Clearwater Half - Quick Update

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

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

5th age group
17th overall female

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


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

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

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

Medals :)

Bliss

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

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

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

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

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

13.1 miles - 1:48:28

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

Next up Clearwater Half. :)

A Step in my Own Shoes

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

What does that mean?

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

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

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

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

New Year!

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

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

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

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

XOXO