It's Done

My 8-mile loop at the river.

Today I ran 8.07 miles in exactly 1 hour. That's right. And it was hard. And I almost puked.

Turns out it was my fastest 10k ever too. What a day....I'm sad it's over....because now I have to try to go faster than that!

7:49
7:23
7:20
7:26
7:15
7:24
7:09
7:26
:30

Running instead of training

Without a real plan in sight (a race entry) training has become running....just running.  When I started running in April 2011, the purpose was to become a runner and run a marathon.  Ever since then there has always been a race ahead but not now.  Husband is hurt...plantar fasciitis just won't take a hike....it's killing me.  I feel guilty for being injury-free.  I can't see signing up for another race without him (I ran a Half in August without him).  When we started running, we did it together.  It was "our thing".  We had a new common goal, a new-found common interest.  So running is solo for now...and it's running; not training.

So I'm using this time to get faster overall.  I'm working to make my easy runs faster.  I'm working to see how fast I can go while staying relaxed.  I'm pushing my threshold and working to keep my pace as consistent and steady as possible throughout each run.  It's working.

A new extension was added to our river path a few months ago.  I have been LOVING it.  It used to be 1.3 miles away and once there it was a 4 mile loop, then the 1.3 back home for a total of 6.6 miles.  Also the 1.3 each way was along a horribly busy highway/bypass road...loads of traffic and trucks and a few big intersections to navigate.  The NEW portion of the trail extends WAY closer to my house and is now nearly directly south so I get to cruise 1 mile exactly to get on the trail and the traffic is minimal.  Once at the river, it's now a 6-mile loop then another mile back home for a total of 8 miles exactly.  It's awesome!  First it was 1hour5minutes.  A little push made it 1hr4mins.  Yesterday, 1hr2mins and it wasn't painfully difficult.  It wasn't easy but it wasn't so hard.  I'll call it moderate.  But it's my new thing....my new Tuesday(ish) run.  Maybe I'll do it every week, or every-other-week.  I don't know but I like it and it's fun to make some kind of "training" out of a beautiful river run.  And someday soon I'm going to do it in under 1 hour.

And a beautiful shot of the most beautiful sleepy dog....that lives at my house :)

Not always as expected...

Headed out Saturday morning for a 10-miler...maybe a 12-miler...depending on how I felt.

Took off from home.  First mile felt like 9:30....Garmin says 8:45.  Hmmm....I feel good.

Head north on my usual long run route...all uphill.  Consistently under 8:45.  Some 8:30s. Some 8:20s. Gees.  Even on the steep hills.  I feel good.

 My quads have been sore since cross training on Tuesday.  But I feel good.

I ran 7 on Sunday, 8 on Monday, 12 on Wednesday.  Lifted weights on Thursday (which I haven't done in years).  But I feel good.

Mile 5 comes quickly...do I turn around and make it a 10miler?  Nah. I feel good.

Mile 6 comes and goes, mile 7 also.  Do I turn at mile 8 and make it a 16-er?  I feel good.

Mile 9...guess I'll head home.  I only brought two small bottles of Tailwind and one Stinger waffle and it's getting warm.  I feel good.

Mile 12 I finally feel my quads are not 100% but overall I feel good.

Mile 17 with one mile to home.  I push gently...8:17.  I feel good.

18 miles in 2hrs35min. Hmm. I guess sometimes the road isn't as expected.


And a picture to finish out the post.  Sentry sitting on my lap by the pond.  We love New Mexico!

Out of the Loop for a while

Summer has been intense....and laid back....and crazy all at the same time.  I only blogged (blooped) once.
So here's the wrap-up of summer:

Built a lake (a pond really, but it's quite big so we call it our lake).  My husband dug it by hand and we moved every rock by hand (SEVEN trucks full....great cross training). Approximately 2200 gallons.  It's home to 9 koi.  We purchased them all as babies and are excited to watch them grow.  There are two little ponds in the back right corner also and they all filter each other.  The two smaller ponds are home to one frog, numerous shubunkins, goldfish, and many water plants.

Built a dog sofa.  (We got a new leather sofa and didn't want the doggie to scratch it....he is allowed on all the other furniture (SPOILED ROTTEN) so we made him his own the same height as ours):

I think he likes it!

Taught two weeks of AMAZING violin camps at my house:

 week 1

week 2

On to the RUNNING:
In June, I ran  185 miles.
In July, I ran 215 miles.

In July, my hubby got injured...again. Plantar Fasciitis. So our summer of fun running together ended abruptly.  I was back to going solo.  Training, training, training in order to run a best time at the Mt Sneffels Half in Ouray, Colorado on August 11.  And I did.
1:40:12. 7th woman overall.  Won my age group.  It was a hard run and I really wanted to break 1:40 but as I saw the finish line, I had emptied myself and had no kick left.  What's 12 seconds?  I will crush 1:40 next time.

The night before the race, Sentry helped break the tension by looking gangsta in my brother's hat:

I love this dog........SOOOO much.

Big sale at my favorite shoe store...Brown's.  Bought my first pair of trail shoes in case of a trail run and to lifestyle also.  They're last year's winter model so they'll be warm-ish for winter running.  Scored them for $60!  Wahoo.

I will try to blog more but in the mean time, know that I am definitely out running....like crazy.

Miles and more

May brought 179 miles and my second marathon.
June brought 185 miles.
July has 139 miles so far and a way to go yet.
August brings back the first Half Marathon I ran a year ago.  I'm going back to better my time and reflect on all that has happened in my first year and half of running.  I can tell you the weather on any day. I can compute mileage all over this town within a quarter-mile.  I can run 10 miles on empty (no breakfast...just up and out).  I can compute minutes per mile into projected marathon and half-marathon finish times.  I am aware of and know the names of way too many leg, butt and foot muscles  that I previously didn't know existed.  I love to run.

I had a birthday last week.  My sister is an insanely talented girl.  She makes amazing cakes, and is mother to 3 amazing little boys.  The list could go on forever.  Anyway, she made dessert for my family birthday party.  A cake.  With an insane cake topper that she made.....of my Newton Gravity shoe.  AMAZING!

Training for . . .

heck I don't really know.  I'm going to run a Half Marathon in August...the same Half that I ran last year and was my first ever.  I'm definitely going to run faster this year.  

I have been running quite a bit since the marathon and the 10k race I ran 5 days later.  Keeping up at least 35-45 miles per week.  A possible triathlon on June 30 that is a 1-mile swim, 6-mile run and 25-mile bike (although I first got on a road bike this weekend and I am not sure I will be ready since I look like a 6-year old that just got her training wheels taken off).  

Aside from that, we are "Marathon Window Shopping".....what to do next.  Encouragement from a very fast running friend that I could drop another 15 minutes no problem if I ran a downhill race.  Encouragement from another friend to find races close to home.  Encouragement from a friend living outside of London to come and run a destination marathon there. I don't like huge races. I get overwhelmed.  2,500 people is my max I think.  I really enjoy the smaller races with the small town feel.  I think a December or January race would allow for a great set of training through the fall but the thought of doing something as soon as October gets me a little excited as I really love the hard training.  Thoughts? Suggestions for races?

To conclude, I couldn't resist ordering the customized shirt from the Colfax Marathon I ran May 20.  Got it in the mail today.  The quote of the race was "Doubters Can Suck It".  If you're interested in the story, you can read about it in my race review below from May 21.

10k PR.....6 days after a Marathon PR

 Last Sunday I ran a PR in the Colorado Colfax Marathon.  On Saturday I ran a 10k and got  a PR.  Last year at this time, the furthest I had ever run was a 10k and I ran the same race in 55:10.  Yesterday I went 46:16.....a 9-minute improvement in a year of training.  It's a very empowering thing to look back at the roads I have run to get to this point.  The race was in Berg Park....where I often trained for this last marathon.  I had bad days there and good days.  I had hard runs and easy runs.  I cried and I laughed there.  Racing there was fun since I knew the terrain so well and knew exactly how far I had left to run, where the shade was, and where every little hill or turn was.  I managed 11th place overall, and I was the 2nd woman.  My husband was 3rd place overall with a 41:56.  We are planning on trying to find a few more 10ks to run throughout the year since I feel like finding my pace was a little tricky.  

My parents did the 2 mile walk. My sister and 2 of my nephews (age 12 and 8) did the 5k.  Here's a photo from the race:

I'm the one in bright yellow on the right behind the kiddo in orange.