July is almost gone....

Just seven months ago I listed these goals for 2009. Let's see where I stand:

Get my 26.2 sticker. I have crossed most of the standard distances in races in 2008. 2009 will be the year I get the big one. I am scheduled to run the Myrtle Beach Marathon on Valentines Day. I am not setting a time goal for this, just getting the medal will be enough.
Hopefully I will get this one done in October. I didn't make it to the starting line at Myrtle Beach.

Set a PR in the 5K and 10K distances. Once the marathon is complete, I hope to recover quickly enough to PR in these two distances before the heat of the summer is upon us.
Doubt these will happen. I am not racing while training for the marathon this fall. I think that hurt me in my February attempt. Most of the races where I could get a good time will be long past by the time I recover from the marathon. Definitely a goal for 2010.

Race every month of the year. This year I started in March and missed July and December. With my limited Clemson education, I was able to calculate that I missed 4 months.
Lost out on this one early and decided it was a pretty dumb goal anyway. Tough to find races in June and July.

Complete 5 events that are 10 miles or longer.
It looks like I will have 3 if I get the marathon in. Two half's and a full. Not sure if I will try for a late fall half after the full or not.

Run a race out of the state of South Carolina.
The marathon can knock this out too...

Complete the requirements for the Tri-Running Series T-Shirt.
Not gonna happen unless I am blessed with an age group award, which would mean that no one else in my age group showed up!

Place in my age group in a race. (I guess I need to find a real small race with no 40-44 year olds)
Umm.... Don't think so.

Run 1200 miles during the year.
Definitely on target for this.

Continue my yoga classes.
Ooops... Karen, I'll be back to class soon!

Maintain my Weight Watchers Lifetime status.
Hanging in there, but I am only a slice of pizza away from moving to the wrong side of the scale!

So, it looks like I may hit 4 out of 10. Not bad if I was a baseball player!

Doesn't it feel great to finish a run?

Finishing a run is a great feeling. Not for the reason you may think either. It isn't because it is over, but rather because of the feeling of accomplishment. I think there is certainly an endorphin high, but the mental boost of setting a goal and accomplishing it is a rush as well.

Yesterday my run was miserably slow. My body was tight from the Sunday 12 mile run. I didn't push my speed but finished it up and still felt great afterward. Today was a 'hard' hill workout day and I pushed it pretty good. I had much more energy than yesterday and my legs had more life in them. I found a new trick for my mid-run hydration. I fill my fuel belt bottles and freeze them. They are nice and cool about 3 miles into my run. I don't mind the warm drink I normally get, but the cold fluids were a refreshing change.

Rest day tomorrow then three days straight at 5, 5 and 10.

12 Miles....

Yesterday was my longest run since the Greer Earth Day Half. I added in an extra half mile uphill to start the run. I kept me from doubling up a long stretch of East North Street. I haven't gotten a good route longer than 10 miles yet, so this was a little of an experiment. I think the extra uphill was a good workout.

I felt good through 10 miles and started having some minor pains and cramps in my feet for the last two miles. I think I suffered from no breakfast and no hydration that morning. I didn't get out until about 9:30 and it was 88 when I finished. I ran out of fluids at the 9 mile mark.

Pretty good shape today, but I am a little more sore than I expected. Tomorrow is 4 miles easy, so hopefully it will stretch me out and I can get a hard workout in on Wednesday.

I took my tunes with me. The 9 miler last week without tunes was too far. I am good for an hour or so with nothing but my own thoughts, but after that I began to bore myself.

Nice and warm today....

We had a garage sale this morning, so I didn't get out until about 1:30 or so. It was plenty warm by then!!!

I pass by our neighborhood pool at about 3.25 miles and it was hard not to jump in today. One day I am going to start my run there so that I can jump in after I finish. Maybe I will do that on a long run day.

Tomorrow I have a 12 miler scheduled and I hope to get out early and knock it out before church.

Putting the 'E' back in Easy....

E was definitely for Easy and not Effort or Exertion today! I ran five at a nice leisurely pace and enjoyed every minute of it. Now, I plan on duplicating that tomorrow and hopefully having a nice 12 miler on Sunday.

Heading for the Mellow Mushroom tonight. I guess I can claim carb loading, but that is a lie. Hopefully next week will be a better eating week...

OK, that was not fun!

Yesterday was one of the worst runs I have ever had in my life. I have a few ideas as to why it was so bad...

1) My 'easy' run on Tuesday.... I didn't exactly run it as an easy run. Silly me thought it was 'only' three miles and I might as well put a little effort into it. Maybe there is a reason that Sunday is a long run, Monday is rest and Tuesday is 'easy'....

2) I underestimated the humidity factor. Dumb move. I've lived here all my life and I should know that just because it is cloudy with a little breeze it is still going to be humid and the sun will probably come out. That is exactly what happened about one mile in. The humidity was high and when the sun started beating down on me it took a toll. I normally carry hydration for hard runs over five miles, but I didn't this time.

3) I went out at too fast of a pace. I held my own for three miles and then started a painful decline into misery.

So, I plan on trying to pay attention when the plan calls for an 'easy' run from here on out. I also hope to remember to go out at a slower pace and work on finishing strong.

No run today. I run 5, 5 & 12 the next three days.

Great morning for a run!

Wow! The weather was great this morning. I wish that today was my long run day. I hope the weather is about the same tomorrow as I have a six mile run scheduled. As I look at the training schedule, I noticed that today's three mile run is the shortest run I have on the books until September 1. It is going to be quite the test to see how my body holds up as the mileage piles up.

Wednesdays are going to be my least favorite days, at least until the really long runs start. Wednesdays are some form of speed work. The first six weeks is just running a hilly course (no problem there) at a fairly hard pace (that is where the problems come in!) Then the track workouts, hill sprints and stuff starts. Having never run track in my life, I am not looking forward to those.

I hope to work yoga into the mix on one of my off days. I will have to take an early lunch to make that happen.

Week 2 is in the books....

This week starts the real challenge as I take my long run to 12 miles, a distance I haven't come close to running since the Greer Earth Day Half Marathon. I was pleased that I kept a steady pace on the nine mile run yesterday, though I will likely need to slow down another 10-15 seconds per mile for this week. Today is the first day I really feel like I need the rest of a rest day. I could run, but I am not upset that I don't have one scheduled.

I do go to Furman for a gait study this evening. That should be interesting. I had a friend get his results a couple of weeks ago and he has made some changes to his form and seems to be benefiting from them. I hope I get the same results.

I think I have decided to avoid any races between now and the marathon, with the likely exception of the BMW 2 Miler. Races, even 5K's, take a bigger toll on me than I realized early on. I don't think I need to stick a race in the day before my long run. I am really working hard to being totally committed to my training schedule. There is an article in Running Times this month about long runs and how 'over running' your goal distance in training can help psychologically. I may see if I can fit that into my plan.

14 miles left this week and 10 pounds to shed.....

I am happy that two weeks in, well almost two weeks in, I feel good. The adjustment back to the hills hasn't bee too bad. Running Wednesday in the brutal heat was pretty dumb though.

I want to lose about 10 pounds to get down to my 'racing weight'. I think it will make a big difference over the course of the training. The only thing holding me back is me. I am toying with going back to Weight Watchers meetings for a month or so to get the weight off. I am going to give it two more weeks and then decide.

I am in that zone where my clothes fit and I feel great, so I am not as motivated as I should be. That is a dangerous place to be because pretty soon I'll end up with tight clothes and in a panic! One thing I want to do is get back to morning runs. That sets the day up for me to be more in control of my eating. Lunch time runs tend to send me into a pre-supper snack mode that can carry on through the night.

Anyway, as far as running goes I have 5 miles tomorrow and 9 slow miles on Sunday. I hope to really be able to go at a slower pace on Sunday. If I can master that now, I am sure it will benefit me when the 18-22 mile runs come.

A big attagirl to Megan for deciding to give the MB Marathon a try this winter. I can't wait to hear her race report.

Goals, goals, goals.....

Now that I am in week two of my training plan, I guess it is time to try and come up with a 'goal' time for the marathon. My real goal is to cross the finish line, go to Fleet Feet and buy my 26.2 stickers and rediscover that joy that is a half marathon. However, in order to come up with some sort of target paces for training, I think I ought to work backwards from a goal finishing time.

I have run three half marathons, all between 1:55 and 1:57. These were run on fairly hilly courses and the last one was extremely hot as well (Thanks to Flemming arranging the weather at the Greer Earth Day Half...). My natural instinct is to set a goal of four hours and move on. The one thing I learned in my failed attempt to make it to the Myrtle Beach Marathon last February is that 26.2 is more than 2 x 13.1. I think I will set a goal of 4:30. I am pretty sure that if I am healthy during my training, I can beat that. In fact, I may set a reward system up that I get a certain treat for every minute under 4:30. That could be interesting.

I got my six miles in today. Once again, I ran in the heat and it was pretty much miserable though I did manage a decent pace. Tomorrow is a 'rest' day. I may put in 30 minutes on the elliptical just for some cardio....

First run of the second week.....

Run 1, Week 2 in the books. I am finding that defining 'Easy' is difficult. I also had a hard time running as slow as the plan recommends on my long run Sunday. Tomorrow is supposed to be a hard day on a hilly course. Heck, every day is a hilly course for me so I'll try and run at a good pace for the whole distance.

My right hamstring is making itself known, but not when I am running. It feels great then. I can't decide if I will take Thursday as a total rest day or hit the gym for some light cardio and weights. I definitely will stay off the leg curls until the hamstring feels normal.

I need to get up early tomorrow and run before the heat comes out.

Marathon Training - Week 1 in the books....

I completed week one of my marathon training without any issues for the most part. I actually ran 3 miles more than I was scheduled for the week. Yesterday was a seven mile long run and I did have some trouble adjusting back to the heat and humidity and HILLS... I went out too fast for a long run and it bit me on the last two miles. I also think I was a little dehydrated.

This week I think I am scheduled to run 29 miles with a long run of nine miles on Sunday. Hopefully that will go better than yesterday. The pace picks up in week three with the long run stretching to 12 miles before a drop back in week four.

The new Asics feel great. I am still using my Nikes about 1/3 of the time and that seems to work well.

Today is a 'rest' day and I am not doing anything. Normally I try to hit the elliptical or bike on rest days, but I felt like just taking the day off today. Back at it tomorrow.

Tuesday is the day....

I've been running a lot lately, but it really starts tomorrow. Yes, marathon training officially begins.... Actually, it began today but the first day was a rest day - go figure.

For my rest day, I ran three miles. I hope I don't regret that later this week.

I'm still here and running....

I'm just running away from home... Hmmmm, that sounds bad. Let me say I have been away from home and running.... :)