Sunday, May 30, 2010

Here We Go Again!! Marathon Number 2!!!


After a VERY difficult first marathon including tears the last two miles my mom and I have decided to give it another try! When I finished the first time I swore I would never do another, well here we are again! The race will take place Thanksgiving weekend, so we have plenty of time to get ready! This year I will be running more during the week instead of once and then a long run on the weekend. Yeah, that wasn't smart!

In the meantime I have the half-ironman to train for. Everything is going well despite not being on the bike as much as I would like. I think I may just have to do some riding in the rain. It will make me tougher... right??

Happy Training!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

T-30 Swim

Yesterday was a crappy weather day; rain, fog and cold. I am a fair-weather bike rider for sure, so no bike ride for me. I wanted to get in a very long bike ride, but not in that kind of weather. So I decided to hit the pool. My pool workouts have been very sparse as my running and biking need more of my attention than swimming.

I decided I wanted to see what my 100 yard pace was for a long timed swim and a great way to do that was to swim constantly for 30 minutes. I was a little worried that someone would join me in my lane and screw up my time and make me slow down, the pool at the Y is like that when you swim in the afternoon. But I was blessed with my own lane for my entire workout.

I started with a very easy warm-up , 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull, 200 kick. After the warm-up I started my swim. I started cautiously because I wanted to make sure I could do this without stopping. I was able to pick up my pace the last part of the swim because I felt great! I finished strong with 200o yards which is a 1:30 per 100 yard pace. I was pretty happy with that pace given I am not at the pool very often. This set is able to tell me what my pace should be when I do interval workouts and long swims. There is definitely room for improvement but it's OK if I continue not to swim as much as I thought I would need to.

Today, I was able to finally go on a short ride 19 mile ride and I ended with a 15 minute run. First brick workout in a long time, I actually felt fine, I probably could have kept running! That's a good sign I guess!

Happy Training!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Half Marathon and 5k!

Well, I have been super busy with work and training lately that I haven't blogged in quite awhile.

Two weeks ago I signed myself up for the Kirkland half marathon on Mother's day morning. I signed up a week before. I wanted to see how I would do given the fact I have been running a lot but my distances are pretty short, about 7 miles.

I showed up to the race without my usual entourage; mom and husband. I was all by myself, I really missed them :( I had no clue how hilly this half was going to be. The first 6 miles were all up hill and the last half there were quite a few shorter steeper hills. I didn't PR but I had the same time as my last half marathon which was all flat. So in my mind I think I would have done great if this course was flat! I had a great time and finished and felt good about where I stand in terms of my half marathon.

Girls on the Run 5k! This race was so fun! It is the culminating experience for girls who have been part of this program. It was an untimed race but I brought along my watch to get an unofficial time. There were so many kids at the start it was impossible to go fast so my mom and I decided to take it easy, the race wasn't for us! It was so neat to hear all of the encouraging words from the coaches to the girls they were coaching. That was the best part!

I ended up beating my mom at the end. I tricked her. I told her to go ahead of me and then I caught up to her at the finish and passed her! Sneaky, sneaky me!

I'm trying to think of a swimming tip of the week, it's been awhile. Any ideas or things you want to know??

Happy training!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

2010 Race Goals Revisited

Here are my original race goals that I wrote in January. Here is an update and I would like to add a few more.

1. Run in at least two more marathons, I would be happy with one as I have found it's pretty tough on my body. I want to run in 4:30 or faster. Need to find a race or two and sign up.

2. PR in a 5k. I can't believe how long it's been since I have PRd in a 5k. I am embarrassed to admit that my best time is only 28 minutes... yeah, I'm slow! Check! I have another 5k coming up May 22, except it's untimed. Will it still count if I use my own watch? I would like to go a :26 or faster!

3. PR in a half marathon. I think the 1/2 is the best race distance. I need to go faster than a 2:13. So far the last three 1/2s I have done have all gotten slower. Here is to a fast 2010 for my half marathon. I am on the fence about doing a half marthon this weekend. I'm not really ready, but it would be nice for a training run and perhaps a PR!

4. Sign up for and finish my first half ironman. I just got a new bike trainer and I am hoping that will keep me in bike shape until I can get outside. Well I have signed up for this race and I am scared to death! Now I just need to finish and finish strong!

5. Swim a sub 6 minute 500 free at a masters meet! I haven't done this since high school. I think I can do it for sure. My first meet in 2010 is in April. It would be helpful to achieve this goal if I actually signed up for a swim meet!

New 2010 Goals:

6. Sign up for a 10k. I've never done one before.

7. Get a PR in a sprint triathlon. I need to go faster than a 1:29. I think I can smash that this summer!

8. Get a new PR in an Olympic distance tri.

That is enough for now!! I'll update in a few months!

Happy Training!!



Sunday, April 25, 2010

A PR Makes you Feel Good!!!!

Today was my first 5k in a long time and first PR in two years!! Yay! I did it. Now it may not be fast by some standards but to me it was a long time coming! I am really proud of myself. My last PR was a high :28 and the last 5k I did was :32 minutes and today's PR was :27.46!! I'm thinking I could have gone much faster if my legs weren't like bricks from my cold and windy 36 mile bike ride yesterday!

During the whole run I felt good but right at about the end when speed really matters my legs would not go any faster, they felt like bricks! I came in 95th out of 509 women in the 30-39 age group. Which I am quite proud of! :) I really can't express how happy I am right now. I know it's not like I broke a record or came in first in my age group but this took me forever to do!! I love running... today at least. And I am dork for wearing the race shirt at the actual race. I had no clean running clothes and I thought they were cute shirts!



Thursday, April 22, 2010

Girls on the Run Come as you are Auction

My mom and I have been trying to get our Girls on the Run fundraiser up and going. We are having a women's tea in June. At first it was set for March and then life got in the way. If you have never heard of Girls on the Run you need to check out their website sooner rather than later http://www.girlsontherun.org/ . Since we both love to run and both love doing things for our community we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give back.

Tonight my mom and I are meeting for a quick run around the lake and then heading to the annual Girls on the Run come as you are auction. Come as you are meaning if you just ran or had a workout don't bother changing just come and bid on some items and help out the organization and have fun while doing it! This is my kind of event!

Happy Running!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Two Years Ago: was the last time I PRd a 5k

No joke! I don't race 5ks that often, but I can't seem to PR...ever. The last time I recorded a personal best was two years ago and I was sick. My PR isn't even that fast, a high :28 I believe. I just signed up for the Doughnut Dash 5k which will take place on Sunday. I keep having to tell myself the faster I run the sooner I will be able to partake in doughnuts and coffee! Yum!

I normally do the least required amount of running to just finish a race and nothing more. Since I signed up for my 70.3 it scares me to death to run a half marathon after swimming and biking. So scared in fact that I am running much, much more! I know there are some, well, many runners out there who get in 40 or more miles a week, that's not me. But I am happy to say that I am at about 38 miles of running so far for the month of April. Perhaps a little more since some parts of my runs didn't get recorded into my chart. This is huge for me! So with all of my running I hope it's enough to break the elusive 28 minutes once and for all!



 
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