All Things Jaime

Clearwater Half - Quick Update

2012-01-25T17:46:00.003-05:00

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

2012-01-15T10:40:00.002-05:00

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

2012-01-05T06:17:00.003-05:00

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!

2012-01-01T14:46:00.002-05:00

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

New York City Marathon: Race Report

2011-11-11T12:24:00.006-05:00

I'm sure you've all noticed that I haven't really been around that much lately. It's not for my lack of running or lack of passion for the sport. Ever since we moved to Louisville, I've been slammed. I took a new position with the company, in a new department, and things have kind of been crazy. Good crazy. But, crazy nonetheless. Let's just say that there have been some 12-13 hour workdays each week. I love the new job, but I love running more. I've kept running, but my mileage has suffered.

In August, I ran one 15 miler. Since then, my longest run has been a 10 miler - and to be quite honest, I probably only did that every other weekend. During the week, I'd run 3-4 times - 5-7 milers. I stopped doing speed work, but kept up my pace. My average pace on all of my runs was between 7:45-8:15.

I could tell I was getting stronger and still running well ... But, with a long run of only 10 miles, I wasn't so sure how my body would handle the full marathon. I thought that I could probably pull off a decent half, but I wasn't so sure about a full. In fact, I was kind of concerned about even attempting the full.

But, I did it. I planned the trip and was so excited to see Penny! I analyzed past blogs and training cycles and realized that I am SUCH a better runner now in so many ways, but that I just didn't have the distance. So, with 9 days to go, I decided to convince myself that I was superwoman. Yes, superwoman! :)

Since I opted to go on vacation and only run a 5 miler as my long run 3 weeks before the race and then with 2 weeks to go decided to race a 4K (FUN - 2nd overall female), I decided with one week to go that I should run 10 miles again. I had convinced myself that I was running the NYC marathon no matter the pain. I was good through 10 miles - so, I thought worse case I'd be struggling through the second half.

Goal - have fun! Try to run the entire time. Use this run to get back in shape :)

The time before the race flew by. I had so much time chatting and hanging with Penny and Keri that I really kind of forgot that we were running a marathon. On the outside, I was reminding everyone of the training that I hadn't done. But, on the inside, I was convincing myself that I had been training for 4 years (which I have been running regularly for 4 years now) for the race and that the past 12 weeks didn't offset that!

We jumped up and down, sang outloud and smiled a lot. Before we knew it, the race started.

The first mile was a little insane. Technically, I walked during the first quarter mile of this race. We couldn't go. There were so many people. Penny and I managed to stay together and crank out a 9:09. Once we got to the top of the bridge and started going down, I could tell Penny was in a lot of pain. My body was wanting to go; however, I was scared. It was early on and I didn't know how my body would handle everything. We ran a 8:14 for mile 2.

Coming off the bridge was nice. Brooklyn was sunny and welcoming. I had already tossed my arm warmers - which means that it really was hot because I wouldn't just part with those bad boys!!

I decided early on that I needed to take care of my body - as in an over the top kind of way! I was asking a lot out of it and I needed to fuel early and often. So, that's exactly what I did. They had gatorade and water stops every mile from mile marker 3-24. I took gatorade or water, but mostly just gatorade at every.single.stop!! I ran through them all and it slowed me down some, but I drank it! :) I also gelled every 4 miles. In the past, I've only gelled every 7 miles.

I ran through the 5K time at 26:45. I had lost Penny right around this time. I kept trying to look back. I was praying for her and her foot ...

My pace hovered around the 8:15ish mark for a while. I was just taking it all in. I was trying to be cautious and just enjoy myself. I was very anxious for what was to come and just so happy to be running the NYC Marathon!!

10K time - 52:21

15K time - 1:18:15

From mile 9-10, I decided to high five every single kid. It made me smile even more. I was feeling good and just kept talking to myself. Literally at least 20 times per mile I would keep repeating "You are so strong. You're determined, Jaime. You're stubborn. Today is your day and no one is taking it away from you! Strong!! Believe!! You are so passionate about running. You've worked 4 years for today -you've got this. Then, I would repeat "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This was seriously on constant repeat all day!!

I remember hitting mile 10 at 1:23:xx and being elated. I kept getting faster and kept feeling better!! I think this is about the time that the song cheers for the freakin' weekend song came on. That made me smile :)

I kept cruising through Brooklyn and as I knew that the half way point would come on the Brooklyn bridge. I hit the half way point, still feeling good, in 1:48:58.

It's funny. This was my sixth marathon. #3, #4 and #5 all had a goal of sub 3:40. This is the first time I came through the half way point ahead of that 1:50 goal - and I wasn't even stressing over time. I still didn't let myself think ahead .. I was just being strong and running in the moment. I started letting myself go here. I'd think ahead to the next gel or think it 2 mile increments. Like, if you can make it two more miles, then you only have 11 left. You can do anything for 11 miles. You know, that kind of talk.

I hit 15 - still feeling great.

25K - 2:13:04

I hit 16 - still feeling great despite the two mile bridge into Manhattan. Funny enough, I rememebered every single step of this race from 2009 - except that bridge. I remember that bridge not being so bad. It was long and hilly and kind of rough. But, I pushed and knew wait awaited me .. Manhattan! I can't even describe this moment. There have got to be very few moments in life that top coming off of that bridge and into Manhattan. I took out my ipod and listened to the crowd and to "New York" play so loudly.

I started picking up the pace. I don't have my garmin on me now, but the next 5 miles were all between 7:44 and 8:05.

This was the first time I started looking ahead, too. I figured that even if I crashed, I wouldn't stop and so worse case that mean 10 minute miles. My predicition at mile 16 (with 10 ten minute miles): 3:53. Knowing I had run a 3:56 in 2009, I was elated .. and that probably pushed me even more.

At 18, I predicted again.

30K - 2:42:08

19 and 20 were great. 20 is a huge milestone. I continued to count down the time until I'd finish each time predicitng a little quicker. I'd start to wonder when I was going to completely crash knowing that it could happen any second but tried really hard not to let my mind go there.

Around 22, I saw Keri and her dad. Keri was very encouraging as I ran past them. I kept going ... until Mile 23. At 23, the wall came. I felt like I was crawling I was running so slow. But, I was determined to keep running and not give up. I knew it was 5K left. Everytime I looked at my Garmin, I was somehow mustering a 9:10-9:15 pace. I was content with that to say the least. 23 and 24 were happy miles. We were in Central Park and approaching the finish line. But, 23 and 24 were long miles, too. I knew once I reached 25, I could do it! One mile ... yes! :)

I tried picking up the pace a little at 25. In NYC, this actually is possible. The crowds are unbelieveable at this point that you can't help but smile and pick up the pace. I just love finishing the NYC Marathon and I'd dreamt of running this last mile again ever since I finished in 2009. There are few moments in life that will top that feeling!! The signs continued to count down and I just tried passing people :) 1/2 mile ... 400m ... 300m ... 200m ... 100m ... Finished!

I crossed the finish line completely spent with the largest smile on my face. I stopped my watch.

26.45 miles 3:41:08

I realized around mile 17 that I had lost almost 2 1/2 minutes of signal on the bridge into Manhattan. So, I'd say since my time was 3:43:36 - I probably ran a good 26.8 miles.

Official time: 26.2 miles: 3:43:36

Passion. Stubbornness. Determination. Belief. Call it whatever you want, but it was my day :)

New York City Marathon

2011-11-09T07:24:00.004-05:00

I'm back from NYC and I'm back to reality. NYC proved to not disappoint - even with this being my second marathon there. I continue to be in love with Empire State and continue to be humbled by the marathon. It's definitely an unpredictable race because despite your training anything can happen. On Sunday, all of the stars aligned for me, and I ran a 3:43:36. A full recap will be posted soon. Until then, here are some pictures to enjoy!

Penny and I at the Finish Line the day before. It took us several hours to figure out that the finish line clock was the actual time of day :)

My race day outfit.

Views from the Ferry

More Views from the Ferry

Statue of Liberty - view from the Ferry

This seemed to be the trend all weekend :)

More to come!!!

New York City: Week 3 of 20 "Quality vs. Quantity"

2011-07-11T16:09:00.002-04:00

What a crazy week! My schedule continues to get more and more hectic. One more week of my 35 minute commute and boy am I happy about that! I love everything about where I'm living, but knowing that I'll be able to start running in the morning again makes me one happy girl! :) These lunch time runs are exhausting, not too mention I am hating the treadmill. Due to the 95 degree + heat (hello Summer in KY), I'm really having no other option.

My mileage was down this week and I was really hard on myself and upset that I didn't hit the 38 miles that I had wanted to. Instead of continually beating myself up, I made a vow to myself that I would make sure that they runs I was able to run were of quality!!

Here's how the week went:

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - 7 miles in 54:44
Shoulders/Tris/Bis/Abs

Wednesday - 5.2 miles in 41:20
Legs/Abs

Thursday - No run :( Ran out of time at lunch
Chest/Back/Abs

Friday - 7 miles in 54:47

Saturday - 1 mile in 8:45 + 30 minutes of cross training

Sunday - 10 miles in 1:18:38

Total Mileage: 30.2 miles

It's still early and I'm hoping to INCREASE my mileage majorly ... but, all things considered, I'll take this week. I can tell I'm getting stronger :)

XOXO

NYC: Week 2 of 20 - Done.

2011-07-05T17:05:00.002-04:00

This also marked week 2 of me getting my butt in the weight room. Like hard core weight room. I have three girlfriends at work that go to the gym everyday from 12-1 to lift. I've always wanted to add more lifting, but can never find anyone that can workout with my schedule. The lift, without break and with lots of reps! Just like I like it -My heart beats fast, my muscles get worn out and I leave feeling accomplished and all sweaty!

Funny enough, NYC training also started two weeks ago. With week one going almost as well as I could have imagined, it was only a matter of time before the lifting and running caught up with me. For this particular week, it was Friday.

Monday - OFF (running) - shoulders, bi's and tri's

Tuesday - 7.5 miles (dead garmin) + legs (thinks squats and lunges and leg press)

Wednesday - 7 miles in 58:18 + chest and back

Thursday - My own version of track - 4 miles worth of 4 minutes easy, 1 minute fast My easy pace averaged around 8:20 while my one minute sprints were all between 5:32-5:49 pace. This was a fun way to get some turnover without running crazy intervals on the track. Love track, but not solo track. Still working on that one. + more legs

Friday - Didn't get to leave in time to get my run finished before I met the ladies at the gym. Ran 1 mile (instead of 7); then lifted shoulders, bi's and tri's. David wanted wine after work and I couldn't resist :( On top of that, my legs were exhausted!! So, I took the rest of the day off.

Saturday - 3 miles in 25:02

Sunday - 11 miles in 1:38:49 (8:59 pace). Holy hills (mountains). We were at the lake house for the weekend. When my first two miles were 9:19 and 9:34, I quickly decided to turn my watch upside down and not look at it. My legs HURT. The hills were so tough. I decided to chalk up the pace and just try to reap the benefits of hill training! Somehow, I finished strong and it brought my average down.

Total - 33.5 miles (was supposed to be 39 miles)

I'll still call it a success. I even had a GREAT tempo run today to start off Week 3.

No New News

2011-06-29T07:22:00.002-04:00

Nothing out of the ordinary to report here, just wanting to check in ...

Louisville is still hilly and on most days has only grey skies. Yesterday, I was able to sneak in a 7.5-8 (Garmin was dead) mile run in the sun!! This made me smile.

I've been working out at lunch (lifting weights) with three other girls from work. I'm happy that I'm reforming this habit and have some ladies to hold me accountable.

Otherwise, I've been working a TON of hours.

Tell me something fun to make me smile on this beautiful Wednesday!!

NYC: 1 week down, 19 to go!

2011-06-26T18:51:00.002-04:00

Week 1 is in the books and it was a success. For the first four weeks, I'm building my base back up. Here's how the week went:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 7 miles - 58:17 (8:20 pace)
Wednesday: 7 miles - 59:29 (8:30 pace)
Thursday: 4 miles - 33:12 (8:18 pace) --> This run also had 2 400m sprints in the middle of it.
Friday: 7 miles - 56:17 (8:02 pace)
Saturday: 3 miles - 24:39 (8:13 pace)
Sunday: 10 miles - 1:24:36 (8:28 pace)

Total for the week: 38 miles

I was pretty sore on Wednesday and Thursday, but by Friday I was feeling really good! Suprisingly good. That carried over to my easy 3 miler on Saturday, too! Both Friday and Saturday I ran when it was probably 80 degrees out.

This morning, I set out for my 10 miler and was very tired. I didn't even wake up until 9:15AM and then managed to lay around and drink coffee and watch tv until around 11:30. When I finally got out the door, I just wasn't into it, but was determined to finish and complete my long run. I ran through the neighborhood and somehow managed to find 10 miles. I climbed many hills and even one mountain. I kept telling myself that this was hilly than NYC and would be good training. I didn't let myself look at my Garmin for the first six miles.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my week! 19 more to go!

The hardest part is the first step ...

2011-06-23T07:23:00.002-04:00

I dreaded my run yesterday from the moment I woke up! I was incredibly sore and tired. When lunch time finally came, it was drizzling and I found myself still unmotivated. I changed clothes, hopped on the treadmill and knew it was going to be a long 7 miles. Within .1 miles, I knew that I didn't have the mental strength for almost an hour-long run on the treadmill. So, despite the drizzly rain, I headed outdoors reminding myself that it was an "easy" run and that the goal was to go easy and to complete the distance.

After a mile, my legs started to warm up and my calves loosened up and felt almost normal. I never looked at my watch until the last mile. The rain felt amazing and my lunch time run left me refreshed the rest of the day! :)

It's true, no matter how bad I've ever not wanted to run, I've never regret a run once finished!

7 miles - 59:29 (Day 2 of NYC training)

PS: Check out www.amandavanvoorhisphotography.com for my wedding pictures preview. Love love love!!!

20 Weeks Until NYC . . .

2011-06-22T07:17:00.003-04:00

For the next four weeks, I'm re-building my base. I never quite lost my base, but now I have a schedule and am not cutting my self any slack. No more saying "It doesn't really matter if you sleep in today," because it does. The truth is NYC is 20 weeks away. My plan is to run 38 miles, 39 miles, 38 miles, 42 miles for the next four weeks so that I can begin NYC training with a bang!!

I'm excited to have a schedule to follow again, though a little nervous. I'm trying something completely new this time and am writing my own schedule. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what I need to be successful. That, along with a lot of research and reading, should help me put together the perfect plan for NYC.

I'm trying something new this time around - Sunday long runs instead of Saturday. I'm not a stay up all night kind of girl on Friday's but I figured with moving to a new city and working full days on Fridays now, it will be good to cut myself a little slack on Saturday AM. That way, I can make plans for Friday nights, too! It's not like I have a group of people meeting me on Saturday mornings anymore :( I'll have to have all of my online friends help keep me accountable! That, and daily calls/emails to Penny :)

I joined the gym yesterday but I'm hoping for some sunshine today! It's been grey skies and raining since I moved to Louisville. I'd love a little blue skies. Please!!

XOXO

Married!!

2011-06-20T12:28:00.004-04:00

I have so many updates to give you - most importantly 1) I'm married and 2) I moved to Louisville, KY. And, while 3) NYC Marathon is 20 weeks away, I'm still more excited about #1 and #2. No worries, though ... I've been running. But, for now, let's talk about the wedding!

Everything (minus the fact that I was diagnosed with bronchitis six days prior) was perfect!!! David and I flew into Key West and had a very small ceremony on the beach. We'll celebrate in a few months with a reception, but for now we're enjoying the fact that we were able to run away to get married. I won't give you too many details, but will share some photos that Penny was able to take on her phone! I'm dying to get the professional pictures back!! Until then ....

So much going on ...

2011-06-02T10:15:00.003-04:00

I have a lot of updates, but at the same time, I feel like I'm still missing so much information. There is a reason I haven't posted in a while as I have so much going on in my life. For now, I will share the following:

Last Monday I found out that the company I work for is closing down the Tampa office. They are transferring the employees back to Louisville, KY. Lots of decisions to be made asap!
Last Saturday, I ran a 5K in Brevard, NC and I won overall female. There were 86 females and 157 total runners. I was 1/86 (females) and 12/157 (total runners). I climbed 394 feet total and it was the hardest race of my life. I won with a 22:21. No joke. The most important part of this race was that I ran it with my 11 year old brother, Dakota. He won his age group with a 28:03. He didn't walk at all. I'm so proud of him. I almost walked up those mountains myself!
My little sister, Morgan, got married last Saturday. She was so beautiful and it was so nice to spend the weekend with my family!
I got back from NC late Monday and had a great wine date w/my favorite Penny! :) Before I let myself enjoy the wine, I ran 5 easy miles w/an average pace of 7:58.
Got fitted for my wedding dress on Tuesday! :)
Went to track on Wednesday to see everyone and for my sanity. Opted to run in my own group and not worry about time. The last thing I need right now is a breakdown because I can't hit my target paces. I love running and need to keep it that way. The workout was 1200 1200 400 1200 1200. I ran 5:07 5:05 93 5:05 4:55 My normal group's goal times were: 4:54 for the 1200's and 93 for the 400. All things considered, I'm more than okay with how I ran.
I've spent countless hours with David weighing all of our options ....
I ran 5.3 miles with the group this morning which included one parking garage for hills.
Got my marriage license today.
Going to Busch Gardens today. Need to get use out of my annual pass.
Need beach time this weekend.
Dress Fitting #2 on Sunday
Birthday on Monday
Packing for Key West on Tuesday
Leaving for Key West on Wednesday
Getting married on Friday
Getting back to Tampa on Sunday
Possibly moving on Monday or Tuesday ....

So, there you go ... I may not be online so much over the next two or three weeks, but I will have wedding pictures for you soon after that! I'll be reading all of your posts, but please forgive me if I do not comment!

Everything happens for a reason! Trying to remain positive with all of these changes! :)

XOXO

Jaime

Track Attack

2011-05-20T12:22:00.003-04:00

I had the most amazing track workout on Wednesday night - really, I've had an amazing week of running.

I opted to sleep in Wednesday and go to night track. I prefer running in the AM, mostly because of the heat but also because I have such a solid group of running friends. I was extremely tired all of Tuesday and even though I went to bed early that night, I decided that I didn't want to spend the rest of my week exhausted, so I slept in.

The track workout Wednesday night was: 1200 6x400 1200

Goal Times: 4:54 - 95 - 4:54

We were told not to push the 400's since we only received a minute of rest after each 400. Also, we were to hit or exceed whatever time we ran the first 1200 in.

My times - 4:49 95 93 94 94 94 94 4:41

I felt so good that I was able to finish strong!! Love when that happens!!

Rest of the Week -

Monday (lunch)- 7 easy at 8:43 pace
Tuesday (AM) - 5 easy at 8:08 pace
Wednesday (PM)- Track
Thursday (AM) - 5 easy at 8:41 pace

Tomorrow, I'm heading back to the trails!! :)

Miles for Moffit 5 miler: RR

2011-05-16T08:37:00.003-04:00

I could make this very short and simple and summarize my race in one sentence: 5 milers are hard!!

But, I'll give you a little more fo a run down on how it went . . .

After babysitting my favorite little FL baby on Friday night, I got about 5 hours of sleep. I woke up and had less than 15 minutes to get ready. UGH! I hate being rushed. I quickly got dressed and ready and met some friends to carpool with to the race.

We warmed up for nearly 2 miles and got ready to run. My only race goal was to start around 7:15's and try to hold on. I really didn't want to start too fast. Knowing my half pace is 7:20, I thought I could aim for a little faster, but I still have this terrible fear of starting too fast!!

Jen and I started off together - which was the plan! We were going to start together and see what happened. We came across mile 1 in 6:59. We laughed at the fact that we were talking and running sub 7:00 minute miles. Mile 2 was a little harder, but we kept pace: 6:56

Somewhere around mile 2.5, I dropped back off of Jen. I couldn't keep up with her and my biggest fear had suddenly come true. I had in fact started too quickly! 2.5 more miles of running is hard on tired lungs and legs! :) I let her go, but kept her in sight. I tried to stay positive and tried not to let anyone pass me. I just wanted to hold on and not completely die. I crossed mile 3 with a split of 7:15.

Funny enough, there were rolling hills. We kept going up and down them on the last two miles. I told myself when I had two miles left that I could run 8:20's and finish under 38 minutes. I was okay with this ... or, well I tricked myself expecting this, so I was elated when I hit mile 4 in 7:16.

My saving grace was a short little out and back section that they added around mile 3.5-4ish. I like out and back's in short races because you can distract yourself and count the runners ahead of you! I wanted to see how Jen was doing and I wanted to see how many females were ahead of me. I was surprised to only count 6 females in front of Jen. There were two girls in between us (but they were close and I knew I'd get them).

I kept trying to pick up the pace, but I couldn't. The two girls were merely inches in front of me but I couldn't muster up enough energy to pass them. They were older and I knew they weren't in my age group. Then, something happened. With about half a mile left, I started yelling at myself! I kept telling myself that I'd be so upset if I didn't pass them. It was going to hurt either way and I just needed to push a little harder. So, I did. I picked up the pace and pushed pass them!! Mile 5: 7:11

Of course, there were quite a few turns and I don't always run the best tangents, so my final home stretch sprint - :21 (.06 miles) - 5:40 pace.

I crossed the finish line completely exhausted. I looked at my Garmin and in complete disbelief, it said: 36:00:94 I told everyone that I ran a 35:59 and prayed that I stopped it a little late. Sadly, the final results had me at just that: 36:00. I wish it would have read 36:01 or 35:59. 36:00 just sounds too approximate. Oh well.

Garmin Results:
5.06 miles: 36:00
7:07 pace

Official Results
5.0 miles: 36:00
7:12 pace

2/85 - age group
8/556 - females

7:12 pace

Reality Check!

2011-05-12T12:56:00.000-04:00

I am tired. I missed my run this morning due to sleeping in. But, it was worth it. It wasn't easy and it was a lot different than what I am used to after work, but last night I babysat Charlotte while my friends, Emily and Justin, went to a concert. We had her from 6:30-11:30. Since, I'm usually without child and in bed by 10PM, this was an adjustment. But, I can see why it's so worth it.

David was so sweet when he got home around 8:30PM. He let me take a bath and wouldn't let me make his dinner plate. He was so helpful and stayed awake with me and Charlotte the entire time. When Charlotte got fussy, he held her and rocked her. So sweet. Makes me fall even more in love . . .

Redemption Track

2011-05-11T11:37:00.002-04:00

I almost didn't wake up this morning! I was so tired and my fiance finally got back after being away for work since Friday morning. The bed was so warm and it was just screaming for me to stay in. Yesterday's "easy" 5 miler (8:35, 8:22, 8:18, 8:11, 7:44) was tough. My legs were still tired from the trails and it was not even the slightest bit easy. I tried reasoning with myself that I am racing a 5 miler on Saturday and that could count as my speed workout for the week. Afterall, track on tired legs is not any fun at all. But, something inside of me knew I'd be so upset with myself for the rest of the day. So, I did what any good runner would do . . . I got out of bed!

4:45AM is so early. It never becomes normal. Some mornings it is easier to wake up than other mornings, but it's still early!

I got to track not sure how my legs would feel and did a little warm up mile. Felt okay! :) When, I went to check the workout, this is what I saw: (800m - 1 minute rest - 800m) 2 minute rest x 3 times

In English: 800m - 1 minute rest - 800m - 2 minutes rest - 800m - 1 minute rest - 800m - 2 minutes rest - 800m - 1 minute rest - 800m

Goal Times: 3:18, 3:14, 3:18, 3:14, 3:18, 3:14
No matter how fast we ran the first, we had to run the second 800m of that set 4 seconds faster. The goal was to pace the first and then learn to pick it up after only one minute rest.

My immediate thoughts - AAHHH! Though I love 800's, I know that the one minute in between flies. We usually get two minutes between all. We did this workout not even two months ago and it was my first track fail in a while.

So, I decided I would not run repeats 1, 3 and 5 any faster than I needed. I thought of it as pacing and tried to convice myself that 3:18 was easy! It worked. Here's how I did:

3:18 3:10 3:17 3:10 3:16 3:07

Redemption sure is nice.

So glad I didn't sleep in!!!

Trails x 2 - My Kind of Weekend

2011-05-08T09:31:00.002-04:00

With the boy out of town for nearly 5 days, what's a girl to do?! I was in desperate need of some me time and some good running!! Probably not your average thought, but my idea of a good weekend was back to back trail runs with friends.

I haven't run trails since I moved to FL (Jan. '10). It's been a while to say the least and I had forgotten how much I missed it. To say the least, it reminds me of home in Western North Carolina. It's basically where I learned to run!

The trails are just so serene; so peaceful. There is something about running as the sun rises and hearing woodpeckers and birds chirp. The trails were narrow at times; sometimes rooty, sometimes sandy. The water was along side the trail for a lot of the run. So beautiful! We even saw two rather large white tailed deer this morning! I really can't describe it, but when I reflect back on it, I simply smile! I want to go back!

Yesterday, we ran a 9.23 mile loop. This morning, we ran 7.65 miles. The times were slower and much more relaxed but I was reminded of my love for running this weekend. It was nice to run through the woods at my own pace, on my own time! It was nice to take everything in and enjoy the company of great friends. I have a feeling that the trails will be visited much more often in my future!

Movin' On Up

2011-05-04T11:51:00.002-04:00

I thought last week was a fluke, but apparently my 6:06 mile now means that I have to continue to run with Group 4 at track. I've been in Group 4B for a little while now, so this means I'm movin' on up! This also means that I have to run even faster . . .

This morning's workout was a tough one! 600 600 800 800 1000 1000

After the 600's and 1000's, we did a slow 200m jog as our recovery. After the 800's, we received 2 minutes rest.

Expected times - 93 seconds per lap - 6:12 pace

My times -

2:21
2:21
3:05
3:06
4:00
4:00

Those 1000's were supposed to be in 3:52. They were tough!! But, if I exceeded my times on my first try than I would be ready to move up again. This group will definitely provide a challenge and I'm going to have to work for it, but I'm ready :)

I still owe you a Bachelorette Party Post. I hope to have that up by the end of the week!!

One Mile Work Race: RR

2011-04-28T21:13:00.002-04:00

6:30AM - Got to sleep in because I didn't have to run before work! :) Woke up after 7 hours of sleep and three glasses of wine. TIRED.

8:00AM - COFFEE!!!!

10:00AM - Water and Clif Bar

11:30AM - Water and 1/2 Clif Bar

12:00PM - 1/2 mile warm up jog and lots of stretching

12:15PM - My coach arrives!! We talk and he stretches me. It's 86 degrees out and so HOT!!!! I feel good and after yesterday, I knew exactly what that 89-91 pace/lap felt like. I also had a lot more confidence after completing the workout yesterday that my competitors would not be able to hang at that pace. :)

12:30PM - We begin. Andrew takes off immediately and I don't stay with him. Adam stays right on my heels, almost tripping me twice. Adam and I exchange a few words during the first 200m. I tell him if he's going to pace off of me that he can't trip me. At the 200m, I feel great and we are at 41 seconds. Andrew is 3 seconds at least ahead of me. I decide to slow down knowing that he will die in due time.

I hit the first lap in 88 seconds. I feel great and I can see Andrew slowing down. As I hit the 500m-ish mark, I pass Andrew like he's standing still :) All the meanwhile, Adam is still right on me.

We hit lap two in 3:01. I can hear Adam breathing heavily. While tired, I know I can hold the pace. I'm just being patient waiting for Adam to fall off.

On the home stretch to completing lap three, I feel Adam backing off a little. He's backing off and I still have energy left. Silly boys! I come across the 1200m mark in 4:35. I'm guessing I've got three seconds on Adam at this point but I'm not worried - not even the slightest!

I continue running never looking back! I don't need to know where he is; I need to focus on my own race. As I round the last corner, I can see through the corner of my eyes that I have about 100m on Adam. I stride it out - never sprinting, yet still picking up the pace slightly. I cross the finish line in 6:06.

Adam crossed 41 seconds later in 6:47. He had a rough last lap. :(

We chat and congratulate each other and see Andrew walking with over 200m left. He continues to walk until the home stretch and finally finishes in 9:14.

That 6:06 felt good and left me hungry for digging deep and training for speed. Especially, since I was basically running solo and in the 86 degree heat. I'm itching to break 6:00 and I know I have it in me! :)

9:30PM - Packing. Leaving for JAX with Penny at 7AM!! Our shirts: "Jaime's tying the knot .... So, BUY us a SHOT!!!"

Weekend Recap w/Pictures next!!

XOXO

400m repeats

2011-04-28T09:27:00.003-04:00

I LOVE the 400m distance. I was a sprinter back in my high school days and everytime that we run 400's, it bring backs fond memories of the 400m dash!

Wednesday morning's workout: 10x 400 w/a 1:15 rest in between.

Expected time: 91

With 90% humidity a the craziest wind for the entire home stretch, I didn't have too many factors on my side, but I still managed:

91 91 90 90 90 91 90 90 89 87

My quads hated me for the last 3.

Today is the one mile challenge. I'll keep you posted! :)

So excited!!

2011-04-26T20:02:00.002-04:00

Monday - Check

Tuesday - Check

Wednesday - Looking forward to track :)

Thursday - One Mile Challenge

Friday - 8AM - Leaving for Jacksonville for my Bachelorette Party Weekend :) Need I say more?!

Getting excited!!!!

Beach Running + Partying w/the girls + Fun in the Sun (minus the boy)! ;)

One Mile Challenge?

2011-04-21T11:30:00.002-04:00

Some guys at work have quite boldly challenged me to a one mile challenge. As in . . . they were talking a lot of shit and saying that there was no way that I could beat them! I wasn't having any of that, so I said "Let's do this!"

In one week from today, I will be racing a mile against:

A 27 year old, out of shape, smoker (in his defense he still has some MI state records in swimming on the high school level)

A 25 year old ex college soccer player. Hasn't worked out since college.

A 35 year old who runs 2 milesx 5 days a week (around 15:00) and lifts 6 days per week --> who is also known as my fiance. He ran the Turkey Day Mile in 6:56 w/my little brother and wasn't winded.

I'm the most worried about the fiance! But, I don't think that any of them will approach the mile the right way; i.e., they will start SUPER fast!

AND ... the want to do it at lunch (90 degree weather). So, I think that is an advantage to me! :)

Thoughts?

Track yesterday was hard. I ran at 6:3oPM instead of AM and it was 85 degrees. The workout was 1200 400 1200 400 1200 400

I ran: 4:48 94 4:55 94 4:58 89

HARD!!!

Ran 6 this morning as a recovery!

I should have raced this weekend!!

2011-04-18T08:39:00.002-04:00

I had the best run yesterday! So good, that when I finished, all I could think was "I should have raced today."

Because I'm a good fiance, I dd'ed on Friday night and slept in on Saturday instead of waking up early to meet my friends for a long run. This threw my entire Saturday off (sleeping in) and I didn't run the entire day.

Fast forward to Sunday and I slept in (just a little) again! I got up, made coffee, visited with the boy before he left for fishing for the day and finally started running at 9AM.

I realize that 9AM is early to a lot of you, but in Tampa, it's already 85 degree and sunny at 9AM!

So, I headed out solo and without music in the warm, warm weather. It was a beautiful day and all I could think about was finishing so that I could hit up the pool and work on my tan ;)

For the first ten steps, I thought "UGH! My legs are heavy and tight." I thought ... just make it six miles. You have to go at least six. But, then I loosened up and hit mile one in 8:20. I kept running, focusing on my stride. I wasn't thinking about running faster, just about running with a longer stride. It feels good to stretch out. But, then something happened. I kept getting faster. Of course, on my way back (I ran an out and back of 8 miles), I kept yelling at myself saying things like "You have to work hard to run well in NYC." "There's a reason you're not in Boston this weekend. You need to train harder!" "Be tough, Jaime. RUN!!!" I'm getting good at playing mind games with myself!

Check out these splits! Because they're all negative, I can honestly say that I didn't realize increase the effort too much until the last .3 miles!

8:20
8:13
7:52
7:41
7:28
7:23
7:13
6:56

Total - 8 miles in 1:01:11 (7:39 average pace).

Truth be told, 7:20 is my half marathon pace and I can see why! When stretched and not rushed into that pace, I feel good holding it! :) 7:38 is my secret marathon goal pace for NYC! We'll see!!

Good luck to everyone in Boston today!!

1000's - New Distance + Random Talk

2011-04-14T12:13:00.003-04:00

We ran 1000's at the track yesterday! This was new distance as we always sprint distances in multiples of 400m. But, instead, the workout was 5 x1000m w/a 200m recovery in between.

This = HARD!

Goal pace: 4:00 (6:24 mile pace or 96 second lap pace).

My attempt:

3:59 3:57 3:56 4:02 3:19

No, it's not how it looks. I didn't crush the last repeat. I stopped at the 800m mark because I was dead and already 7 seconds off of pace! So tough!!

I'm lacking in the energy department lately. I've been so tired. Ever since I detoxed, I've lost about 5 lbs. I'm okay with this because my stomach looks better than ever; however, I'm tired. I was 104lb today. I'm usually 108-110. I promise I'm eating! :)

Regardless, I had a great workout! Oh! On Monday, I finished my run with a 7:44 minute mile and then a 7:06 mile. Even though I'm only logging 20-25 mpw, I'm determined to gain strength and not lose my speed! It's possible!

Do you notice a correlation between your weight and energy levels?

Are you running Boston on Monday? If so, Good luck!!!

Inspired!

2011-04-11T14:43:00.002-04:00

As soon as I told myself that I wouldn't follow a schedule for two months, I've found myself yearning to run. I've stuck true to the 20-25 miles per week approach for now, but lately I cannot seem to read enough on running. I google races, read forums, read blogs, google training plans, etc. I'm so excited about running the NYC Marathon and I'm ready to begin training for it. It's 30 weeks away ...

I found a half marathon today that is 5 weeks before NYC. I think this is perfect. It's not too close to NYC, so I can actually RACE the half and not worry about not recovering in enough time. But, still that's 25 weeks away, so I have some time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying sleeping in on the weekends and not stressing about getting in my miles but I'm getting very anxious!!

I'm feeling ambitious today. I'm thinking a 1:33 for the Half Marathon and a 3:20-3:25 for NYC.

Thoughts??

Sprinting is Good for the Soul!!

2011-04-06T14:25:00.006-04:00

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face. It's been a while since I had a smile on my face at 4:45AM. The smile usually comes post run, not before. But, this morning, for whatever reason, I was genuinely happy to go to track. It turns out that I felt great, too. As I ran a mile and a half warm up, I realized that my legs actually wanted to run. I found myself looking at the workout thinking "this isn't going to be so bad" opposed to "this is going to be horrible and hurt!"

1600 1200 800 400 400 400
Rest in between: 3:00, 2:00, 1:30, 1:15, 1:00
Excepted paces: 6:40, 4:57, 3:16, 97, 96, 95

In case you didn't catch on, the rest decreases and the pace increases. So, while the intervals decrease in length, everything else was supposed to get harder. As we started the mile, I realized I felt good. It's always hard to start with a mile at 6AM, but I knew by hitting that one, I'd be warmed up and ready for a great workout.

Here's how I did:

1600 - 6:40 (exact --> though, I ran in lane two and my Garmin beeped at 6:32)
1200 - 4:51
800 - 3:13
400 - 92
400 - 88
400 - 84

It's a great way to start off Wednesday. I've been smiling ever since! :) Hope your Wednesday is going amazing, too!!!

Bullet Points Take Two

2011-04-05T13:39:00.004-04:00

What can I say? I like the format and I'm feeling kind of bullet point-y again today! Nothing special to report, just a couple of updates:

Detox is going well. I gave myself an A for last week. This week, I'll probably get a C because I'm being more lenient. I'm okay with that though. I got out of it what I wanted and saw significant increases in the way my body looked and felt in those 7 days. The only reason I'm getting a C this week is because David went grocery shopping and so I don't have as many options. That's the key to eating well and being successful! I snacked so much better last week when I had the right snacks and breakfast options available! :)

I had the best 8 miler ever on Saturday! It was 9AM and 80 degrees out and I still managed this as a solo run: 8:33, 8:13, 8:06, 7:57, 7:58, 7:57, 7:45, 7:19 - total time: 1:03:56.

I had a fun 5 miler on Sunday morning :)

I took my first spin class (in probably 2 years) on Friday morning w/my friend Jen!

I ran with the Plant High School girls last night after work. It was only 4 miles, but it was 80+ degrees and the wind gusts were at least 20mph (not exaggerating, probably more). Jen and I managed to finish in 31:45, but I'd say it was at least a 7:30 effort.

Bullet Points

2011-03-30T12:01:00.002-04:00

Lots of stuff going on:

Detoxing is going well! So far, I've been successful! After three days of no coffee (because remember that I have to have half a cup of french vanilla creamer in my coffee, Penny came up the perfect solution for me: Blend together: ice, strawberries, protein powder and coffee. Sounds gross, tastes good!!

I finally signed up for NYC. I can't believe it costs over $200. UGH! Oh well, they should verify my time within the next 2 weeks!! :)

Work is craaaaazzzy!

Running is blah! I have really good days and then really crappy days. There haven't been any inbetweens.

Today at track, I moved to a slower group in the middle of the workout. It was 6x800 - but we ran 800 1 minute break 800 2 1/2 minute break. My times were supposed to be 3:16, then 3:12. Then, of course repeat x 3 sets. I ran: 3:18 3:07 3:17 98 (I quit after one lap and moved groups) 3:24 3:19

I was so mad that I quit, but my legs weren't loving me and it was humid and I was exhausted. Plus my group was running way too fast. I didn't realize that even though I wasn't keeping up that I was on track. Oh well The 3;24 and 3:19 felt much better today and I'm okay with that!

I want to run a 3:19:59 in NYC. My PR is 3:51:50. That's a HUGE PR ... but based off of my 1:35 half, I can do it.

I'm getting close to the burn out phase in my running right now, so my plan is to run no more than 25-30 miles a week until my wedding (June 10th) and then do 4 weeks of 30-35 miles and then start a 16 week training program for NYC. I plan on adding some yoga and cycling to the mix.

I've been weight training (upper body and core) 3x a week for 4 weeks now! :)

I'm doing the 100 pushups in 6 week challenge and am on week 2 right now. I did this is 2009 and never finished but got up to 40+ pushups in a row.

I'm still bad at commenting on your blogs, because I'm at work 90% of my day ... but, I am reading! :)

I'm thinking about going back to school for Pharmacy but wonder if I'm crazy for this. It would take 6 yrs. total (with my prerequisites - b/c my bachelor's in education doesn't quite cover all of the science and math I need) and of course I want to start a family way before then ..... I'm still thinking though ;) One day, I'll wake up and be 33 anyway ... I may as well have my PharmD degree?!

Detox Challenge - but, with a runner's twist!

2011-03-28T09:13:00.004-04:00

I've always been interested in detoxing/cleansing my body for a 2-6 week challenge. I say this very lightly, though because I'm very uninterested in living on only lemon water and not having energy to continue to run. So, it all started yesterday morning. After a lot of research, I'm detoxing for two weeks ... but with a twist! I'm eliminating sugars (except natural), gluten and dairy. The biggest challenge so far: coffee! I don't like my coffee black. I like half a bottle of vanilla creamer in it instead!! This change will not last more than the required two weeks; however, maybe when I resume coffee, I won't need as much coffee!! I love carbs, but I'm okay because I still get rice. Breakfast was a challenge this morning because I realized I couldn't just grab something and go! So, I had to actually make some veggies and eggs! But, that's not a bad thing, right? I don't get desserts for two weeks, either. Those fall under the sugar and gluten categories. Oh, and probably the dairy category, too! It's only two weeks though! All this no sugar eating will certainly help my waistline. Right? It was 85 this weekend and it's officially bathing suit season! Let's hope Day 2 goes as well as Day 1! :)

Ryan's Run 5K

2011-03-27T14:57:00.003-04:00

I don't hate 5K's like I used to. I haven't fallen in love with them, either. There is something about running as hard as you can for 20ish minutes that kind of sucks, yet is very exhilarating upon completion!! I can't quite describe, but I have a feeling that most of you understand what I am trying to say!

Friday night wasn't ideal. Dinner wasn't until 9PM and I had two drinks that accompanied it. I was enjoying the night with family and friends and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

I woke up bright and early (5:15AM) to get ready for the 5K. Nothing new, nothing special. I just got to the race early so that I could register and warm up. I ran 2 miles at 9:13 average pace. It felt good.

The race started and we took off! I'd run this course before and I actually really like this course. I knew my splits from then and wanted to be at least close to them!!

Wow!! My goal for mile one was 6:40. For whatever reason, I though that would be fairly easy and that would be me holding back. I hit mile 1 in 6:42 and I felt a little winded. I knew I wasn't quite at that crash and burn state but I wasn't so sure about "picking up the pace" either!

We hit the first turn and I count the girls in front of me. First place is way in front, but the other girls were not so far. I only counted five girls in front of me. I was in sixth place.

No one passed me for the rest of the race and I happened to pass a few guys. Sadly, I didn't pass any of the females.

Mile 2 was 6:50. This was 20 seconds slower than my mile 2 on this course last time. UGH!! I was trying though. I never gave into the pain and kept pushing. At 2.3 miles, my pace said 7:06. I made myself push and kept running faster. I was able to run mile 3 in 6:52.

I gave it everything that I had during that last little bit. I ended up running the .13 in 43 seconds (5:49 pace). As I approached the finish line, I saw the clock already in the 21's. I was so upset but I really couldn't have run harder. Not yesterday at least! I finished in 21:09.

I won my age group and was the sixth overall female. While I'm happy about those stats, I'm a little upset with my time.

As I was talking to my friend, Jen, afterwards, she reminded me that it was SUPER humid and it's basically already summer in Tampa. She reminded that it's very likely that even with increased speed and effort that my race times will continue to rise over the next six months. Then, come October and November, they will drop drastically. I had almost forgotten about that! 85+% humidity with temperatures in the mid 70's doesn't always equal PR. But, it doesn't mean that I can't try!!

Ready for Normalcy

2011-03-25T14:12:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that I used to only run at lunch. That just doesn't work in March in Tampa. It's TOO hot. My work schedule has been disasterous to my running schedule this week and I'm super sad about it. My mileage is down and I'm going on day #3 of not running in a row. I'll only hit 4 running days this week ... with one of them being a 5K! I know I'll run 2 miles before the 5K, maybe I should run a few afterwards, too?

I may go for a run tonight? 3 miles? It just seems silly to me to run less than 5. But, it also seems silly to run 5 miles the night before a 5K race. 3 miles will at least shake these legs out, right?

UUUGGGGHHHH!!

Next week. I only have a bout 3 1/2 more hours at work and then I'll be back to my normal schedule next week!! :)

Happy Friday

I'm alive! :)

2011-03-22T18:32:00.005-04:00

I've been so unresponsive over the past couple of weeks. So sorry! **I've been reading all of your blogs, just need to get better about commenting** Sorry!

Truth is . . . work is keeping me slammed. I spent a week in Louisville - in a training classroom enviroment from 8AM-6:30PM. Then, I've been working non stop since I've gotten home. Basically, I was trained in Louisville to then train our Tampa office!

Training in Tampa is over tomorrow. The acquisition is complete and the integration is almost done.

I've still been running. :)

I'm actually racing a 5K on Saturday. We'll just have to see how that goes. I'm partly excited as it's the same course as my 5K PR from November (it's just a little hotter outside) and I'm partly terrified because you never know how long 20 minutes feel.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to break 20. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to PR. But, I'll honestly be happy with anything sub 21. I'd be lying if I said I was happy with anything 21:xx +

I don't know what kind of shape I'm in. I've been hitting up the track every week and racing half marathons like crazy!! I'm in great shape to run 7:15-7:22 pace for 13.1 miles ... let's see how that translates over to 3.1 miles.

If nothing else, Saturday will be an indicator of my current gauge of speed! :) The goal is to break 20:00 by the end of Spring/Summer (5K season in FL).

Leave me some love!! I miss all of my comments!

XOXO

Gasparilla Half Marathon: Race Report!

2011-03-03T07:28:00.002-05:00

Whew! What a week! I'm still not caught up on sleep and I keep smiling thinking that today is Friday. Well, it's Thursday, but I'll chose to continue smiling anyway! :)

As you know I've both raced and ran several half marathons in the past 3 months - 5 or 6 total. I can't really remember! Regardless, as I was analyzing the races in which I felt the best and ran the best compared to the races in which I either crashed and burned or just felt "heavy", I saw a trend. For the "good" races, I had taken the Thursday and Friday before the race completely off! Then, I ran 2 miles on Saturday: 1 easy, 1 at goal pace. The other races, I didn't taper at all. One of the races, I thought running 6 miles at almost tempoish pace on the Friday before the race wouldn't affect me . . . I learned my lesson. On the other, I chose to run 5 miles and lift legs on the Friday before, but I was just "running" the race and not racing. You can only get stronger if you push on tired legs, right?!

So, without rambling on too much more, I opted to take off Thursday and Friday and run 2 miles on Saturday. Before Saturday's run though, I was a spectator for the Gasparilla 15K. Oh my Goodness! So.Much.Fun!! I had a blast cheering on all of my friends! It was a great time! The 15K started at 7AM and boy was it warm!! I was a little nervous about our race, but very thankful that we had a 6AM start. By the time I ran my 2 miles it was 10AM and 85 degrees outside. I made it, though! 8:16, 7:14

But, then the fun begins! The sun keeps shining and the temperture keeps rising. David and I decide to go to Busch Gardens (for the first time) along with another couple and his parents. I LOVE amusement parks and all things related to adrenaline and roller coasters. I'm not sure that this is the best idea, but I'm having a hard time saying no (not that my voice would have been heard).

So, we arrive at Busch Gardens at noon! I wear tennis shoes and drink water the entire time. Otherwise, I walk, walk and walk more, in the sun, for the next 6-7 hours!

By 7PM, I'm exhausted to say the least. My legs are hurting and I'm tired and I'm beginning to think that I just made a really dumb decision. I kind of whine a little. I know 3:45AM will come super early. This was the race that I was the most excited about. It's basically in my backyard and is my long run course!! I'd been waiting all year to have the home town crowd support of my coach and all of my running and track friends. UGH! I pick up 2 10lb bags of ice and tell the fam that we aren't going out to eat. We can order pizza and eat left overs. I've had a GREAT day, but it's time to get home.

I take an ice bath, eat left over grouper and veggies, then 3 pieces of veggie pizza and am in bed by 8:45PM! :) I sleep like a rock.

3:45AM - My alarm goes off

I'm in downtown Tampa around 4:50AM. I park and get to the expo. I sit around and stretch and then make my way down to the start around 5:30AM. I warm up for about 10 minutes and keep telling myself that "I am much stronger than I think." I've got to forget about yesterday. It's a new day and I am trained. My only goal: to feel good. I want so badly a sub 1:37, but would be happy with anything 1:36-1:39:59 I want my first 5 miles around 7:30 and then I want to be able to pick it up.

6:00AM - The gun goes off and we begin. It's a little warm, but the sun is still down. I start slow and am running around an 8:00 minute pace a quarter of a mile in! :) That's exactly what I wanted. It's pretty dark for the first 4 miles or so. This entire stretch is a loop around Davis Island. I've run this loop a million times. There is already ample water stations and I take a sip each time, knowing that it will warm up soon. The music is pumping in my ear and I smile everytime I hear a new song that David downloaded for me. The first 4 miles I keep checking my Garmin to keep myself on track. I'm happy. 7:24 7:21 7:22 7:28

As we approach mile 5, we come off of Davis Island. The ramp off of the island was a downhill and was lined with spectators. Some how, I was running solo at this point. This was truly my favorite part of the race. I felt like such a celebrity. At the end of the bridge, I was .3 miles into a particular mile and was running a 6:50 pace. I backed off drastically to conserve energy. I wasn't ready to "pick it up" yet. I wasn't quite half way done. Mile 5: 7:21

At this point, I knew I was going to have a good day! It definitely wasn't "cake" but I could do it. I've never talked to myself more during a race. The entire race, and I'm not kidding when I say entire, I spent telling myself "You are tough, Jaime" or "You're tougher than you think, You're tougher than you think." or "Run, Jaime" or "Keep going, you can do this. Tough. Tough. Don't give in. You want this, BAD." I've never really used a mantra, but this worked wonders for me. I guess if you tell yourself something for an hour and a half, you're mind will actually start believing it.

One of my favorite milestones in the half marathon is the half way point. It's never marked, but I wear a Garmin. So, I see my friend Jen at around mile 6. I give her a thumbs up and tell her I feel good and keep running. Mile 6: 7:25

We start running into the wind and I can't figure out how to draft to save my life. It doesn't matter though because everyone is fading and I'm passing people left and right. I hit that "half way" point at 48:29. I had hit that point at the Women's half at exactly 49:00 and ran a 1:37:35 (and the course was long). I had negative splits galore on that race, but I felt good, so I knew if I pushed that the sub 1:37 was within reach!

I kept running. I saw some more friends between miles 7 and 8. It made me smile! :) 7:23, 7:22
Those miles again were against the wind, so I was happy with the times.

After Davis Island, this was an out and back course. Basically, we ran down Bayshore for 4 miles, turned around and ran back. When I saw my friends at different spots, I was excited because I knew that I'd see them again at the same spot on the way back. What I didn't expect was to see Penny near the turn around point!! This soooo made my day! Not only was I excited to be at the turn around point, but I was thrilled to see her. Made me so happy! I picked up the pace without realizing and ran the next mile (9) in 7:13. I hit the 15K mark in 1:08:34

The next milestone for me was taking a gel at mile 10 and only having a 5K left. I hit 10 in 1:13:41 and was happy. I quickly compared it to my Women's Half (1:14:07) and keeping telling myself I was tough!!! Mile 10: 7:18

It was getting hot, but I knew I had some more spectators to look forward to. On top of that, I had seen my coach and another friend on a bike earlier in the race. I knew they'd be on the course again sometime soon. I knew David and his parents were at the finish and I really wanted to finish well for them, too! It's silly ... because I'm very selfish with my running, but I really wanted to run well for everyone else, too!

I slowed down a little with the heat. I didn't get water in the last two miles because it was going to take to much energy to swerve and get on that side of the road. Ha. I ran miles 11 and 12 in 7:25 and 7:25.

When I had about a mile and half left, I saw my coach again. He told me to push. It was that finally little "talk" that I needed. I ran the last mile in 7:10 even though I didn't feel like I had a huge push and then the last .17 at a 6:16 pace.

I finished and was so HAPPY!!! I had hit that sub 1:37. The clock still read sub 1:37 and I had started about 5 seconds after the gun. My time: 1:36:47

Though, I had already receive my sub 1:37 for NYC, it was on a "short" course. This course was long and I rightfully ran at least the entire distance under that time. This wasn't a PR, but all things considered, it was the fastest I'd run the distance!!! Not to mention, it came the day after spending 7 hours in the sun at Busch Gardens.

I am tougher than I think!!! :)

8/399 - age group
43/2890 - women
239/4801 - total finishers

I can't figure out a way to post/save my pictures from online, but you should check them out! The got a lot!! Just don't mind my "rat's nest" hair. Did I mention the humidity was at 90% when the race started?!

If the link doesn't work: www.marathonfoto.com Choose "Gasparilla Half 2011" My last name is Winchester and my bib # was: 25439

XOXO

Teaser

2011-02-28T17:13:00.001-05:00

I ran a Half Marathon yesterday and ran well!!

I don't have a lot of time to give a race recap, but I ran a 1:36:47! It wasn't a PR, but it was the sub 1:37 that I wanted. And, off the record, it was the fastest I'd ever run that distance. All things considered, the PR came on a "short" course and this course was "long."

So, I'm still smiling and very happy!!

I've got some work to do, but I'm elated with where I am!!

8/399 in age group
43/2490 females
239/4801 total runners

More to come . . .

100 Things About Me!!

2011-02-25T12:45:00.000-05:00

In celebration of my 100th post, I thought it would only be fitting to post 100 random things about me!

Family

I am the oldest of five. I have three younger sisters and a younger brother.
I was born in San Jose, CA - all the way on the other coast!
I was supposed to be named Jordan; however, my cousin was born before me and received the name. It's my mother's maiden name. Instead, I was named Jaime after my grandfather, James.
I have two older half brothers and one older half sister.
My parents are still married!
I'm the proud Aunt of 2 nieces, 3 nephews and another little one on the way!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my family! I talk to my parents almost daily! :)
My entire immediate family lives in NC within 15 miles of each other. I'm an 8 1/2 hour drive south in sunny FL.
I'm a country girl at heart even though I love city living.
My mom gave birth to my little brother when I was a junior in high school!

Running

I ran track in middle school and high school and thought I was a sprinter.
I did high jump in middle school. I still 5"4' then - I just never got any taller. I was the only girl on our team that could clear the bar. Ha
My favorite event in High School was the 1600m relay. We did decently well. Placed 3rd in State my Junior Year. Woo Hoo Medal :) (4th - sophomore yr and 5th senior yr).
I ran cross country during my 11th and 12th grade years as a way to stay active in the off season. I hated long distance.
I walked in my most of my 5K meets (Cross Country) and my PR was 26:12
I started training for my first marathon in 2007 and ran a 4:34 After I crossed that off the bucket list, I got excited and addicted and became obsessed with getting faster.
Within 5 months of hitting the track, I dropped my 5K time down to 22:35 and 5 months after that I ran a 20:30
After running my 5th marathon (or attempting it rather), I realized that I was a much better racer/runner than my race times said. My marathon training/programs were good but not the most beneficial to me. I entered into my "first" half marathon and ran a 1:37 and became addicted!
Track is my favorite day of the week!!
My fiance gets bored very easily when I talk about running :)

Random

I'm terrified of lightning storms. Terrified! I'll hide in the closet (because there are no windows).
I play the flute. Quite well. Like ... I graduated with a degree in music.
I love to read.
I must wash my hair every single morning!
I once donated 13 inches of my hair. While it may be one of the most selfless things I've ever done, I will probably never do that again. I cried for days!!
I LOVE NFL football. I'm obsessed. Literally. I even placed second in fantasy this year. I was the only female on my team.
Speaking of football, I love Brett Favre!!
I'm ridiculously organized. Our condo is typically very clean. I can't stand clutter. At all.
I LOVE Taylor Swift. I'm *hopefully* going to see her in concert on June 4th! :)
I'm a true Gemini.

Favorite Things I Like To Do

I love adventure. I've been skydiving once and love all roller coasters that are fast and take me upside down.
I love being outside.
I'm obsessed with the water. I love the beach/ocean but I miss going to the lake in the summer time.
I love getting pedicures, even if it isn't condusive to my running.
I love to RACE!! and RUN!
I love to EAT!!! Yes, food in general. But, I love dressing up, going out to eat and having my wine!
I love spending time with my family.
There is nothing better than taking a Saturday afternoon nap (unless it's sunny outside and I'm at the beach)!
I really enjoy meeting new people!!
I seriously enjoy fishing. I don't even mind putting the worm (bait) on the hook. It doesn't gross me out. I guess there is a little country in me ;)

Random Take Two

I love to sing in the car - loud, but alone! I can't sing. Haha
I once had my ears pierced like crazy. Think senior year of high school. 7 holes in one ear and 5 in the other. WOW. I now (for a while actually) only wear earrings in my first and second holes.
Pink is my favorite color.
If I had a daughter tomorrow, I would name her Makenna.
I'm a natural blonde.
I had my nose pierced in college and loved it.
I am a Papa's girl. I'm a Daddy's girl, too.
I floss every single day.
I have small feet - size 6! Sometimes, if I'm lucky I can wear a 6 1/2.
My middle name is Lee. It's spelled the "boy" way because my mom couldn't remember how to spell "Leigh" when she had to fill out my birth certificate. I guess she was still drugged up. At least my middle name isn't "Liegh" or another version of "Lee" spelled wrong.

My boy

He's tall. 6"3'
And blonde.
And athletic. Played baseball in college and played some basketball, too.
He's goofy!
He's a neat freak!! But, I love that.
He eats very clean and enjoys all of the sames foods as me. I never have to cook two separate meals for us.
He loves Miller Lite. :)
He's from Indiana.
I adore his family - especially his niece and nephew.
He's eight years (almost to the day) older than me.

Places I've lived:

San Jose, CA
Charlottle, NC
Atlanta, GA
Locust Grove, GA
Bryson City, NC
Cullowhee, NC
Spartanburg, SC
Louisville, KY
Carmel (Indianapolis), IN
St. Petersburg, FL

Places I've vacationed/been to:

New York City, NY
Key West, FL
Negril, Jamaica
San Francisco, CA
Jacksonville, FL
Denver, CO
Orlando, FL
Cincinnati, OH
Los Angeles, CA
Charleston, SC

My favorite foods

Chicken Noodle Soup
Spinach
Red Bell Peppers
Fish - Sea Bass, Tuna, Snapper, Grouper
Sushi
Angel Hair Pasta
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown Rice
Ice Cream
Oatmeal

So, there you go! 100 things that you may or may not have known about me!! Is there anything that I left out? Anything that you're dying to know??

14.667 Seconds

2011-02-24T17:41:00.002-05:00

I'm a psychic. Literally! Okay, not really but I did predict yesterday's track workout before it happened.

The Gasparilla Distance Classic is huge in Tampa Bay Area and it's this weekend. There is a 5K, 8K, 15K and Half Marathon and thousands (probably 30,000+) come out to run at least one of the events!

Last year, on the Wednesday before Gasparilla, our track workout consistented of 6x800 w/1:30 rest in between.

I remember this workout like it was yesterday. It was cool and rainy and FUN!

Yesterday, our workout was exactly the same except it was hot and very humid!!

There were a few differences, though! Let's flashback, shall we!

2010

3:34 3:25 3:26 3:23 3:28 3:27

2011

3:13 3:13 3:15 3:13 3:15 3:06

Last year, I was supposed to run 3:28 pace. The goal was to keep the workout "easy" since we were all racing. This year, my normal group was supposed to run 3:15 pace, but he told me to run alone and run 3:20 pace since I was actually running the half! Well, I ran alone and ran by feel and 3:20 was just too awkward of a pace.

On average, my times this year were 14.667 seconds faster! This was for the SAME exact workout in worse weather conditions!

I didn't look at what I ran until after the workout. Of course, as soon as I got home and realized it ... I was beyond ecstatic. Woo Hoo. What a difference a year makes!!

Last year, I raced the 15K and ran a 1:13:55 (7:55 avg. pace, I believe)

This year, I'm racing the 1/2 marathon. We shall see what happens! Either way, I'm excited!!

My Version of the Run for Donna Half Marathon

2011-02-16T18:50:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!! Confession: I wrote this post on Monday, but am just posting today! So, it was Valentine's Day when I wrote it . . .

This weekend, Penny and I took a little road trip to Jacksonville to see Stephanie and run the "26.2 with Donna Run: The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer". It was a crazy week leading up but I was insanely excited for a little weekend getaway with Penny! We always have so much fun. We had so much fun at Apalachicola (fun times despite the horrible race conditions) and I couldn't wait to see what this weekend had in store!

So, we set off on Saturday morning and drove almost four hours over to JAX. We had a fun car ride - talking about boys, running, hydrating, taking silly pictures and of course singing some Taylor Swift! :)

We did the typical pre-race routine: went to the Expo and bought some insanely expensive sparkly sweaty bands, ate some frozen yogurt, carb loaded, laughed a lot, got everything ready (including a dunkin donuts trip for our AM coffee and Publix trip for more carb loading via chocolate chip cookies) and got into bed pretty early.

We woke up at 4:40AM, got dressed and were on our way to the shuttles by 5:40.

We waited in the freezing cold (38 degrees) for about 20 minutes when we realized that if we stayed in line, we'd not get to the start in time. The line was NOT moving and we were hundreds of people back (at least five or six busses back). So, we decided to take our chances. Stephanie knew the area very well and the closest we could park to the start was about 1.5 miles away. Since Penny was running the FULL and we were running the half, we decided to drop Penny off at the start and then jog to the start. An almost two mile warm up later and Stephanie and I arrived at the start with about fifteen minutes to spare! Whew!

Let's back track a little, though . . . As my coach would say, I've been in half marathon frenzy mode since the end of November (I may or may not have two more scheduled in the next five weeks). He didn't want me to race this since I just ran Clearwater three weeks ago and have Gasparilla in two weeks. So, I never signed up! I couldn't; however, not go! I'd already been planning the trip with Penny. Besides, I'm her #1 fan! :) So, I went. My schedule for the weekend said "8 miles easy, 6 at 7:30 pace)." Yes, in my head I had already done that math . . . very close to the half marathon distance. But, I was pretty adament about squeezing my long run in around being a spectator.

Until Friday when I got the following text message ...

Friday (4:46PM) Stephanie - Do you want a bib? I have a friend not running who isn't using hers.

Me (4:57PM) - Oh! Oh! That may be nice. Is she selling it or just giving it away?

Stephanie (4:58PM) - Just giving it away.

The conversation continued and I found that I could basically run my long run during the half ... My coach just said not to race. He had 14 miles on my schedule. I could always "run" the half and not "race" it, right?

So, I ran it!

And, I loved it!

No pressure! I just tried to keep my pace relatively "easy" and treat it like a long run! I even took a 1:42 second bathroom break at mile 4.88. Racer Jaime would never do that! :)Miles 6 and 7 were on the beach! It was absolutely breathtaking!! I even teared up a couple of times from all of the signs that were held by survivors!

For all of you analyzers out there, here were the stats to my "long run."

7:52

7:39

7:47

7:56

8:08

7:58

8:19

8:16

8:09

8:21

8:19

8:26

7:32

:41 (.11) - 6:04 pace

So, I was kind of all over the place. But, I kept it "easy." When I wanted to slow down, I let myself. I even let myself slow down during miles 11 and 12. But, when I got to the point where I had 1.1 to go, I just couldn't help myself. I saw all of these people in front of me and I wanted to see how many I could pass before the finish line. Let's just say, it was quite a few ;) I love finishing strong.

Total time per Garmin: 1:45:29 (8:03 average pace)

Unoffical Results (remember I took a bathroom break): 1:47:11

It's a "long run." To compare "apples to apples" in my training log, I have to log it as a 1:45:29 :)

So, that was my weekend . . . How was yours??

PS: I don't usually post twice in one day because I like getting comments on ALL of my posts ... so, don't forget to scroll down and read about my track workout this AM!! :)

More Coffee, Please!

2011-02-16T12:47:00.002-05:00

I've written a recap of the weekend and hopefully I'll post it soon! I need to add pictures and I haven't had a spare second to do that. So, hold tight and it'll be up soon! Promise!

Until then, I have to post about this morning. It's Wednesday and I like documenting my track experiences!

I woke up this morning super tired and not excited for track. This is not typical of me. I got up and made myself go, though! I didn't want to have to go tonight.

I warmed up a mile and then allowed myself to look at the workout. Had I known prior to track, I probably wouldn't have gone.

1600 800 400 400 800 1600

It was a backwards pyramid and there was like 1 minute rest in between everything. Not fair!

My expected times: 6:36 3:12 1:33 1:33 3:12 6:36

1600 - Holy Cow! Super hard and my legs were like lead! I couldn't keep up and was behind the entire time. I sprinted a little at the end and came across in 6:38. I was pretty discouraged after this and thought there was no way I could do this workout. My friend, Jen, who was also in my group said some amazing words after this rep. She told me to quit thinking about the entire workout. It was like she was reading my mind. She said to only focus on what we were running then. We had an 800 to run. Don't think about it the rest of it.

800 - Still feeling tired but I was determined. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to die so I should get over myself and just run. 96, 95. I ran a 3:11. Perfect!

400 - 90 seconds. Oops! A little too fast. I love 400's though!

400 - 95 seconds. Oops! A little too slow. We averaged perfectly though! We had tried to slow it down to the right pace but came across a little slower than planned.

800 - We were at 1:41 at the 400 mark. We were supposed to be at 1:36. Oh well. We picked it up and ran a 1:30 for the second lap finishing right at 3:11! Score!

1600 - Holy cow. I was petrified. 99 seconds per lap. That was the goal. I didn't want to start too fast. I knew that would be tough. First lap: 1:40 Second lap: 3:20 (2 seconds off goal) Third lap: 4:56 (NICE) Fourth lap = fastest for a total time of 6:31!

It felt so good to push through when I thought I couldn't. Jen and I ran a cool down mile and I called it a day! :)

I've never regretted a track workout! The key is just getting there. I just have to keep remembering, I am tougher than I think I am!

PF Changs then Track?

2011-02-10T12:26:00.002-05:00

I slept in yesterday morning! I've been pretty tired the past couple of weeks. I was looking forward to morning track on Wednesday, but after a few glasses of wine with a girlfriend on Tuesday night (I've gotta have a life, too:)), I decided to just sleep in and go to night track.

It worked out well, too because David had dinner plans with some people from work! Score! Or so I thought . . .

I've been trying to do lunch with a girlfriend from work for weeks now. We finally agreed on yesterday so I decided to still go and went to PF Changs. I knew I had six hours until track, but figured I'd be okay. We had the lettuce chicken wraps as an appetizer and then I had one of the lunch bowls as my entree: brown rice, grilled salmon and asparagus. It was delicious!

I think I chose all of the right foods - I just ate TOO much! I could have probably laid off of the lettuce wraps, but oh well! By 6:30PM, I was still stuffed!!

Somehow, I still managed to complete the workout:

10x400, 1600

Rest: 1:15 minutes in between

Goal times: 93 seconds for the 400's, 6:52 for the mile

I think the goal was to not push the 400's and for it to make the mile pace to feel slow and easy. 6:52 pace is 1:43 per lap (so we were able to slow down 10 seconds per lap).

My times:

90 91 90 92 91 91 92 91 90 91 6:47

The mile was tough and I seriously felt like a complete failure. I had nothing left and felt like I had given up but still managed a 6:47. I think that was the point. Had I continued my 400 pace, I would have run a 6:00-6:10 mile - which clearly, I did not. My stomach was so full and I had no appetite for about two hours after this workout!!

The wrong way to run 49 minutes . . .

2011-02-07T17:18:00.002-05:00

Holy cow! I had the hardest workout today! It was a HUGE fail, too! Well, kind of!

After driving for almost 9 hours yesterday and then watching the Superbowl, I opted to sleep in this morning and tempo later. I was forced with either a lunch time tempo or an evening tempo and for whatever reason, my friend Nate and I decided upon lunch time.

I even met him at Bayshore to set myself up for success. My schedule said 7:15-7:45-7:15-7:45-7:15-7:45 I was actually secretly excited about this run because I thought I could nail it. I've been doing my tempos around the 7:20 pace, but have only been running around 3 miles at a time at that pace. This stretches it to six miles - even though 3 are slower! Not to mention, this workout is supposed to make the 7:45 mile feel slow. Who doesn't want "easy" to be 7:45? Anyway, I thought this would be a great workout mentally for me, especially if I nailed it.

It's 75 degrees, sunny and pretty humid! The wind was blowing, but I didn't realize how much until we began.

After half a mile warm up, we restarted our Garmins and took off. I was surprised. .25 in and we were running at a 6:19 pace. Weird! I knew that 6 miles was a long way though, so we tried to slow it down.

It was SOOOO hot for the first three miles. I seriously haven't been that hot in at least 4 months! Occasionally, we could feel the wind behind us. Well, it was always behind us but at some points it was pushing us forward. In retrospect, I should have ran faster but I didn't want to exceed the times too much in fear of not finishing.

After a speedy start, we finished the first mile in 7:01. Mile two was slower - as planned - but still ahead of pace: 7:33 Mile three was dead on: 7:14. 3 miles in 21:49!! Not a bad way to begin a tempo . . .

Until we turned around. It was windy. Like you cannot move any faster and easy=hard kind of windy! Really, really windy! I made up my mind that I couldn't finish the workout but that I would run at a little faster than "easy" pace. Okay, so my next mile: 9:32. I'm not even kidding, not even a little. I felt like I was running up hill and into wind. Most the way back, my eyes were shut, too. There was dirt and leaves flying everywhere. The good? It wasn't so hot, the wind was keeping me cool. But, seriously, it would have been hard to even walk in this!

I didn't stop for water. I told myself I didn't deserve it. Afterall, Nate decided to finish the workout, no matter what the effort was. I decided to give effort and not worry about the pace. Hmmmm. Mile 5: 9:07 and Mile 6: 9:06.

Those were three of the hardest miles I've ever run. It took everything out of me to not walk, not stop for a mental break and not get water. I forced myself to keep going telling myself I didn't deserve water! I guess that was the positive.

I'd say that those last three miles were equivalent to an 8:15-8:20 pace effort. No joke.

Nate finished and hit the times. We decided that he really ran 6:20-6:30 pace to hit the times.

So, after a 3 mile start in 21:50ish, I finished 6 miles in 49:32. Crazy! When I got back to my car, I checked the weather. 75 degrees with 24 mph winds - and we were running on the Bay, so they were probably even worse than that!

Jaime = 0
Wind = 1

Let's just hope we don't face this kind of wind during my next half that is on that course!!

Mountains - Okay, maybe just Hills!

2011-01-31T17:22:00.002-05:00

I didn't run my long run this weekend. I was on a semi vacation and decided to just run hard for an hour instead. It felt good! An hour of fast running is probably just as good for me as 10-13 miles of easy running, right? It was a beautiful day - 45 degrees and sunny! Perfect running weather.

I was in southern Indiana and it wasn't quite the sea level flat running that I'm used to. I was surprised that I didn't climb more than it says ... oh well, the numbers don't lie.

1) 8:18
2) 8:24
3) 8:00
4) 7:45
5) 7:40
6) 7:49
7) 7:31
8) 4:31 (7:41 pace) for .59 miles

7.59 miles in 1:00:00

Total Elevation Gain was 255 feet (Total loss was 255 feet, too). I guess that is what happens when you start and end at the same place! Ha!

This was a great run though. It started off being an easy 4 miler that turned into a 5 miler and then into a 6 miler and then into a 7 miler ... finally finishing at a "I think I'll just run for an hour." Ha!

Post Half Marathon Track

2011-01-27T08:31:00.002-05:00

Gotta make this quick ...

Track workout yesterday:

800 1600 1600 800

I hate when we have 1600's in the workout. I don't know why! I'm getting better about mentally preparing for them, but I just don't like them.

Goal times: 3:18 and 6:44

We rested 1:30 after the 800 and 3 minutes after the mile.

My times: 3:09, 6:34, 6:30, 3:12

I actually felt pretty good!! My legs are a little tight from Sunday - but, why wouldn't they be? Those were killer HILLS!!!

Work is crazy and super busy!! Wedding planning is finally in FULL force! I'm starting to narrow down some things, so that's good! We're even getting pretty close to nailing down a date - at least we've got it down to a two week span in June! :)

Clearwater Half Marathon: RR

2011-01-23T19:40:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy week. I've not been a great blogger at all. Not only have I not written regularly, but I've raced twice (10K last weekend and half today) and didn't take my camera with me to either race. I did; however, go out with Penny one night and happen to take pictures then. I even bought my wedding dress and had a camera then ... just not at the races :/

The 10K website will not let me save the pictures from online (even with the copyright sign across them), so if you'd like to check them out, you can go here. While warming up, Jackie, Luis and I ran on the 5K course and so the photographer took our pictures then, too! Ha! :)

Before I get to today's race, here are some other pictures from this week. I never post pictures and I feel like I owe you guys more than a lot!

Dinner and Wine at Penny's!

Sadly, I think we finally got this picture right on take 100!

Posed, but cute, right?!

We thought we should go "out" even after all of that wine! :)

Okay, so onto the race!!

After the Holiday Half, I vowed to taper before my next! I stuck to my normal schedule through Wednesday track and then took Thursday and Friday completely OFF! I ran two miles yesterday to loosen my legs. One easy, one at "goal pace." 8:24, 7:19 Perfect! :)

This morning came early. The alarm went off at 4:45AM. I immediately checked the weather on my phone and it was 44 degrees. It wasn't supposed to warm up! I didn't really know what to wear. It was freezing, but I wasn't sure how much my body would warm up. 44 degrees and windy!! I was nervous.

I got to the race almost an hour early and was able to park about 200 feet away from the Start/Finish line. It's the small things that make me happy! :) Sadly though, I was freezing and sat in my car until about fifteen minutes before the race started. I just didn't want to be cold. I warmed for about five minutes and then made my way to the start line.

My only race strategy was to feel good the entire time. I had an amazing half on Nov. 21st (1:37:35) running and feeling better than I've ever before! Three weeks later, I ran another half in 1:41:54 and was miserable from mile 5 on. This week I analyzed the splits to both races. By mile 4 of the miserable race I was over a minute faster than I was on my PR race. I started TOO fast and it caused me not only misery, but 4+ minutes later in the race. I've never crashed and burned so badly in a race before and was determined to not let that happen!

So, race plan! The first five miles cannot be faster than 7:30. Then, if I feel good, I can pick it up! I kept it that simple.

The problem ... it was windy and the course was HILLY!! My coach had already written on my schedule that this wouldn't be a PR course. By the way, when someone from FL says "hilly" it means that we're running bridges. It's usually .25-.35 miles worth of climbing 75-100 feet followed by an equally steep downhill.

I can honestly say that I felt very good the entire time!! .25 miles into the race and I was running at an 8:07 pace. I didn't start too fast!!! I started about 14 seconds back which worked!! This course was absolutely beautiful and I would definitely recommend this race!

7:39 - first HILL

7:22 - first downhill

7:26

7:35 - second HILL

7:19 - second downhill

7:21

7:23

7:32 (horrible wind)

7:31 (horrible wind)

7:40 - third and hardest HILL

7:24 - third down hill

7:22

6:58 - fourth HILL + fourth downhill

6:10 pace

Total Time: 1:35:53

PR and good enough for automatic entry into the NYC marathon!! No more lottery for this girl! :)

12th overall female 12/261

57th overall place (men and women) 57/600 (exactly 600 finishers)

1st in age group 1/32 FINALLY!!!

St. Pete Beach Classic 10K

2011-01-17T12:48:00.004-05:00

I have officially raced and finished a 10K. It is one of the few distances (normal distances at least) that I have yet to race!

I don't know that I love the 10K distance. It's kind of weird and I wasn't quite sure what pace to run. My 5K PR pace is 6:36 and my 1/2 marathon PR pace is 7:25ish. So, I was secretly hoping to be around 7:00 flat, but also didn't want to crash and burn with 4 miles left ... so I decided to aim for 7:15 to "play it safe."

Well, let's just say that it was good to play it safe, because these little legs would have definitely crashed and burned. Playing it safe wasn't as easy as it sounded ...

I was determined to practice pacing and determined to run the first two miles no faster than 7:30! Then, the plan was to run 2 miles at 7:15 and aim for 7:00 for the last two.

So, the gun goes off and I begin. The first mile feels like cake and I keep slowing myself down. Don't you just love that feeling. I came across mile one in 7:18 and I was happy with it.

I continued the pace for the next mile. By 1.5 it didn't feel "easy" anymore, but it certainly didn't feel horrible! Mile two: 7:17 I was happy to be consistent!

Around mile 3, I decided that pace was good for the rest of the race. Another girl that I run with throughout the week kept passing me. We literally passed each other maybe 10 times throughout the race. Everytime she would pass me, I would tell myself to keep up! Then, I would end up passing her. I would keep checking my watch though and I was pretty consistent .... Hhhhhmmmm Mile three: 7:19 I hit the 5K mat in 22:45. Only 15 seconds slower than I hoped.

The back and forth non sense continued. Mile four was the slowest, but it had several curves. The rest of the race was on a complete, flat straightaway. Mile four: 7:22

At this point, despite the back and forth running, I knew I could push for two miles. I kept telling myself that I always end strong and that on Monday the last two miles of my tempo were 7:14 and 7:06 so there was no reason I shouldn't be sub 7 in a race.

But, I couldn't run any faster. I just felt weird. I literally never zoned out and remember every single second of the race! Bizarre!

Mile 5: 7:20

I tried to pick it up during the last mile. I knew it would be over soon - but, soon wasn't coming fast enough. With half a mile left, I picked it up but with .2 left, I had zero kick. I just couldn't run ANY faster. Mile 6: 7:14

I usually have a great kick at the end, but sadly I ran the last .24 (according to my Garmin) at a 6:46 pace. At least I picked it up a little. The girl from my group beat me by three seconds .... UGH! I'm happy for her, but I was mentally defeated and tired of playing chase (YES, I realize that this was a race). Next time ....

I crossed the finish line in 45:24 (7:17 average pace). I was relieved it was finished. It was funny because a minute later I'm 100% fine and thinking isn't it crazy how we push so hard and can't wait for it to be finished. Then, not even a minute after we finish all of the pain is gone!!

That's going to be my new mantra on these short races .... the pain seriously is temporary!! I am stronger than I think!

I'm not disappointed in myself. Sometimes we have great runs, other times not. Sure, I wanted a sub 45, but this was my first go at this distance. I'll get it. I'm faster! For having a blah day, I'd say I did okay!

5th place age group/38
16th overall female/280
63rd overall/584

Hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon!

**My younger sister, Amber, has decided to create a blog. She is trying to change her lifestyle and needs some encouragement!!** I plan on devoting an entire post to her later this week, when I can take some time to write it and post pictures! I can't access my pics from work. Anyway, head over her way and say hi!! http://ambercody.blogspot.com Thanks!!

Easy 8 + Eating Solo

2011-01-14T08:53:00.003-05:00

I had the most amazing 8 miler yesterday. Because it was 36 degrees yesterday morning and I opted to sleep and run later, I had to run after work. I've gotten so used to running before work and relaxing after work that I have a lot of trouble on these days. By the time 5PM rolls around all I want to do is get home! Luckily, I found out another running friend had made the same AM decision as me, so we met at 5PM to run. I had 5 easy on my schedule and he had 8 easy. I opted for the 8.

It was still pretty chilly out as I had to wear my tights and a long sleeve shirt. The coolest part about my new shirt, though is that it has thumb holes. Nike is creative, I'll give them that - not to mention that is the best invention, ever! So my garmin was mostly invisible (under my shirt) the entire run. We just ran "easy." When we finished and I looked at my watch:

8 miles: 1:05:21 (8:10 pace)

8:10
8:13
8:15
8:09
8:13
8:18
8:03
7:58

Had I seen some of those times while running, the run probably would have felt harder, or I would have slowed down. It's amazing what kind of mental games the garmin will play! Oh well, still love my Garmin!! But, it was a pleasant surprise since I felt like we were running seriously easy!

My boy is out of town for 4 nights and last night was night 2. I'm so used to cooking for two (and since we eat a lot, I usually make recipes for 4) that it completely throws me off when I just cook for me. It's a good thing I have him in my life because I actually cook full meals every night. I'm so less nutritionous when it's just me. I mean, I didn't want to cook meat, rice and veggies for one and then have to clean all of that up!

Do you ever run without looking at your Garmin?

What do you make when you only have to cook for one?

** Check out my cousin, Amanda's, website. Our great aunt turned 110 yesterday! No joke! Check it out. **

Tempo = Success Track = FAIL

2011-01-13T09:03:00.003-05:00

It's been cold here in Tampa all week. I've been lacking motivation to wake up early and have been having to run after work some due to my laziness. I've just been kind of blah about my running - but, no worries, I've still been getting my runs in!!

Monday, I had a crazy tempo on schedule. I didn't even want to attempt it because I thought it was impossible. It read, 2 miles easy, 7:10, 7:05, 7:00, 1 mile easy. Now, I know that I can run a 5K at faster prescribed paces, but the thought of running those paces in the middle of a run just kind of freaked me out.

So, I almost just ran easy for the day.

But, I didn't. I gave myself a 10 second window and made myself just do it. As soon as my watch beeped that my two seconds were up, I went for it. 7:20, 7:14, 7:06 I did it! I successfully cut down the 5 seconds each mile. YAY!

Wednesday morning was freeeezing! Our usual track is getting redone and we had to practice on a middle school concrete track! UGH! The workout was 7 x 800. I would put money down that I'm at least 5-10 seconds slower per 800 on that track. I don't know if it's the concrete or the fact that I don't wear my racers on that track, but oh ... it's horrible!

Goal Time 3:18 (Rest in between = 1:45)

(Side Note - completely attainable time for me, I usually run them a good 5-15 seconds faster).

3:22
3:24 - after this one, I decided to move back a group. I was the only one in my group.
3:22
3:22
3:20
3:18
3:09

Something just wasn't clicking with my running yesterday! Yes, it was windy and dark and freezing ... but that shouldn't matter! Oh well! We can't win them all!

I have a 10K on Saturday ... wish me luck!

Mile Repeats

2011-01-08T15:28:00.001-05:00

*Check out some of most recent posts if you haven't!

Getting Engaged in Key West
2010
2011
Also, I've recently updated my "about me" page!

Mile repeats are probably my least favorite track workout. I feel as though I should do more than three of them, but then I remember that I'm basically sprinting them (just slightly slower than 5K pace), so three is enough! If they were at 10K or 1/2 marathon pace maybe I could do more!

Wednesdays track workout: 3x1600 w/3 min. rest Goal pace: 6:48

This is the third time that I've run this workout with the track team. I cannot for the life of me find in my running log one of them, but the other I did.

6/16/10 - 6:59, 6:53, 6:57

1/5/10 - 6:41, 6:37, 6:41

I actually felt pretty good for the first two. The last two laps of #3 were pretty tough! It was a quick workout and over fast! Warmed up w/a mile and a half and cooled down with half a mile to make it an even 5 for the day!

The rest of the week:
Monday - 6.1 miles total w/2 tempo miles in 7:21 and 7:01
Tuesday - Easy 7 in 59:23
Wednesday - Track
Thursday - slept in b/c of thunderstorm
Friday - Easy 6 in 51:57
Saturday - 1.5 w/dog and upper body and abs at gym

Tomorrow is my long run ... easy 15 miler!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

2011

2011-01-07T12:44:00.003-05:00

A Few of my Goals - Running and Non Running!

To be more thoughtful! I feel as though I'm pretty thoughtful anyway, but how fun is it to receive unexpected cards or small gifts or words of kindness. I want to send birthday cards and good luck cards and random "great job" or "I'm thinking about you" cards ALL year long!
To be less selfish/more selfless! Again, always a work in progress. I want to celebrate more in others successes and give more of myself to others. Maybe, I'll even volunteer more and find organizations to help out!
To not procrastinate as much! Even with the small things, it's better to get them done in the present. First step, going ahead to develop the Key West pictures and making a scrapbook!
To run a 5K PR - I want to break 20:00 --> Actually, I want to be closer to 19:30.
To run a 10K - I've never raced a 10K before, so the first step is to run one! Goal time: Sub 43:00
To run a 15K PR - Sub 1:10
To run a 1/2 marathon PR - Sub 1:35
To only run a marathon if I will fully commit and am healthy! Not half way doing this!! So, at earliest, a fall marathon and if I do it ... I'm running it in 3:20! There you go, I said it!! But, at the same point, if I focus this year on the half and my speed ... I am a-okay with it! But, you better believe that I announce I'm running a full ... well, I'm giving it my all!
To have fun with my running!! Race more, smile more, run even more with friends!
To not get injured!
To take care of my body more! Hello massage, ice bathing, eating well and stretching.
To balance my life better!! I'm cranky in marathon training - especially towards the end! I need to remind myself that I'm not an elite and that I do this for fun and that it is OKAY to spend time with friends, stay up late and enjoy some wine!!
To post more pictures ... so sorry all of my posts are so boring! :(
To save more $$$
To get married! :) <3

2010 was AMAZING! Cheers to 2011 being even better!!

2010

2011-01-05T21:18:00.003-05:00

2010 was a crazy year - but in a good way! Last December, I set the following PR running goals:

5K - 21:30
10K - 45:00
10 miler - 1:15
13.1 - 1:39:59
26.2 - 3:29:59

I ran two 5K's sub 21:30. I ran a 20:30 in Nov. and a 20:54 in Dec.

I didn't race a 10K or a 10 miler. However, during my half marathon in Nov., my 10 miler split was 1:14:07.

The best running day of the year fell on Nov. 21st! I ran a 1:37:35 and blew myself away! I had the best time ever and crushed my half marathon goal!

Marathons didn't quite go my way this year ... I ran a 3:51:52 on my birthday and then attempted again on Oct. 23rd but stopped mid way through!

Let's recap some of my favorite moments of each month, shall we?

January - 55 miles total! The worse month by far. I moved to Tampa, FL on January 1st. I was super excited about living the FL life and getting down here! I joined the Progressive track team (I found them online) the second week of January! I've met a TON of great friends through here and am so grateful that I found them so quickly!

February - My coach put me on a workout schedule so that I could begin my San Diego Marathon training! On the last day of the month, I ran my first 15K in 1:13:55. It was tough race ... I finished the month with 107 miles.

March - No races. But, this began the six week span of visitors. Who would have thought that everyone's Spring Break's would have fallen on different weeks?! It worked out though and I loved every minute of it! I also met Penny at the end of March! Funny enough, I met her online via Runner's World. Who would have known that she would quickly become one of my best friends - even outside of running. 155 miles for March.

April - Another 15K on a long course and with hills. 1:15:55 Still heavy in marathon training. Went to the beach almost every weekend! 165 miles for April.

May - On the first day of May, I put my weekly track workouts to test with a 5K. I ran it in 22:35. It felt soooo hard! I promised myself I would never run a 5K again and proclaimed to the world that I'd run a marathon any day over a 5K. Ha 167 miles for May.

June - David and I went to San Diego for my birthday!! Even though I didn't quite have the race I had hoped, I had an amazing weekend with my family! I even got to meet Kara Goucher. With the reverse taper, I finished with 105 miles for June.

July - I jumped straight into marathon training for Apalachicola. I was seeking redemption. I learned how to run in 90+ degree weather with 95% humidity. I quickly learned that this was only possible with 3:00AM wake up calls and 4:00AM running starts. UGH! Don't miss that. Total mileage - 155 miles

August - Heavy into marathon training and I was getting a lot faster. My long runs were averaging about 30-40 seconds faster per mile than San Diego. Total Mileage - 163

September - Still in marathon training .... still running ... 167 miles

October - Marathon month! I had the most amazing weekend ever with Penny and Stephanie!! I wouldn't change anything about that weekend! :) Not only did it set me up for an amazing finish to 2010 but I had the honor to watch Penny finish her debut marathon in 3:20:14! Total mileage - 107

November - I didn't have to taper after Apalachicola so I just kept running. I had my sights set on a 5K at the beginning of the month. I was hoping for anything in the 21 minute range and ended up running a 20:30 ... I was on cloud nine the rest of the month! This lead right into my half marathon! I was so excited about the half distance (this being my first half marathon) and ended up being right! Everything fell into place and I ran a 1:37:35! Not in my wildest dreams would I have run that time ... and it was 13.23 miles. Total mileage - 153 miles.

December - I ran a 5K at the beginning of the month for complete fun! I ran it in 20:54 and was ecstatic that came on a "fun" day! I even won third in my age group! On Dec. 12th, I ran another half marathon. I ran a 1:41:56 and was dying from mile 6 on. In the end I was happy with my effort on tired legs and vowed to treat the half marathon as a respectable race here on out and not as "only a half!" Two days later, I went to Louisville for a week and then straight to Key West for a week! I took some time off (ran twice a week both weeks - basically speed only and 12ish miles each week). It was a nice way to give my body a break and enjoy the vacations!! AND ... if you don't know what happened in Key West, check out my last post!! Quite the way to end the year!!

Total mileage of 2010 - 1573.1

I'll post about what I want to accomplish in 2011 next ... this is already way toooo long!

Surprise, Surprise! Key West Style.

2010-12-31T09:40:00.017-05:00

From the beginning, David and I never gave each other Christmas presents. Instead, we put our money together for a nice vacation. For the first Christmas, we took a January vacation to Jacksonville, FL (at the time we were living in freezing Indianapolis). For Christmas #2, we didn't do anything. Everything kept falling through and we were pretty preoccupied with moving to Florida on January 1st. In March, I flew home for NC vacation instead. With this being Christmas #3, we were excited about planning another trip. We looked into Tahiti, and then Hawaii. David was so excited about having a long vacation (it has been a while - not to mention we're workaholics). I just went with it ... if he was wanting Tahiti, I was game! :) Well, with some expected upcoming work changes in January and February and a coworker being on maternity leave March-May, we couldn't find the time to both take off for that. So, we decided to take time off from Dec. 21-26th for a Key West vacation! It sounded perfect and we started planning.

We arrived in Key West at noon on Tuesday and spent most of the day walking up and down Duval drinking Pina Coladas. Since we were in Louisville the week before, we were loving the 75-80 degree weather. I think it was in the teens in Louisville. We checked in, ate dinner, enjoyed the resort bar and hot tub and called it a night. Not quite what he had planned, but I had no idea and so it was a great day in my books.

Us - on the way to the resort

David

Me

View from our room

By Day 2, he's planning out all of the things that he wants to do. We wake up early and run and then immediately get ready for the beaches near the Southernmost Point.

Southernmost Point - 90 miles to Cuba

We rent a scooter, grab another pina colada (our first for the day) and then start walking up and down the beaches. We come up to this HUGE pier! We see an enormous sting ray and all sorts of pretty fishes. The water is crystal clear, the sky perfect blue and we're enjoying every minute of vacation. We must look at the fish for over 3o minutes. As we leave the pier, we stop again to look at fish. I mention that I want another pina colada and tell him that if I actually want to drink, he should be excited and go along with it! Ha (I never drink!). He says something in return (I don't remember the exact wording) agreeing and that yes, we can celebrate tonight. I say nothing - completely oblivious to his foreshadowing. A few minutes go by and he says "You never asked me what we were going to celebrate." I look at him confused, and not even seconds later he's pulling a ring box out of his pocket. He says something about spending the rest of his life with me ... but, I'm just so surprised. I wasn't expecting it all that I'm just like "Oh my God, are you serious! For real?? AAAHHH!" I am just so excited and happy and shaking and then he kneels on one knee and asks me to marry him! I say yes, of course!!

RING!!!!

View from Dinner

View from Dinner

Us - Celebrating at Dinner

Champagne the next morning

We enjoy the rest of our Key West vacation! I truly feel like I am the luckiest girl and in the world! I am just so incredibly happy!! I'm excited for what 2011 will bring and hope you all have an amazing 2011, too! :)

I'm back ... and to the track I go! :)

2010-12-29T12:55:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago today, I went out for a track workout and then headed to the airport to Louisville, KY. 5 days later, I was back in Tampa but only for 12 hours before leaving for Key West, FL. Finally ... I'm back. I hate to say finally though, because vacation sure was nice and I didn't want it to end. But, luckily today, I was back at the track getting my butt in shape!

Today's workout:

10 x 400 w/1:15 minute rest in between

Goal: 96 seconds

It was 32 degrees and freezing. There was even frost on the field on the track. UGH! I was all bundled up and ran 1 1/2 miles as a warm up. Even still, my legs weren't ready to move once I started. Luckily, I quickly warmed up after that and had a pretty negative split workout!

98 95 95 95 93 92 89 86 86 82

I don't know if I've ever had such a negative split workout! I love 400's though! :)

Afterwards, I almost bailed on the optional mile, but then decided to do it. I didn't race it ... but I ran a 6:55. Not so bad.

I have lots to share from Key West .... but, until I find time to do a fun Vacation/Picture post, you'll have to wait! :) Maybe, I get lots of messages, I'll put up the post tonight!! :)

Merry Christmas + Snow + Recovery!

2010-12-20T08:01:00.003-05:00

I have to make this quick ... but, wanted to say Merry Christmas!!

I got back from Louisville, KY last night and am getting ready to leave for the Keys right now! :) I haven't had any time to check up and read your blogs ... so sorry! But, I wanted to say Merry Christmas!

I'm very ready for the Florida Keys! I was in 20 degree temps in Louisville and it was extremely icy and snowy! I'm over the snow! So glad we moved to FL!

I realized after my last half that I haven't given myself any time off basically all year. So, I only ran twice last week. Track on Wednesday + an 8 miler. It worked out as the perfect recovery week since I didn't have access to a treadmill and the roads were so icy. But, lets just say I'm more than ready to get back at it. I seriously NEED running in my life!! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Holiday Half RR

2010-12-12T19:28:00.002-05:00

This morning, I ran the Holiday Half Marathon in Madeira Beach. It was only about 30 minutes away from me, so it was very nice to have a normal Saturday and wake up at 5:20AM on race morning!!

I REALLY wanted to improve upon my time from last month. I knew I could do it and I've been training very hard. I tried not to over think everything because 7:20 average pace sounds fast!! Wait, that is fast.

My only real race plan was to run easy for the first 4-5 miles. I was aiming for a 7:40 first mile and 7:30ish pace for the next 3 to 4.

I screwed that up!

After a mile warm up (slow) and some strides, I toed the starting line - or got about three seconds back from the starting line. I felt good. I was in my cute pink tank and little black spandex. I had on my black arm warmers, too! I felt good and I was ready!

As I looked down at my watch about .15 into the race, I realized my average pace was 6:21. Oops! I didn't worry too much, I just tried to slooooow down a lot! I kept slowing down until I crossed mile one in 7:11. Even though I felt great and secretly liked that split hoping I could run even faster than I had planned, I was a little nervous.

By mile 2, I was burning up. I tossed my arm warmers in the bin at Mile 2 ... the bin that promised retrieval at the finish line. Nice!! Mile 2: 7:21

I was trying to find a good pace to stay at but was getting passed and getting discouraged! I was trying to stay sub 7:30. In retrospect, I should have been aiming for 7:40's here ... but I was ahead of game and was playing the let's hold on game instead of "lets run smart" game. Mile 3: 7:28 Mile 4 7:28

Towards the end of Mile 5, we had to climb a bridge. It hurt!! I knew I was in trouble here. I was slowing down and I was only at Mile 5: 7:31

We were turning to go on the Pinellas Trail. I was grateful and hopeful of what that would bring ... including wind coverage. The first 5 miles were VERY windy!!!! Very! Mile 6: 7:36

I was telling myself to hold on until 6.55 (half way). At the Women's Half last month, I was right at 49:00 here. Today, I was at about 48:40ish. A little ahead of pace .... but in a completely different mindset that last month. Last month, I felt amazing! I was excited about being half way done and feeling great and wanted that sub 1:37 and knew I had negative splits in me! I was in the "game on" mindset and ready to push!!! Today, I was ready for the race to be over already and was fading.quickly!

I told myself to that the 7:30-7:40 range was still fine and just to relax and run! Sadly, though, I looked down and was running close to 8:00 miles. Ugh! Mile 7: 7:55

Nothing changed. I was trying to tell myself to pick it up but was honestly just hanging on. Mile 8: 7:52

I just keep tracking along ... I was upset with myself and wondering why I didn't taper at all this week. Note to self: I am NOT superwoman!

Mile 9: 7:58

When I got to Mile 10, I saw a friend. I smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't realize I was behind pace (slightly 2 minutes slower than I was at Mile 10 for the Women's half). Then, I had to climb another hill .... UGH! Mile 10: 8:13

At this point, I just told myself that I could do anything for 3 miles. I was doing the math in my head and expecting a 1:43. Mile 11: 8:13

I tried to push, but I couldn't ... but, no one passed me in those last two miles and I passed one runner. Right before Mile 12, a police officer that was directing traffic told me that I needed to take out my ipod and that it was unsafe and illegal and that he could DQ me. I was pissed ... I took out my ipod and lost even more mojo. Mile 12: 8:01

I thought, "Okay, Jaime ... when you get to Mile 13 ... just RUN!" I ran a 7:05 mile 13 at the Women's Half ... When I hit the last mile, we had to run around this lake on a dirt trail straight into the wind - no shield whatsoever. I just kept thinking ... how long can a mile really be?? 8:26 seconds ... that's how long!! I couldn't run faster and I couldn't kick. Finally, I turned a curve and right at Mile 13 and saw the finish line. I made myself kick .... and finished the last .1 in 32 seconds (6:10 pace). I can honestly say that the only kick I had was that .1 and that I couldn't have started any earlier.

I crossed the finish line in 1:41:52 and was so relieved that it was done!! I am happy that I finished and happy that I pushed on very tired legs! I still have high hopes of breaking my 1:37:35 and I have six weeks until my next attempt!

I had a crazy week -

Monday Tempo - 6 miles at 7:36 average pace

Tuesday - 7 easy in 59:51

Wednesday - Track. 6x800 w/the last repeat at 2:59

Thursday - OFF

Friday - 6 miles in 49:47

Saturday - 2 miles: 8:33, 7:26

No excuses. I need to get stronger and I can. I came in 4th place in my age group .... I will get faster and I will start placing. I love to run - even on hard days like this. I'm proud of myself for toughing it out. I will let myself relax and recover a little this week before hitting it hard for 4 weeks and then tapering at least a little before my next half on Jan. 23rd!!

Why + Weekend Race

2010-12-09T19:43:00.003-05:00

People ask me why I run all of the time. They don't get it. Most people absolutely hate running (except all of you and my amazing running friends) and cannot understand why I not only put my body through this on a daily basis, but enjoy it.

I run because I can. I run because it's something that I love to do. I run to see sunrises. I run to escape life. I run to enjoy time with my running friends. I run to spend time by myself. I run to sweat. I run to feel better about myself. I run to stay in shape. I run to be outside. I run because I like pushing myself. I run to feel the wind. I run because I am able.

Don't get me wrong, I sometimes ask myself the same questions. Of course, I love it. But, I sacrifice a lot of other things for my early morning wake ups and my weekend long runs. Sometimes, I question why. I have to remind myself that I'm not an elite and that I don't get paid to run and that I need to find a better balance. I've been working on this a lot post Apalachicola and am happy to say that my running has not suffered at all - if anything, it's gotten even better with the balance. But, just because I'm not an elite and am not paid, doesn't mean that it doesn't feel good to push. I know I have much faster times in me and that excites me. So, while I will never run a 2:25 marathon and may never break 3:00 in the full or 1:20 in the half ... I do feel like I have better running days ahead of me. I believe in myself and I like pushing to see what I can accomplish.

Enough of the why .... let's talk about the FUN stuff ... like ... I have a race this weekend!

I can honestly say that I just want to run well. I'm trying to convince myself that I can run that fast again, or even a tad bit faster (who doesn't love PR's). But, when I look back at my times that day, they are soooo fast! So, I'm trying to think of the other reason's why it is possible that I could do better:

When I ran my 1:37:35, I had only ever trained for full marathons. My tempos and long runs were paced around my "goal marathon pace."
It was HOTTTT that day.
I didn't run good tangents. Hello, 13.23. That's a full extra minute!
The course was hilly. I climbed 1,041 feet.
I walked a 5K the day before while carrying a 3 year old for over half a mile of it.
It's been three weeks, and I've incorporated half marathon pace into my tempos now.
It's going to be 50 degrees and perfect.
The course is flat.
I am not walking a 5K on Saturday, but instead will do a two mile run: 1 mile easy, 1 at 7:15.
Because if I want something bad enough, I can make it happen!!

There you have it ... possibly the most random post by me, ever!

Pure LOVE!

2010-12-08T09:59:00.002-05:00

When my alarm went off at 4:45AM and I realized that it was 36 degrees outside, my first thought was to stay in the warm bed. But, I didn't. I got up and decided that I would go to the track. I knew I'd be upset if I didn't!

I got all bundled up in my cold weather running gear (Thank God I lived in Louisville and Indianapolis for the last 3 winters) and headed to the track. I ran a mile warm up to stay warm, took off my sweat pants and was ready for track!

6 x 800
Goal Pace: 3:19
Goal - Hit times, but don't push until the last two because I have a half marathon on Sunday

Times:

3:16 3:15 3:14 3:11 3:09 2:59

I'll take it!! Maybe, I like the cold!! :)

Still happy!!

Jingle Bell 5K

2010-12-05T17:13:00.007-05:00

I decided, on a whim, to run a jingle bell 5K yesterday! I decided to have fun with it. I didn't really want to try for a PR (20:30) because I have a half marathon again next weekend, have been racing and running hard lately AND because I wanted to dress up for the race.

The day before I went to Target and bought some candy cane stripped socks. I bought two pair - one for my legs and one to cut and use as arm warmers. Then, I picked up a cheap Christmas shirt and a candy cane headband to finish the outfit. Sadly, the headband wouldn't stay on and I broke it while trying to force it on. Instead, I put three pairs of jingle bell shoe laces in my hair. Ha.

I warmed up with a mile or two and was ready to go. My friend, Jen, was really wanting to break 20:00 and her ipod was dead! I quickly gave her mine. Note to self: When you aren't going to use an ipod for a 5K, do not put bells in your hair. Ha. Luckily, I was in the Christmas mood, but it was super loud and obnoxious the.entire.way!

The course was actually pretty hilly. It was two loops around the mall. The first loop went by relatively quickly. I was trying to keep my pace, but kept slowing down. I hit the first mile in 6:40ish.

As we started the second loop, we quickly caught up to the walkers. I couldn't believe how much weaving in and out we were having to do. I was a little annoyed and then remembered that I wasn't trying to PR. I wanted to give it a great effort, but had expected this! I pushed through mile 2 in 7:05. I don't remember my last split and .1 but I tried to make myself start pushing around 2.8 I knew I had slowed some, but was ready for it to be over. My legs actually felt good, but my heart was beating fast and I was having trouble pushing!

I finished in 20:56.

It was FUN! It was fun to relax and run and not stress about PR-ing. I would have been so upset if I were aiming for my sub 20 in this race. With the hills and the second loop ... yeah! Besides, i wore knee socks and didn't even wear my speed/racing/lucky charm shoes. They were my heavy Mizuno's that I use for long runs and that have 400 miles on them. Oops.

I can't find the results online, but I won 3rd in my age group. Jen ran a 20:12 and got third in her age group, too!

The pic above was taken at Starbucks, after the race.

Today, I tried to run long. It started pouring about half a mile in so I turned around and only ran 2 miles for the day. My body is tired and I have a half marathon next weekend. I really wanted to get in a good long run, but I guess it will have to wait. Funny enough, as soon as I drove home, the rain stopped and it's been beautiful the rest of the day. I made myself go to Bikram Yoga this afternoon, though. 1 1/2 hour long class. I really needed to stretch out and I think it did the trick!! Hopefully now, I'll be ready for my tempo in the morning!

Killer Track Workout

2010-12-02T17:09:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but nothing interesting has happened.

Yesterday was Wednesday, though ... so I can always post about my track workout.

For some reason, I wasn't really looking forward to it. It was super cold (62 degrees), windy and rainy (well, drizzly). UT's track is getting redone, so we were at a middle school and on a concrete track. It was dark and there weren't any lights. Not ideal circumstances.

The workout: 800 800 800 1200 800 800 800

Goal: 3:20 - 4:57 - 3:18

Rest - 1:40, 1:50, 2:00, 2:30, 2:00, 1:50, 1:40

My times: 3:20 3:21 3:19 4:54 3:15 3:17 3:10

I wanted to quit after the first rep. For some reason, those first three felt like I was running 3:05's. I don't know if my body was tired (fourth day of running in a row) or it was the concrete. Oh well. I finished!!

Monday, I tempoed. I always tempo on Monday, but this Monday was different. I'm not training specific to half marathons which means that my tempos are like 45 seconds faster! That's tough! I was supposed to run 1 easy, 4 at 7:10, 1 easy. I ran: 8:40, 7:14, 6:59, 8:42, 8:30 I figured that 2 tempo miles at half marathon pace was better than 4 miles at marathon pace.

Women's Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Report

2010-11-24T16:30:00.000-05:00

I must admit, this race has been on my schedule since before Apalachicola. I never really announced this to the blogworld though because well, I didn't want to stress over my goals. It worked. I actually had a pretty stressfree weekend. It helped that this race was about ten minutes from my house!

Friday night, Stephanie arrived. I was able to meet up with her and Penny for a couple of drinks but managed to leave around 9PM since I had to walk a 5K with work bright and early Saturday morning. It's too bad though b/c apparently they had quite a fun night!

Saturday came quickly. I walked a 5K with work. It was very kid friendly. I even carried one of my friend's 2 year old for about half a mile. I wasn't worried about the race. I just went about the day like normal. Penny had to work, so Stephanie and I hit up the expo, got lunch and then went to my pool to ice/heat! Not sure if that counts as an ice bath, but we figured it wouldn't hurt!

We ate an early dinner at Cafe Cibo and called it a night.

My alarm was set for 4:45AM which is the exact time that I wake up during the week to run before work - so, I felt really at ease! I got ready, ate my clif bar (my new secret fuel) and got ready!

The most chaotic part of the weekend came the hour before the race started. We all arrived near the start early, so we parked and decided to warm up. Well, we decided we'd jog about a mile to the bathrooms and then pack. The bathrooms were at least a mile away and the lines were loooong. I remember standing about 10 people back in the lines and looking at my Garmin. It read 6:32. The race started at 7:00AM.

We had to jog back to the cars to switch shoes and then back to the start line before 7AM! I do always wish that I would warm up closer to the start and not an hour before just to wait around. In the end, it turned out perfect. I literally got in my corral about 4-5 minutes before the start but I must admit I was quite nervous that I wouldn't be able to navigate through the 5000+ runners that quickly! We were in corral one and wanted to start as close to the start line as possible!

My secret goal all along was to break 1:40, though I knew I would be perfectly happy with a time around 1:42-1:43. The night before at dinner, I wrote down the average paces for every time between 1:36 and 1:45. I figured 1:42 was manageable and 1:40 would be a stretch. I didn't really have much to go by other than my recent 5K time and my 15 miler a couple of weeks ago. My coach told me that he wanted to work on my confidence and success (I guess we are still repairing the damage of Apalachicola). He wanted me to start at 8:00 minute miles and run that for the first 5 miles. Then, he wanted me to start picking up the pace and finish strong. I was okay with this goal ... but really wanted to give a try at the 7:45 pace.

My friend, Jen, wanted to run her first couple of miles at the 7:45 pace and then pick it up. We decided to start together and promised that we wouldn't run faster than 7:45 pace for at least the first three . . .

The airhorn goes off, and we start. Not even .1 in, we look at our Garmins and we're going at a 6:45 pace. We decided that we didn't want to lose the race in the first mile, so we kept trying to slow down. We tried for the entire first mile and finally came across in 7:23.

For the next three miles, I was just trying to feel out the pace. Around mile 2, I wondered if I could hold it. It didn't feel too hard and I was just running mile to mile. I just wasn't sure. This was the only moment of doubt I had the entire race. After that, I loved the splits. Jen kept telling me to settle. She said I was fighting myself. For some reason the 7:30 pace felt weird. I didn't want to slow down, I wanted to run faster. She kept telling me that it was a long race. I decided that I would wait until mile 5ish to make a decision. After all, if I picked it up, I wanted to know that I could sustain it! Miles 2-5 - 7:35, 7:37, 7:29, 7:32 Our coach was on his bike and I kept seeing him. Jen's husband, Bobby, was on a bike too so it was nice to keep running into him.

At mile five, we had caught up to a group of runners, as we kept passing them, our pace picked up. I just went with it. As I got closer to six, I was anxious to see what my half split would be. Mile six - 7:24

I've never passed so many people. Hell, I've never passed people in long races. I ALWAYS crash and burn in the marathon! It was so fun. I played a game from here to the end if my pace was faster than a 7:15, I couldn't pass anyone but if it were slower than 7:20 then I needed to pass. It worked, too because sometimes I would catch up to another runner and realize that I was pacing off of them. My pace would have slowed slightly, so I passed. Mile 6.55 came exactly at 49:00. I did the math quickly and realized that was a 1:38. In the back of my head, I knew that the NYC qualifying time was a 1:37:00 and I knew there wasn't a cushion. I'd have to run negative splits by a minute. Game on!!

We ran down the pier at this point. It was fun running because I was able to see Penny who was ahead of me and some of my other friends that were behind. The course actually had a couple of out and back sections and for that reason, it was nice!

Miles 7 and 8: 7:16, 7:18

I didn't realize that St. Pete had hills until mile 9. We ran up a slight hill, but it lasted for almost .75 miles. I was amazed at how many people I passed here. I just tried to keep my pace consistent and was so happy that I was going to be able to finish this race running DOWN the hill. Mile 9 - 7:17

There was a mini lake at mile 10 and we had to run around it. I was trying to take in the beauty but this is when I was finally getting tired. I told myself that this is where I needed to push. I could do this ... less than 3 miles left. Mile 10 - 7:21

That 7:21 actually made me mad. I wanted a sub 7:20. So, I decided with 2 miles left to pick it up. The tops of my feet were beginning to hurt and I was upset that I had tied my shoes too tight but there really wasn't anything that I could do so I just kept running. I remember glancing down at 11.25 and seeing that my average pace for that mile was 6:50. As I high fived Laura, a runner friend that was slightly in front of me, I entered the Rays Stadium (our baseball team) as she exited. We had to run a loop on the turf. I had never been to a game (remember I just moved here in Jan 2010) and so at first I was kind of excited that we were able to run on the field ... but it was so hard. I'm sure it wasn't quite like running in sand but the turf definitely made you kind of collapse into it and it was hard to keep pace. Mile 11 - 7:31 I saw Dror and he told me I was the 30th female. Little did he know that this was motivation for me to keep passing!

One mile left and I was able to go back down the hill! I kept telling myself if I didn't start pushing then, I would be mad at myself. I knew a sub 1:37 was probably out of the question ... but it can't hurt to finish with everything that I have. Mile 13 - 7:05

The problem here though was that mile 13 came way before the mile 13 sign meaning I didn't run the best of tangets! I hit 13.1 on my Garmin in 1:36:30 something ... and then I saw the mile 13 sign. I kept running. I remember seeing the finish ahead and just closing my eyes and running ...

I stopped my watch as I crossed the finish line - 1:37:35 (7:22 pace)

My Garmin said 13.23. The last .23 was run at a 6:10 pace in 85ish seconds.

Official Stats:

13.1 miles - 1:37:35 (7:27 pace)

23rd overall female out of 4,746!!

7th in age group out of almost 500

I met all of my friends at the finish! It's so great having a local race in which all of them were able to run, too! We celebrated and gave some recaps! It was a day I will never forget. It reminds me of my NYC marathon - everything went right and I was all smiles! We don't always get those kind of runs or races, so it's nice to really enjoy when we do. It truly makes all of the hard work and bad runs worth it!!

I didn't quite follow my plan but I have no regrets! Mission accomplished!

Three days later and I'm still all smiles! I'm still in awe and can't believe that I finished a half marathon in 1:37!

The most FUN workout, ever!

2010-11-24T08:40:00.002-05:00

First and foremost, I will have a race report up soon ... I promise!

So, this week has been kind of strange. I raced (my little heart out) a half marathon on Sunday, ran 5 easy miles (9:07 average pace) on Monday and then went to the track last night. I'm taking today off and racing (or trying to) a 10K tomorrow.

Because a lot of people raced on Sunday and are racing on Thursday, our coach made last night's workout easy and fun!

There weren't any time goals - we were just to run at 85%.

400, 300, 300, 200, 200, 200, 200

No breaks ... just walk to the start of the 300 after the 400 and then walk across the field to the start of the 200 after the 300's.

I wore my watch anyway and was quite surprise by our times:

400 - 83
300 - 61
300 - 58
200 - 35
200 - 35
200 - 35
200 - 35

FUN! It was so over so fast! Running fast is soooo much fun! :)

My legs are feeling okay. I'm definitely not 100%, though. My hamstrings are pretty tight and the tops of my feet hurt pretty badly when I lace up my shoes. Because of this, I'm having to tie them differently and wear my shoes a little looser. Otherwise, I think I'm recovering well. I guess if I were 100%, I'd be concerned that I didn't race hard enough.

The best part about half marathons is that you can literally run the next day. Oh, I'm in love! :)

So, I raced today ...

2010-11-21T11:22:00.002-05:00

Real quick . . . I ran a half marathon today! I've been looking forward to this for weeks - testing out how I run for a half marathon! I'm technically in the middle of marathon season and didn't taper at all for this race ...

I'll save all of that for my next post, though.

The official times aren't posted, but I ran a 1:37:30-something! :)

I'm definitely celebrating the rest of the day! I couldn't be happier!!

Learning to Push ...

2010-11-15T09:21:00.002-05:00

I've learned a lot about myself in the past month! I know that sounds a but cliche, but it's true. I've had some of my best and some of my worst runs. I've learned how easy it is to give up when things aren't going right. I've learned how to push through the final miles of a long run at paces that I didn't think I was capable of in a short tempo. I've learned what it feels like to do well in a race. I've learned what it feels like to ... well, not finish a race. I've learned that I am a good runner but I've learned that I have to believe in myself and that it isn't always easy. Sometimes, you just have to dig deep, not give in and keep pushing! And, if you do all of that, you may just surprise yourself.

I slept in on Saturday - until 6AM. This meant that I had a solo 16 miler on my plate since everyone else met at 5:30AM. My schedule said: 4 easy, 4 at 8:20 pace, 4 easy, 4 at 8:00 pace. I knew I could do this. Afterall, I had run 15 last week at 7:49 average pace.

It wasn't easy.

I decided to start with my easy miles and to just see where they fell. They definitely weren't as fast as I wanted them to be ... but, we can't always pick our easy pace.

8:41 8:33 8:25 8:21

I kept it "easy" and the pace gradually dwindled itself down to the 8:20 range. The next task was to push. Even though my schedule said 8:20, I knew it meant goal pace. So, I just picked up to what felt like I was pushing a tad and ran. Of course, when I saw the first split, I just tried to keep it consistent for the next three.

8:01 7:59 7:55 7:55

It wasn't easy. But, I got through the last 7:55 by telling myself that I got to run the next 4 as easy as I wanted. When I got to miles 9-12, I told myself that I would only look at my Garmin every other song. This meant 6-8 minutes at a time withOUT looking! I'm so proud that I actually did this. I slowed down to what I thought was a 9:00+ pace, but I didn't care. My schedule said EASY! Shockingly, I felt good and easy wasn't quite that slow.

8:22 8:26 8:32 8:19

I was ready to be done, but I knew I had four more pace miles. These were all supposed to be 8:00. I wanted to only do two, but somehow I made myself push through all 4. The worse part was that I finished at my car before I had these 4, so I actually had to turn around, run 2 miles out and 2 miles back! I took a quick gel (my first of the day) along with a quick sip of water (my second of the run) and headed right back out.

7:52 7:53 7:36 7:13

It wasn't easy, but I learned how to finish strong. That 7:13 took a lot out of me, but I did it. I didn't give in to my mental weakness! I was soooo happy!

16 miles - 2:10:10 (8:08 average pace)!

45 miles for the week, though I've ran 60 in the past 7 days.

The rest of the weekend was enjoyed outside with great friends! Saturday, I went to the ribfest and Sunday to the Bucs vs. Panther game. Can't beat that!!

No More Doubting!!

2010-11-09T12:58:00.002-05:00

I am a good runner! I am a good runner! I am a good runner! I need to keep repeating this! :) I'm still riding my 5K PR high. Though, I can hardly believe that I ran a 20:30 and pr'ed by 2:05, I'll take it! Now, I'm even looking forward to getting that down a little!!

I took Saturday off. I wasn't too sore, but a bunch of friends were doing there long run on Sunday and well, in all honesty, it was just nice to sleep in on Saturday! Here's the problem though (or maybe not a problem after all). I met up with a few friends (all of whom are much faster than me for our long run). I had 15 on the schedule and beside 15 it said "easy."

I had trouble getting GPS signal at first - so I reset my Garmin at our first water stop which fell directly on 3.5 miles. The splits are as follows:

28:33 - 3.5 miles
7:48
7:54
7:56
7:49
7:48 - this was at mile 8.5. I was starting to get very nervous about the pace. I told Jen and Penny at this point that I was going to "try" to stay with them until mile 10 and then I was going to run "easy" for the last five.
7:53
7:56
7:49 - Penny decided to pick up the pace at this point. I started to fall back a tad and Jen was in between us. Jen stopped for about 5 seconds, waited on me and said that we were going to run together. I was nervous ... but am now glad that we did. We ended up picking up the pace ourselves and I felt mostly good.
7:47
7:42
7:40
3:46 (.5) - 7:35 pace

Total: 1:58:24 for 15 miles (7:49 pace).

Okay, so I need to start believing in myself! I ran with them! :) I felt good and I enjoyed the company. I asked Jen what our time was when my Garmin hit 13.1 ... it was 1:43:48! What?!! In practice nonetheless.

I didn't tempo on Monday (since this run was on Sunday). I figured I tempoed for all of my long run and ran it about 30 seconds faster than marathon goal pace! Instead, I didn't look at my garmin, ran on my lunch break and ran 9 miles at an average pace of 8:31.

I woke up this morning, met the group for a 7 miler - average pace 8:25!

I can't get faster unless I practice being faster, right? The 50 degree weather helps, too! Maybe there was a benefit to training in the FL heat and humidity all summer long! :) Either way, I'm not complaining and I'm going to go with it!

I've been smiling all week and running, too! That combination in itself is enough for me! :)

Richard's Race For Life 5K - RR & PR :)

2010-11-06T08:29:00.004-04:00

Holy Cow! I am on cloud nine! I've never run a 5K on a Friday night and I was nervous all day about it. I was worried about what I was eating and how my legs would feel. I guess I did something right.

I met Jen super early because we wanted a good warm up and wanted to get there extra early because we hadn't registered. Everything went according to plan and we actually had some extra time to spare. It was freezing outside (Tampa went from Summer on Wednesday (88 degrees) to Winter on Friday (50-60 degrees) so we sat in my car for a little while and waited for Penny and Bobby to arrive.

We had a bit of a problem getting Penny parked, but figured it out. My heart was pumping and my adrenaline was high - but, maybe this just helped me get extra warmed up!

David along with Emily and Justin (two really good friends) came to the race! It was so nice to have them there! Like I said, it was pretty chilly out ... and they were troopers. They even held our warm clothes so that we would have them after the race. There was tons of amazing food and music. The race started and finished in Centennial Park - so, it made for a great atmosphere.

My race plan all week was to try to maintain 7:00 miles. My last 5K (in May) went something like this: 6:44, 7:20, 7:55 for a finishing time of 22:35. I knew I had a faster 5K in me, but I knew I needed to race smart. So, I didn't want to run faster than 7:00 and it all honestly I was going to be happy with 21:xx :)

The first mile felt great, as it always does. Jen was in sight and she was aiming for 20:30. I felt good enough to pass her at this point, but I did't want to. I knew better! So, I just stayed about 2-4 seconds behind her. I even thought about moving up to run with her, but I didn't want to psyche myself out. Jen's a great runner and I didn't know if I could hang! The first mile came by in 6:40. It wasn't quite the 7:00 that I had wanted, but I was pretty excited about it. Now, I had to maintain and NOT crash and burn. The next short term goal was to make it one more mile at that pace. Just one mile!

There were two sharp turn arounds, the ones that you basically stop and then start running the other way. Though those kill your time, they're pretty neat because you can see who is in front of you! I could see Penny each time. She was doing great! I just kept Jen in sight for this mile, too. I was feeling surprising well. I even looked down at my Garmin and it read in the 6:15's a couple of times. At 1.55 miles (half way), I was at 10:06. I knew that was so close to 20:00! Mile 2 split: 6:30 - on the dot!

So, 1.1 miles to go. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I knew I was going to PR and I kept telling myself NOT to give into that. The weather was great and I knew I needed to push for a mile. I knew if I maintained I'd be sub 21 and I really wanted that! I also knew what my half way split was and knew that I should be closer to to 20 than 21 and just tried my best to keep going. Jen started getting a little away. I didn't want to give in. I saw my watch go up to a 7:15 pace once and then tried to pick it up.

As we rounded the last corned and my watch said I had .2 to go, I started booking it. It hurt, but I passed like 3 girls and so it was completely worth it! Mile 3 was 6:45 and I just kept pushing. The last .11 - 5:10 pace! The official results aren't posted yet, but my Garmin read 20:28!

Results/Times/Placement to be posted soon ... but I couldn't keep this in much longer. This is what I needed mentally! I've been in a great place with my running post Apalachicola! It's amazing what a little belief in yourself does! :)

Channeling my Inner Speed

2010-11-04T12:33:00.002-04:00

Ahhh, the good days of running make the bad runs tolerable! I live for the good runs - the ones that keep me smiling for hours afterwards. There really isn't anything better!

I wasn't so certain that yesterday was going to be a good day for speed. Due to some circumstances that were beyond my control, I had to run evening track (instead of AM .. which I love). Luckily, my friend, Jen, was at the evening practice, too. We met at the gym and ran a 1.75 mile warm up to the track. It was pretty hot - mid 85's - but was beginning to cool off as the sun was going down.

There is a local 5K on Friday that everyone seems to running, so the coach geered our workout towards the 5K. The goal was to run 5K pace for the 800's, run the 400's slightly faster and have minimal break in between.

(800 one minute rest 400) x4 We received 2 minutes rest between sets.

My paces were supposed to be: 3:20 for the 800's 97 for the 400's

Actual Splits: 3:16, 95, 3:10, 95, 3:08, 93, 3:04, 90

What?! I kept getting faster and faster. My biggest fear with starting a workout too fast and giving into my need for speed is that I'll crash and burn and not be able to sustain! I gave in, ran fast and kept it up!! Hooray! Definitely a win in my book!

Afterwards, I remembered that Jen and I had run to the track and had to run back. 1.75 miles later, we were back to the gym. It was a nice cool down! :)

Easy, Peasy, Cheezy :-)

2010-11-02T08:48:00.004-04:00

I have no idea what my easy pace is. When training for NYC and even part of San Diego, I ran all of my Tuesday and Thursdays alone. So, easy to me, was well ... easy! This was always over 9:00 and often times averaged closer to 9:30.

Now, I meet all of my cool running friends on these mornings. Somehow, I've learned to not give into that 4:45AM alarm clock. Well, our easy runs are so sporatic. At some point around July, I decided no more miles over 9:00 (unless they were recovery miles). For the most part we had been averaging 8:30-8:50.

After Apalachicola, I thought ... Hmmmm, maybe I should aim for 8:30 range always on my easy run. Yes, I realize this is only 10 seconds over my goal marathon pace ... but, it's easy! AND ... I can't get better if I don't practice running faster, right?! Score. So, last Thursday I was very happy that my 7 miler averaged 8:32 and felt easy! :)

Fast forward to this week! Yesterday, I ran 6.43 miles (Clearly I cannot do math in my head and since I restarted my Garmin after my warm-up, I had to). Otherwise, I would have gone 6.5 or 7 miles. Regardless, I ran: 6:36 (.70 warm up), 8:14, 8:01, 7:56, 7:39 then cooled down with 8:50, 6:34 (.74).

I figured that I'd be a little tired this morning but I was game for my 8:30 pace. Here's how the six miles turned out: 8:29, 7:52, 7:48, 7:43 (at which point I remembered that I have track tomorrow and a 5K on Friday and tried to slow down) 8:29, 8:06 for an average pace of 8:04. I'll take it. It actually felt good to run fast-er!

How does your "easy," "tempo" and "marathon" paces compare?

So, What's Next?

2010-10-28T16:18:00.003-04:00

In case you missed my last post, check it out! It's probably not quite what you expected! If you haven't read, please do so and feel free to leave lots of love!! :)

So, what's next? There are several, or should I say lots, of different things going on in my mind! I don't really want to share too many of them with anyone since my biggest struggle is with the mental battle and the pressure I put on myself! So, while I still have big goals (and want to acheive them now), I don't want to lay them out there yet! Just know that I'm running and I'm smiling! :) You may not get goal posts or even know when a race is coming up . . . but you better believe that I'm still running and working hard! This girl doesn't give up that easily!

The best part about only running half of my race this past weekend ... I'm recovered! :)

Saturday - race

Sunday - 30 minutes of easy biking

Monday -5 mile easy run - 8:55 average pace

Tuesday - OFF

Wednesday - Track 400 400 400 1200 400 400 400 1200
98 96 99 4:55 98 97 95 4:45

Thursday - 7 mile easy run - 8:32 average pace

Apalachicola - Race Recap!

2010-10-27T18:41:00.011-04:00

The weekend started off on the right foot! Penny and I both took off Thursday even though we didn't leave until Friday morning! It was nice to spend a relaxed day with a great friend!!

When it comes to the rest of the trip ... I don't even know where to begin! Penny and I had a great time driving up to Apalachicola. It was five hours worth of driving in the middle of no where, but somehow there wasn't a silent second in the car.

We arrived on Friday around 1PM and headed straight to the Expo. I should have realized that all of my fears and nightmares were about to come true, but I still had high hopes. The expo was in a small little room that basically just gave us our bibs. We quicky learned that there wasn't chip timing and that we'd be going off of gun timing. I was so confused as to why this would be the case, especially on a Boston certified course. The chips on our bibs were for the finish line only. At the Expo, there was a small table with about 5 different clif bar samples. There was a sign that read "take one of each." At least I didn't go broke at the Expo .... no running temptations at all!

Penny and I headed out to the neighborhood (beside the expo) for our little 2 mile shake out run. I was supposed to run one easy, on at pace. I was aiming for 8:50 and 8:20. I ran an 8:10 followed by a 7:58. I was pleasantly suprised with the effort, especially since it was 85 degrees outside.

During my run, a million thoughts went through my head. Luckily, the race director was easily accessible at the expo and we were able to question him to death. I was terrified of getting lost on the course (there were only 200-ish marathon runners). We were terrified of having to stop to cross the road because of traffic. I was terrified of there being no water on the bridges (more than 20 miles of the race was on these bridges ...I'm not exaggerating ... probably closer to 23 miles). I had concerns of there not being mile markers or clocks on the course. What about traffic on the bridges? We were to run in the emergency lane facing traffic??!

This should have been a major concern of mine, but the race director (depsite being extremely laid back) eased my fears. Everything would be taken care of.

Then, I did something I've never done before .... I drove the course. All I can say is "Thank God!" We started the start/finish line. I got a crack out of this. This should have been enough foreshadowing in itself for what the rest of the weekend would entail!

The rest of the evening was normal. I hung out with Stephanie and Penny, ate pasta, tried on a million race outfits and then went to bed.

The race started at 7AM, so we arrived around 6AM. I parked about fifteen feet away from the start line (NICE)! It was a little chilly but not freezing. We waited in the car until about 6:40, went to the bathroom and then made our way to the mat. We decided that we were going to start at the very front (sorry faster runners) .... but there isn't chip timing, so what else am I supposed to do ... not add 15 seconds to my finish time.

The gun goes off and we start running. Several runners pass me immediately and I notice that they keep going straight. I drove this yesterday and we were supposed to turn. There weren't signs, it was dark, there weren't cops or anything showing the way .... Another girl and I turn and soon everyone follows. I think several people probably added on a good .2 miles before figuring it out. Like I said, thank God I drove the course.

We climb a mountain of a hill (picture - Stephanie is approaching the finish line. The top of that bridge ramp is mile .5 and mile 25.5) and start across the water. I hit the first mile in 7:58 and freak out a little. I vow to slow it down and hit miles 2 and 3 in 8:20 and 8:29. I realize at mile 3 that I already have a mile over pace. I try to not let myself get discouraged.

My legs felt great! The wind was insane ... 25 mph gail force winds. Great! Two girls pass me and I swear I hear them say they're going for 8 minute miles and I think they're running the half. I decide to pick up the pace and stay with them. Drafting is much better than running in this wind. My next 3-4 miles are between 8:04-8:12 I hit mile 5 and I'm 1:30 ahead of pace. I feel good, so I don't worry about it. We are running in the emergency lane the same direction the traffic is going. The trucks are zooming by at 70 mph ... or so it seems!

When we approached the point for the half marathoners to turn around, the girls don't leave. Hmmm. I talk to them for a second and realize they're trying to run a 3:40. We're a little too ahead of pace, so I let them continue on. I get stuck on this long, hilly bridge with all of the wind by myself. I hit the next mile in 8:17 and am happy.

Around mile 8-9, I start worrying a little. I realize that I haven't smiled once and I'm already wishing that the race would be over. I'm starting to worry about the lack of water and the sun is coming out. The wind is brutal. I'm fighting it so badly and it's worse than the actual hills (which are the devil). I keep telling myself to be strong and to believe. I say a million prayers and simply just ask God for the strength to do my very best and for strength to not give up.

The hill at mile 10 was the worst. As I climb the half mile + incline, I see my pace dip down. I tell myself that it's okay and that I can make it up on the downhill. Once I get to the down hill, I realize my pace isn't picking up ... the wind is pushing against me. My ipod falls out of my ears three times on this stretch and the dust from the cars is blowing in my eyes. Mile 10 - 8:45 I'm at 1:22:40, though ... which is still ahead of schedule.

I keep pushing but it gets harder. I'm so mad because my legs felt great that day!! The feel incredible, but everything seems to be going against me. I think of Penny and Stephanie and how this is their first marathon. I ache for them ... this is not something they should be experiencing! :(

I hit mile 11 in 8:41. I'm upset. I'm already off pace. I'm even more upset. I feel good but I know the wind is wasting my energy. The only thing that is keeping me going is that I'm almost off of the bridge. There is a two mile loop once I get off and then I get to head back.

I get off of the bridge and Penny's brother hands me water! He was an angel! The neighborhood has no shade, either. At this point, I just keep telling myself to get to the half way point. It's the only mat on the course and I just want to be there. I hit mile 12 in 8:41 again and realize that my cushion is going away and that I'm not hitting 3:40 today - not under these circumstances.

Around mile 12.6, I make a decision to stop at the half way point. I know this is quitting ... but I didn't want to waste my legs. I don't want the recovery that comes with the marathon. I don't want a 3:45. Everything was going against me and I gave in. Right or wrong, I stop right after I hit 13.1. There was no clock, but my garmin read 1:49:34.

There were not any medical/aid stations on this course. After I walk .4 tenths back, I realize this is an out and back course and pray that John (Penny's brother) is still at the base of the bridge. I walk .4 tenths before any runners pass me. I was out there alone. It felt worse than a solo training run. My training runs have been crowd support and water stops. :/ I jog about a mile back to John, in tears, as I'm just ready to be done. I'm upset with myself for quitting but nothing in me wants to do this. Running isn't fun. I'm sad ...I keep crying.

I have a minor meltdown once I reach John. I borrow his phone and call David. Saying the words "I quit" isn't easy! I ask John to take to the finish line so I can see Penny and Stephanie finish.

I tell him to not let them know I stopped if for some reason they ask when they see him. I don't want it to mess with them mentally. This is my fifth marathon and their first. I can't let them know yet.

As we drive to the finish line, we see Penny. She's on pace and looking strong. She's second overall female. I hope that she holds onto it.

I get to the finish line and find myself excited. I tell the timing people that I stopped (just in case my chip picks up near the finish line).

I get so excited as Penny nears. Sure enough, she comes in looking strong. She finishes 2nd female in 3:20:14 - what a debut marathon! I get lots of pictures and get to witness her first finish. This in itself makes my decision worthwhile!! :) This girl has amazing potential. She definitely has a sub 3:10 in her .. especially after finishing in these conditions. We talk about the race and how horrible it was. She said she thought about me a lot and was so upset that I had such bad conditions to run in, too. Penny was walking fine and felt great ... simply amazing!

As the clock crosses 3:40, I have another breakdown. This one lasts about ten minutes. I kept seeing runners finish and was so upset. I was mostly upset because I kenw I was as good of a runner as them and that I just haven't proven it in a race yet! (I mean that with all the respect in the world).

I collect myself for Penny and Stephanie. Now is a time to celebrate and I don't want to interfere with their finishes!!

Stephanie finishes in 4:38. What a crazy first race. That girl definitely has a sub 4:15 in her!! :)

We all laugh and talk and take pictures. What a day! We definitely won't ever forget this. There isn't any ice at the finish line, or cold water. They have soft drinks and chips - but that's it.

Since the race is super small, I talked to the race director. He gave me a half marathon medal and said that he would use my half split as a half marathon finisher time.

I looked online Sunday and much to my surprise, I finished 5th in the half marathon. I was 5th female out of 126. Not so bad since I was pacing for the full.

I'm at peace with my decision now. I have my eyes set for a redemption race very soon and already have a new schedule from my coach. The best part about running a half on Saturday is that I was able to run on Monday and I don't have to recover. Still, though, I'm sad. I wanted to run Apalachicola .... but, I learned my lesson: no more inaugural marathons for me!!

Check out mine and Penny's medal ... they had already broken.

Let's Talk Goals

2010-10-20T21:19:00.005-04:00

It finally hit me. All week, I've been feeling semi-normal. My legs still feel heavy. I'm over analyzing every minor ache and pain. I'm getting nervous, I'm excited ... but all on a semi-normal level. I'm not over-the-top. I guess that's good in a way, but I don't want to ever become immune to the normal race week emotions.

As I left work this afternoon, I gave one of my friends (Emily) a card. I wanted to tell her thank you for all of her support over the past months. She always has a smile on her face and cheerfully asks how my running is going ... on a daily basis! Since I'm taking a personal day tomorrow, I wanted to give her the card as I left. I walked into her office and handed it to her. When she asked me what it was, I noticed that I started to tear up. I tried to walk away but she caught me. She asked how I was and I just started crying.

It finally hit me. I'm running a marathon in less than 72 hours. I won't be back at work until it's finished. I've been spending the last 4 months working so hard for this ... and really the past three cycles have almost overlapped. Essentially, I've been training for this race since the end of Summer '09. She asked me how I was and I just stood there with tears in my eyes. I felt so goofy, but I looked at her and told her I was ready. I'm not over-the-top excited, though I am at the same time. I'm just ready. I'm not over confident by any means ... if anything, this is the one thing I need to work on in the next 2 days. But, I know that I've done all that I can do and I've trained as hard as possible for the past 4 months. So, because of this, I'm at peace. I'm hoping that all of the stars align in my favor on Saturday morning because if they do I could have a really good race. But, if they don't .... well, that's out of my control. All I can do is fight the fight and that I can assure you I will do! I plan to finish the race completely mentally and physically exhausted. I will give Apalachicola everything I've got - and I can only hope that on Saturday that's my absolute best!

So, I'm sure you're dying for goals:

A) To finish under 3:39:59 ...
B) To PR. I'll need to finish under 3:51:50 to PR
C) To give it everything I have, not give up and finish with a smile on my face!

A lot of runners wouldn't even admit to goal C but I know that 26.2 miles is a looooong way and that you've always got to respect the distance. Anything can happen out there and while I hope that I reach A, I can honestly say that I'll be ecstatic with a nice PR.

I'll be heading up to Apalachicola early Friday morning with Penny. I can only imagine how we'll entertain ourselves for the 5 hours there. Sadly, David probably will not be going. Boo, last minute work! On a positive note, I cannot wait to finally meet Stephanie! This is both of their first marathons and they are going to do GREAT! I can't wait to share this experience with them! Please stop by their pages and wish them luck!!

Until then, wish me luck! Next time you hear from me, I hope to have great news!! :)

* For some reason, I can't get Stephanie's link to work. Go to: http://stephilynne@blogspot.com **

It's Marathon Week!

2010-10-18T10:06:00.002-04:00

So, it's marathon week! I can't believe it's finally here. It's the week that I've been anticipating for so long ... but, I'm so nervous it's not even funny!

It's time to start believing in myself and reflecting positively on everything that has gone better this training cycle - not everything that didn't go as planned! It's so funny. I've been through this marathon taper 5 times now and it doesn't get better. I still have the same fears and thoughts and doubts!!

Don't start off too fast! Banking time does not work!
Don't come across the half way point right on time (you should bank a little time). Running exact splits is too hard!
You're not ready for a sub 3:40
You ran a freakin' 20 miler at 8:24 average pace ... you are so ready for a sub 3:40
Miles 20-26.2 hurt so bad no matter how well you're trained .... Be tough! Don't give up!

AAHHHH! Okay! I'm excited ... I am, but I'm so ready for it to be here! I had the best week of training last week and then the worst last long run on Saturay (8 miles). I decided it would be best to start at 9AM b/c next week I'll be running at that time. I stopped like 5 times . . . on an 8 miler. My average pace was exactly 8:24 ... but it was a tough and very broken run. UGH! I was hoping for one more confidence booster.

Keeping myself in check . . .

2010-10-14T08:52:00.002-04:00

I have a confession! As my legs start recovering during the taper, I have this desire to run fast! I love the feeling of fresh legs .... but it is so hard to hold back.

My mileage has been low this week (and even last) but every mile that I've run has been goal marathon pace or faster! I don't know that that's a good thing! I guess it's good to learn what the pace feels like but I'm supposed to be running easy!!

This morning, I met up with some friends to run 6 easy miles. I finished in 49:58. My miles were something like: 8:35 8:30 8:25 8:19 8:14 7:44

Oops!

I'm going to take tomorrow off and run 10 paced miles on Saturday! If this fast-er running continues into next week, I may have to cap myself at 3 and 4 milers!!

Tapering

2010-10-13T11:14:00.002-04:00

I may be the only person in the world that you'll ever hear this from, but I love the taper. I look forward to the taper. I believe in the taper! It feels so good to have fresh, rested legs! I know that is what it takes to have a successful marathon and honestly, I like the down time. Of course, even though I know what's best for me, I still get worried that I'm not doing enough! But, overall, I think the taper is a great time for celebration and reflection. It's nice to have some time to sit back and think about all of the hard work that you've done over the past few months. It's also nice to celebrate all of that hard work (not too much though, we'll save the real celebration for after the race).

Okay, enough taper talk! I ran my last track workout this morning!

400 800 1200 1600 800

Not so bad! The real kick was only getting 2 minutes rest between every interval. Now, that's a lot of time after a 400, but not a lot of time after the 1200 and 1600.

My times:

96 3:13 4:57 6:33 3:14

I felt good. I wanted to kick it up a notch on the 1200 (especially since I ran that 4:39 last week) but I decided to play it smart, beat my goal time (5:06) and save my energy for the mile! I was supposed to run the mile in 6:48 - so, I'll consider 6:33 a huge success! :)

With less than 10 days to marathon, I'm feeling good. Monday and Tuesday of this week, I had the worst headache ever. When I didn't have enough energy to blow dry my hair yesterday before work I was worried - especially since I had taken a 3 hr. nap on Sunday, slept 7 hours Sunday night, taken half a day from work on Monday (along with a 4 hour nap) and slept 8 1/2 hours Monday night. Anyway ... I went to the doctor and I have a sinus infection. Luckily, they have shots for these things and I'm tapering. So, I took yesterday off and rested up! I woke up this morning feeling 1000 times better.

4:39

2010-10-07T08:10:00.004-04:00

Sorry I haven't written in a week! It's been a crazy week! Matt and Finleigh were in town from Thursday - Wednesday and now David and I are leaving today for Indiana. It's the second weekend in October = Pig Roast!! :)

I skipped my long run on Saturday. I did something I NEVER do and I went out on Friday night. Though I had a GREAT time, I now remember why I don't go out on Friday's (or really at all) anymore. Not only do I love running, but I love waking up early and running while the sun rises. I love the way the morning air feels (even when it's hot air). I love beginning my day with an endorphin rush!

On Sunday, I thought about making up the run, but I only ran a few miles instead. My legs were tight and I just wasn't feeling it. I've been trying to convince myself since then that I've still put in all of the miles (enough) and run harder and faster than I ever have before to prepare for this race. I've run more 20 milers in a training cycle and they've been 20-40 seconds faster than my 20 milers for San Diego.

My calf was still sore on Monday. I ran 5 miles in 44:31. I ran at lunch and it was a little hot. Otherwise, I tried to go super slow. So, for that, I was happy! If 8:5x is my super slow pace, I'll take it.

I took Tuesday off. My legs were still sore and I'm tapering. It's time to listen to the body, right?

I headed to the track Wednesday morning. My calf was still a little sore and my coach rubbed icy hot all over it. I warmed up and then started the track workout. It was 66 degrees with 60% humidity (AMAZING)!

1200 400 1200 400 1200 4o0

We rested for 3 minutes after the 1200's and for 1 minute after the 400's

Expected Times: 5:03, 5:00, 4:57 (for the 400's, we were just supposed to match whatever the first one was in).

My times: 4:59 96 4:48 96 4:39 85

I ran a 4:39! Holy Cow! It was my last rep, too! My legs felt great. My breathing was actually holding me back. Do you realize if I would have run one more lap that would have been a 6:12 mile. I've never run a 6:12 mile (especially at the end of a workout!!) Maybe training in the Florida heat and humidity this summer is finally paying off!!

Running 5 in Indiana this afternoon and then going for 13-15 "faster" miles this weekend. Will keep you posted!!

A little, happy Jaime + What do this Weekend? Advice encouraged! :)

2010-09-29T09:40:00.004-04:00

First things first! It's Wednesday! :)

Track Workout:

400 800 400 x 3 , 1600

We had 1 minute (not long) rest after the 400 and 800 and 2 minutes after each set.

Expected Times: 98 for 400's and 3:22 for 800's

My Times:

98 3:19 98
98 3:17 97
96 3:07, 85
6:44 for the optional mile! :)

I almost let the word "optional" get the best of me, especially after that 3:07 and 85 but with a little nudge from coach, I gave it a try! I actually felt pretty good!

So, now for the advice ...

In my first four marathons, I only ever ran 2 20/20+ milers. Just two. That's enough, right?! This time around, I've already run 3 20 milers and I have my fourth scheduled for this weekend. Some facts and thoughts for you ....

I've already ran 3 20 milers.
The first averaged 8:36 and I was ecstatic.
The second averaged 8:24 and not only was I ecstatic but it felt really good!!
The third averaged 8:44 and it was torture and horrible from the beginning ... Keep in mind this was the week after the 8:24 run.
My BQ pace is 8:24
I have no balance in my life ... nor have I since February since I jumped straight into this marathon training post San Diego.
My 20 miler for SD was at 9:01 pace and 22 miler was at 9:00 pace
My cousin (that lives in Cali) and his gf are coming into town on Thursday and I want to be able to have a good time with them on Friday and Saturday.
I don't think I can push my long run to tomorrow .... or that I should wait until Tuesday ...
I probably won't do anything crazy on Friday and Saturday night but it would be nice to not have to wake up at 3AM and go to bed at 8PM. And ... let's not forget that I'm usually drained and worthless the rest of Saturday ...

So, what should I do. I think I'm going to plan on running an easy 20 miler on Saturday ... but I'm not going to commit to meeting anyone. If I don't show up .... I don't show up. If I do, great!! If I'm late, then that's okay! If I run 20 milers - AMAZING! If I go, 12 ... then is that okay, too? I need to listen to my body right?! Even if Matt and Finleigh weren't coming into town on the last week before my taper 3 back to back 20 milers is a lot, right?! My body has done the work ... One more 20 miler may even be too much? Dare I convince myself of that??!

Eagerly awaiting your response,

Jaime

20 miles of not-bliss :(

2010-09-27T20:23:00.003-04:00

I should have known better. I was still riding my high from last Saturday when I attempted my third 20 miler of this training schedule. It was not the bliss that I had experienced the week before. Nothing about the run went well (maybe b/c I met Nicole at 3:55AM to begin). By mile 4, I was already tired and ready for it be finished. Luckily, I ran 10 miles with Nicole before the 9 mile shark loop. Those 10 miles weren't horrible, but by the time I got to the shark loop, I felt like I had run 10 miles and was ready to be finished ... not ready to start!

I don't have my Garmin on me now. I don't even want to look at my splits. I know I shouldn't be upset with myself or think that my race is doomed now. Let's face it ... I ran 20 miles at goal pace (basically) last week. My average pace was 8:24 and my average pace for the last 10 was 8:12. I felt amazing and had this crazy kick that I never have.

This week, I had zero kick. I stopped for gatorade or water probably ever mile for the last 6 or so miles. So frustrating. Even then, I was working so hard to maintain such a slower pace. I finished in 2:54 with an average pace of 8:44 ... not quite the 2:47 that I did the week before. I guess at least I can say I ran 6 minutes longer ... that's good for endurance, right?!

I'm going to be positive now! I had a GREAT rest of the weekend. I spent the rest of Saturday at the beach! :) AND ... my fantasy team won this weekend! Oh, I had a good tempo today, too ... 8 miles of bliss. That's on it's way to 20! :)

PS: I checked the humidity when I was finished ... 91%.

Wednesday Happiness!

2010-09-22T13:03:00.003-04:00

Oh, the temperatures are beginning to drop a little. It was 75 degrees this morning and the humidity was around 80%. Though this may sound horrible, it was quite heavenly! I've never been so excited for Fall. Never! :)

Nothing could be as tough as last week's track workout. Thank God it was the first skipped track workout since January. If it weren't for the treadmill, I may have quit track for life. But, with that in mind, I headed to the track in a positive mood this morning. If I could tackle last weeks workout successfully, then I could complete the workout this morning, too!

Turns out, I was right! Not so bad! 400 1200 800 800 1200 400 Opt. 1600

Expected Times: 98 5:00 3:20 3:18 5:00 98

The goal was to be consistent with the 1200's and to run the first 400 fast. Coach wanted to simulate a race (where you go off too fast and have to maintain). Probably not the best method, but it does happen ... so, we may as well be prepared! :)

Rest: 1 min after 400's, 2.5 min after 1200's and 2 min after 800's

Side Note: This is the first track workout in which I forgot my watch. There was only one other person in my group ... and I tried to pace off of him. He's usually in a group faster, but it was the only hope I had in running the times I needed.

400 - 95 ... not so bad. It was weird running without my Garmin. I had no idea what the pace was ... so the 95 was a nice surprise.

1200 - 4:52! Oops. We came across lap one in 1:44. I thought we were done. While it felt "easy," I was still worried about running back to back 98's to come through at 5min. Turns out my pacer took it up a notch. I ran a 4:52. That's a 3:08 for the last 800.

800 - 3:13 - Too fast, again!

800 -3:22 - Determined to slow it down so that I didn't die on the last 1200. I slowed it down too much, though. Oh well.

1200 - 4:58 - Not consistent with the first, but I did break my expected time. I'll still consider it a win.

400 - 96

I didn't run the optional mile because my left calf has been pretty sore for the past month or so. It's still sore, which is frustrating. Instead, I used the time to stretch out. Besides, it was "optional" and I didn't want to run a sub 6:40. I had a great tempo on Monday (1 easy 5 in 38:50, 1 easy) and a great track workout today. I didn't want to ruin the workout with a FAIL :) Way to be optimistic, right?!

Either way, I'm happy! I promised myself a duplicate of this past Saturday's 20 miler if I skipped the optional mile (which if you haven't read, you must! :)). So, it's set ... I will have another successful long run! :)

20 miles of bliss!

2010-09-20T08:30:00.004-04:00

It's been 48 hours, but I'm still riding my runner's high from my 20 miler on Saturday morning. I seriously had the best long run, ever!

I didn't do anything particularly different this time around. I got 10 hours of sleep on Thursday night and about 7 hours on Friday night. Otherwise, I tried to eat all day on Friday and take in both carbs and protein!

My alarm went off at 3:40AM and I wasn't that excited. I knew I had a 20 miler on my plate and to be honest, I was kind of blah about it. The truth is, I can never let my mind think about what it is getting ready to do. I don't really think of it as a 20 miler. I usually break down the run into 2 or 3 smaller runs (back to back of course). I don't know if that makes a lot of sense, but mentally, it works for me.

We started at Ballast Point and ran the 5.5 miles to the beginning of the shark loop. The group that I run with is a little faster than me. I knew they'd be doing their own thing once we got to the shark loop but I just kind of stayed with them initially. Once the loop started, Nicole and I met up with Beth and Angela and just started running our own pace. Beth mentioned that she wanted to average between 8:20-8:30 for her 20 miler and I kind of laughed. I even told her that she may need to run ahead and that I'd be ecstatic to maintain what we were doing and average sub 8:40.

Regardless, we maintained and even started picking up the pace after a few miles. I kept feeling better and better. My left calf was super sore at the beginning of the run (this has been the story of my life for the past couple of months) but after 2-3 miles, it was fine.

After the shark loop, I decided to throw in my ipod and just run! The music helped tremendously! I haven't run with music in probably three months. I only had about 5.5 miles left and I just started running. I noticed that my pace kept dipping into the 7:5x range but I tried not to let it scare me. I decided to just go for it and if I crashed and burned ... oh well! At least I knew. I didn't want to finish the run feeling like I could have run faster. No worries there though, I finished the run completely exhausted and spent! That feeling, though = the most amazing feeling ever!!
20 miles in 2:47:53

8:53

8:30

8:29

8:34

8:37

8:30

8:34

8:35

8:28

8:30

8:26

8:17

8:18

8:19

8:10

8:13

8:11

8:03

7:54

I don't know that I'll ever get tired of typing/reading all of those splits. Average pace was 8:24. The average pace for the last 10 miles .... 8:12!!!

Two more weeks of training and then it's taper time!

Treadmill Track and A Run with the Pup

2010-09-16T08:16:00.003-04:00

After my volleyball game on Monday night and a not so stellar run on Monday morning (2 easy, 5 at 8:20 pace, 2 easy), I decided to sleep in on Tuesday morning. As much as I enjoy sleeping in, I know that it decreases my odds drastically of not running for the day.

I didn't run at lunch, so I was left with running after work. I didn't want to. But, it was a little cooler and when I got home I knew that I needed to! :) There is just something about running after work. I don't know how some of you do it. I'm so drained by the end of work that I just want to come home and relax!

I decided to take Heidi, our 5 yr. old Boxer, to BayShore and run with her. I used to run with Heidi ALL the time. Sadly, though, it's been probably a year since I've run with her. Our old neighborhood was very runner friendly. Now, our condo is off of a major road and I drive at least 15 minutes to the start of all of my runs. I wasn't sure how she would do. We used to run 3-4 milers together quite often and she still had energy left.

My schedule said "7 easy." I thought 5 miles would be a good goal. I had track in the AM and didn't want to be too tired. We set off and just kept running. It took about 1.5 miles to wear her out, but eventually she turned into the perfect running partner. I was nervous about running an out and back path so when we got to 2.5 miles, despite us both running well, I turned around. Little did I know that this was a great decision.

At 2.68 miles, she decided to lay down. She was done! I stopped for a few minutes with her. Then we walked a little and then run. This repeated 3 more times until we finally finished.

Heidi and I ran 4.0 miles and walked a total of 1 mile. We ran 4 miles in 36:24. Not so bad for an easy run with the pup! :)

Let's fast forward a little . . . I couldn't go to sleep. Running at night kept me wide awake! 4:40AM came early ... but, luckily (or not luckily) for me my alarm did NOT go off! Weird! Oh well. I enjoyed the extra sleep.

I emailed my track coach and he said to do the run on the treadmill at lunch (I had after work obligations).

1600 400 400 800 400 400 1600 Opt. 1600

Rest: 3 minutes after 1600's 1:15 after 400's and 2 min. after 800.

Expected Times: 6:44 98 98 3:20 98 98 6:40 6:59

Running track workouts on the treadmill is TOUGH! Everything was run at 9.0-9.2mph. In order to hit those times, that was the pace. UGH!!

The momentum of the treadmill helped a little, I'm sure. However, this workout was not any easier on my body .... my little heart was beating super fast!!

My times: 6:48 1:40 98 3:20 98 97 6:39 6:37

I love how you can manipulate the treadmill and just set it for a pace and run that time. I've probably never run such consistent paces! The 400's weren't so bad on the treadmill ... the miles at 9.0 and 9.1 ... yeah! Those are another story. Definitely not easy.

Still a Dork!

2010-09-09T16:34:00.003-04:00

Exactly a year ago was 09/09/09! I was so excited to run 9 miles on my lunch break that day! I seriously thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Exactly a year ago, I was training for marathon #3 (NYC).

Exactly a year, I blogged "I may be the biggest dork, ever!" about my progression as a runner - about how I've gotten faster, stronger and fallen more and more in love with running longer distances. I could and still can remember 9/9/99 and remember how hard it was to run 5K's and how much I hated it. I was VERY happy with my running on 9/9/9 and blogged about how I looked forward to getting stronger and faster and even better in the future.

It's funny how things evolve. It definitely doesn't happen overnight! When I got to work today, I realized it was 9/9/10 and I instantly remembered running 9 miles a year ago. I logged onto runnersworld and pulled up my training stats for that day:

Felt tired after mile 5. Pace started slowing. Feet burned and legs were tired from yesterday. I was being so dorky though that I couldn't stop early. I wanted to run 9 miles on 9/9/9. 9:21 9:00 9:07 9:14 9:26 9:29 9:59 9:51 9:32

Total time: 1:25:03
Average Pace: 9:27

Sadly, I had already gotten my run on when I was looking at this. Today's Thursday and my schedule called for an easy 8 miler. I don't have my splits on me, but I do know that I ran 8 miles in 1:08:52 (average pace of 8:36). Had I known different, I may have pushed myself or added on an extra mile! :)

I quickly began thinking about how far I've come in the last year ...

I am now training for marathon #5. And, are you kidding me? My average "easy" pace is almost a minute faster!! WOW!!!! I was so proud of how far I'd come last year at this point, but I'm even more proud now! I've worked really hard in the last year and I've definitely had some bad runs where I've doubted my abilities. Like I said above, results don't come overnight ... but looking back a year later all of the hard work has been worth it.

I can't wait to see what I do in another year! :)

Lovin' me some Wednesday!

2010-09-08T13:23:00.002-04:00

I don't know why, but I've been in a great mood all day! Maybe, it's because I had my first good track workout in a while. Goodness, it's probably been six weeks at least since I proclaimed my love for the track!

I woke up not-so-exicted, though! I've grown to dislike track in the last month ... Not because I hate speed, but because I keep getting worse at it. Today, I kind of switched back into my old self and that makes me happy. In fact, I've had three back to back good runs this week!

Monday

I had a tempo on my plate. 1 mile easy, 7:40-8:00-7:40-8:00-7:40, 1 mile easy

I flew back from Indiana on Monday and had to do this run when I got home. I didn't want to wait until the sun went down, so I hit up the treadmill .... UGH! I actually felt really good on the treadmill and the 8:00 pace felt amazingly simple! :) The problem was, though, that I decided since I had only eaten oatmeal and coffee 7 hours prior to the workout that I should eat something. I made a cheese quesadilla .... not the smartest choice. That, along with my lack of dehydration, caused me to have to stop 4 times during this run. I had the worse stomach pain, ever! I finished the run ... I ran: 9:13, 7:42, 8:00, 8:00, 8:00, 8:00 ... I didn't see the 1 mile easy at the end and finished. I actually just noticed that right now. Oops.

Tuesday

Schedule: Easy 8

I met up with Penny and Nicole and ran this before work! I was nervous since I had tempoed the night before; however, I felt pretty good. The first five miles were done at roughly an 8:30 pace and then we slowed down with back to back 8:58's and then finished with another 8:30. Not so shabby! Great company, fun run!! 8.56 miles in 1:14:29

Wednesday - Track

800 800 400 400 400 400 400 400 1600

Typically, there is a mile at the end of all of our track workouts and it's optional. Today, it was mandatory. I used to run the optional mile in the sub 7 range, but lately, I've been giving it everything I have to just get a 7:30.

Expected Times

3:22 3:22 98 98 98 98 98 98 6:53

My times

3:20 3:15 98 98 98 98 96 99 6:42

WOOHOO!! 6:42! I did my best to pace the 400's. We only received a minute rest after them and I didn't want to push too hard! :) It worked because I successfully ran that 6:42! So happy.

Hope you're all having a happy Wednesday, too!

When FASTER doesn't always equal better ... or so I hope?!

2010-09-01T12:44:00.002-04:00

It's no secret that I am training for Marathon #5. While my first two marathons were run for charity and simply just to finish, I've still been training for marathons for the last three years. My last two marathons were ran for me. They were ran for my enjoyment, my pleasure and most of all for me to see what I was made of. I've gotten stronger, faster and been very pleased with my progress and training and even race times. Though happy with the efforts and results, there was still something missing . . . a race time to show for all of the hard work. Granted, there is nothing wrong with a 3:56 (Marathon #3) just like there is nothing wrong with a 3:51 (Marathon #4). But, to me ... there was something wrong. Something deep down that keeps saying I can go faster. I don't need to cut off 20-30 seconds per mile (like it looks on paper). I just need to keep the same pace for all 26.2 miles and not die after mile 19.

This is a pattern that each of the 4 marathons have in common. I run well, maintain a good pace until somewhere between mile 17-20. Then, not only do I hit the wall, but I hit it hard. Like REAL HARD. Like my average pace per mile slows by 1:45-2:00 and I'm not even walking a step. It's like I got hit by a huge semi and it's everything I have in me to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You get the point.

So, I'm no pro. I have a lot to learn. But, the good news is, I've been keeping track of every single run for 3 years. I've noticed patterns in my training and patterns in my racing. This training cycle has been different (I won't say better yet because I haven't raced). I've realized that every runner is different and just like one shoe doesn't fit all, one training plan doesn't either!

So, I've been making some major adjustments in my training that I'm pretty excited about. The first being that I'm running my long runs faster. Screw the theory that I can run 45-60 seconds faster on race day. I can't! I've tried 4 times and I've fallen apart each time. I've been getting faster and faster on my long runs. See below:

New York

I only had three runs over 18 miles
18 - 9:16 average pace
20 - 9:00 average pace (on treadmill)
20 - 9:37 average pace

San Diego

I, again, only had three runs over 18 miles (I stayed around 15-16 a lot).
19.2 - 9:07 pace
20 - 9:02 pace
22 - 9:01 pace
** This is the first time I incorporated speed work during an entire training schedule**

Apalachicola

I have already run 2 long runs over 18 miles.
I have 5 long runs left before the taper - 4 of which will be over 18 miles
18 -8:35 average pace
20 - 8:32 average pace

While I have still had my fair share of discouragement this training cycle (getting burnt out, not getting all of my runs in and becoming slower and slower at track), I have decided that you can't win all. So what, maybe I was a track rock star during San Diego training. You can't win them all, right? I'm trying to convince myself here that it's okay for my track workouts not to be as stellar and my long runs to be. I'm training for a marathon after all, not a 5K.

Track Workout this Morning:

1200 1200 800 800 800 400

My times: 5:03 5:06 3:26 3:26 3:28 1:34

I won't list what my times should have been, but it's no secret that I've run similiar workouts in the 4:5x range, 3:16-18 range and sub 1:30 range.

18 turned 20 . . .

2010-08-28T13:19:00.004-04:00

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

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

2010-08-27T07:26:00.003-04:00

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!

2010-08-25T08:50:00.004-04:00

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!! :)

2010-08-21T15:17:00.002-04:00

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

2010-08-20T16:50:00.004-04:00

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!

2010-08-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2010-08-18T16:56:00.008-04:00

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!!

2010-08-11T13:37:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-08-09T16:56:00.002-04:00

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?

2010-08-06T10:37:00.003-04:00

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!

2010-08-01T09:37:00.003-04:00

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)

A Little Mini Vacay Never Hurt Anyone

2010-07-27T20:18:00.006-04:00

Besides the immediate week after San Diego, I cannot remember the last time I did not run for three days in a row. Three Full Days! After last week, I knew I needed a little bit of a break. Mentally, I wasn't as into it but mostly it was more for the physical aspect. I push my body hard. I like to run fast. I enjoy beating my assigned paces. So, it should be no surprise that the early morning runs as well as the heavy (UGH, but not as heavy as I'd like) mileage not to mention the Florida weather finally started to add up on my poor little legs. AND . . . let's not even mention that I've not been treating them too well. Ice baths? I haven't even thought of icing let alone taking a bath in ice since pre-San Diego. Stretching? I'm decent at it. Regardless, though, truth is, my legs are tiiight!

With a wedding to go to this weekend, in Charlotte NC, I decided that I'd take it easy. I planned on running a little ... but that just didn't seem to work out! I squeezed in a little bit of an upper body workout one morning and I danced my little butt off at the wedding, so that should come for something, right?!

I'm hoping to be back to my normal self soon! Even yesterday and today my runs didn't feel quite perfect! My legs are just tight. There isn't an easier way to put it ... they just need to be iced and stretched and they don't really want to run right now. I've had my fair share of talks with them ... and it seems as though they're finally listening ... or beginning to at least!

Monday

I ran a 3 mile tempo. It was supposed to be a four mile tempo, but I'll take it. One easy mile followed by a 8:02, 7:51, 7:46 and then two more easy miles.

This evening (because I slept through my alarm this morning), I met Nicole for an easy run. She had 5 on her schedule; I had 8. We met at 5:45PM and it was 93 degrees outside. Our goal was to keep it under an 8:50 pace.

I gladly compromised on the mileage (Tuesdays are supposed to be easy anyways, right) and we ran 5.5 miles. Much to my surprise, our pace was relatively fast especially considering the heat. 8:22 8:19 8:32 8:28 8:28 4:04 (8:12) pace. 5.5 miles in 46:16. Good run aside, my legs still ached!

I came home, made a recovery smoothie and headed downstairs to the gym to do a little core and upper body work! Then, I made eggs for dinner with an avocado. I typically eat a ton more but the smoothie filled me up and the boy is at a baseball game!!

Time to catch up on blogs, ice and enjoy a nice hot bath! :) Enjoy some pics from my weekend!!

My hair - the final product before makeup and getting dressed! :)

The bride, Diana, and me at the rehearsal dinner! Candy necklaces and all!

David and I at the rehearsal dinner. I had a super cute dress on that you can't see in these pictures ... UGH! Maybe I'll steal some pictures from some of the other girls! :)

In a funk . . .

2010-07-22T13:30:00.003-04:00

I've been going through a little bit of a funk the past week or so. I feel like every single run that I run is completely dictated by my schedule. Obviously, I run because I love to run but sometimes I forget that. When you have to wake up at 4:xx AM every single day during the week and run a prescribed workout before work (due to the heat and humidity ... and at best you're looking at 80 degrees w/80% humidity) . . . I don't know, it just starts adding up. On top of that, I meet people at certain times to run the above mentioned workouts. So, lately (this week in particular), I'm having trouble with it. I feel like a robot. I go to bed and set my alarm to meet runner friend(s) at 5:30AM to run 8 miles at x:xx pace. UGH!

Because of this, I find myself continuing to cut my run shorts and then I have to redo them the next day by myself which ironically typically goes even better. I think it goes better b/c I'm on my own time. It doesn't make a ton of difference if I run at 5:30 or 6:00 but just knowing that I don't have to rush through my morning routine puts me a little at ease. Also, knowing that others aren't depending on my pace ... puts me at ease. Not to mention ... that sometimes my easy pace doesn't feel so "easy" with others b/c I feel as though I'm keeping up! But, by myself, I'm not having to keep up.

Funny thing is ... this has happened to me before and I know it will pass soon! I'll probably be writing this post next month saying how dependent I am upon my running friends and how I cannot run alone for the life of me. I guess the key to getting out of a funk is to switch it up! I can't switch it up too much though because I have a redemption marathon in 90-something days! :)

Disclaimer: I love my running friends and am very grateful for them!!! They are the biggest reason why I love Tampa so much and why I never want to move! :) I've just had an off couple of days ... I'll be back to my normal self soon. Promise! :)

What do you do to get out of a funk ... especially when you have a marathon schedule to follow?

So, this is how it's supposed to feel ...

2010-07-21T12:12:00.001-04:00

I just love Wednesdays. I don't mind waking up early at all ... I always wake up with the hugest smile on my face .... you all know what is coming next ... Time to head to the track for a pre-work speed session!!

After last weeks, 10x400, I was thinking the worse. I figured we'd have some longer intervals thrown in there and wanted to make sure I was thoroughly warmed up! Good thing!

Right before the workout began, Coach said that he was moving me up a group (I just moved up a group 3 weeks ago).

Okay! Here we go .... Needless to say, I was super excited yet terrified at the same time.

The Workout: 1200 1200 800 800 400 400

Rest: 2:45 2:30 2:00 1:45, 1:30 (or something pretty close to that)

Expected Times: 4:54 4:54 3:14 3:14 1:34 1:34

I knew I could hit these times but that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. I was also very grateful that the 1200's were first and not last. I just wanted to get through those because I can always push through 800's and 400's. It's those 1200's and 1600's that get me!!

My times: 4:51 4:50 3:13 3:11 1:32 1:29

No optional mile for me! But, next week I have to start adding it back in. Next week, it will be the mandatory-after-practice mile. UGH!

I'm still on cloud nine and I still heart speed work!! But, now I know how it's supposed to feel. I can almost understand why it's a lot of runner's least favorite day ... just almost, though!! :)

Week Two of Running 6 Days a Week

2010-07-19T12:06:00.002-04:00

Both times unintentionally, too! But, I must admit, I kind of like it!

Since I haven't written all week, let's recap, shall we:

Sunday: Successful 14 miler

Monday: Successful tempo which I was super nervous about since I had run the 14 miler the day before. 8:55 7:55 7:46 7:48 7:49 9:10 (the goal was to have 4 sub 7:50's)

Tuesday: For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to sleep in and run at lunch! HA! I was supposed to run 7 easy miles, but instead had 6.5 miles from HELL! At mile 6.5, I had to wait for a car. This was my only stop of the entire run and once I stopped, I just couldn't run anymore ... UGH! 6.5 miles in 58:11 (8:58 average pace). I checked the weather when I was finished and it read: 88 degrees, feels like 101 degrees, 58% humidity!

Wednesday - TRACK!!!! I love track. We had 10 x 400. My goal pace was 1:37 for all of them and I beat my times.

Thursday: Easy 8 which was anything but easy! 1:13:06 (9:09 average pace).

Friday: OFF

Saturday: This was supposed to be my long run, but was a FAIL. I decided to make it 4 easy miles instead! 4 miles in 36:36

Sunday: Redemption from Saturday. My schedule read 4 easy, 5 at 8:15, 1 easy, 4 at 8:00. So, yeah .. this was HARD!!!

I wrote my coach afterwards and was like "Did you mean for me to have 9 of my 14 miles at faster than goal marathon pace?" I'm sure he did, I mean, I can't become a better, faster, stronger runner without working harder right? I started this run around 6:45AM when the humidity was around 90%.

Techincally, this workout was a FAIL! But, I'll let you be the judge. I'm still very happy with the effort that I put forth ...

Total Mileage: 13.1 miles in 1:50:39
8:47
8:37
8:47
8:42
8:17 - felt tough, 4 more of these. UGH!
8:16 - Getting in the groove, but this is far from easy
8:11 - Finally, under 8:15
8:14
8:17 - last one and that was ALL I had left
9:09 - felt heavenly, but there is no shot that I can run 8:00's now
8:10 - very surprised with this time. I seriously expected an 8:30
8:14 - pushing ...
8:04 - dying ....
:44 (7:38 pace for .1) - STOPPED! I wanted to finish, but I couldn't AND when I saw my Garmin read 1:50:39, I was just done! My half split in San Diego was 1:50:21 ... so I stopped and decided that I put forth a good effort today since this was in a long run, not race!

Monday (TODAY): Tempo time, again! This is why my long runs are supposed to be on Saturday, not Sunday. I knew I didn't have 5 fast miles in me (7:45 8:15 7:45 8:15 7:45), so I just warmed up and tried for part of it.

9:25
9:40 - My coach is going to flip out on these, but I was just enjoying myself and letting my legs loosen up
7:51 - not quite a 7:45, but I think I may be able to run one more fast mile
8:05 - faster than the 8:15 on the schedule - SCORE!!!
9:07 - decided to rest for a mile
7:44 - picked it up to finish hard!

Felt very guilty at the end of this workout for detouring away from my schedule.

So, there you go ... a week in review!

Happy Monday!

Saturday = FAIL ... Sunday = Success

2010-07-11T13:40:00.003-04:00

What an interesting weekend!

Saturday

I woke up at 4:00AM to meet some friends for my "Easy 13-15 miler." For some reason, I just wasn't feeling it. I was trying to get my mind and body into the run, but I just couldn't. The goal was to keep all of the miles under 9:00. The first mile came around in 9:13. Though a little upset, I kept going. We ran the next mile in 9:33. The worse part was that it wasn't easy. My stomach was hurting and I was basically sleep walking. Heading to bed at midnight probably wasn't my smartest move, especially after an entire week of 5-5:30AM running. I guess I'm not super woman after all. HA! All I could think about was heading back to bed ... NOW! I said my goodbyes to the group, ran back to the car and drove myself home. I was back in bed by 6AM and didn't wake up until 10:30AM. Guess I needed that sleep after all.

Total run: 3.27 miles in 30:15

The worse part about quitting is that I felt guilty all day long. Luckily, David had to wake up early to go fishing on Sunday, so there wasn't any temptation to go out and indulge!

Sunday

Since I was running solo (everyone else actually ran on Saturday), I decided to sleep in a little. I'd take my chances with the heat and humidity. Plus, David and I didn't think it was that safe for me to run in the complete darkness by myself! So, I got to Ballast Point right at 6:30AM.

I was determined to have a better run ... all splits under 9:00. My schedule said easy and said 13-15. I knew I wanted to go closer to 15. So, I headed out on Bayshore. I had actually eaten breakfast this morning (not typical) and was carrying my new Nathan Handheld Water Bottle. Immediately, I hated the water bottle. It was heavy and awkward and I just felt very weighted down. I know ... very silly! But, I'm not used to holding a water bottle while running. Since I left a little later than normal, though, I knew it would be important to stay hydrated. A couple of times, I felt like turning around to take the water bottle back, but I kept going down Bayshore and then headed over to Davis Island. Davis Island was shaded, too, which was very nice! A little after an hour, I decided to turn around. I was extremely happy with my splits and was nervous that they would eventually slow down. My goal was to stay easy ... but, everytime I thought I was slowing down, I'd look down and be running an 8:20 pace. Oh well. I'll take that!

I kept hydrating about twice a mile. I took a gu at 60 minutes and at 90 minutes. Since I carried my water bottle, I even ran and took my gu's. No stopping today!! :) Well, I did stop once ... briefly! I'd bet it was less than a minute total. At mile 7.77, I found a water fountain and my bottle was almost empty. I stopped quickly to refill.

On the way back, I saw dolphins. There were 5 of them!! Unbelievable.

14.25 miles: 2:00:59

Splits

8:46
8:36
8:32
8:28
8:33
8:31
8:32
8:28
8:23
8:27
8:33
8:28
8:26
8:15
1:53 (7:32 pace) .25

I was so happy with this! After a quick stop by Starbucks (YUM Vivanno Smoothie) on the way home, I headed downstairs to the condo gym to work out my upper body and core. I've had a very productive morning since ... maybe a little too productive. Let's just say the entire house is spotless. Naptime now! :)

Blog Awards: Blog of Substance

2010-07-09T19:21:00.004-04:00

Thank you to Keri over at The Blue-Eyed Runner who left me this award!

The Rules:
•Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.
•Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five (5) words.
•Pass it on to 5 other blogs which you feel have real substance.

My blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience:

Running = Best Self Gift Ever

5 words ... that's hard! I crave running! Running makes me happy! It's my de-stresser. It's my me-time but it's also a lot of time with great friends. It brings out a very competitive side of me and pushes me to my limits. It takes dedication and hard work - traits that are carried to other parts of my life as well. It's even healthy and good for you! :) So, there ... Running = Best Self Gift Ever!

I am passing this on to 5 fabulous ladies who have loads of inspiration to offer!

Penny
Stephanie
Marathon Maiden
Runners Rambles
Run with Jill

Wed. Track & Thursday 7

2010-07-08T07:38:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's Track Workout

400 1600 400 1200 400 800 400

Expected Times: 98 6:40 97 5:00 97 3:20 97

Rests: Not exactly sure: Roughly 1 minute after 400's, 2 minutes after 800's, 2 1/2 minutes after 1200 and 3 minutes after 1600

Goal: To pace the 400's and to run the 1600, 1200, 800 all at the same pace. We were told that whatever we ran the 1600 in, we needed to maintain in throughout the rest of the workout!

My times: 1:40 6:36 97 4:55 97 3:11 85

So, I didn't quite figure out the first 400, but otherwise I feel like I ran pretty well! Slowly but surely, I'm getting faster! It felt good to let loose on the last 800 and last 400! For the 1600, 1200, 800, I really focused on running the pace that was expected and then trying to pick it up the last lap! Overall, I think this workout was a success!!!

This morning, I met Penny at 5:30AM for an easy 7 before work! Nothing too interesting. 7 miles in 1:00:04 (8:57 8:46 8:34 8:41 8:29 8:21 8:12)

It's almost Friday! :)