Reality & Track

Reality is ... I have been running.  But, I've also been working non stop and just trying to figure out this whole balance thing.  It's tough being a wife, runner, and full time employee - right!?

Reality is ... I owe you several race reports.  I want to write them, too because I enjoyed so very much reading my race reports before I ran these races.  It's really nice to be able to look at your training cycle from a previous race and learn from your recaps.

So, here's to catching up!  I'm on the right track.  For the past 5 months, I've been using only my ipad for internet reading - which, has been more than okay.  I love my ipad, but it's a little hard to type long sentences on.

On April 28th, I ran another half marathon: The Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon in Louisville, KY.  I did well for how I've been training and ran a 1:37:52.  More on that later.

More importantly, I've been training for the San Diego Half Marathon on June 3rd.  I'm hoping to be closer to the 1:35 mark - so, we shall see.

I hadn't really been doing a lot of speedwork since my move to Louisville.  The group of girls that I've been running with have been a little faster, forcing my workouts and easier runs to be well ... faster.  But, other than that, no track :(  We all know that my favorite workouts have always been on the track.  It's so just unbelievably difficult to go to the track by yourself..

Well, I've been successful lately.  Before the Derby half, I went to the track twice with my friend Kelly.  We did fun workouts - 12 x 400m one time and 300m with 1.5 mile tempos in between the other time.

The last two weeks I went to the track with my friend, Melissa.  We snuck into a local high school track at 5AM.  Two weeks ago, we ran the 400m workout again and I averaged 1:28.  I was so freakin' excited!

Then, this past Tuesday, we ran a super long track workout: 800m 1600m 2400m 1600m 800m.  In short, the pace was supposed to be same for all splits: 6:50 pace and the rest in between wsas half of the time you ran.

My splits:

800m: 3:24 (right on pace - felt good)
1600m: 6:44
2400m: 10:08 --> Actually felt good.  The goal was 10:15, so I knew I'd be able to finish the rest of the workout strong.
1600m: 6:31
800m: 3:08

I'll post some pics soon! :)  Leave me some comments and welcome me back :)

XOXO
Jaime

Races Races Races

I have been such the blogging slacker. I've been keeping up with all of my favorite reads, but haven't been commenting or posting myself. The worst part about it all - I need to write 3 race recaps!!

So, be on the look out very shortly for three race recaps:

Clearwater Half Marathon: 1:42:07

Gasparilla Half Marathon: 1:38:43

Rodes 10K: 43:57


XOXO

Clearwater Half - Quick Update

Clearwater kicked my butt!! I have a couple of rationales as to why ... which I will post about soon. But, in the meantime, I wanted to leave you with a quick update and some pictures.

1:42:07 - 6 minutes SLOWER than last year

5th age group
17th overall female

It was a small race - only about 1100 runners total between the Half Marathon and 5 miler.


Penny and I before the race. See that bridge in the background?! We ran up it 4 times.

Proof that my hair doesn't like the FL humidity. I had forgotton what that was like.

Mustering up any energy that I had left to finish strong. Last .17 in 6:06 pace :)

Medals :)

Bliss

Sometimes, everything falls together perfectly. Last Saturday, I had planned to meet up with a group of girls at 7:30AM. Instead, I gave into a late Friday night dinner with my husband that included sushi and a few glasses of wine. I still set my alarm for 6:30AM, but the entire week had caught up on me and I didn't even hit snooze for 5 more minutes. I turned it off . I woke up on my own around 8:15AM and just didn't want to run. One thing turned into another (breakfast, trip to Lowes, Starbucks, etc.) and before I knew it, it was almost 2PM.

I decided it was time to run and that I was going to try to run hills - afterall, I have a half marathon exactly two weeks later. I drive to Seneca and decide that I'll run the Seneca to Cherokee 8 mile loop and then add on as necessary. It's pretty hilly.

I started running and felt good. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. I gradually kept picking up the pace a little until I settled in to an 8:15ish pace. I maintained up the hills and felt strong. I couldn't stop smiling.

I got to the half way point of the loop and decided that I would add on some miles there (an out and back). This continued to be hilly and I just wanted to keep running out. I ran all the way to the University of Louisville before turning around. Continuous rolling hills.

I haven't felt that good in a while. Everything seemed to be perfect. Maybe it was the sunshine, maybe it was just my day. But, I'll take it again.

13.1 miles - 1:48:28

There wa a time when I couldn't have dreamt of racing a 1:48, let alone running it on an easy long run.

Next up Clearwater Half. :)

A Step in my Own Shoes

With January 22nd right around the corner and knowing how my training has been - good, but not great - I decided to take a step in my own shoes this month.

What does that mean?

I printed out my training log from January 2011 and decided that at minimum, I will do exactly what I did last year. I ran well at Clearwater, so I'm hoping that this provides similiar results. I'm not naive enough to think that it will, but I feel like I have a good base and just needed a little direction. I was running really well last year at this point and I think if I can hit the same mileage and simliar paces, it may just give me the confidence that I need.

Monday - 2011: 2 miles easy, 2 tempo, 2 easy (Middle 2 were in 14:28) - Easy avg. pace 8:53
Monday - 2012: 2 miles easy, 2 tempo, 2 easy (Middle 2 in 14:33) - Easy avg. pace 8:32

Tuesday - 2011: 7 miles easy - 59:07
Tuesday - 2011: 7 miles easy --> I had dinner obligations and wanted to be done: 54:43

Next up, mile repeats . . . 2011 (6:41, 6:37, 6:41) I'm not so sure that I'm going to beat that one.

New Year!

I've had a very eventful 2011. I didn't quite hit all of my running goals for 2011, but I did have a very productive year. I ran some great races, got married, moved to Louisville KY and took on a new position with the company that I've been with for the past 4 1/2 years. This year has definitely had it's ups and downs - the move hit me pretty hard, but overall, it was a year to remember.

As we begin 2012, I feel very blessed. I have a husband that I love very much, a job that I enjoy and that gives me great opportunity and running. I survived 2011 injury free and still whole heartedly love to run. I still want to PR. I still believe I'm capable of running faster. I still want to train harder so that I can race and see what I am actually made of. But, I think I've finally found a balance in my running and life that I've missed for a while.

I ran almost 1200 miles in 2011 which doesn't come close to the 1600+ miles I ran in 2010. But, I'll take it. I even finished the year yesterday afternoon with a treadmill 10 miler in 1:18:56. I was at exactly 25:00 at mile 3 and decided to keep picking up the pace until mile 10. I ran the last 7 in 53:56. My ipod died at 28 minutes and I was too stubborn to walk upstairs to get David's ipod that I ran the next 50 minutes without music. :)

So, so long 2011 and cheers to 2012. Next race up: Clearwater Half Marathon on Jan. 23rd. I can only hope it goes as well as it did last year.

XOXO