Day 2 HM training

I had my first group run last night. I was very excited and nervous. The plan was a 30 minute run. If you run a 10 mm or lower it would be 3 miles, higher than 10 mm would be an out and back.

The scheduled time was 6 pm and I normally do not run until after 8 pm. The reason is the awful heat we having. Well I was right to be nervous.

 103F!!! 

Why, oh why would anyone be out in that kind of heat, much less trying to run?!?!

I ended up walking a little less than half of the 30 minutes. I finished last (not that it was a race). I think I was adequately prepared. I was well hydrated. I had pb & bread an hour before hand. I had all the right running gear. I did start out too fast:

I'm disappointed because I know I can run this time/distance. If it had been later in the day, I would have been with the group.

I'm not embarrassed as I thought I would be. After all, I joined the class for help to get me where I want to be. I got some good advice and some encouragement for the next run.

I'm motivated to do what it takes to do better next time. I plan to try to acclimate myself to heat by spending time outside during the time frame of the run on my off days. I also will be doing my non group runs earlier. It's not going to be easy and I have to prepare myself for "bad" runs.

Hood to Coast Relay

Currently I am stalking following 4 teams that are participating in the HTC in just a few days. Two teams are from my diet website of choice (sparkpeople.com) and two are lucky lady bloggers that were chosen to run for my sports beverage of choice (nuun.com).

It's really very interesting to me how things have almost come full circle. My desire to run comes from my desire to compete. Well, compete is bit over kill. I want to race, at least I want to participate in races. Finishing will always be my first goal. 

Earlier this year I took my exercising to a new level. I went from walking to running to 5k training. Why? Because I had no desire to actually hit the 180 mark I was headed for. Knowing that it would be much easier to motivate myself if I actually had a goal (other than weight because that has never been enough somehow) I started researching races. Of course this started with local 5ks. They are doable for obvious reasons. 

It seems a big trend this year is the dirty obstacle course races. Luckily one of the bigger ones was coming close to me. I was not ready and did not do it. But it pushed me in the right direction to find other races. The most notable one being the HTC Relay. 

I had heard of marathons and ultra marathons before, but never a relay. I watched what videos I could find on youtube and just fell in love with the idea. It really seems like a damn good time. Shortly after, I found the Nuun contest for a lady blogger team. And as soon as the teams were announced, I started following the team mates. I figure that is as close as I could get. 

Then someone on SP put in a request for Ghost runners. A ghost runner is someone that is not participating in the actual race, but will run the same distance at the same time as one of the team members. It's a virtual team mate. WOW. This was so for me! 

So Friday morning at 10:30 my time, I will be running 5.64 miles with my Coastie team mate for Leg 1 and again at 8:30 that night for 4.18 leg 13!

Now I realize this is more of a semi-circle. But it feels like a step in the right direction to get me to complete my goal of one day being on a team for this race.

Good Luck to everyone running!

Day 1-1.5 of HM training

Not sure why I ran on Sunday knowing that Monday was the official start to HM training. But I did.

I ran on the treadmill at Snap while #4 and Step worked out. I did 3 miles in 35 minutes. RunKeeper is giving me a pace of 11:40. But when I use the chart that one of my DailyMile friends suggested, I get a different pace. I did 1% incline at 5.5mph which comes out to around 10:45. I believe the chart because the run was more difficult than my last treadmill run which was 0% incline at 5.4mph.

For some reason I was a little sore from that workout. But I didn't want to start of my training in a bad way mentally. I planned to go out and run/walk Monday's assignment.

Monday: 30 min run.

I didn't quite make the full 30 minutes but since I ran the whole time I'm not going to complain.

Overall stats

Learning

The old adage goes: Learn something new everyday.

Since I have started down this road, I have hit that mark. Actually most days I exceed it. That's part of why it is so exciting!

Today I read an article posted on Runner's World. It's title is Stride Right. I printed it to save it's useful information. What is interesting is that I remembered a small part of it while I was out on my run tonight. "Focus on gliding—rather than bouncing—over the ground" '


I actually kept saying to myself, over and over, GLIDE. GLIDE. And I ended up having an awesome run.

Now  I went out feeling a little sore from yesterdays treadmill run. So I had actually planned to do a run/walk. Just something to keep my muscles memory going. But I ended up have the best time I have ever had. I think if I had not started out sore, I would have PR'd! lol.

I also learned how to add pages to my blog. So I have separated "topics". Eventually I hope to learn how to make the blog pleasant to the eye.

Learning is so much fun!

Half Training Official Start

Today is the official first day of my Half Marathon training class with Fleet Feet of Baton Rouge. I'm excited, disappointed and nervous.

Schedule for the week:
Monday - 30 min run @ 6.5-7rpe
Wednesday  - 30 min group run @ 6.5-7rpe
Friday - 30 min run @ 7-7.5rpe
Saturday - 40 group run @ 6-6.5rpe

Tues/Thurs - rest or cross train

All perfectly doable runs.

But I am disappointed because the runs are time runs instead of distance runs. I am slow and I don't make the class cut. Basically if you run a 10 min mile or less you will get your 3 miles in. I am running somewhere between 11 - 11:30 min miles so I won't get the full distance in. When I run alone, I set my goal at 3 miles. Some times I can go longer, 4 miles being my long distance. I just don't see the point in running less than 3 miles.

I am nervous for two reasons. As mentioned above, I am slow. So I am worried that I will push too hard to get faster when I should be focusing on just finishing. AND I will be running at 6 pm in the evening. I never run at that time. It's just too hot right now. The heat will slow me down I fear.

I guess my goal should be to let my mind go free and just run what I can. That'll be a first :D

State of Confusion

I haven't blogged in a while. I blame google. They made changes a while back which gave me frustration, confusion and a large headache. Right after I started this blog they changed the way google app accounts work. I use google app accounts for my business. For some reason, I could not "own" this blog thru my app account,  my MAIN account. All I could do was post. UGH.

SO I set my goal for this weekend to work around it somehow. Low and behold, they seem to have changed things again. Now I can own this blog thru my app account. I am excited (and still frustrated and confused).

I feel I have a lot of catching up to do. This blog, which ultimately is for myself, is somehow a great source of motivation. I guess as I read others blogs, I dream of being like them. Not only their wonderful blog-lives but their real life racing/running lives. I feel like I am part of a group, albeit on the outside circle looking in.

Welcome back Me!