150 Days Until the MCM

Oh.... and 2 days until Annapolis. I wish almost wish it was a full marathon!

I guess I will have to wait another 150 days though.



Backstrokes in Powerade Zero

We had an awesome Memorial Day weekend in the keys which included a really tough 10 mile run. The guys were going fishing early, which made it a little easier for me to get up on Saturday morning. Unfortunately it was pouring around 6:15am when I peaked outside. So....I crawled back in bed until 7am. By 7am the storm had passed and clear and sunny sky's were upon me.

The game plan was 2.5 miles North, 2.5 miles back to the house for water. 2.5 miles South then 2.5 miles North back to the house. I stuck to my plan, but it was brutal. Who would have thought that it could get so hot so early in the morning. It had to be 90 degrees out.

I ran over a few bridges when I was headed North and the views were great. The picture below does not show how clear and beautiful the water is.

The 2nd half of the run, was a little bit more shaded, but I was so hot that I was literally becoming delirious.   I was dreaming of watermelon, and swimming in a pool of Powerade Zero, which is probably a sign of dehydration. I got through the entire 10 miles and have never been so sweaty in my life. ( I should have taken a picture to document it, but I was too disgusting) We ended up spending most of the afternoon in the pool which was perfect!  I didn't take it upon myself to fill it with Powerade Zero, although it would have been nice.

4 more days until Annapolis! I am planning on taking it REALLY easy this week, mostly because I am busy and don't have too much time to run. Brayden is going to be well rested for my arrival on Thursday night. He couldn't even make it up the stairs yesterday after a weekend full of fun. I felt the same way when I tried to stay up for the Heat vs. Celtics game.

HELLO FRIDAY!

I could not be more excited for the long weekend! I have had a pretty great week considering I was off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday entertaining my mom who came to town for a short visit. Even with all of the shopping we did, I still managed to get all of my scheduled runs in. As I mentioned last week I have totally changed my training program to something that is a little less intimidating. I customized a mix between Hal Higdon's intermediate marathon training programs 1 and 2 and the NYC Marathon training program for competitive runners.

Sunday- 10 Miles
Monday- 4 Miles
Wednesday- 6 Miles
Thursday- 4 Miles

For a change of scenery ran the loop at Markham Park last night. The run was actually kind of boring, although it was the safest I have ever felt. I must have seen 25 cops pass me on their way from the gun range. My pace was great considering I was trying to finish before it started raining.



This afternoon we are headed to the keys for the holiday weekend. I am going do 10 miles in the morning to get it over with so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend. It is going to be hard not to over do it tonight though. I can already hear the margarita's calling my name. Terri...Terri....Terri

Next week is another short week with the holiday on Monday and then I head home on Thursday night for the Annapolis Half Marathon. I can't wait to see this little guy.

I guarantee the first thing he says to me is "Where is Ryan?" (who is not coming with me) Hopefully he will get over the disappointment when I give him all of the noisemakers I bought for him to bring to the race!



Sweep the Leg Johnny!

I strategically planned my running schedule this week so I could watch the Heat game on the treadmill. For how ghetto my gym is... shockingly there are TVs built into all of the treadmills. I considered wearing my new Lebron James MVP head band (Thanks Matt) but realized I looked a little too much like Ralph Macchio, although he is definitely skinnier than I am.

The game and my run where equally disappointing. I did a total of 6 miles, 1 mile warm up, 4 miles at 8:55 and a 1 mile cool down. I could barley make it through 2 miles at 8:55 without stopping for a breather. I don't know what was the matter with me (Or the Heat). I never take breaks or walk. I finished, but it was a struggle. Maybe I should have worn the head band.

I have a couple of LONG runs ahead of me. 16 miles on Sunday, 18 miles next weekend...topped off with the half marathon in Annapolis I am running with my sister on June 2nd. I am beginning to think my new training schedule is a bit too intense. Starting next month I am scheduled to run up to 13 miles as a "short" run.....that seems a little aggressive (especially to do after work). I am going to do some research today to hopefully find a new program.

Cheers to a 5 day weekend for me! My mom is coming to visit on Monday!!!!!!

Watch Out....things just got serious!

My Garmin has arrived! I am not crazy about the color...but I guess it adds some variety to my normal wardrobe of black, white and gray. Now all I need to do is figure out how to use it. I think Garmin should consider offering a classroom course on how to set it up, and more importantly use all of it's features. Getting it set up might be the hardest thing I have done since passing Financial Management of the Firm 8 years ago. (known as FINMAN to the Seminoles out there)

Please pardon my sweaty face and hair...just took the watch out for a 4 mile run.

Lucky #13 (Place that is...for both of us)

I am happy to report that the 10K we did on Saturday morning was awesome! It started at 7:30am, which meant we had to leave our house by 5:45am. We got there with plenty of time to pick up our race packets and return to the car for a bit before it was time to line up. I was surprised to see that there were pacers at this race. Told Ryan that my plan was to stick with the 54 minute pacer. A horn blow and fist bump later and we were off. There were quite a few people trying to stick with the 54 minute pacer, which was kind of annoying because most of them were really struggling to keep up. They would speed up and cut right in front of me and then slow down. By mile 3 most of them had fallen back and I was running right next to the pacer. I kept an eye out for Ryan, but was unsure if he was in front of or behind me.  At the loop around I didn’t see him, so that that point I knew he was behind me.

The race was through scenic Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. I was so focused on my pace that I honestly don’t even remember looking around, or hearing my music playing. Ryan said he enjoyed the course so much that he tripped over a cone while looking at the beautiful trees and houses. Around mile 4 I had really settled into my pace and made a quick glance behind me. Sure enough Ryan had been right behind me the entire time.

The pacer was really encouraging us to push ourselves. I told her that I already was. We were running at about an 8:50 pace, which was very aggressive for me. When we were approaching mile 5 Ryan ran up next to me and said that he thought that he could push a little harder for the last mile. I wasn’t ready to pick up the pace just yet….so on he went without me. The pacer told me that I had great form and she could tell that I could go harder around mile 5.5 I decided to pick it up and left the pacer. At this point the 5K’ers were intermixing with the 10K’ers which was frustrating. They were walking side by side across the entire street, which caused us to have to weave back and forth to get around them wasting precious energy.

The wind was coming straight out of the east, which made the last right turn on Bayshore Drive pretty tough, but I knew the finish line was close. I was a little disappointed that Ryan had left me in the dust…but I was still working toward my second goal of finishing in less than an hour. Success!

Terri – Finish Time- 54:19- 13^th in Age Group- 170^th Overall

Ryan- Finish Time- 53:44- 13^th in Age Group- 159^th Overall

10K Tomorrow!

I just decided to run the Lou Gehrig's Disease 10K tomorrow morning in Coconut Grove...and shockingly got Ryan to agree to do it with me! (Only because it will be too windy for him to go fishing) I have never run a 10K before and think it will be a great distance for me.

Goal #1- Beat Ryan (unlikely, but a girl can dream right?)
Goal #2- Finish in 60 minutes or less

Race report to come Monday!

Running Rambles…Miscellaneous Training Notes and Thoughts

Not too much to report, but out of lack of other things to do…I am writing.

Last week was a good training week; I logged a total of 28 miles and successfully completed my first tempo run, which was 6 miles total. 1 mile warm up and 4 miles at a pace of 8:41 and then a 1 mile cool down. I ended up running it on the treadmill because it is currently the only accurate way I have to track my pace. My Nike + sport watch does not seem to be right, and I can’t tell if my MapMyRun app is right either.

Sunday was my long run….14 miles with a goal of an average pace of 10:28. I used MapMyRun, which I hope was right because I ended up with an average pace of 9:36. I didn’t get started until after 7am, which was a mistake. It was HOT. I stopped twice for a bottle of water at the BP station and was disappointed that the owner was not working. He always asks me how many miles…embarrassingly I was excited to tell him 14 miles, which has been my longest run since moving to Plantation. I tried out Hammer Endurolyte Capsules http://www.hammernutrition.com/  for the first time. I took 1 before I started 2 more at 4 miles and 2 more at 10 miles. They are supposed to help with cramping, which I have not had any problems with….but I don’t hydrate that much on these runs, because it not very convenient to stop, so I figured I would give them a shot. I can’t tell if they helped or not. I am really happy with my pace…so maybe they did….or maybe I am just getting faster. I guess once I get up to my 18-22 mile runs I will be able to tell if they are helping…or maybe I won’t.  

Monday I did a 4 mile recovery run, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have been so focused on pace lately it was really nice to just get out there and run…and not have to constantly be focusing on how fast I was running. I ended up running at a 10:55 pace, which is slow…but was exactly what I needed. I was a tad bit sore from the day before. My route was through Plantation Acres, one of my new favorite places to run. Traffic is minimal and as an added bonus I get to see horses and even goats. It makes me feel like I am running out in the country…even though I am only a mile away from my neighborhood.

Tonight....7 Miles....then watching the Celtics game. I am obsessed with Ray Allen, don't ask my why, because I am not 100% sure. One small reason is because I love that his mom wears bedazzled jersey's to the games and ran the Boston Marathon last year!