Wk 6 - Tuesday's hilly run

(Flamingo Run @ Fleet Feet)

• Weather: 92 degrees, no rain, 58% humidity
• Location: Fleet Feet
• Duration: 4.1 miles, 51 min (intervals)
• Average pace: 12
  

Mapped out a route for the group, turned out to be hilly and quite hard. Everyone did really well and only got off interval after 2 miles. When I got home, I tried this new mapping website, www.mapmyrun.com. Mapped our run today and it showed the elevation changes. Great tool. I will use it again.

I have to say, I really love hills. They are challenging and hard. The City of Oaks Marathon is hilly so it's good training to do hills.

Week 6 - Long Run 8.6 miles

• Weather: 71 degrees, no rain, 69% humidity
• Location: New Balance Store, Glenwood
  
• Duration: 8.6 miles, 1 hour 57 minutes
  
• Average pace: 11:00 - 11:30

Good run today. Drank lots of water & Gatorade. Felt really strong most of the run. The hills at the end (past 8 miles) were rough but Anne and I were able to run them. Kelly ran the full 8 and took longer walk breaks on the last hills.

Been debating on whether to move up to the 11:00 min/mile pace group but with the increasing mileage, it may be safer to stay where I'm at. Plus I would miss the running group companionship.

Running these long distances wears you down. I had a banana before the run. Eating prior to the runs is more important now that the distances are longer. I'll have to look into more complex carbs and protein for breakfast. Asked Ron about it, he suggested bananas, fruits, bars, half a bagel with peanut butter, etc. Tolerable foods, not new foods so you have no surprises during the run.

I honestly thought this run was going to be a lot harder but, surprisingly enough, it was a really good run. You almost have to take a nap afterward. According to my Garmin, we burned at least 860 calories. AMAZING!! I ate junk today; pizza, a doughnut, fajitas. My diet has to get better to maintain this kind of running. AND I've got to loss some of this weight. I feel like I'm carrying around 20 pound weighted biker shorts! ;>

Couch to 5k (C25K) training starts on Monday. Should be at least 5 gals in that group. I'm going to run with them on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. On Tuesdays & Thursdays I'll run with my regular social group and Saturdays with Galloway. This may seem like a lot but the C25K is mostly walking and only 20 minutes of activity. Should be a good leisurely workout for me.

W5 - 2nd run

• Weather: 70+ degrees, no rain, low humidity
• Location: Timber Dr
  
• Duration: 4 miles with only 4 interval breaks after the 2nd mile mark
  
• Average pace: 11:45
  

I ran this morning because I had the day off. Good run but I got a cramp around the 2nd mile mark and took a walk break. It worked and and I could run past the usual interval breaks. Ended up taking 4 total walk breaks over the last two miles due to the cramp resurfacing. It was not a big deal, just the usual cramp. I probably didn't eat well yesterday or drink enough water.

I should work on my nutrition. I'm doing weight watchers but I doubt it's the best nutritionally based diet for a runner. Going to do some more research on diet.

Today has been a hard one. Michael Jackson and Farrah died. My aunt is sick in the hospital due to her cancer. It's thought provoking. Makes me want to take care of my health and spend quality time with the people I love.

Week 5 -Gray shorts and sweat do not mix!

6/23/09

• Weather: 89 degrees, no rain, 58% humidity
• Location: Fleet feet
• Duration: 2 miles running (23 min), 2 miles in interval (25+ min)
• Average pace: 11:45

Calvin, Dina, and Kelly ran strong yesterday finishing 4 miles in about 48:28 minutes. I was a little behind them at 48:49 minutes. Calvin, of course, ran past the 4 mile mark to the parking lot....I think he likes to show off. :)

It was hot! I didn't want a repeat episode from last Saturdays chills so I took it pretty easy but I was feeling it between the 2.25-3 mile mark. Everyone else did really well and finished strong.

When selecting running gear, one usually goes with comfort and performance....these are the important factors. However some manufacturers are a bit misguided in their color selections; i.e. gray shorts. Beware of gray shorts....and here is why.

About two weeks ago, me and Dina met for a run. Just a simple 3 mile out and back at Fleet Feet. This is a popular running location b.c of the side walk, bike lane, and almost flat terrain. You pass lots of runners, bikers, and cars....let alone the shoppers at Ridge road shopping center.

I'm wearing my normal, uncoordinated, running gear and Dina has dawned a gray t-shirt and pair of shorts. As we finish up our run, two nicely framed male runners are heading in our direction. We smile, they smile back and yield to us the side walk opting for the bike lane as they pass. After a few comments on the recent eye candy, we continue on to our cars, say our goodbyes, and off we go.

My cell phone rings not 5 minutes into my ride and it's Dina. She proceeds to tell me that she has to stop for gas but she looked down and has sweat through her lite gray shorts. It appears she has "peed her pants"!!! After a fit of laughter, I told her she best pull over for gas or she'll be the gal who broke down who "peed her pants". Then we realized why the eye candy yielded the side walk to us.....hahahaha!!

AHHH moral of the story...stir clear of lite gray shorts during a run!

Thanks Dina for letting me share. :)

The beginning....well Week 4

I should have started this from the beginning of our training but we will just have to start here. :)
So let's get up to speed.

My adventures in running began July 11, 2007, when I answered an activities post on Craigslist for a running partner...yes I know, I should have been scared but I wasn't. I met, my now dear friend, Andrea and she got me up to two miles in one month. Andrea was a wonderful trainer. My first goal was to run Lake Johnson (3 miles) in it's entirety by the end of summer. I did accomplish this feet and more. Fall and winter came, my running dwindle to 2 or 3 miles, maybe 3 times a weeks.

Fast forward to September 2008. My running regimen was basically the same; not a lot and not very impressive. Running 101 was a program for beginning runners who desired to run an 8k (5 miles) by Thanksgiving. I joined the group and slowly got up to 5 miles running the Turkey Trot in 51 minutes. After Running 101, some of us participants created our own social running group and we have continued to run every since.

April 2009, we discussed the Raleigh Galloway Half or Full Marathon Training Program. We all decided to give it a shot and join the program with intentions on running a half in early November 2009. I spoke with Ron, the director, and he mentioned that most participants of Galloway who's goal is to run the half usually end up running the full marathon. So being completely insane, Calvin and I registered for the City of Oaks Marathon which is held on November 1st, 2009.

Our training consist of 2 days during the week and one long run on Saturday.
This is where we are in our marathon training:
Week 1 total of 9 miles, long run 3 miles.
Week 2 total of 10 miles, long run 4 miles.
Week 3 total of 13 miles, long run 5 miles (I skipped Galloway and ran 7 at the Race for the Cure)
Week 4 total of 13 miles, long run 6 miles.

This weeks long run was good until the end. Calvin and I ran at home because my softball tournament started at 9 and I feared I would not finish training in time for the game. We began our run at 7. It was already hot (got up to 96) and humid. Around mile 5.5, I started getting chills and goose bumps and so I slowed my pace.

Researching this phenomenon on the Internet, I found it could be due to dehydration and heat stress. Some sites recommend you weigh yourself before your run and after to see how much water weight was lost. This will give you a good idea of how much water/electrolytes you need to take in. Also, if the weather conditions are particularly humid with little wind, your sweat does not evaporated off your skin inhibiting some of the cooling process. Good to know.

So the moral of this weeks training....hydrate more before running, drink more fluids that contain electrolytes, and monitor my temperature more closely.