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!

Return of the Long Runs

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

Friday- Rest Day

Saturday- 1.55 mile run (easy run)

Sunday- 8.52 mile run (Long Run at Brushy Creek)

End of the Week Recap: 

Four Runs, Three Swims and One Core Workout. I'm happy I got all the workouts in this week that I needed to. However, my biggest problems this week were distance and speed in my runs. I'm disappointed by the distance in my week runs, I really wanted to run at least one 4 mile run and it didn't happen. In large part I think that was because Tuesday, the day I was planning to run 4 miles, I just couldn't hang with the hills and had a very bad pace. Also, my tiny runs are just so tiny but honestly, before this training cycle, I never really made it a point to run 4 times a week every week. I feel like I am just making excuses though. Bottom line is a marathon is a very long run and my mileage needs to increase. Typically I would run about 3 times. So I am just trying to get in the habit of introducing an additional run. I really need to increase these runs because I am sure that longer runs during the week would make my long run easier. That being said, I was happy with my Thursday run and my long run today. Also, my total running mileage this week was 15.95 miles- my most in 6 months! 


This long run compared to last long run:

Splits: 8.52 miles- 8/12/2012-
12:20/13:34/13:11/13:27/12:52/12:13/13:26/13:23/.52 miles- 6 min, 51 sec- 13:10 pace

8.02 miles- 7/29/2012-
12:45/14:24/12:43/14:37/15:37/13:23/13:17/12:49/.02 miles- 14 sec

Wayyyyy more consistent this week! 

So, we started this run at about 6.50 in the morning. Probably the earliest we have started a long run in awhile. At the beginning, there wasn't much light and there was actually a short breeze. I forgot I was running in the dog days of August in Central Texas for about 30 minutes. Then a little before my second mile, my back was starting to hurt and I started to get worried. Tuesday my back was hurting me and it made it hard for me to do 2.88 miles. I still had over 6 miles at this point so I was starting to feel down. Then, right after hitting 2 miles, I saw fellow Daily Miler Joe on his run. He looked so strong and was doing such a good job, it was such a nice pickme up.

A little after the hill (which after group workouts in which we RUN up the hill and recover walking down, I walked going up. I know, I know, I should be ashamened. This is why I need run group lol) I saw ANOTHER Daily Miler Middalia. It was really nice again to see someone I recognize. Made me feel proud I was out running the same course as all these other really good runners.
When I was almost at the 4 mile mark, this lady stopped me to ask me questions about the course. She was from out of town and wanted to run 8 miles and wanted to know if this course was long enough, where it stopped, would she get lost, yadda yadda yadda. I was happy to help her but after like 5 minutes of reiterating that the course was almost about 9 miles and she would definitely be able to get her run, I wanted to be like- IM TRYING TO RUN!!! Does that make me me mean?
I felt like I lost my rhythm a little after that and then took it upon myself to go even slower and get some more water.  Right before turning around, I saw a man walking his Scottie. Vince had told me he'd seen him before walking the dog. I love scotties as I have one myself. It's so cool when you run sometimes, you never know what you might see.
Before the 5 mile mark, I used the restroom and wiped some sweat off my face. The sunscreen was getting in my eyes and I was starting to get tired, so I took my gel and got some more water. I couldn't believe how much water I was going through.
When I got to around the 6 mile mark, my RunKeeper shut-off. A quarter of a mile later, it shut-off again. Then I kicked and screamed and threw my phone on the ground. No, I didn't. But I wanted to. Luckily, I had kept track of my run splits on a memo pad just in case this happened. I've noticed that the sweat from my hands and the condensation from the water tends to cause my phone to mess up during long runs.
Miles 6-8 were pretty uneventful. All I wanted was to run past the 8 mile mark, I knew once I did that, I would be fine
Finished my run and felt pretty exhausted the last .10 miles. Walked back and forth for about 5 minutes for a cooldown as I wasn't feeling so hot. Then I sat on the ground and pondered how I would be able to run more then 3x this. Sheesh. How do marathoners' do it? My husband came and told me to get off the ground. I wanted to stay there forever but I thought a shower might be nice as I was beyond hobo smelly and bordering on sewer stinky.

Not too shabby for my first long run in two weeks. Usually coming back from a recovery week is brutal as my body has gotten nice and comfy with short runs. But I did it and next week I have an even LONGER training run with my Sgt. Husband.

I hope everyone had a good week and I really appreciate all the support and advice. Happy Running!

WEEK 5 OF MARATHON TRAINING DONE! 27 WEEKS TILL THE MARATHON!!

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!

7 miles and the freak-out

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)
Friday- 827 yd
Saturday- Rest/Lots of Walking Day
Sunday- 7 mile run

Before I get into today's run, a short recap of the week workouts- Really happy that I went to group workouts, glad I got a core workout in and I wished I would have gotten another swim in. Also, happy about getting a 7 mile long run in.

***** THIS IS A LONG POST! FYI ! ******

Today's Long Run is Long Run#2 in Marathon Training.

This Week's Splits Compared to last week's long run:

07/15-  12:29/12:46/12:55/14:29/12:42/13:14- 6 miles 1:18:37- 13:06 overall pace
07/22- 13:18 /12:11 /14:13 /13:35 /13:07 /12:56 /12:45- 7 miles- 1:32:14- 13:09 pace


This long run, as I'm sure I will say about every long run leading up to the marathon, was hard. I am out of shape. It's hard for me to believe that I lost so much endurance. I have been running for about 2 and a half years. Although I am not fast and I typically do not do long runs, I have completed two half-marathons and two 10 mile races. Therefore WHY WAS A 7 MILE RUN SO HARD?!

You may notice the 3rd mile split of today's run is in red. I will get to that devil mile in a minute.

We started today's run about 30 minutes earlier then last week, which I was really happy about. I also went to bed earlier and ate a better meal the night before. So going into the run, I was feeling better overall then last week's run. I wasn't having throat problems or allergy issues, I hadn't run in two days, my legs felt fine, the weather felt better. Which was good as I was aiming to run 7 miles today, my longest run of the year (so far).

I was very lucky because I had my husband who was running the entire run with me, I didnt take any music or my runkeeper app and had him take care of the distance, pace, extc. 

I started off with downing a gu as I was planning on running about an hour and a half and gave my husband the second one to hold on for me to take before the turn around. 

So we started off on the run at around where the ducks are at San Gabriel Park. They were actually pretty calm today, which was nice. They can get scary when they come after you quacking like mad, but anyways. 

Everything was going fine the first and second miles. As you can see by my pace, I went a little too fast the second mile compare to the first mile. I was starting to get really tired towards the end of my 2nd mile and was struggling to still keep my intervals up. Right around the three mile mark, I was really getting exhausted for some reason and I think the sun was maybe really coming out. I felt like I was drowning under exhaustion and humidity. 

Right before the turn around, my husband reached in his pocket to give me my 2nd gel. It was gone. At this point, looking at my water bottle that was almost empty ( we were about 3/4 of a mile away from the nearest water station at that point), lacking in energy and feeling hot, I started to lose it and fell apart.

This was the devil 3rdmile. Here I started freaking out, giving up on my intervals, mad about the gel, thirsty, and really worried. How can I think I can ever run a marathon? I felt ridiculous for even thinking I could run 26.2 miles when I was struggling to finish a 7 mile run. I was struck with how absolutely long a marathon is and told my husband that if we did a marathon, I was probably gonna DNF.

But just as quickly as I was freakin out, after taking a couple longer minutes to walk then normal, I got over it. I gave up on my intervals and just fartleked the rest of the run. Running every 2 light posts, walking one light posts, or running until I felt like it and then walking. All I wanted to do was to get to 7 miles. 

I should mention that in the 2+ years of running and racing, we have probably done about 20 races. I've been slow in all, but never DNF and yet, I am always convinced I am not going to be able to finish. 

Why? I don't know. 

I guess at the beginning of training, I don't have the strength and base that I have towards the end. On my last two half-marathons, I trained for 16 weeks and 17 weeks. I ran all my scheduled long runs and improved my half-marathon time on the second one by 7 minutes. Not a huge accomplishment, I know, but my point is, I know that if you put in the time and the effort, you will see results.

So why did I freak out in the middle of a 7 mile run? The weather? My insecurities as a runner? No gu? Thirsty? Tired? I've had all these before, but not been that upset. 

But in the end, I did it. I ran all 7 miles. If it hadn't of been for my husband, I know I would not have been able to do it. 

Sometimes I feel like because I am not fast, because after 2 years I still walk a lot, that I am not a "real" runner. I mean, I consider myself a runner, but others who run a lot faster then me, would not consider these paces "a runner's pace". I guess I just need to remember something I hear a lot of people say:

You are running your own race, not someone else's. So there. :)

The kind of run where you get a blister on your thumb

This is a pic from my long run at Brushy Creek today. We started by Olson Meadows Park. 

Workouts for the week:

Monday- 1.42 miles at Lake Pflugerville
.64 open water swim
Tuesday- 1.57 miles- (early morning route)
Wednesday- 862 yd swim
Thursday- Rest day
Friday- 1.79 miles- treadmill
933 yd swim
Saturday- Rest Day
Sunday- 6.0 miles run at Brushy Creek

So, pretty happy with my workouts for the week overall with two caveats: I didn't do any core work and I wish some of my runs during the week would have been longer. 

But, I really want to talk about my long run today. 

This was a difficult run for me but ultimately good. We stayed up late eating pizza and pasta and as such started the run late. When we started, it was about 8 am after my warmup. I would have liked to start about an hour earlier. My allergies were hurting me and my throat felt like it was closing up. I felt heavy and tired and didn't know if I would be able to make my goal of running 5.85 miles in 1:15:00.

And (duh)  I didn't run at that pace. To make up for not running the speed I wish I did, I ran .15 miles more. 

My splits for the run were:

12:29
12:46
12:55
14:29- bathroom break
12:42
13:14-

So, I think my splits were decent as I was happy they were pretty consistent, other than the bathroom break and the last mile.

I ended the run with a blister on my thumb and a blister on my right foot. How do you get a blister on your thumb during a run?!

I know it sounds like I am complaining about the run. And it sounds like that I guess because I AM! Honestly though, I ended up putting the smiley face on this run for 3 reasons:
1. I haven't run 6 miles in over 3 months.
2. I finished and went further then planned.
3. It was so nice to see all the runners out today.

I think seeing other runners out there when I am doing long runs helps a lot. Although I have done races and have run about 12 times in 2 and a half years with my husband, I generally am a solitary runner. I run by myself because I like to be alone mostly during runs, I'm not that fast and I take walk breaks and I know that's not other people's style necessarily and it's good stress relief.

However, sometimes when you are in a "bad place" during a run, i.e. you have a blister on your thumb and sweat dripping from your ears ( why is my body so weird?!) it can be helpful to see people on the trail. The variety is amazing and distracting and inspiring. Today I saw a group of young guys booking it, lots of girl friends walking and talking and several steady, smooth runners.

When I see these people, I remember that running isn't just about me. I am not the only one dealing with the heat and humidity. I am not the only one who is tired. I am not the only one who appreciates how great and hard at the same time running can be. I think running helps you to develop a respect for the effort it takes to do the sport, even if from some people, it looks like they are exerting little effort, I know that having the discipline and drive to get to the point where they CAN go that fast is worth something.

LONG TRAINING RUN #1 for the marathon IN THE BOOKS!

Wells Branch and I go long for the first time!!

Never fails. When i run with my husband, I ALWAYS run better. We usually try and run together at the same place, but we typically run our own pace.But about once a month, he runs with me. Now, I am pretty sure this is the FASTEST pace I have run all at once EVER( I have had faster pace, but it was intervals, where i did short speed workouts with lots of breaks) and it is also, the 2ND longest distance I have ever run!!! And actually, if you include the warm-up/cool downs, it is the longest mileage I have done all together( 10.25 miles) but in the interest of not being misleading, I am not counting warmup, cool down as a part of my run because in a real race it wouldnt count.
But yeah, this was really hard for me, I didnt feel like I had much left to give, especially since I didnt go to sleep until like 2.30 in the morning. Im really happy with this run because there was lots of times I felt like giving up, but I didnt!
Below are my splits, they are kinda weird because they include my warm-up, cool down, which is why the distance is a little different as well as the time:
Mile 1- ( including the 6 minute walking warm-up)- 14.59 minutes- 8.59 minutes to run .65 of a mile
Mile 2- 12.37 minutes
Mile 3- 12.25 minutes
Mile 4- 12.29 minutes
Mile 5- 11.45 minutes
Mile 6- 11.43 minutes
Mile 7- 10.53 minutes
Mile 8- 10.50 minutes
Mile 9- 10.28 minutes
Mile 10- 10.23 minutes- .75 miles running in 7 minutes, 23 sec- .25 mile cool down in 3 minutes walking( the last quarter mile of this was a part of my cool down, my cool down was a half a mile total, so the last quarter of this mile, plus an additional quarter mile)
Mile 10-10.25- remaining part of cool down- 3 minutes walking
Thank you for everyone who said my runs would get better and especially thank you to my husband for running with me!







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