One Mile Challenge?

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!!

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

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!

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!!

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

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

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?!