2011 RLH

Run Like Hell is DONE! I did it!!! I ran my first 10K!!! Not TWO 5K's interrupted with a bike or rest, but one full 10K!!!

I have realized that it is MUCH easier to run a 10K than doing a Duathlon - although the duathlon is a fun challenge, but not as fun as triathlon...

anyway...

Tom and I ran together more than half way, then he pulled away and I continued to run a nice steady pace. I'm so psyched! The finish wasn't bad and I felt pretty good - I think I like this running stuff!!!

Since this was my first 10K I allowed myself and hour and a half to complete this seemingly monumental distance...my official time was 1:24...not bad right?

This week is rest week. No running, no riding, no swimming...just hoping to sleep in and be lazy. I like lazy! If I feel like getting into the jacuzzi at the gym I may get out of bed early to do that, but really, I just want to rest!

A little make up to complete the look?

Okay, so the make-up didn't survive the sweat!

Interesting sights at the after event party.

Pink Tutu anyone?

Empty Roads?

click to expand

I TOTALLY get this...we have gone for rides during Super Bowl just because we knew that most people would be at some party somewhere...PERFECT.

Speedwork Mondays

It seems that my default run workout for Monday's has been doing speedwork for two reasons. First Sunday night is a "late" night for us - we go to our small group at 6:30 get done by 8:30 and I'm all jazzed up for a good while after we get back home. So, we get to bed later than usual.

The other reason is that I think that Monday is too soon after doing long runs on Saturdays to jump straight back into doing a 3 or 4 mile run. On a treadmill no less.

So Monday has turned into the day that I do Speedwork. Which is good because I get a break every few minutes and don't have to push myself as much - pushing myself to keep running that is. This helps me look forward to my Wednesday run so much more! Make one run a little less fun to do so that the next time will seem like a breeze!

Swim tomorrow and most likely strength training afterwards. Both are not necessarily my favorite things to do, but I noticed on my run on Saturday that I felt much stronger and was able to cover more distance than I was supposed to. Also, I am determined to do a sprint distance triathlon next year, at some point. So swimming all winter and through the spring will be key in getting me to that goal! I should think about Open Water swimming too, but it will be far too cold for many months, so I can think about that later!

I am looking forward to doing my 10k on Sunday though, get it done and over with. It seems that with the things that we sign up to do all I want to do is get to that day and just do it. I guess that just means that I'm tired of training...not surprising. Once I finish though, I am always happy to have done another event and finish with a little integrity.

Whether or not there is another event this year is unknown right now. I did mention to Tom that I would like to do a Turkey Trot somewhere in Vancouver. We'll see, that's just over a month away. Even if we don't do another event, I'm going to keep running whether it's here at the station during my lunch break or at the gym in the early morning hours during the week. It would be nice to be able to sleep in a little more during the week.

LOVE all the activities and can't wait for next season - but first Run Like Hell on Sunday!

Long Run Saturday

I don't know why I fret so much...we went out for our long run today and I felt good pretty much the whole way. At 30 minutes I took a walk break. At first I thought we would walk 3 minutes, but then I realized that the narrowest part of the road was just a little further than I could walk in 3 so we probably walked closer to 5. Then onto 149th Street. I LOVE running west on 149th - it's pretty much a nice gentle down hill grade for MOST of the way. I have to be careful though, my Saturday runs are supposed to be Long and SLOOOOW....like today was supposed to be a 14:38 per mile pace. My pace today was probably a minute faster than that. Kinda wonder what it would be if I didn't walk. Hmmmm....

Overall I had a great run and I'm feeling much more confident about running our next and last organized event of the year. Although I have spied a couple of other events, so this may not be the last ;)

My goal is to always keep running even if it is just a little bit. We joined LA Fitness a couple of years ago, so it has gotten easier to train during the wet rainy season so I really don't have an excuse to not run, right? Sometimes the laziness sets in and I end up not going to the gym much. I guess I'll have to continue looking for events to train for like the Shamrock Run in March. The past couple of years we have run the 8k route - it would seem silly to do the 5k route, where's the challenge in that?

So, 2 more training runs this next week and a couple of days of rest then RUN LIKE HELL!

Funny How Things Work Out...

On my way to work this morning I was thinking about how on earth I'm going to be able to run that 10K a week from this Sunday - as I posted earlier this week I got 3 miles on the treadmill this week. Tomorrow should be a 4 mile run and then 3 on Monday and 4 on Wednesday. Race day on Sunday the 23rd!

At each event that I entered this year I was NOT 100% prepared, yet, I was able to finish. THAT was the theme of the year, to finish. More specifically to finish without puking, tripping or just plain stopping and taking a Did Not Finish (DNF). There is no such thing as a DNF in my vocabulary and there isn't Last Place either. My goal this year has been to finish.

So, with Run Like Hell coming up I'm sure I'll finish, but I am wondering just how much I'll be walking. I have already previewed the route so I have an idea of where it goes, but that's a lot of city streets to run through - oye.

Looking forward to a week of rest after this event...that just might include sleeping in. I wonder what that's like?

run, Run, RUN!

Two Things...

First - I had an AWESOME treadmill run this morning!!! Up until today, I haven't been able to get past the 2 mile mark. Something happened in the last couple of days and today I actually set the 'mill on the 5K program and went for it. I started up by walking for a couple of minutes and then increasing the speed with each "lap" that I completed. By the time I got to two miles I was still feeling pretty good and knew that I could do the final mile with no problem. SUCCESS! I think this is it...I'm in indoor running mode...yaaay!

Next..."rundies"

 I get weekly emails from Runner's World and today's edition had these special underwear...go HERE

Weird. 

At $65 I don't think I'll be getting a package of these.

Zombie Run

Tom was able to get his work partner to stop in at FitRight Northwest to get us registered for the Run Like Hell on October 23rd!

The theme this year is Zombies and Tom is on board! We have decided on old PJ's to zombie-ize and we even talked to one of the gals at Starbucks who is in "make-up" school (according to Tom) and she agreed to do our make-up before the event...sorry Brittney - it's gonna be an early morning girl!

I'm excited, despite the fact that I'm not sure how far I'll be able to get with my training...what's 6.2 miles right?! Tom has assured me that I will probably be surprised by what I can do. Somehow I think he's right. I figure I can move continuously for 2 hours doing a duathlon or triathlon and that's with transition breaks! 6.2 miles straight...piece of cake!

Here's to running zombies!

Continual Starting Over

I just feel like all I do is start over with running...even if I have been running some. I feel like it's practically brand new.

This morning was different though, I actually felt pretty good (on the treadmill) and to not jinx it I only ran 2 miles. I'll be kicking it up to 3 on Wednesday and see if I can eke out 4 miles this weekend. I only have 2 weeks left until Run Like Hell....yikes!