirlfilm.com/synopsis.php
It is a movie called Run Like A Girl and as well as telling the personal story of three girls, it also talks about the history of women and running.

4 MONTHS OF RUNNING TODAY

It feels good to blog again. Some updates: I have still been running, although the new interval method I have been trying is HARD, also, I finally reached 6 miles not that long ago! Which made me really happy, BUT, the 10k race is in 44 days and I still have not run that .2 more. Also, I have only run that 6 miles one time.
I need to increase my long distances and get some practice in before the race because I know I will feel more comfortable with the distance if I do that.
But anyways, back to today. Me and the Brushy Creek Trail have had our differences in the past. Its a hard trail. But it's a good, scenic trail. Todays scenary included a snake! At any rate, I felt better at this run here then the last time I ran, I could feel some improvement. It wasn't as fast as a run as my last run on Tuesday, but it was .6 more, so that is something.
I feel like Im dragging in this blog. Probably cause Im hungry. I hope I can keep this running thing up. Im happy that today marks 4 months that we have been running. We (my husband and me have had a habit of starting running and stopping for the last 2 years, but we've never run as much or as dedicated as we have in these last 16 weeks) really like it, even when it is hard.

Here is a map of where I ran today:






John Bingham, a.k.a the Penguin, no longer writes for Runners World, he writes for the Competitor now, but long ago, he wrote this really inspiring piece called, " I am not a Jogger." For people like me, who often feel slow, it's pretty awesome.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-332--12126-0,00.html

IM BACK!!! End of the Month Recap!!

I can't believe I fell off the blog wagon!!! I was doing so good for a while there!!! Hopefully I can return to my former glory and kept it up, although, I did notice that towards the end, I was starting to get sloppy and not being as thorough in my run descriptions.

April-
12 runs,34.5 miles,
average run= 2.88 miles per run
************************
May-
15 runs,43.3 miles,
average run=2.89 miles per run
*********************************
June-
12 runs,39.2 miles,
average run=3.27 miles per run
*******************************
July-
11 runs, 38.0 miles
Average run= 3.45 miles per run

This a link for this movie, Run for your life, which is about Fred Lebow, the man who started the New York City Marathon. It's a dream of mine to one day run that marathon and it's really a cool movie to see how the marathon has grown. Unlike Spirit of the Marathon, which I have talked about before and linked to, which was about the Chicago Marathon, and 5 runners, this is more about Fred, then the marathon persay. ( Is that a long-winded sentence? Sheesh, runon much. ) I really love it!
http://www.fredlebowmovie.com/