18 turned 20 . . .

Crazy, right?! Needless to say, we miscalculated our out and back to the 9 mile loop that we always run. The plan was 5 miles to the loop, the shark loop, 5 miles back. This totals 19 miles instead of 18, not 20. When we arrived at the shark loop and had already run 5.4 miles, I knew we'd be running 20 miles.

We started at 4:30 AM and just wanted to take it easy and warm up for the first 5 miles.

8:39

8:35

8:42

8:45

8:41

There were 105 runners at the shark loop. The shark loop is amazing! It is put on by volunteers and there are gatorade stops every 2 miles!

8:36

8:22

8:35

8:39

8:45

8:40

8:39

8:21

8:36

We continued on for the last few miles down Bayshore.

8:25

8:31

8:15

8:18 (we had completed 18 here and decided to slow down for the last .. no stopping, just slowing down to make it an even 20).

8:31

8:31

Total: 20 miles in 2:51:16 (avg. pace 8:33). I have never run 20 miles this fast!!

I hope you all had great runs this morning, too!

Two Treadmill Runs in One Week

That's right! Twice this week, I've run on the treadmill. Monday, I ran there because of the rain. Yesterday, because I didn't wake up in time to beat the heat. Let's just say that I've spent enough time on the treadmill this week and I'm okay with not seeing it for another month.

Monday, I tempoed. 8 miles total. 2 easy (around 6.7mph) 2 at 7:40 pace (7.8 mph), 2 at 7:20 pace (7.2 mph), 2 easy (6.7 mph). Total time was roughly 65 minutes.

Yesterday, my schedule called for 7 easy. I could not get warmed up for the life of me. I wanted to hop off of that treadmill and call it quits the entire time I was running those first 4 miles. Somehow, after mile 4, I warmed up. I ended up running 7.2 miles in 1:00:28. This is much faster than my easy pace is supposed to be, but I just wanted to get the run finished.

Now, it's Friday! :) I have another 18 miler on deck in the morning. My schedule reads: 12 easy, 6 at 8:10 pace. I'm secretly shooting for a 19 miler, but we shall see!

Traaaaaaaack!

I'll make this short and sweet because I have a jammed packed day at work ahead of me.

I woke up this morning not so excited about track. Rare, I know! But, unfortunately the norm as of late. The one thing that had me semi pumped up was that I got to try out my new shoes (New Kicks).

I got to the track early and warmed up a mile and then saw that we had the following workout:

2x2000, 800, Opt. 1600

Though, at this point, we all know that the 1600 isn't optional for marathoners!

Expected Times: 8:45, 8:45, 3:20, 7:00-7:10

Rest: 4 minutes after 2000's, 2 minutes after 800

My times: 8:40, 8:45, 3:18, 7:28

So, I didn't quite hit the last mile ... but the purpose of the optional mile is to get used to running on tired legs. If I can finish my marathon at that pace, I'd be ecstatic. My real goal was sub 7:30 on that!

The 2000's wore me out!!

I LOVE getting my workout done first thing in the morning. It makes for a very happy Jaime the rest of the day! :)

18 glorious miles!! :)

Finally! I had a good redemption kind of run! It was so much needed. I have to admit, though . . . I wasn't looking forward to this. I mean, after all, 18 miles is a long way and I HATE waking up at 3:40AM on a Saturday morning.

I made sure to eat a lot yesterday and to fuel up!! Apparently, it worked.

This morning, I met up with some friends at 4:30AM to get started. A huge group of runners were starting at 5:30AM, but starting an 18 miler at that hour is simply ridiculous! So, we opted for the early start.

For the first 5 miles, Nicole and I wanted to keep an easy pace and wanted it to fall somewhere between 8:40-8:50. We had to work for the first mile, but after that, it started feeling a little easier.

We met back with everyone else and started the 9 mile group loop. I immediately started running with another girl, Beth, that was running a similar pace. We ended up running the entire loop together. She's running a marathon the week before mine and also had an 18 miler on board. We pushed the pace a little, but for the most part, it felt good. She's also going for a sub 3:40.

After the loop, I still have a little more than 3 miles left. I continued on with Beth for 1.5 miles and then headed back so that I could finish at my car.

I've honestly never felt better during a long run!! If you've been reading my blog as of late, you'll know this hasn't been the case recently.

Here's the stats for all you peeps:

18 miles in: 2:34:25 (8:35 average pace)

8:50

8:42

8:43

8:50

8:45

8:39

8:37

8:28

8:35

8:26

8:20

8:08 (a little too fast ... had to slow down ... my gel worked a little too well)

8:27

8:38

8:26

8:27

8:35

8:41

Wore the Mizunos for the first 5 miles and then changed back into my Asics 2150s. After switching back, I think I'm okay to run longer in the Mizunos. I think they'll quickly become my favorite.

New Kicks

Asics - DS Racer 8

I've been wanting to have a very light weight shoe to do speed work in. I currently run in my regular shoes on the track (which are probably the heaviest shoes ever). I'll be wearing these shoes for track work and short races (5K, 10K). Depending on how that goes, I may eventually even be able to run half marathons in them. We'll see. They are super super light!! I'll break them in on Wednesday.

Mizuno Wave Inspire 6

I've only ran once in them and I'm not completely in love yet! But, my legs were super tight and it was an after work 5 miler (which isn't the norm). I'm excited about running in these shoes. They're much lighter than my Asics 2150s. Oh, and they're HOT PINK! How fun is that? I've never had fun colored shoes. Never.

Tomorrow's schedule says 18 . . . I can't believe my long runs are already this far again!

Oh, track ... I thought we were friends!

We'll keep it short and simple ... I'm going on three or four weeks where the track has kicked my butt!! It took everything I had to simply finish the workout yesterday!

5x800 1600

2 minutes rest in between (that's not very long)

Expected times: 3:20 for the 800's, 6:40 for the 1600

My times: 3:18, 3:16, 3:19, 3:20, 3:23, 7:29

I couldn't even attempt the mile. Like, seriously - I couldn't even hang for one lap! I wanted to stop at each lap and just finally had to tell myself that running a mile in 7:something was much better than quitting! I should be able to do 5x800 no problem! Not sure why I'm hurting so bad and so fatigued as of late .... this has got to go!

On a much more fun note ... I got two new pairs of running shoes after practice! One for speed work and short races and one for my longer runs and longer races! They're both new ... and much lighter ... and I'm excited to try them out. Will keep you posted! :)

16 miles of MOUNTAINS!!!

I took a little spontaneous trip to NC this weekend to visit the family! It's both my Mom and Dad's birthday weekend and I thought it was only fitting to fly home. I say spontaneous because I didn't purchase my Friday plane ticket until Wednesday afternoon! AND ... because it was such an on-the-whim kind of decision, I kept it a surprise.

I landed at 1:30PM and all three of my sisters picked me up at the airport. They held me hostage until 8PM that night for my parents birthday dinner (at Amber's house). It was so much fun! This is how we revealed their birthday surprise!

As soon as they showed up at 8PM, my sisters told them they had a "big" present that they wanted them to open ASAP and that they had to complete a scavenger hunt to find it b/c it was too big to wrap. Here were the clues:

We have a gift

Happy Birthday to you

Go to the couch

And look under Dru's shoe.

I'm sparkly and bright

Just like a star

You're one step closer

If you look in Whitney's car.

I'm old, not quite new

But, you'll still have a thrill

Now go to the porch

And look under the grill.

I'm small, yet I'm big

So no box would quite fit

Now go to the place

Where candles are lit.

When you split something four ways

The price isn't so high

Happy Birthday to you

Now close your eyes!!

**I've tried 10+ times to put a space at the end of each 4 lines, but my computer keeps going back to this .... Sorry!! At the end of each 4 line segment, they went to the place described and found another card**

Then, they closed their eyes and I surprised them! So much fun! One of the best weekends I've had in a very long time! There is nothing better than family!! :)

So ... onto Saturday morning. I had a 16 miler on deck. Did I mention my parents live in the Smoky Mountains?? I had to toss aside all time goals and run for time ... After three miles of up hill and an elevation gain of over 1100 feet (miles 2-4), I had to turn around and head back down the mountain to the flat ground (i.e. rolling mountains).

For all of you number crunchers:

(First #: split, Second #: elevation gain, Third #: elevation loss)

1. 9:00 85 74
2. 9:27 187 34
3. 9:16 167 18
4. 10:36 258 15
5. 9:34 0 230
6. 9:19 0 165
7. 6:55 74 187
8. 8:49 50 89
9. 8:59 13 87
10. 9:07 64 11
11. 9:14 10 78
12. 9:24 64 43
13. 9:01 10 78
14. 9:07 43 0
15. 9:20 57 57
16. 9:19 48 21

2:26ish for 16 miles. Compared to running in flat Florida, this was tough. I never climb more than 5 feet per mile here!! :) Even though we have much worse heat and humidity compared to NC, this now FL girl could not hang with the mountains!! I seriously found the flattest ground/road possible when I got back down off of the mountain at mile 7 and if you look at those numbers, it still wasn't that flat!

Track!!

I still heart speedwork but sometimes speedwork does not heart me! In all actuality, it's been kicking my butt lately!

I moved myself back down a group (it wasn't too hard to convince the coach - so I must have needed it). Moving up two groups within a month of San Diego may have been a little bit of an overachievement. Whether I'm making excuses or simply being true to my body, I'm still pushing myself - a lot! This speedwork isn't coming as easy as it used to.
I've even taken a new approach to the optional mile. I'm fine as long as it is sub goal marathon pace! :) No more, it has to be sub 7 requirement going on in my head! UGH! I can't do that after these practices. Maybe one day!

Today's Workout:

400 400 400 1600 800 400 400 400 Opt. 1600

Expected Times: 99 98 98 6:44 3:22 99 98 98

My times:

95 94 94 6:40 3:18 94 93 93 (optional in 7:29)

On paper, this is clearly a success! However, I'll be the first to admit that in reality it kicked my butt!! I still love Wednesdays, though!! :)

Insanity? Maybe!

After coming off of great runs on Thursday and Friday, I decided to rest up on Saturday and run long on Sunday! I woke up without problem but was confronted with a few minor issues:

• I wanted to get started early (b/c the FL heat and humidity is brutal)
• I was running solo (nervous about starting early and the dark)
• I was having major feminine issues (sorry, I know it's TMI but it weighed heavily on my decision)
• It was raining

The normal route wouldn't work. I was already nervous about starting at 5AM b/c I was running solo .... but on top of that, the rain and "no bathroom stops" just weren't going to work. Unfortunately, this route is about 20 minutes away. I can't run near my house in the dark (not as SAFE ... I live off of a major road).

I went back to bed!

But, I couldn't go to sleep! I just laid there knowing that I needed to be running and was wanting to be running but couldn't seem to find the best solution. Waiting later really isn't an option when it's already 100 degrees at 5AM.

I got back up out of bed within 5 minutes and decided that since my scheduled actually said "Run 15 miles easy" and did NOT have any goal marathon pace miles included, that I could just suck it up and run downstairs at my little condo gym! So, that's exactly what I did.

I packed up two bottles of gatorade and headed down there! It was so nice and convenient to run that close to home.

I avoid the condo gym treadmills at all cost b/c they're not calibrated right! I don't know how off they are, but this is what I do know:

• My easy pace on the treadmill is 6.7 to 6.8mph. I usually start here for easy runs and end around 7.3mph.
• Anytime I run on this treadmill, I seriously start between 5.5mph and 6.0mph. Seriously!
• I hate running on this treadmill b/c it takes me way longer to run a mile and because I like to track all of my splits like crazy .... so I just don't do it.

So, I started ... at 5.9mph and I worked my way up to 6.9mph (which almost felt tempo-ish) but I hated the time that the treadmill was telling me AND I was actually feeling good!

I ran until the treadmill said I ran 15 miles - even though the time was only 2 minutes slower than my outside (horrific) 16 miler last week. So, even though I can't compare apples to apples, I had a great run. Dare, I even say fast since the splits don't show it.

Regardless, I ran for 2:16:48 on the TREADMILL! Not sure that I could make it a mile today. My ipod died at 52 minutes so I was entertained by Home Improvement and Sabrina the Teenage Witch! :) And, interestingly enough, no one else from my condo visited the gym during my 15 mile journey. No one! I had the place to myself!

I had a tempo on the schedule for today, but opted for a recovery run instead. I ran 7.3 miles in 1:07.

Where has the week gone?

It's been a while since I've posted but I promise I've still been running!! Just a quick little update:

Monday: Took off ... still feeling blah

Tuesday: Had a little meltdown at work about still feeling blah about running. Ran 3 miles at lunch in the 900 degree weather. Avg. pace was 9:09

Wednesday: Track and I felt the worse I've ever felt which is reflected in my times.
3 x 1200 3 x 400 1600
5:06 5:03 5:17 (told you) 99 98 98 7:31

Thursday: 6 miles in 50:50 --> 8:28 pace :)

Friday: 8 miles in 1:07:25 --> 8:25 pace :) It was actually much faster than that! The first mile was 9:12 which makes the pace slightly faster! By the way, is it normal that I woke up at 3:50AM when my alarm was set for 4:00AM and decided to just go ahead and get up!?!?! I mean, who does that!

I want to get a few easy miles in tomorrow and am planning to run loooooooong on Sunday! My schedule says 15 easy, so we shall see!

Happy Friday! :)

16 miles of UGH!

Yesterday morning, way before the sun even thought of coming up, I headed out to meet up with the group for our Saturday long run. We all had different schedules . . . but everyone's had a common theme - 5 miles easy followed by lots of fast miles to total 15 miles for the day! Everyone except for me, that is. Mine totaled 16 miles. I know, you're thinking "what's an extra mile, Jaime?" After fifteen miles, an extra mile is eternity!!

My splits were all over the place all day! At 4:45AM, it was already 85 degrees with the humidity in the mid 90% range.

Miles 1-5 were probably the most exciting of the day since we were on a new route. The group stayed pretty intact which turned out to be a good thing because I had no idea where we were! We looped back around beside the cars at mile 4 and already had to grab some gatorade and water. I even gelled here, which is pretty early for me! I had a pretty good idea that I'd be doing very well to get in all 16 miles and that my schedule wasn't even going to be attempted (6 easy, 4 @ 8:10, 2 easy, 4 @8:00).

Miles 6-10 were the worst. I had slowed down in pace. The air was still so thick that I could have probably taken a knife to it and it wouldn't have made a difference. UGH! I was struggling mentally and was without my music. My legs were tight and I couldn't find my groove. Instead, every single mile, I could only dwell on how many more that I had. Around mile 9, I decided to try to pick up the pace. It felt good to stride out, but I was still ready to be finished.

A little after mile 10, I reached the yacht club water fountain/pool/bathroom. It turned out that mostly everyone else was struggling, too! You would have thought this was the new hang out! It was still mentally discouraging to know that I had an extra mile than everyone else. I was actually feeling much better at this point though and made my little pit stop a fast one and was on my way!

I knew that if I followed the normal course back, I would hit the starting point at 15 miles. I had debated quite a bit as to where to run this extra mile. I was pretty scared that if I ran back, I would not add it on. There was another great spot to add it on, but it was very close to the end. I could already imagine that conversation in my head (turn to make it 1.5 back to your car or keep going and you have less than 1/2 a mile left). So, around mile 12, I decided to take a small side road out half a mile and then back. This actually went by pretty quickly and I was pleased that I added it in.

After this little mile, I got back on course and noticed one of my friends walking up ahead. As I reached him, I told him to run with me in. He was ready to be finished as well and so we ran pretty hard for the last mile and half (averaged slightly under 8:00 pace). I also saw another runner friend slightly ahead and I told myself that I wanted to pass him before I finished . . . which I did, but just barely!

Overall, it was just one of those runs that I wanted over from the beginning. Luckily, I got my second wind after mile 10 but I struggled with the distance the entire time.

Total distance: 16 miles

Total time: 1:19:32 (8:44 average pace)