Virtually in Love with Racing

Virtual Races that is :D

Not that they will ever replace IRL races but added to the mix, they are just plan fun.

Last week I did a 3.7 mile one with Run with Jess to celebrate her 37th birthday. She sent out everyone these cute bibs to wear:

It was early and I'm not that bright

She is giving away a slew of prizes which just adds to the fun. I did my run in 37:29. Not too bad I guess.

My next virtual race is next week, thru Spark People.

Wow - over 9000 people participating!

No prizes except for spark points, but those are like gold on the site :D

Today I signed up for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge 2011. It's much more than just a race. It's based on workout in general, something to help motivate us during the holidays.

Sign up here!

Since my Half training class will be ending soon, I am a little worried that I won't stick with it. Plus at some point I need to get more serious about cross-training and strength training. I'm highly motivated when it comes to these types of events. Basically if people are watching, I tend to be less lazy!

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!

Where is my free time?!?

I honestly don't know when my last post was. Yes I know I can look but who has the time ??

So here's what I have I been wasting my time doing:

1. I've started looking for a job, which is a full time job in itself. I don't really want a job, but the extra money would be awesome.

2. I drove to New Orleans FIVE times in less than two weeks. Now this is only an hour drive, but it really eats into a day. I took the Boy THREE times for college info nights (got lost all three times). Then #4 and I went with others to watch the Stepson get sworn in and shipped off to BT for the Marine Corp Ooh-rah! And then the most important last trip was to the Girl's place of work to get my hair colored. I'm a red-head now :D

3. Working for the man #4. I really have to say I have it easy. But it would be wrong of me to fart around 100% of my time here at the shop, so I try to keep to about 75% farting.

4. Planning a trip to Denver for a special wedding. This may seem easy but other family members are traveling with us and they are notorious for waiting until the last minute. Which is direct conflict with my OCD-Control Freak nature.

5. Running - I know this is a no-brainer, but you may have forgotten that was why I was here in the first place.

6. Facebooking, twittering, blog reading. A girl has to have hobbies.

7. Halloween costume planning. Two parties and a race is what I need stuff for. Ugh. I hate spending money on costumes. I like to dress up of course, who doesn't! But I'm cheap.

On the running front, I was shooting for 9 miles last Saturday.

It was an interesting run. We went a new route that included part of the race route. It was actually hilly, well as hilly as you can get here.

I am pretty sure the purchase of a garmin or similar device was proven on this run. Within a quarter mile of my iphone app telling me I had gone 2 miles, the FFW (fleet feet woman - owners of store hosting the class) looked at her garmin and hollered out "yay 2 miles!". Technically I'm okay if my app steals a little distance from me here and there since I am still a "new" runner. But I can see this bugging the techie in me when double digit runs become old hat.

Although I made the 8 mile run the weekend before without a potty break, it just wasn't in the cards for this run.  When I finished up and was heading back out, I ran into FFW again. She asked how I was doing (cuz it's kinda her job and I'm sure I looked like hell). I mentioned that I wish I get over me need to pee. She laughed and said that it was ok, I  would just pee on myself in the actual half. Good to know. Not like I haven't done it in training.

That gave me a great idea for a shirt. A couple of years ago, one of SILs gave me my fav t-shirt of all time!

Source

I do, I'm not afraid to admit it. It serves two purposes. I don't have to get out (wet bottoms are the hardest thing to pull back up!) and it keeps the kids away from me. I wear the shirt every time we have a pool party :D

So my idea is to get a tech shirt and have "I pee in my shorts on long runs" put on the back. For the half. With an optional "that's not sweat hitting you in the face" in smaller print. I know I would have a big grin on wearing it!

A new distance PR

I have to hurry to post this because it will be old news tomorrow morning when I get a new new distance PR!

Last Saturday I ran 8 miles. I have to admit I was very nervous going into it, for several reasons. One, because the runs preceding it were at a new pace for me and I KNOW I can't hold that pace for long distances. Two, because it seems like such a  huge number.

I purposely set out at a slower pace.

I was originally planning on 11:30s for the half. I feel more confident that it is doable. I really don't want to walk any of it. My little handheld just barely held enough fluids for this run. Good thing #4 will be packing a fresh on for me at the half. Not sure if he'd be game to do that for my training runs tho :(

All of our Saturday runs are done close the LSU campus. It really is the best place to run in town. Last Saturday the LSU/Florida game was scheduled for 2pm. This is always a big game. I don't know why it didn't occur to me beforehand that people would already be out on campus.

We normally don't run on campus, but this was actually a treat. I have no been tailgating in years. This is something like what I got to run through:

Source

The smell of BBQ and beer was almost overwhelming!

How much can I squeeze into one post?!?

I would be first in line for to have a chip inserted in my brain IF it did certain functions. Namely, record and post all the wonderful bloggy stuff I think about while running, driving, showering and the many other activities I do while not in front of the computer. But since there is no chip yet, and I don't want to leave out anything good, I'll just see how much I can cram squeeze in here.

And because I am a little OCD, it will be in chronological order :D

1. I officially have a running buddy. One of the ladies in my Half training group is not going to be able to do the half with the rest of us, so she set her sights on one the following month. I was already planning to do it so I said I would do it with her. We now are running together every Monday and Friday mornings. Although we run different paces, we start together and meet up again after we are done. It really helps me to get out of bed knowing that someone is waiting on me.

2. The race weekend that wasn't. I managed to miss both of my free races. I wasn't totally planning on doing the mud race. It really didn't seem to be the kind of race that would be fun alone and I couldn't guilt get anyone into doing it with me. It was okay, because after my 6.4 half training run I was pretty exhausted. I was upset about missing the trail run. Our a/c unit shut down Saturday night and we were up til pretty late trying to see what was wrong with it and hopefully get it going again. But we got to go visit my DS again in her new town so it wasn't a total wash.

This is my DS Cori, and her BF Corey. I'm not joking.

3. More running, half training, blah blah blah. Yeah right, like that's not the reason I live and breathe! Monday of Week 5 felt like crap. I felt slow, had trouble breathing, wanted to stop. Wednesday we did a tempo run. I didn't do as well as the last time (maybe there is something to peeing on yourself). Friday didn't feel all that great either. I did a virtual 5k and posted my time at 33:37 at a 10:46 pace. Didn't really notice it until later. It was pretty doggone good for me.

4. New longest distance. 7.19 in 1:17:40 at an avg pace of 10:48. Go me!

5. Tried Yoga for the first time. It was AWESOME, except for the gnats. After Wednesday nights tempo run, FF had an instructor come and do a session with us. It was outside and that's where the gnat came from. I have never felt so good after a run. (I actually ran into to the little girl that did the class after my run yesterday, she does not teach anywhere anymore :( but did recommend some things for me to check into since my gym doesn't have a yoga class).

I'm gonna close it here. I did have half a diet coke this weekend so my memory is not 100% lol

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!

Kick... and starting a tradition maybe

I have my first 5k since finishing my training plan tomorrow night. I am very excited about it. It's a charity run so kinda low key. But I feel like a real athlete preparing for a race.

Why am I feeling this way?

In all of the 5ks I have done I have only ever "ran" 1 whole race before. And if you count the 20 or so feet I walk at the water station (not graceful enough to run and drink at the same time), then technically I have never finished one. Good thing I don't count it :D

I ran that race in 35:04. My PR. It in 2006.

This race will be the start of my new running "career". I know I will run the whole thing no problem. I may even beat the previous time. That however is not my goal. My goal is to actually do a kick, experience the kick, be the kicker. I really have no idea what the right lingo is, but you get my drift.

In every event I have ever done, it was always just a struggle to finish. There was no more no give, no matter how much my supporters (family) encouraged me. But tomorrow, I will do it. That is my goal.

I also plan to introduce myself to some local runners I have met thru twitter. I really want to start running with a local group. We got the word from the Doc today that #4 will not be able to any running. Luckily he can cycle and that is what we will do together. But I feel the need to be with my own kind too. My own kind being fellow runners. People who have the desire and drive to run distances past the 5k. #4 will always support me and do whatever I ask of him for me to pursue this dream. But running with other runners just sounds like good fun to me.

I have actually become quite obsessed with running. I should not be surprised as that is how it seems to go with my hobbies. Last year at this time I was into World of Warcraft (don't judge me) and would spend hours just sitting front of the computer. I gave that up earlier this year to try my hand at making jewelry. I am still interested in this hobby, but it is just too dang expensive right now.

So as part of my diet plan, I started running. I got #4 and a friend interested in doing an adventure race so I knew I had to get running. It was always the hardest part for me and since I was the instigator, I didn't want to let anyone down. Well, no one else trained and that dream went down the drain. But I found the more I ran and the more in shape I got (more weight I lost) the more into running I got. I started reading and searching for other races, started following blogs and buying books. Truly a new obsession has begun.

So what of this tradition? As I sit here typing, pre-race, I am enjoying a restful night. I have on my pjs, did my toe nails, cuddling with my fav furbabies and watching Prefontaine. I like this tradition idea :D

What's so great about morning runs anyway?

I'm not a big fan of morning runs. Really the only perk I can see is that once it's done, nothing can get in your way for getting your run in that day. Other than that, nada!

Now, you may want to know why I dislike morning runs so much. Several reasons. 

Let's start with the simple fact that I hate mornings. Not all mornings, just the one's that start before 8 am. And right now, by 8am it's just too hot to go run. I'm a lite sleeper so I'm almost never fully rested. 

There is also the pesky nutrition factor. If I'm supposed to eat 30 min to 1 hr before I run then that means I just have to get up even earlier. And to be honest, it's not in me to eat before 9 am. It's almost a workout just to chew. 

So why did I go run this morning, especially after stating yesterday that I was going back to my night runs???

#4 of course. He "wanted" to run this morning. He ended up not joining me, same as last Saturday except this time I went without him. Don't get me wrong, I will change all my plans for him. I want to run (or bike) with him. But I'm not willing to put my training on hold for him. I am looking forward to a bike ride tomorrow with him (cross fingers).

Plus there is supposed to be horrible weather today.

I had a good run despite the hour of the day. I have increased my mileage to 3.5 miles (calm down). I want to be doing 4 miles regularly before my half class starts in mid August. My average pace today was 11:57, which is about 30 sec faster than normal. I wasn't trying to run faster, just trying to finish as always. I know that to a certain degree speed will improve on it's own, it's just interesting to see it. The run was good, no pain and not really hard to finish. If I weren't running in circles (or rectangles) I may have done a full 4 miles. (Running in circles, ovals, squares, etc is so boring!).

I did my last two runs without the aid of a wet beverage. If I let myself I can easily finish off my 10 oz handheld in the first two miles. Thinking ahead for 13.1 miles, I know that isn't gonna cut it. Even if I carry two handhelds, and I'm not interested in a bigger size. So I have decided that I will teach myself to run my short runs without. I'd say I'm a fast learner. Granted the lower temps of nights will help that issue. (Unless I swallow a bug, then I NEED a drink to wash it down.)

I was unable to wear my visor today because I just couldn't find it:

(I swear he did this to himself)

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.

The Good, The Bad, The Man (aka weekend recap)

My week didn’t go as planned as far as training is concerned and the only person to blame is DH (The Man). But honestly this is a good thing. Cycling, running, racing and just being outdoors in general was such a big part of our life together in the beginning. It has been sorely missed the last couple of years. So much so that I had finally given up on him and started running on my own.

The week started out with him interfering with my Tuesday run by inviting me to a bike ride that evening. No way was I gonna pass that up! We only made it around the lakes once before he was ready to call it quits. Partly because he was pooped and partly because his bike had a mind of its own.

No biggie, I figured I run in the morning on Wednesday. He was up for doing it too. I did get in my distance. He was unable to hang, but got some really pathetic videos of me, which motivated a week long research frenzy on perfecting my form or at least improving it.

The great thing is that he may have finally been bit by the bug! We got up for a run on Thursday morning. Again he was unable to make it as far as we would have liked but he at least had his HOT PINK gymboss with him and a training plan programmed in. We then went for another ride on Thursday. Still not a long ride, we made it about halfway home and stopped for dinner. The boy joined us and we caved and took a truck ride home.

Friday I declared a rest day. I really don’t think I was in need of it physically but having my schedule thrown off so much had me mentally wore out. I’m a tad OCD.

Saturday morning was another scheduled run, a virtual 5k for me. He had worked late and was not interested, but said he would go with me if I would go for a night run instead. Wanting to keep him interested I agreed. Next thing I knew he was making BBQ plans with some friends. So we bumped up our run to 5pm from my planned 7:30pm. BIG MISTAKE. It was horribly hot. And I tried to alter my form by lifting my knees more. The form change was dead on, but in the heat I just couldn’t breathe. I ended it slightly over a mile into it. He didn’t even make it that far.

The next planned event was trail riding on Sunday. I had the bright idea to ride the blue (easy) trail all out and then run. The trail is about 2 miles. It was a good plan in theory. But since it’s probably been a year since I’ve ridding the trails, it was a major over shoot. We ended up doing 1 lap at 1.43 miles on the bikes and then 1 mile on foot. I got totally duded on the run. Here all week he couldn’t even run for 2 minutes straight and at the trails he just took off like he did it every day! Whatever.

All and all a bad week that was great. We did 7 things together. It was awesome! I can’t wait to see what he does this week.

Of course no trip to the trails is complete with out some blood shed:

The pedal ate up the back of my calf. I've got a nice little knot where that blue area is, but figured the rest was just a scratch. Unfortunately woke up this morning to it all being swollen. I hope it doesn't interfere with my runs this week!

Bricks... sort of

I am a big supporter of rest days. Religious even.

Yesterday was a run day. I am trying to increase my cross-training, so when DH suggested we go for a bike ride after work I jumped at the chance. I spent most of the day trying to figure out the best plan for staying on track with my running schedule and my rest period. To no avail.

Luckily (sort of) we only made a 6.5 mile loop on the bikes. DH's bike was being a pain and he didn't feel it would be good to go another lap. So I figured it was such a short ride that I could still get up and run in the morning. And that is what I did.

So bricks in the true since it was not, but in my little world it counts! Go ME!

DH was kind enough to shoot some video of me running so I could see how bad my form is. Try not to laugh:

Kind advice is welcome.

I have one week left of my 5k training plan. Interestingly enough it is the same plan as the first week half marathon training.

DH seems to be bitten by the bug a bit. He is going to start my 5k plan tomorrow morning. Not sure if I will ever get him past that distance, but if I can get him back into adventure racing I would be thrilled!

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!