All kinds of NEW Goodness!

In order of occurring:

1. New clothes

Wednesday nights, as you know, are half class run nights. Well this past one turned out to be cooler than I expected when I packed earlier in the day. I packed a long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt and shorts. And shorts weren't gonna cut it after the sun went down. So I headed over to Academy Sports for some very moderately priced gear because I am cheap. It was a successful trip, new un-needed but coordinating long sleeve shirt and capris for $30 total.

Then off to my mom's for some free fabric scraps for my Halloween race costume (you'll have to wait for this one). I got dressed there and low and behold I forgot something. I forgot my running bra. The one thing you just can't go without huh ladies?!? After a short self-debate about whether or not to go back to Academy for a $12 bra, I decided to splurge. Academy is the opposite direction of where class is AND class is at a running store. I figured I would just get the cheapest they had and be happy. Good choice since I hit the mother-load of traffic.

I walked in the store and straight to a bra, picked my size and went straight to try it on. I've spent the last 9 or so Wednesday nights in this store for at least hour each time, so I know the merchandise. Bra fit so I was good to go. As I would later come to realize, this bra was amazing!

Moving Comfort Alexis

I run with my iPhone, using the Run Keeper app to track my stats. I put said phone in my bra since most of clothes are pocketless. The phone travels a lot during my runs. NOT ANYMORE! The phone stayed put. I almost forgot it was there. Halfway thru I added my lip balm and car clicker. I could not feel either of those either. I would highly recommend this bra. And the price was reasonable, $34. Of course I had store credit that I didn't know about and scored this baby for $4!

2. New distance PR

I made it to double digits!

WooHoo

I should show the route. I actually made it back to the starting point at 9 miles. I refused to stop, and did a few extra laps around the parking lot to get to 10. I'm pretty sure the rest of the group thought I was nuts!

3. New Race

Who Dat! I'm not a real big Saints fan. I will root for them since they are the home team, but I don't own any Saints clothes or anything like that. They had a great game last night, and to celebrate the Rock 'N Roll New Orleans Marathon powers that be are giving a discount. Each time the Saints win, they are giving the point spread as a discount for a 12 hour period the following day. Right now the registration for the half is $90, I got it for $35! Who Dat!!

Pretty darn good weekend!

Run Skirts and Pilates

I broke down and bought a running skirt. Actually that's not really what happened.

I went to Target to get #4 some Dr. P. and went thru the workout section to get there. I was looking for a couple of racer back tanks. I'm not 100% comfortable in the sports bra tanks I have so I wanted some loose fitting tanks and am a bit cheap. There were some clearance racks. BINGO!

The first rack was all shorts. Shorts that I would not wear as panties BTW. But sticking out was one skirt. My size. I almost need another pair of running shorts and this was such a great deal.

@ Target Champion Skirt reg $16.99, clearance $8.99

So I wore them for my long run on Saturday. I felt so cute. I'm not kidding, really cute. I did have to wear a loose tank over the tummy area, cuz that wasn't so cute. My inner thighs did not really enjoy the skirts under shorts so much after about 4 miles. Yes my thighs touch. I'll wear it again, but only for my shorter runs.

On a different note, I'm participating in a Biggest Loser challenge on Spark. I'm in a group that is all people that are at goal weight or within 10lbs of it. (I've actually lost 4lbs since it started, go me!) I've dropped the ball pretty bad with the LCW, but managed to do it this week out of guilt motivation.

I pulled out my old Winsor Pilates videos and did the ab one. I'm not sure how long I have owned these videos, but I'm sure it's been 10 years. I was a little worried that they were out of date, but Pilates is pretty old as it is so I'm gonna use these instead of buying new ones. I did mention that I was cheap??

It kicked my ass and my abs. All in about 20 minutes. Who doesn't have time to spend 20 minutes on something?? I'm gonna work at making this a regular part of my week.

HM Week 2 additional run

I woke up this morning with stuffy ears. Not sure what that means healthwise. But I had a run planned and with all the rain coming from Tropical Depression 13 there was no way  I was gonna pass on it.

Today I planned to do the additional run on the training schedule. The schedule called for a "30 minute run @ a steady/moderately hard pace - push this pace". I got it done. YAY!

I went out for just a regular run and remembered after lap 1 (yes I did laps again) that this was the run of the week that I was supposed to push hard on. Luckily I have my app set for feedback every 5 minutes. After 20 minutes in, when I realized that I was on pace for achieving the assignment I kicked it up a bit.

Negative splits ;)

The weather, although wet, helped a lot. The temp was low, nice breeze, no sun. I also drank some accelerade before hand. I've always saved this drink for actual races because of the calories, but since I'm struggling with getting enough fuel I've decided to use it for training. I do have some Accelerade Hydro on order. I has half the calories and sugar of the regular kind.

I also sported my new Gracies Gear sports tank.

Sorry for the mirror shot but at least it's not in the bathroom

If you are wondering what is so special about this tank, it's that little while line in the middle of my chest. That is a special pocket sewn on the outside of the tank to put gear in, namely my iphone. I usually put the phone on the inside of my sports bra, over my heart. It doesn't stay there very well during a run. And it has actually cause bruising to a very sensitive area!

I don't really care for tank bras because I'm overly aware of my belly fat when I'm running. This tank fit well enough or loose enough that I was comfortable leaving the house with it on. And, just like the makers claim, it did not ride up. It is a bit pricey, $55. But they offered a deal a while back: buy two get one free. The free gets me every time.

They are made in the USA. But unfortunately the manufactures are a bit slow. It took about 2 months for this one to come in, and I am still waiting on the other two. Good thing I am a patient person. 

Now I am off to take some drugs, hoping to rid myself of this stuffy head before it gets worse. Hopefully TD Lee will play nice in the morning so that training class still happens.

Rain and Tape FTW!

After a disappointing week last week (unable to run more than a mile at a time :( ) I decided to change things up a bit to make sure I got back to 3 miles:

1. Temperature. I had changed to running in the mornings from #4’s advice that it would better prepare for race day. I think that in SE Louisiana during the months of July and August this is horrible advice. Especially for a new runner. I will now be a night runner again, even running later than my normal late.

2.Tape. Shin splints are back. No worries thanks to my KT tape.

(pay no attention to Waffle House chairs under my gorgeous legs)

3.Slow down. After looking at videos of myself running, the experts (#4 and the boy) agree that the thing I need to do to improve my form is lift my knees. It will take the shuffle out of my gait and turn into a real run. Last week in doing this I ended up with a much faster pace than I am ready for at this point. So I need to slow down and lift.

So last nights run included all of these and was an absolutely wonderful run. The best I have ever had. The rain started around lunch time and never actually stopped. We knew we were going to be running in the rain before we left the house in the morning. I was determined that nothing was going to stand in my way of getting my 3 miles in. Luckily we had a break and only had a few drops for the whole run. I am excluding the low branches that #4 pulled on to soak me about mile 2.5. He thought it was funny.

The tape worked just as I knew it would. It encompasses my shins with warmth and love and protection. Overkill?? Maybe but I really love this stuff.

And I ran my normal slower pace. I was able to chit chat with #4 for the full run. Well the parts where he was with me. Keeping in mind that I have two months training on him, and he has disk problems, he was unable to run the full distance. He did do the entire route with me, just had to stop and walk some. I was quite impressed with him tho as he ran at least 1.75-2 miles. He was hurting and complaining, but if he keeps joining me that will go away in no time.

We did a different route than normal. We did the lakes at LSU. I’ve only ridden these in the past, but I knew the distance was 4 miles around the first lake. So we did a half mile warm up and then started running a nice slow pace. We skipped a small loop, which I assume is half a mile since we were back at the car at 3.5 miles. I told him I want to keep going for another half mile since I was feeling so good. He got the car and met me down the road. I really feel that I could have gone for a full 4 miles and wish I had but am still excited by the run I completed. The distance isn’t really impressive but what is, is how I felt. I felt awesome. I was tired but the exhausted I normally am. I know the temperature had a lot to do with that and I may not feel so great after Saturday nights run. But knowing I can run 3 miles as a easy run means I am progressing! 

Walking feels like cheating

I walked today. I walked 3 miles. I wanted to run. But it's not a run day. I feel better for walking but it felt like cheating. I was supposed to do a 3 mile run yesterday, first day in my virtual half training program. I only made it a mile. I was VERY disappointed in myself. I WILL finish my run tomorrow!

I am a little excited because the boy has expressed interest in doing the half with me. He is such a good runner, ran varsity cc as a freshman and sophomore. Unfortunately he dropped out because of a bad coach. I normally am not one to talk bad about a coach or a teacher. They have tough jobs and I wouldn't trade with them. And I almost always take the adults side when the kids complain because, well, they are kids and will complain about everything if you let them! But this one time I have to agree with the boy. She was a horrble coach. The kind that  thought she was motivating them by always harping on what they did wrong. She's lost half her male runners because they are "really" soccer players and only ran because the soccer coach asked them too.

Sad thing is he is a natural long distance runner. I wish he had developed a love for it. But I haven't given up on him yet :D. So yesterday when I was talking to him about my recent form changes and training changes and race change, he was real interested. I asked if he wanted to do the race with me. He said yea! I told him he'd have to train so we have our first train date for tomorrow night. Woo hoo.

I have decided to do forego all of the online training plans that I have been comparing. Sort of. I will actually follow one for a couple of weeks just because I am not experienced enough to know what to do on my own. The local Fleet Feet is putting on a half training class starting at the end of next month. It will end with a local half. So I have decided to change my first half from the Iron Girl in New Orleans to the Baton Rouge Beach Half. I really like the idea of doing an all female event for my first but really like the idea of having a real live training group more. And if the boy runs with me, then it is definitely the right choice.

The Iron Girl half is just a few days before my birthday. I told my family that in lieu of gifts I wanted them to all go to the race and support me. Well since that has changed, I have picked out my birthday present:

If you can't read it, it says "Race Day Strategy: start off slow and then back off". It's available at onemoremile.com. It fits my sense of humor.

Oh yeah, I got this...

Second full 35 minute run completed! I'm a veteran now :D

I went about an hour later than normal and chose a route that didn't have many trees so it was HOT!. I was prepared with my new fancy featherlite visor. I'm surprised I wore it the whole time since I'm real picky about my head being hot but it worked fine. I chose not to wear sunscreen and that worked out fine. I know it's just a matter of time before I burn so I guess will have to wear it next time out.

As for the run, it was hard to get started. I'm experimenting with taking out the 5 min warm up walk and that may be a mistake. I don't think my muscles were ready to run after just a short 1 min walk. And they let me know. My splits were real interesting tho:

I've also decided to just track the actual runs and not the warm ups/cool downs. This takes about .5 mile off my distance but it's the only way to get a real feel for my performance. I'm well below the 18:18 pace set by the race event, but then again I'm running less than 3 miles :O

I used a race calculator I found on another's blog (don't remember who) for fun. These are the predictions using today's run:

 It's actually quite scary to me now. I mean I've done the math already based on pace to make sure that at a 12 min/mile I can finish in the 4 hour time frame allotted. But this brings it into focus that I will be running for 3 hours STRAIGHT! Am I really interested in this? I am, I know this, but still.... that's a lot of running.

To wrap this up I have some pictures to share:

This is my new exercise ball right out of the box. I plan to use this to strengthen my core.

This is the same ball with the incredibly lame and cheap inflating device that came in the same box. Looks like I will be cross training!

I'm feeling really smart about this one. I have a major addiction to Burt's Bees. And the little tube is so uncomfy riding along in my sports bra. But here you can clearly see it's already uncapped for easy application :D

Last, but not least, the stairs I found to include in my run. Yes, yes not very impressive but we all have to start somewhere!