TexasLindsey

8 miles at 5:20 am. I took it slow today because I felt achey and low energy. I haven't been getting good sleep these last few nights. My 3 year old has been fighting his 8pm bedtime and keeping me up later than I want. My 5 month old has a cold and is waking up more frequently. My theory about muscles aching more when I get less than 8 hours sleep is holding true.

Splits

11:21

10:23

10:35

10:19

10:25

10:36

10:25

9:31

I got a new ipod yesterday because my old one broke.  I stayed up later than I wanted putting together a playlist.  I forgot to set my alarm.  So I didn't get out the door until 6am this morning so I had less than an hour to run.  After the first warmup mile, I did 3.6 miles at a little faster pace than normal... comfortably "hardish" but not as hard as I would have done a 5K.

Splits

10:32 warmup mile

9:17

9:08

8:59

8:22 last .6 mile

6 miles at 5:30 am. Got good sleep two days in a row. Theory about sleep and muscle aches is still holding true... whenever I get good sleep, my legs feel great. Just decided to run by how I felt today. I'm finding when I do that I start out slow as a warmup and just get faster with each mile.

Splits

11:22

10:18

9:52

9:47

9:36

8:42

First of all, FYI, in case anyone is interested... the high today here in Fort Worth, TX is 107 degrees.  It's been over 104 all week.  It's awful, awful hot!!!   I run at 5 am when it's only a cool 85 degrees, thank goodness.  Today was a GREAT RUN!  Legs felt strong.  I felt great the whole run.  Just kept the pace comfortable.  I'm thinking that my goal of running a 4 hour marathon may be realistic.

Some interesting things that happened this run:

- Every morning I pass an old man whose out walking.  This morning he asked me how much I run when I passed (I was just finishing my 5th mile).  I told him usually between 6-8 miles each morning.  He told me I had great form.  Made me feel good and I sped up after that.   

- Yesterday it was still dark and I was running along the sidewalk dodging some low hanging tree branches when I heard a booming man's voice yell... it startled me especially when I felt a dog attack my leg... I looked down and saw a puppy boxer dog.  My scream scared the dog away and the man apologized.  Well, today... those tree branches were all cut so I didn't have to dodge them at all.  I guess the man with the dog lived at that house and fixed them. 

- While it was still dark outside, I saw 3 women exercise-walking along in the middle of a lane on a 4 lane road.  I couldn't believe they'd do that.  Seemed very dangerous.  They weren't even walking against traffic so they could see cars coming... and when a car came driving down the lane they were on, they didn't even look behind them ...or move.  They were spread out over the whole lane and they just seemed to assume cars would go around them.  People are still half asleep at that time, it's dark, and who would expect to see 3 women in the middle of the road.  I almost said something to them as I passed on the sidewalk but I didn't think they'd appreciate my input.

Splits

10:37

10:07

9:52

9:39

9:21

9:05

9:04

8:22

AWESOME RUN!   I'm just getting faster and faster each week.  I can't believe how much I'm improving!  It's fun.  I ran with a group of guys today.  We averaged less than 8:30 a mile the whole way... but I didn't stop my watch at water stops so it messed up the time.  The schedule had us running 12 miles but we cut the run short because it was 90 degrees and over 80% humidity.  I think I coulda done the whole 12 but I was just following the group.  The last mile I felt like I had way more energy left so I left the group and caught a guy in front of me and we sprinted the last part which was also uphill.  Woo Hoo!

Splits

8:12

8:40

9:35 (time includes water stop)

8:26

9:21 (time includes water stop)

8:28

8:24

10:07 (time includes water stop)

9:08 (time includes water stop)

7:48

8 miles at 5:30 am. I was really tired this morning and didn't want to get up.  Felt sluggish the whole run.  The top of my left foot is hurting.  I need new shoes.  I didn't eat breakfast and I seriously missed not having any caffeine.  It was just one of those days... I wouldn't let myself cut the run short but I compromised and allowed myself to go super slow.  Consider this a super recovery run.

Splits

1131

1053

1024

1037

1034

1033

1030

1029

Woke up today at 5 am. Even though I went to bed at 8:30 last night, still feeling dead tired. I think about how sluggish I was yesterday, the left foot that was starting to hurt, the fact that I'm running a half marathon on Sunday... perhaps I should take a rest day today. I think I need to let my body recover more from the hard Saturday run.

I slept an additional 2 hours and I still felt tired. I was really needing sleep!

6 miles at 5:30 am.  The day of rest yesterday did my legs good.  My hamstrings felt a little tight still but I could barely feel any pain in the top of my left foot.  The problem I had this morning was that my chest felt tight and I felt like I couldn't get a deep breath. 

Yesterday was kinda a stressful day with my 3 year old.  I had anxiety all day.  I figured it was because I didn't run yesterday that I felt like that... but then here this morning, my chest felt tight again.  Weird.  Could my heart be sore from the extra hard run on Saturday?  hmmm...  I mean it is a muscle, right?  If it is, I'm going to consider it a good thing.... it'll be better by my race on Sunday... and it'll be stronger. 

Splits

1107

1025

1004

952

951

942

927 (last .4 mile)

8 miles at 5:30 am.  Got my mojo back.  No pains to speak of.  No chest tightness.  I don't think I was eating enough calories... I found out I lost 5 pounds in less than a week... maybe I was dehydrated too.  So I pretty much just ate all day yesterday and drank lots of water.  Made a veg soup with every color of the rainbow, had a big fruit yogurt smoothie, nuts, an avacado, ate salmon for dinner.  Today I was a new person.  I felt great.  Took it easy.  Listened to slow songs on the ipod and just thought about stuff.  Didn't even look at my watch until I got home.  

Half marathon is Sunday morning.  I think I'll do 6 tomorrow with some faster miles in the middle.  Then I'll either take Sat off or do an easy 3.  Want to be fresh.

Splits

1139

1047

1011

946

950

951

1013

902

6 miles at 5:30 am.  Charged a few hills this morning and 1 long flat.4 mile stretch.  I tried to go around 8 minute miles or less.  The hills were only 100 feet or so but a 2% grade according to mapmyrun.com.  I didn't want to overdo it too much because my race is on Sunday. 

I'm nervous.  I can't decide what my goal should be.  Two years ago I did a half in 1:54 (8:45/mile).  A year ago I did a 20k in 1:45 (8:34/mile).   But then I took 9 months off while prego.  I started running again in April.  Just two months ago I ran a half marathon in 2:15 (10:18/mile)  I've improved quite alot since I had my baby and started running again.   I've been running more than ever before lately.  Last Saturday I ran 10 miles mostly under 8:30. 

I would be estatic if I could break 1 hour 50 minutes (about 8:20/mile)... but I guess I'd be happy if I just beat 1:54 (8:45/mile). 

No one is coming to my race to watch me finish... but I'm at least glad to have this blog and my running group to report my results to.   I'm a part of the charity team RUN FOR CONGO WOMEN this race.  I raised $175.  They haven't sent me a shirt though... there was some confusion which didn't get cleared up until it was to late to mail it.  Maybe the good charma will help me in the race nonetheless. 

Splits

111

952

948

926

918

915

The race today was HOT... it sure lived up to it's name "The Hottest Half".   It was 85 when we started and 95 when I finished.  By 11 am, they said it was over 100. Today's high ended up being 108.  So it was HOT!!!  and HUMID!  I've been doing most of my running at 5:30 in the morning in the dark...  Today's race started at 7:30.  I have to say the sun today really hurt my feelings!  

I wrote a Plan A splits on my left arm for running an 8:23 pace to finish 1:49:49 and Plan B splits on the right arm for running an 8:45 pace to finish 1:54:30.  Well, I didn't end up with A or B....  I ended up finishing in 1:57:49 which was 8:54 pace. 

Actually, I mostly did run between 8 and 8:45 pace the whole way.  What happened was I stopped at every single water station at every mile.  At first I only gulped and continued on.  But by about mile 6, I started walking a little while I drank... As the race progressed, I took longer and longer at the water stops.  So that was my problem.  I was freaking HOT!!!!   When I'd go through long stretches in the shade, I'd look at my watch and I'd be going along 8:25 pace or so.... even at mile 9, I was doing that.  Then in the sun patches I'd look and it'd be 8:45 mostly... my slowest pace was 9:15 in mile 12.  

I did have a very powerful kick at the end.  I started sprinting in the last hundred yards and I was going SO fast!  I'm sure I have gone that fast in HS but that was the fastest time I ever recorded on my watch...  at my fastest I registered 4:49 pace.  I can't wait to see the photos... I bet they are hilarious!!  

I'm a little surprised that I didn't PR today.  Two years ago I ran this exact same race and I got a 1:54:45.   I feel like I should be in better shape now than then....  However, the winner of the 2008 race was the same guy who won the 2010 race today.  In 2008, his time was 1:10:37.  Today, his time was 1:15:01.  So maybe it was just a more brutal hot day this time.  I think that's the story I'm going to tell myself!  Ha, ha!   

Also, in 2008 I ran the first 8 miles at a 9:00 pace, then I cranked it up and passed tons of people in the final 5 miles.  This year I started out at a 8:00 pace and my times got slower and slower.  I'm just not sure if going out slower would have helped me though... I think it was the heat... I'm thinking I would have slowed down either way.  In 2008 I was running alot in the evenings.  This year I'm running in pre-dawn dark.  Who knows. 

Splits- included water stops in each mile

mile 1 - 8:02

mile 2 - 8:29

mile 3 - 8:32

mile 4 - 8:39

mile 5 - 8:31

mile 6 - 8:57

mile 7 - 9:02

mile 8 - 8:56

mile 9 - 9:07

mile 10 - 9:14

mile 11 - 9:35

mile 12 - 9:45

mile 13 - 9:20

final .26 miles (according to my garmin, the remainder was .26 - not .1) - 7:09  BEST 4:49

Rest day after race.  No aches or pains to complain of.  Feeling pretty darn good considering I raced a half marathon yesterday. 

My 3 year old had nightmares and I laid down with him in his room at 4 am... and overslept without my alarm.  So I didn't run this morning.

But when my husband got home, I went out for a run about 5:30 pm.  It was 104 degrees.  On the plus side though, only 10% humidity.  I decided to only run 3 miles in the heat.  I was only running 9 min miles but it felt tempo speed in the heat.   

Splits:

853

845

920

7 miles at 5:30 am.  Averaged about 10:30 a mile for all of them.  Just taking it easy today. 

8 miles at 5:30am.  Really slow and easy today. 

There are alot of fields and undeveloped land by where I live.  We kinda live on the edge of a city.  If you go only 2 blocks to the west of my house you'd think you were in the middle of nowhere. There are no more neighborhoods and just fields as far as you can see... an occasional farm house maybe. 

There's this dog that I see sometimes on my runs.  I’ve decided to name him Sam.  I've been seeing him at random times around my neighborhood for the 4 years I've lived at this house.  I started seeing him more often ever since I started running in the dark at 5:30 am. I think he comes out mostly at night.  He's a mutt about the size of a lab, mostly black with some white markings.  He has kind eyes... when I look at him, he just seems like an old soul to me.  I don’t know what it is about him, but that’s what I think every time I see him.  He has a dirty old red collar on his neck so I think he used to be someone's pet.  He's always pretty dirty himself so I'm pretty sure he doesn't belong to anyone anymore. 

I'm impressed with what a smart dog Sam is.  He runs whenever a person approaches but he seems interested in watching people from a safe distance.  He creeps close to houses and cars kind of like a cat-- not out in the open like a most dogs.  Sometimes I don't even notice him until he runs away from me.  I bet it'd be hard to catch him.  I’ve seen him cross busy streets:  He crouches down low where no one can see him and waits until there are no cars and then runs across.  So smart!

I love when I run into him on a run.  I'll turn a corner in the dark and there he is... he'll run away but then stop and turn around and look at me.  Sometimes I stop too and we will just stand there looking.  A couple of times, I saw him when I was in my front yard and I got food out and made a big effort to get him to come eat it.  He stops and looks from a distance and then runs off.  The food will be gone the next day… I hope he came back and got it before the neighbor’s cat did.

Occasionally, I'll think it would be neat to catch Sam and make him my pet and running partner... but then I think that would be like catching a bird and putting it in a cage.  Four years at least Sam has evaded capture and is successfully living on it's own.  He just seems like a free spirit.  

The other morning I saw him with another dog for the first time.   I thought what a great thing that Sam has found a friend!  The other dog looks like a German Shepard mix but he isn't as stealthy as Sam and acts more like normal dogs, frolicking around sniffing and peeing on things.  He also doesn't seem to be as scared of people.

They were together a second morning too.  It was dark out and I had just begun my run.  I turned a corner and the two of them were eating something in the middle of the road.  As usual, Sam immediately ran away to a safe distance, stopped and turned around to look.  The German Shepherd mix was reluctant to leave the food.  I could tell this made Sam nervous... he wanted his new friend to follow him.  Sam seemed to linger longer than usual waiting on his friend.   I waited too because I didn’t know whether the German Shepherd mix was as friendly as Sam… but he seems like he’s a nice dog.  Now I'm always looking for them when I run.

Splits

1112

1044

1021

1004

1001

1004

1012

948

Ran 14.5 miles this morning with my running group.  The first 5.5 miles I ran with a woman and we were doing about 8:45 miles.  Then she turned around to go in and I started running with another group.  The new group was going slower. 

The new group's pace started fluctuating between 9:15 and 10:30 and then we stopped in both miles 9 and 10.   I never could get a good rhythm going because the group's pace was all over the place.  Somewhere in there I got a bug stuck in the back of my throat that kept tickling my thoat and making me cough.  I think the bug and the getting slower and faster and slower and faster triggered a stitch in my side.  By mile 12, it felt like a stabbing pain.  I stopped at the water stop and walked about 3 minutes... I hate that! 

I think I should have just left the group and maintained a steady pace and I would have been fine.  Oh well.  It was a good workout anyways! 

Splits:

mile 1- 852

mile 2- 849

mile 3- 927 (time includes water stop)

mile 4- 837

mile 5- 915 (time includes water stop)

mile 6- 1026 (started running with new group)

mile 7- 1033

mile 8- 927

mile 9- 1051 (time includes water stop)

mile 10- 1042 (time includes water stop)

mile 11- 928

mile 12- 1305 (walked for 3 minutes because of stitch)

mile 13- 944

mile 14- 943

last .5 mile- 909

6 miles at 5:30 am.  Easy.

6 at 5:15 am. Having a blister and black toe nail problem. Wore thicker socks today and it helped. I think I need to start buying bigger shoes. I think this last pregnancy made my feet bigger!

Splits

10:45

10:15

10:20

10:06

9:16

9:43

My husband is out of town on business so I am unable to run as much as I'd like.  Thankfully, a cold front came through and dropped the temperature down to the 80's!!!!  I went to the park with my sister and nephew.  First, I took Ryan and Jake for a 2.4 mile run in the double jogging stroller.  Then I took Jake and my newphew for a .7 mile run in the double.  Then I took Ryan all by himself in the single jogging stroller for a .5 mile run.  Then it started raining so I had to stop for the kids.  It was perfect running weather though, I wish I could have kept going. 

10 miles at 6:30 am. Averaged 8:46 pace including 4 water stops. 

My husband was out of town this week so I was unable to run as much (no babysitter).  Today's group run went really well though.  I was feeling fresh from the extra rest and it was cool weather with low humidity (such a nice change). 

I'm thinking I'm doing this backwards but the way I've been training... I run 6-8 miles weekdays at an easy 10:00 to 10:30 pace... and then on Saturday's with my group I run long runs of 10 or more miles much, much faster.  I can't help it.  I am so competitive.  It's so much fun running with people and pushing myself.  Is this a bad way to train??? 

With marathon training ramping up milage, my group on Saturdays's is running 15 miles and 16 miles the next two Saturdays... then we do a 8-10 miler the following Saturday... then it's 17 and 18 miles... another 8-10 miler and then we max out at 19 and 20 mile runs... then it's a two week taper... then marathon day.

Splits - I tried something different today with my watch.  I never stopped it the entire run, but I hit the lap button at each water stop and then again we we started again.  This way my actual running pace average was not affected by the water stop but ... since the clock doesn't stop in a race, I didn't want to stop it when I stopped for water in training.

8:39

8:55

(41 sec water stop)

8:37

8:44

(50 sec water stop)

8:40

8:52

(1 min water stop)

8:29

8:14

(1 min water stop)

7:59

7:49 (best 5:32)

8.4 miles at 5:30 am.  

I'm trying to get back on the running wagon.  I'm feeling less than motivated lately... kinda down actually.  My husband being out of town last week prevented me from running in the mornings.  It's been 100 degree temperatures here which really sucks for running in the afternoons... but even then, when he's gone, I don't have babysitters. 

Then Saturday night I went out with my husband to celebrate our anniversary and drank too much.  I would have had just as much fun drinking half what I did... I don't know why I kept going.  Sunday and Monday I was hungover and feeling guilty for drinking so much so I didn't run.  Ridiculous.  I don't need to drink again until after the race.

It's also depressing because once I get back on track... it's just going to be messed up again in two weeks.  My husband is going out of town on business again for another week.  Then the week right after that we are going on a week long vacation with my in-laws.  So I'm looking at 2 weeks in a row of my routine being interupted... and right smack in the middle of marathon training where I'm supposed to be running 15, 16, 17 miles on Saturday long runs. 

So today I forced myself to get up and get out of the house to run 8 miles even though my 6 month old kept me up alot last night.  I also tacked on an additional .4 miles to my planned run this morning because I felt like I deserved it for complaining.  

I'm going to try to get as much as I possibly can done off my to-do list today.  Hopefully, between these exercise endorphins and getting things done today I will start to feel better and get me out of this funk.   

Splits

10:54

10:10

10:03

9:45

10:00

9:15

10:16

9:53

9:03 (last .4 mile)