Weekly Recap and getting sick :(

Saturday - 15 mile run on Little Rock Half Marathon course
Sunday - 6 mile solo run (found some dirt road and really enjoyed it) - full body weight workout.
Monday - 50 minutes on Spin bike in the morning and a couple of easy running miles at WCR clinic in the afternoon (COLD TEMPS!)
Tuesday - 6 mile HARD tempo workout
Wednesday - 5 mile easy run at lunch and then upper body weight workout at home.
Thursday - 6 mile Hill workout and this evening I will have 2 - 3 easy miles with WCR ladies.

On this morning's run I could tell my "think I am getting sick" is probably mostly likely going to turn into "yes I am sick". I ran the first 2 miles to Lisa's at a 10:20 avg pace and was SWEATING like a Freight train. The rest of the workout was okay but as the day has gone by I am fading....................................... I have CONSTANT drainage from Sinus/Allergy and all in all just feel yucky. I am going to stick it out and go to the WCR clinic but will probably go straight to bed when I get in - in hopes of kicking this before it kicks me. I am really glad I didn't sign up for the Chase Race 2-miler this Saturday since #1 My knee is still bothering me and #2 I may be sick in bed :(

Well enough whining - good news is if I am sick hopefully I can get well before the half marathon next Sunday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Saturday Long Run Fun!

Vicki Ingram (affectionately known as Ms. Vic) planned a course preview run on the Little Rock Half Marathon (13.1 miles) course. Little did we know that we would have 24 runners and 3 bikers show up - WOW!!!! huge group. Immediately we were split up in several groups - Cindy C called them Group A for "awesome", Group B for "beautiful" (my group and Cindy's - lol!) and so forth. Group A took off with 3 guys and 2 girls only to end with 2 girls as the guy's had either aches and pains and quit or one went a different route. Group B (my group) had 4 guys and 4 girls - most of the time. We lost 2 of the girl's when they stopped to use the bathroom. It was a great run with a little rain every once in a while. I definitely know that I want to try my best with this race in 2 weeks but it is NOT a PR course. I ended up with 15 miles (which I wanted) because of some circle backs for people in our group to stay together and also where we parked was a little bit from the start/finish. I felt really good about the run - we held a 9:40 average pace, which is a little slower than what we usually do on our long runs but I think with the circle back's this cut the pace. Also I usually try to hold a certain average pace on long runs but this was just supposed to be a course preview. After the run we all (and I MEAN ALL!!!) gathered at the Rivermarket for latte's, breakfast and to celebrate Jane and Shawn (new guy) birthday's. We had a great time.

Later when I got home I went to Wal-Mart and did some shopping for some items (not groceries) that I have been needing and then came home to settle in as I was tired and it was SO cold outside. Lisa F, Cindy and I had made our plans to run Sunday morning at 8AM but about 7PM Cindy C called me to tell me they were backing out because of the weather. I say "what weather" and she said "look outside" - WOW it was sleeting and snowing and I didn't even know it. This morning (Sunday) my deck is showing a few inches of snow on it - HOW PRETTY!! I plan to wait until it warms a little and do a solo run with my Ipod and check out the snow. I will probably just do 4 miles because my legs are pretty sore from yesterday and then probably 40 minutes on the spin bike to watch a show I have DVR'd.

Later today I am picking up Madison for a "meemee day" and we will go over to the track at 1:30 to help with a "extra bonus run" for the Women Can run ladies. Don't know what we will do after that as there are no good movies out right now.

Have a good Sunday.

Weekly Recap and a SWELTERING Hill workout

Recap:
Saturday - Rivertrail 15K race - GREAT run!
Sunday - 6 miler in the afternoon - sore and tired legs from race.
Upper body weight workout - did NOT even attempt leg's since they were sore
Monday - 50 minutes on the Spin bike - FUN!
Tuesday - 6 miles (2 miles easy - 2 miles tempo - 2 miles easy) good run but tough
Wednesday - 5 mile easy run at lunch - ran with Chris F - great run but warm.
Upper body weight workout.
Thursday - 6 miles with hill workout thrown in - good run but instead of pushing it on most of the hills - we girls (me, Lisa F, Cindy C and Vicky V) were too busy discussing American Idol - Robert did the workout much better than we did :) Guess he didn't watch American Idol - lol!
Tonight I will probably get a few miles with the Women Can Run ladies - I am excited about our first workout. We have 200 ladies total and I have 37 in our Intermediate/Advanced group I am helping to lead.

Today's temperature at run time (5:05AM) was 65 degree's and HUMID!!!! barely any wind. I run 2 miles to Lisa's and meet up with the gang who then run me back and we add in 2 miles of MORE hills in the middle. By the time I got to Lisa's (2 miles) I was SOAKED and all I had on was shorts, sports bra and a small lightweight reflective vest. We had a slight breeze going back the other direction but it was still humid. When I got home hubby was up and said "wow - you are SWEATY". Oh really!!!! I was trying to cool off and enjoy my cereal but he kept on and on about how sweaty I was. I knew he was going running later so I thought "ha! ha! just wait until you run". He had to go to Jonesboro today and was going to stop off at a trail and do his run so I will find out this evening if HE sweated - LOL!!!

I can't hardly wait until this evening to start the Women Can Run clinic - but I have 37 NEW names to learn :-)

Saturday will be my long run of 15 miles and we are doing the Little Rock half marathon course which should be FUN! It is also Jane's birthday so we will be celebrating with Latte's and toast and jelly at Boulevard Bread Co.

Have a good Friday.

Rivertrail 15K race report - WHAT FUN!!!

Today was the Rivertrail 15K race (9.3 miles). I just LOVE this race even though the weather pretty much sucks every year. When I woke up this morning and went to pick up Lisa F I said "WOW the weather is PERFECT - couldn't be any better" - BIG MISTAKE. Yes, at that time the temps were 48 degrees and cloudy, which is my IDEAL running weather. By the time we got to the race, picked up our packets and made a pit stop it was raining. We went to do our mile warmup and it POURED on us. Weather is always a big worry for all runner's but no matter what we still get out there and give it our best :) My goal for this race was to beat my PR (personal record) on this course which was last year with a 1:19:38 (8:33 avg pace). I didn't care if it was by 1 second but I WANTED to beat this time. My plan was to go out at a 8:30 avg pace and then see what I had left coming back. 8:30 felt VERY comfortable so I had to really watch myself not to pick it up any faster. My mile 1 was a 8:35 and at mile one my shoes were COMPLETELY soaked so they weighed about 5 lbs each - lol!!! At the turnaround I was right on mark with a 8:27 avg pace. This is when my plan went to - turn on your Ipod, run as hard as you can and PICK people off!!!! After mile 1 no one had passed me so I was very happy with that and at the turn around I told myself NO ONE will pass me coming back the last 4.6ish miles. At mile 6 Robert (my training partner) caught up to me and we chatted a little and then we either ran side by side or me on his heels all the way in - so technically one person did pass me but it was Robert so it was okay :) I think he ended up about 3 seconds ahead of me at the finish. I finished in 1:18:34 (official time not posted yet) but I was THRILLED - this put me at about a 8:20ish avg pace and helped my confidence for the Little Rock Half Marathon in 3 weeks. I guess the tempo runs are paying off :)

After the race we had awards - I got 2nd place in my age group - and then we had Pizza and the Arkansas State Grand Prix awards. It was a GREAT day to spend running and visiting with about 20 Cruiser running buddies - they are the BEST!!!!!!

Also have to say it was great to have Cindy C back racing today. I am not sure of her time but it will not be long before she is kicking my butt again but I LOVE it - just makes me have to try even harder to keep up with her. She was THRILLED to be back after about 8 months off with an injury.

Tomorrow all of us that raced today are sleeping in and doing an easy 6 miler at 1:30PM - yah!!!!

Have a GREAT weekend :)

Weekly Recap and time to revamp my schedule for Women Can Run Clinc

Recap -
Saturday - 13 miles. Good run with Cruisers (already blogged about)
Sunday - 6 miles. Good run with Lisa. Weight routine (upper) at home.
Monday - 45 minutes on spin bike with TOUGH workout and then an easy one mile on dreadmill to test out my hamstring - which is fine :)
Tuesday - 8 miles with Cindy, Annette and Michelle. Cindy and I threw in 2 miles of tempo running at the start - good run :)
Wednesday - 4 miles at lunch on the trails. Deep tissue massage after work to work out the kinks because racing this weekend.
Thursday - Early morning 5.5 miles with Lisa, Robert and Vicky V. - good run. Will do upper body weights when I get home today.
Friday will be rest.

Saturday will be my favorite race of the year - the Rivertrail 15K. I love the course, the distance and the scenery on this run. I also like the fact that it is only about 20 minute drive from Cabot. Bad news is that it is going to be VERY cold Saturday morning and possibly rain :( - will post Saturday about the race.

Next week I start working at the Women Can Run clinic for 11 weeks. I am a leader for the Advanced and Intermediate groups. I have decided that I will get all of "my" runs in the morning so I will have quality runs and then just run with the ladies on Monday/Thursday evenings and not stress about pace and distance - just enjoy working with the ladies. So below is my new proposed schedule which includes having to get up at 4:30 or 5AM most mornings instead of my usual 5:30. The good news is all runs will be "out the door from my house" runs.

Monday - spinning before work (in the garage) - afternoon WCR clinic (3 - 4 miles)
Tuesday - Morning 6 miles with 2 mile Tempo Run - afternoon maybe fun run with Annette and Michelle if they are running.
Wednesday - 4 easy miles in the morning or lunch. Upper body weights at home after work.
Thursday - Morning 6 mile hill workout. Afternoon WCR clinic (3 - 4 miles)
Friday - REST - much needed!!!
Saturday - Long run - 13 miles
Sunday - Easy run - 6 miles

This will give me double workouts on Mon/Tue/Thurs but as long as I keep the miles easy this should work and as Annette and I have talked about this should keep our metaolism going so we will burn more fat :)

Have a GREAT weekend.

BUSY Weekend and 2 good runs

Saturday was just go, go, go ALL day from the time I got up to run at 7AM with the Cruiser's until I got home for the day at 9PM. Our 7AM Cruiser run had a GREAT turnout. I think we ended up with 17+ runner's, which was really good considering alot of our runner's were at the Val5K in Russellville. We had 4 new runner's - Reed, Steve, Tara and Chana. All the new runner's seem to fit into a pace with all the different groups we had. Tara and Steve ran with my group. I wanted 13 miles and so did Lisa and Robert. I started my run with a large group and then when they turned off (only wanting 6.5 miles) I went on and ran with Andrea, Steve and Debbie B. Andrea and Debbie B turned off (only wanting 10.2 miles) and then Lisa turned back to finish out with me. We pushed it and caught up with Robert and Steve (new guy). Steve decided he only wanted 12 miles so we sent him off when we hit Candlewood. Me, Lisa and Robert ended up with 13 at about a 9:20 avg pace. It was a very good run although my hamstring tugged the the whole time. After getting home and showering and then heading out for groceries etc. I could feel my hamstring and knee really tightening up. I had a hair appt. at 1:30 so it was just rush rush all morning. When I got back from my hair appt. about 3:15 Tony was ready to go out to dinner and a movie. We were planning on Outback but ended up just staying in Cabot since the movie we wanted to see was in Cabot. We ended up going to the new Italian restaurant (can't remember the name) and LOVED the food and service. Be both really overindulged since we have been being so good for the last few weeks on nutrition. I didn't feel guilty one bit :) After dinner we went to see "Taken" at the Cabot theatre and ran into Robert/Reed and Andrea/Scott at the same movie. The movie was very good - we all enjoyed it. After the movie when I got up to walk OUCH - my knee/hammy's were killing me. When I got home I immediately iced it and took 2 Aleve's. I woke up several times in the night and could feel it everytime - gotta baby it now :(

Sunday morning I met Lisa Feldt for our usual 6 mler at 8AM from her house. We have a new route that we like BUT we both keep commenting that we told each other we would run flat and easy on Sunday's but this route it very hilly and we usually run sub 9:00 - so we are not doing what we both agreed to do :). Today my hamstring/knee was really hurting so we took the first mile at about a 10:00 but as usual we had good conversation, good weather and ended up with a 9:10 avg pace for the whole 6 miles. Something about when I run with Lisa alone makes me run much faster but it always feels comfortable :)

Today I will do weights but am thinking I should skip legs because of my knee/hamstring - we'll see. I did text my massage therapist and BEGGED to get in this week. She is going to work me in on Wednesday or Thursday - yahoo!!!

Hope everyone has a great week.
Brenda

GREAT weather and weekly recap

This week the weather has been great for running (except Monday). On Monday's I start planning my strategy for getting all my workouts in. Monday is always easy since it is short mileage and the spin bike. Tuesday's are the days I usually dread since it is long mileage AND a tempo run (this week I shook it up to have some fun). My main focus is making sure I can get my Wednesday run in at lunch so I can do my hill workout with Lisa, Cindy and Robert on Thursday morning. If I can't run at lunch then I have to move my workout to Thursday evening. Thursday evening has become my cook a nice dinner and watch LOST with my hubby :)

So here goes and yes I got all workouts in except Tuesday I only got in 6.4 miles instead of 8 because I stupidly parked my car in the park at the NLR lake and the "gate nazi" came early and made me move my car and I happen to be at 6.4 miles so I didn't want to get in the car (all sweaty), move it and get back out and run so I just called it at 6.4 and left.

Saturday - 12 miles (already posted about this run - tough at the end)
Sunday - 6 miles (great run) - weight routine at home.
Monday - 3 miles on dreadmill at home and then 35 minutes on spin bike. I really get a good workout on the spin bike. I do 25 minutes of jumps in the middle and this week I had to put a towel on my handlebars to catch the sweat!!
Tuesday - 6.4 miles. Instead of doing a 16 minute Tempo run I decided to "play" by doing 16 - 1 minute Fartleks. After warming up I would run hard one minute and then easy X16. It was fun and kept my mind thinking :)
Wednesday - 4 miles at the trail at the Y - good run - very easy pace. Weight routine at home.
Thursday - 6 miles of hill workout with Lisa and Robert. My legs were feeling my weight workout from Wednesday night. I made a mental note to change my leg workout to ONLY on Sunday. How stupid was I to do legs and then in less that 12 hours to a hill workout :)
Friday - will be rest day.

Saturday we are planning 12 - 13 from Southside with the Cruiser gang. I sure hope we have breakfast at Denali's!!

Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day. Tony and I plan to go to Outback Steakhouse and then go to the movies :)