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. 

This and that

This is a pic from my long run Sunday at Brushy Creek.

Workouts Last Week:
Monday- Strength/Weight Workouts- 17 minutes
Tuesday- 3.24 miles (run group)
Wednesday- 1408 yds Swimming
Thursday- 2.84 miles (run group)
Friday-  Rest Day
Saturday- 1.15 mile (treadmill)
933 yd swim
Sunday- 8.02 mile long run (Brushy Creek Trail)


Last week thoughts: Happy I ran four times and did core workout. Wish I would have gone swimming at least 3x. 3rd continous week of long runs:
Training Week #1- 6 miles
Training Week #2- 7.01 miles
Training Week #3- 8.02 miles
This week will be a recovery week.

Workouts so far this week:
Monday- 1514 yds swim
Tuesday- 3.74 miles (run group)


Sorry I haven't been updating as much lately, my dog got sick Sunday but luckily, I took her to the doctor today and after some shots and medicine, she seems like she is doing a little better. I feel relieved.

Our run today was a degressive hill workout. You run from one point to the end and then recover coming back a block closer and repeat each time till you are only one block away. I was really tired but didn't give up and did one set.

My body has been pretty tired lately, I am trying to put more time and effort into my workouts and now I feel exhausted all the time. I know that if I keep it up though, I can only improve!

On a side note, I really want to watch the Olympics, but I don't have cable and it's hard to see stuff online. I have seen some places are having race watching parties so maybe I will look into that.

Hope everyone has great workout today!

Best Part of the Day

Pic from right before the run. I still can't believe I have woken up so early to workout! 3x in a row I've made my run group.

Workouts for the Week:
Monday- Strength/Weight Workouts- 17 minutes
Tuesday- 3.24 miles (run group)


I woke up this morning really not in the mood to run. I was still sore from my run Sunday and still annoyed about not being able to do my long swim yesterday to get out the kinks (pool was closed). But my husband was like GET UP, GET UP. So I woke up and we went to RunGroup.

Really happy I went. I had one of my fastest overall paces in about a month, so that was good. Plus, even though my legs were sore, after a mile or two, my legs started to warmup.


Workout- Time and Pace combined warmup/workout
Warmup- .56 miles- 7 min, 21 sec
One mile- 10K pace
1 min, 20 sec break
One mile- 10k pace
1 min, 20 sec break
Half a mile- 5k pace
additonal distance due to a. taking a wrong turn on the first mile, and not pausing my runkeeper til i got to the water cooler.

I ended up getting bad news later but I didn't let it ruin my day. I'm trying to do a better job keeping things in perspective and I know that running is one of those things that really helps me out.

First run of 3rd week of Marathon Training in the bag! :)

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.