Long Run at San Gabriel Park- Deer and Snails

This is a pic from my long run today.

Workouts for the week:

Monday- 1300 yd swim

Tuesday- 3.94 miles - (run group- grass fartlek)

Wednesday- Rest Day

Thursday- 2.5 miles- (indoor track)
Friday- 3 miles-(trail on base)
19 min weight/strength session
Saturday- Rest Day
Sunday- 9.54 mile long run (San Gabriel Park)

End of the Week Recap: 
So, I went out of town this weekend and because of that, my regular workout routine was kind of interrupted. I got all 4 of my runs and ran one of my longest runs ever ( cracked into my top ten runs of all time!) I also got my weight/strength workout in this week. I however did NOT get my three swims in, I only swam once. However, I am happy I got to spend time with my sister and my best friend on our run on Friday. Running with two of your favorite people and having a good breakfast afterwards is always worth it!

Today's long run splits: 9.54 miles- 2 hours, 7 minutes, 1 sec- 13:19 overall pace

Pretty happy with this run. I started off pretty slow, which got me kinda worried, but my husband and I had a date night last night at Milano Trattora. We never ate there before, but it was pretty good, especially as we both ate an appetizer, entree and dessert for 40 bucks total, including tip! Not bad!

(Our dessert last night! Maybe not the best idea the night before a long run, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!)

So, back to our run. My husband was running with me today to try and get me to reach my goal- cracking my top ten runs ever! I needed to get over 9 miles, but was shooting for somewhere between 9.30- 9.60 miles at an 13:20 min overall pace. 

We started off slow, with both of us having stomach problems and ended up taking a bathroom break on the 2nd mile. This is why my 2nd mile was even SLOWER then my slow first mile. Things were not looking so hot for me reaching my goal pace. 

But then, around the 3 mile mark, things started to look up. We saw a lot of deer around this time. I normally see deer around this area, but never this much, they were everywhere and I think the distraction of the deer took my mind off the run. 

We started at San Gabriel Park, right around the bathrooms, went through Rivery Park and right past the bathrooms where the parking lot for Booty Trail is. I have to say, I am glad we did not make it to the big hill on Booty Trail today as I don't think I could have handled it. 

At the point in this pic, Vince is checking the pace as he had it today like he does when he runs with me so he can tell me when to pick it up. This is around the 3 mile mark and my pace dropped a lot as we were running on the flat part where the houses are before you turn into the dam. I like running there on this area, as there is a downhill right after this point- but do not like running back as the hill comes after the multiple small hills in the forest. 

After we went past the hill, my calves were really starting to feel it and my back was hurting. I was glad I was wearing my trail shoes as there was a lot of mud today since it rained yesterday, and a lot of rocks in this area. 

Right after the 3rd mile though, my energy was really starting to drag and my pace started to go down again. I had brought one gel and one bag of Sports Jelly Belly Extra Caffeine with me. I took the first gel, which had no caffeine, after 1 mile and was waiting to take the other one after the turn around. It took a while to kick in as my miles 5 and 6 were still getting slower, but by mile 7, I could feel it and ran my fastest mile to that point- 12:17. I really felt better when Vince told me that as I thought I had a good shot at negative splitting.

By this point we were back around Rivery Park and the deers had pretty much gone away, but the snails were out in full-force. I felt bad as I saw several had been stepped on. I felt good though, as I feel a kinship with snails as we are both slow, but they always make me fast in comparison, so I like that. 

Mile 8 was a little slower, but I picked it up again and my 9th mile was my fastest of them all: 12:06! I was so suprised I was able to do that pace after about 2 hours! I ended the last .54 mile a little slower with a 12:42 pace- doing it in 6 min, 51 sec, but still, I'm happy with the way I ended.

(Pic of me after my run, before the cooldown)

Although we started at around the bathrooms in San Gabriel Park, we had negative split coming back and I wanted to run the full 2 hours, 7 minutes and so we ended up finishing around the frisbee golf area on the little loop and I did a 5 minute cooldown. 

And that's all folks! 

Week 6 of marathon training in the bag! 26 weeks till the marathon!! - 19% done with training!

Ten Things Thursday

This is a pic from my track workout today. Seeing the sky change from the dark to light is always so cool. The sky looked great today.

Workouts so far this week:

Monday- 1144 yd swim

Tuesday- 2.88 mile run (run group)- Hills

Wednesday-18 minute strength/weight workout

686 yd swim

Thursday- 3 mile run (run group)- Fartlek Track Workouts

792 yd swim

1. I was really happy with my track workout today. Out of all the group workouts so far, I think this was my 2nd favorite. (Actually getting up and having the nerve to participate in a run group was the best one as I think it marked a turning point for me). But anyways, so today we did 300 meter run at 5k pace with 100 recovery. So I walked the 100's and I ended up doing 8 laps. My workout came out to 3 miles total with my warm-up and cooldown. I just felt relieved that for once I was able to do more then the minimum amount! Yeah progress

2. I was SOOOO excited when I saw the men's 1500m and saw that Leo Manzano, who graduated from UT and lives in Austin, won silver! It's the first American win in that event since 1968! Not only do you feel the pride from an American win ( which we have plenty of this Olympics) but also an Austinite win! I wish I would have seen him on the Today Show.

Photo: Sergey Ponomarev/Associated Press

3. I was reading this thing about athletes drinking Pedialyte for the electrolytes instead of Sports Drinks. I don't know. Seems kind of weird to me. But I guess swallowing gels and eating sport Jelly Bellies seems weird to others. I am going through gels like crazy lately. I have to take one when I do run group as I half awake and don't like coffee and need the energy. When I do my long runs, I take one for every 45 minutes. If I swim, I usually take water and gatorade with me, although sometimes I have a gel. It's weird though I noticed when I swim, I usually need to eat something small right before as I am always hungry during my swim if I don't.

4. Tuesday's workout was really frustrating to me. I had some back pain and was moving very slllllowww. Even for me slow. Which is really slow. The workout itself was pretty cool. It involved going over a steep hill, with some sprints and a backwards jog. I ended up doing 5 of the hills, 2 of the sprints and 1 of the backwards jog. I know jogging backwards up a hill doesn't sound like it's that hard, but ask anyone ( I SWEAR!) who was there and they will agree with me. I don't know if this pic below really captures the true steep-ness essence of the hill, but I'll give it a shot. 

5. I've read about 3 or 4 different blog posts on the Austin Marathon. I think I am going to have a post combining all these posts so I can see what advice people have on the marathon and what parts of the course I should specifically train for. From what I gather: HILLS! and it might be cold or hot but who knows as it's texas. I did read they have a good amount of water stops, so that's good. After the difficulty on the steep hills, I hope the hills are more long and rolling then step ascent and descent but I guess I could just pull up the elevation chart. 

6. My swim today was finally, finally under a 50 min mile pace! I haven't had a swim under that pace in a while, so that really made me feel good.

7. I can't believe the women were able to swim 6.2 miles in the open-water competition. That is so impressive! The Olympics are so inspiring, I love it! 

8. I finished reading my book, WILD by Cheryl Strayed. Now I don't know what to do with my life. 

9. I'm really nervous about my long run on Sunday. Last week was recovery week so whenever I go back to long runs I don't know what to expect. My body feels more rested after not doing a long run the week before, but I also feel like I have lost some endurance. 

10. I have read/heard people rave about lulemon. So I checked out their website. They have really pretty running stuff but man it is not college budget friendly. Maybe I'll save up though or check out the clearance section. I want some new running clothes! It's been so lonngggg. I'm partial to Nike clothes for hot weather and underarmour for cold weather typically. 

Ten Things Thursday

Pic from my track workout this morning. In case you don't know what a track looks like. 

Workouts for the Week so far:

Monday- 1514 yds swim
Tuesday- 3.74 miles (run group)- Degressive Hills
Wednesday- 898 yds swim
Thursday- 3.06 miles (run group)- Track Ladder Workout
968 yds swim


1. Today's workout was a track ladder workout. Although hard and tired (as usual), I am really happy that today was my first day of a track workout where I didn't feel like throwing up! Yeah for progress!

2. Mileage Recap for July-
Running- 56 miles (most since October of last year!)
Swimming- 7 miles  (most in over a year!!)

3. Right now I am reading this book:

It's really, really, really good so far. I have a lot of books at home that I haven't read and so I try not to buy that many books. But whenever I get books from the library, I never want to give them back and end up paying so much in fines, I should have bought the book anyways.
So, at the age of 26 ( my age, which is one of the reasons I wanted to read this), Cheryl Strayed decides to hike a large portion of the Pacific Crest Trail BY HERSELF!!!. In large part, this is a decision brought on by the death of her mother four years ago, the end of her marriage and recent heroin use. She meets people along the way of her summer long hike. Really helpful to read when I am feeling tired and not at all like working out. If she can hike an extremely hard trail ( with no prior backpacking/hiking experience), then I can get up to work out!

4. We found a way to watch the Olympics today and I'm loving it! It's so awesome to see people with such amazing skills and talents!

5. Every time I get up and go to group runs, I am amazed. So far, I have gone to the last SIX in a row. It never fails to deliver. The workouts are always mixed up, challenging and fun. I wonder how long I can keep this streak up! One thing though I've noticed is that Sundays are typically my long runs, Mondays usually my long swims and so by the time Tuesday morning rolls up, I am tired. However, I have heard about practicing running on tired legs to get a feel for the marathon or maybe I don't know what I am talking about and that's a bad idea. Either way, I like running with my husband on Sunday, the release of soreness by doing a long swim Monday and the group motivation on Tuesday, so I guess I'll stick with it!

6. My dog is feeling better and better since Tuesday. Sometimes it's hard to know when to go to the vet because it can be really expensive, but she is worth it! She turns 3 this Saturday and I am happy she will be feeling better! I'm thinking about maybe taking her to the dog park here in town, she really likes it!

7. I have been listening to this running podcast, Dirty Dawg's Running Diatribe. It's pretty interesting. I really liked his recap of his first 100 mile run. He's an ultra runner and has guest speakers on and often has his wife who is also a runner. If you have the time or looking for something worth listening to, I'd check it out. Sometimes he does podcasts when he is running and I'm like thinking, how do you do that and concentrate on your run?! I'd probably trip over something and fall.

8. Fot the last couple of months, I have really been into soup, which is unfortunate as it is hot as hades here in Central Texas. McAlister's Deli has this country potato soup, sooooo good. A cup is only about 200 calories, so it's not that bad if you are eating out.

9. Typically when we do our long runs, we alternate between San Gabriel Trail and Brushy Creek Trail. However, when I get to my 14 mile training run, we get to run at Town Lake!! I have only run there about 2 or 3 times, since it is so far away. I'm really looking forward not just because it's a probably my favorite place for people-watching while running, but because the longest I have ever run in my life is 13.1 miles, so 14 miles is a big deal for me.

10. Runners World has a short quick daily blog by Mark Remy that is pretty interesting.
http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/

Ten Things Thursday

Pic from my track/speed workout today.

Workouts for the Week so far:

Monday: 1285 yd Swim
Tuesday: 3.09 miles Hill Workout (group run)
Evening: 16 min core workout
1.01 mile evening run
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: 2.26 mile speed workout (group run) 


So, I have seen in a lot of running blogs where people sometimes do short snippets of thoughts, extc. As I am a copycat, I will jump on this bandwagon. By the way, where did " jumping on the bandwagon" come from? It seems that jumping on a bandwagon would be hard, but is the band-wagon moving, is it still, is it even spelled band-wagon? Questions, Questions, but no answers. 


1. Today I did a track/speed workout with the running group. As usual, I SMOKED EVERYONE! NOT! Just checking to see if you are paying attention. In about 30 minutes, I did: 
9 x 160 meters, with 240 recovery in between. It was suppose to be 200 meters run/ 200 meters recovery, but I don't/can't follow directions. My husband did about 5 more then me as he likes to show off. I kid, I kid, love you babe.


2. The last 2 years, my husband and I have run the 10k race at Heels and Hills and Him. Last year, my husband even got first place in his age division! Super proud! :) However, with considering doing a marathon in Feb, I'm wondering if instead of doing the 10k as usual, we should do the half-marathon option? It's kind of nice to have a race where you can consistently see your progress, but it's also cool to do something different. I really like this course as it is in Irving, right by friend's of my husband's and I. Plus, now my sister is moving to Dallas, so we would be able to visit her too. 

http://www.heelsandhills.com/

3. Sometimes I wish I could run like my cat Dorian. He kinda sprints and glides in the air. He runs like he dances only with a lot of jumps. He is very jumpy. I suppose if I was very jumpy, hills would be a lot easier, I'm just sayin.... 


4. Does anyone know of any good running related movies on Netflix? I have watched Spirit of the Marathon about 50 mlllion times and while I love it, it would be nice to have something different to change up the pace. I have already seen the NYC Marathon one about it's founder, that one is pretty cool, only I don't think they have it on Netflix. 

5. One of my neighbors upstairs has a little white dog that runs 6 MILES A DAY! My poor stubby-legged Scottie, Eva, has never run that far in her life. :( It's not enough that I have to feel slow and lazy, but once you make my poor ottoman of a dog feel that way, you have gone too far! TOO FAR!

She may not be the fastest, but she is the cutest! 

6. Typically, I read Runner's World a lot. But recently my mom got me a magazine subscription to RunningTimes. I have read them before, but always still been more partial to Runner's World. However, I really like the photos in their magazines. The pictures of trail runs really make me think it would be cool to do a trail run one day. I don't know how trail runs compare with road races though, as far as effort and expected decrease in pace. Does anyone have suggestions on how to look into preparing for a trail race?

7. I know people have heard of window-shopping, but when you look at a lot of races, is that race-shopping? Sometimes I put races on my list of races to do that I know I probably won't get around to doing, but it just feels good to pretend I have something exciting to look forward to. Is that lame? Probably. But for me, being signed up and payed for, means I AM DOING THE RACE. Unless I am really injured/sick, which so far hasn't happened. Since I never know what may come up, I usually have races I know I really want to try and be able to do and then I have my "race shopping" ones, you know the " these would be nice to do if I am so inclined to do so" ones.

8. I'm in love with Epsom Salts. Seriously. Today after the speedwork, in which I thought I was going to die or at the very least, vomit my cereal out from, my body was WRECKED. So, I used the epsom salt bath stuff. After soaking for 20 minutes, I felt much better. The first ones I ever used were the Burt's Bees ones, which were about 10.00 ( kinda pricey), but last month, my husband found some at Target for about 5 bucks. I try to save em for when I am feeling particularly tired or sore. Almost always works! Highly recommend them!

9.  I really need some new running shoes. I am currently in a committed relationship with Mizuno's. My last three pairs of running shoes have been Mizuno. However, I have not bought a new pair of running shoes since LAST OCTOBER. Might as well be a million years ago as far as my knees are concerned. But, my mom bought me some trail Nike shoes that I am wearing sometimes lately as although they are not as good ( they aren't as supportive as my Mizuno's, nor as flexible if that makes sense, plus they are heavier), they haven't had the cushion beat out of them. So... I suppose they will have to do until I get some new Mizuno's! Or finally leave Mizuno's if I find something I like better.

10. I've been reading a lot of really good running blogs lately, ones I have read before but didn't mention in my blog, I'll try to remember to mention them more. One of the ones I have been reading a lot of lately is my running friend, Erin. She is awesome. She is very fast and knows a lot about running and designs the great group workouts I have done this week. She also is very funny and really knows how to describe a race to help make you feel like you are there. If you want to learn about running from someone who knows what they are talking about, check out her blog: http://erinsjourneytoironman.blogspot.com/

My First Ever Group Run!!!

This is a pic from my group run this morning. As you can see, it was pretty early.

Workouts for the Week so far:

Monday: 1285 yd Swim
Tuesday: 3.09 miles Hill Workout ( group run)

So... Great News! Today I finally went to OZ and gained some courage! That's right folks, I went on my first group run!
Yep, me and my husband woke up early and went to a group run in our neighborhood. I was really, really nervous. Unlike my husband, who is a pretty decent runner, I am the poky little puppy.

I was concerned that I was going to be left in the dark dust. But when we got there, after Erin gave us the directions for our workout, I was starting to feel better.

Sure, it was a hill workout, but everyone was so nice and encouraging. One of the runners had set up 2 water stops, one at the meet-up and one by the hills.

For the workout, we had the option of short or long warm-up. I choose the short warm-up and was the only one who took it. It was about a half a mile vs. the longer warm-up of 1+ mile.

I was a little nervous, as I'm not really use to running in the dark and especially if I am running in the dark, it is usually at a race with a lot of people around me, not by myself.

But it was fine. It's very quiet that early out and the air is kinda still.There's not much traffic to deal with, which is nice and I got there before everyone else did since I took the shorter route and was able to calm my nervousness.

Erin was giving us route directions for the hills. Basically we did 2 hills, for ten minutes or so each with a .10 jog in between the two. My total mileage reflects the .5 mile warm-up to the first hill, hill repeats #1, .10 mile jog to the 2nd hill, hill repeats #2 and .70 mile cool-down back.

I ran the ups and walked the downs. This is VERY different from my norm, as I usually walk the ups and run the downs. It was really cool to do something different and every minute I stopped feeling so self-conscious about being slow, and just started to enjoy my workout.

I was very surprised by how nice and encouraging all the runners were. I never felt like they were judging my turtle tendencies. I think having an opportunity to work different muscles (FOR FREE) around people who know more then me is awesome. I also am grateful for getting in a workout so early, as I was able to go further then I normally do during the week.

I'm pretty surprised not only that I went out of my comfort zone, but that I woke up in enough time to make it to the workout. I hope I do another one again. I think I could really improve as a runner if I try to at least attend some of the workouts.