TexasLindsey

Splits (8:46, 8:44, 8:41, 8:36 pace for last .5 mile)

Three miles was all I could manage today.  My 9 month old is teething and went all day crying without a nap.  Then I had an epic battle of wills with my 3 year old.  He was on a rampage making mess after mess and totally ignoring me.  I tried bribes and threats.  Nothing worked.  It was like he was determined to get in trouble. 

After he got into the diapers and spread them all over the house, I told him he had to clean them up or I'd start taking toys away.  He told me it was too hard to clean up-- that Mommy should do it.  Ha, ha!  Spiderman was mine!  This did nothing to inspire him to pick up.  Nope, the little sh#$T is just as stubborn as Mommy.  I tried to get him to sit in time out but he kept running off.  Finally, I had to strap him a stroller for time out until my husband got home a little while later.  I know it sounds awful, but Super Nanny wasn't around and it was the only way I could finish cooking dinner and tend to a crying 9 month old.  Whew!  

When my husband got home, we discovered that while in the middle of the temper tantrum, Jake had locked our bedroom door and we didn't have the key to get in.  My husband had to remove the door knob for me to get my running clothes.   

So by the time I started running, it was dark and cold.  I only managed 3.5 miles because I was cold.  I just cannot figure what to wear in this weather!  Either I overdress and am annoyed to have to carry around extra clothing or I underdress and I'm freezing.  When I got home, Jake had picked up all the diapers with Daddy's help and he said, "I'm sorry, Mommy".   I gave him back his beloved spiderman and it was like it never happened.

6.5 miles at 6:30 pm.  Easy.  Didn't look at my watch until I finished.  Funny how easy running in the 8's is to me now.  Could be the cooler weather... could be that I'm more fit. 

Splits (8:32, 8:25, 8:38, 8:35, 8:32, 8:22, 7:53 pace for last .5 mile)

The last several days I have hated running in the dark and cold.  Today I decided to get over it and stop complaining.  I decided to tell myself that I like it this way.  Maybe I can brainwash myself?   It seemed to work somewhat.  I think there's something to this positive thinking thing.

The thing is... there's always some reason NOT to run... If I didn't run every time my mind came up with a "reason", I would never run.  They aren't really reasons, actually, they're just excuses.  It's always better to run.  I have never finished a run and wished that I hadn't run.  OTOH when I have skipped a run, I have wished I hadn't skipped.  I like Nike's slogan, "Just Do It."  I say that to myself all the time.  That, and "Don't be a wimp!"  

So in tonight's run, I got to put some of that to use.  I had stomach cramps that started at the end of mile 5.  I could have taken the short cut home and finish in 1/2 mile but I decided to not wimp out and go the long way home.  I think the stomach cramp was because I cooked dinner before I left and I was sampling while I was cooking.  Usually, I do better in the evenings if I don't eat right before I run.  Anyways... Since the positive thinking thing was working for the dark and cold, I just decided to tell myself the cramping was not a big deal.  I decided to speed up and see if that helped... worth a try.  In the marathon, I was surprised that speeding up helped a leg cramp!   Speeding up is not the most intuitive thing to do when you have some kind of cramping pain... but I'm finding out that sometimes it works.  Tonight I found that it at least lessened the pain.  I'm thinking speeding up helps me to relax, focus, restore my breathing and form, and increases my oxygen intake.

4 miles at 5 pm.  Splits (8:22, 8:18, 8:37, 8:27)  Windy today but I ran before sunset so it wasn't dark and cold.  First two miles were with the wind at my back and mostly downhill.  Second two miles were the against the wind uphill.   Running 11 miles with my running group tomorrow.

Funny story:  I bought some new running shoes today from my running store.  Mizuno Wave Rider 13.  I'm going to try them out tomorrow.  Afterwards, I took Jake and Ryan to the park to feed the ducks.  As we pulled up, the ducks were coming out of the pond in droves.  They swarmed us.  There was another man and his son there who warned us that this one goose attacked them.  Just then, the goose they were warning us about started running towards us.  He was the fastest and the fattest goose I'd ever seen.  I guess being a bully pays off. 

He saw we had bread and he was very aggressive about getting it.  It wasn't long before he bit Jake on the knee and Jake started screaming.  While holding Ryan, I threw my bread at him but there were so many other ducks and geese around, the bread kept getting gobbled up by others.  I kept throwing bread at him and he kept chasing me... all while Jake is screaming.  Finally, I chucked the whole bag at him as hard as I could and I screamed. 

Well, that man standing there must have had some kind of male "protector" thing kick in because all of a sudden, he got visciously mad at the goose and charged it, grabbed it by the neck and raised it up off the ground...  feathers flying everywhere.  It was quite shocking to witness!  Jake's mouth dropped to the ground!   I thought he was going to ring it's neck right in front of us!  I said, "TIME TO GO!!!"  and we loaded up in the car as fast as we could.  The other ducks were chasing us to the car... but they weren't trying to bite at least...  My Gosh, those ducks were hungry.  I have never seen anything like this. 

When I drove by, I saw that the man let the goose free and it was waddling Super Super FAST away.  I rolled down my window and thanked him... he said that the goose will think twice before it attacks another human.  I would think so!!  Ha, ha! 

I called my mom and sister and told them that we need to send word out that the Trinity River ducks and geese were starving so much that they are swarming and attacking people... people need to get out there fast and feed them... BUT might want to take protection.

11 miles with my running group this morning. 

Mile 1- 8:50

Mile 2- 8:27

Mile 3- 8:16

Mile 4- 8:14

Mile 5- 8:01

Mile 6- 8:02

Mile 7- 7:56

Mile 8- 7:40

Mile 9- 7:36

Mile 10- 7:06

Mile 11- 7:11

Alot of people weren't there this morning because they are running Dallas White Rock Lake Marathon tomorrow.  I got asked to pace the 9 minute group at the last minute.  There are 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 minute pace groups.  There isn't an official "pace" group for the people I run with... we range between 7:30 and 8:30 usually.  I use Saturdays as a combo tempo/long run... I look forward to it all week.  I was kinda disappointed to do the 9 minute group.  I couldn't say no because I was asked in front of the pre-run meeting with everyone there... I could just imagine everyone's reaction if I had said, "No, I want to run an 8 minute pace, thanks"   

But it turned out ok... It ended up being Brenda and I and then two other guys who I've never met named Brooks and Miquel.  They told me that they actually ran right behind me at the 15K when I was a 7:39 pace.  So I asked them if they wanted to do a progressive run today and they said they'd be ok with that. 

A couple miles into it, James started running with us.  He and his father own the running store.  I don't know his PR but I looked him up on Athlinks.com (which only has race results since 2000) and his best marathon on that was 2:40.  His best 5k was 16:09.  He's in his mid-forties and been running his whole life so I bet he had some faster times prior to 2000.   It was kinda interesting that he ran with us the rest of the way.  I don't think any of his normal sub-7 minute runners were there. 

Everyone ran together the first 9 miles.  The last couple miles, I sped way up... James kept up with me and everyone else fell behind.  It was super challenging for me... a mere jog for him.  It was polite of him to not leave me.  Only real problem I had was that with 1/2 mile to go, my ipod started playing slow songs...  I started feeling like I couldn't hold the pace and I realized that the beat was not fast enough.  I had to fiddle with that stupid thing for 1 minute before I found Lady GaGa.  After that I finished strong but with nothing left.  James looked like he just finished running 1 mile.  Miquel caught up to us at the end in a sprint.  I'm impressed with Miquel... he had a big kick! 

I've been thinking that I am going to do this progressive run thing on Saturdays and keep driving my pace down.  A few weeks ago, if I really pushed myself, I could get down to a 7:30 pace at the end.  Today, I'm getting down to 7:06 and 7:11.  I'm getting faster and faster!   I think progressive runs really help.

8 miles at 6 am.  Slowest run in a while.  Avg pace 9:12   

Splits (9:32, 9:25, 9:09, 8:48, 9:12, 9:08, 9:15, 9:07)

32 degrees.  Even though I was going slow and I didn't have any aches or pains to complain of, the effort felt really difficult and I spent the whole run thinking about why it was hard.   I really need to stop complaining.

5.6 miles at 9:04 average pace at 6:30 am.  35 degrees. 

Splits (9:39, 9:13, 9:02, 8:42, 8:49, 8:58 pace for the last .6)

I didn't even look at my watch and I really didn't care how fast I went.  It was all I could do to drag myself outside to run in this cold.  I like the 100 degree summer weather better than this.  Ugh!  I've been trying positive thinking... telling myself to stop complaining and toughen up... but I just really, really hate the cold!  

I am determined to find a solution.  It's the coldest in the morning and the sun rises at 7:15 which is when I have to be back in order for my husband to leave for work.  It gets cold pretty fast after the sun sets at 5:30 which is when my husband gets home.  However, it has been in the 50's and 60's during the day and usually sunny.  I need to run during the day. 

My sister is my only hope.  I'll have to work out bartering and babysitting exchanges with her so I can get her to watch my kids during the daylight. 

AM Workout

8.6 miles at 10:30 am.  8:23 average pace.  45 degrees.  Sunny.  Very windy -20 to 25 mph according to weather site.  Some miles were difficult because I tried to maintain pace against the wind... but most of run I would consider easy effort.  It's so much better running at this time of day!!  My sister came over to babysit my kids so I could run.  Now she's leaving to do her errands and I'm babysitting her 3 year old.  It's win-win. 

Splits

Mile 1- 8:42

Mile 2- 8:21

Mile 3- 8:43

Mile 4- 8:27

Mile 5- 8:23

Mile 6- 8:30

Mile 7- 8:10

Mile 8- 8:18

Mile 8.6- 7:52

 -----------------------------

PM Workout

Decided to go to my running group's track workout tonight at 6pm.  We did 1 mile warm-up and five Yasso 800's.  We walked 100 yards and jogged 100 yards in between each 800.  I skipped the cool down mile because I had to get back to my kids.

I did the first two 800's in 3:25 and the next three at 3:21.  It was fun. 

Great run this morning with my group.  12 miles - 7:35 average pace

Mile 1	7:48
Mile 2	7:45
Mile 3	7:31
Mile 4	7:44
Mile 5	7:47
Mile 6	7:30
Mile 7	7:09
Mile 8	7:11
Mile 9	7:26
Mile 10	7:37
Mile 11	7:47
Mile 12	7:37

A new girl ran with the group this morning.  She's actually run one other time with us (the week before my marathon), but last time she ran with the 7 minute guys.  Today we were the fastest group so she ran with us.  Her name is Emily and she's 27.  She just ran a half marathon last weekend in 1:34:something... which is a 7:10 pace.

So today I started out trying to keep up with her...  She said I was driving the pace but I felt like she was... I guess that's what happens when competitive people run together.  Anyways, around mile 3 the 7 minute guys caught up to us (I think they started later than we did) and she started off with them.  I'll admit I got spooked going 7:30 in mile 3 with 9 more miles to go... so I let them go on.  Then the guys turned around at mile 4 because they ran a marathon last week and were taking it easy today.  So she ran alone and ahead of me until the turn around.  I made up my mind to keep up with her the second half - no matter what! 

I started running with her again at mile 6.  We went so fast!  It was challenging!  The water stop was at mile 9.5.  I had to slow down after that.  I stayed about 50 yards behind her until the finish.  Mentally, I just couldn't hold the pace.  I am disappointed with myself that I couldn't keep up the last 2 miles but also kinda excited that I have found a challenge. 

I hope she keeps running with us because she'll make me a better runner.  She told me that she has a group she does track workouts with at TCU campus on Monday mornings at 5:30 am.  She said it is very challenging!  Coming from her, I'm sure it is!   She invited me to join them.  She said they finish by 6:30 or 7 am, which works for me because I'd have to be home by 7:15 for my husband to leave for work.  I think I'm going to try it out!

Today's average was 7:35 pace.  If I ran that pace for 13.1 miles, that would be a sub 1:40 half marathon!  That's just crazy to think about!  Next week my running group is doing a half marathon race... so I guess I have a goal time now.  If Emily is there, I'm sure I can do it.  Maybe even better!

8 miles at 1pm.  Average pace 8:27.  65 degrees and windy -15 mph.  Did positive splits... ugh!  I was just running how I felt and I started getting hot and slowing down... plus, I was running against the wind the second half. 

Splits

mile 1- 8:03

mile 2- 8:12

mile 3- 8:26

mile 4- 8:20

mile 5- 8:40

mile 6- 8:38

mile 7- 8:40

mile 8- 8:33

5.5 miles at 6:30 am. Average pace 8:58.  It was cold and very windy.  Felt Blah today.  I intended to run 8 miles this morning, but I procrastinated getting out the door and then I only had time for 5.5 miles.  Blah, blah...  

Splits (9:31, 9:13, 8:57, 8:48, 8:40 pace for last .5)

6.4 miles at 6:30 am.  32 degrees but not windy. 

Mile 1- 9:12

Mile 2- 9:02

Mile 3- 8:49

Mile 4- 8:37

Mile 5- 8:03

Mile 6- 8:10 (but I had to cross traffic twice this mile)

Mile 6.4- 7:22

Tomorrow I'm running a half marathon race.  Last week's 12 miler (which was basically a "race" with Emily) I did a 7:35 average... so I'm hoping I can do 7:35 average for 13.1, which would be a sub-1:40.  We will see.  If Emily is there, I know I'll push myself hard!

My PR for a half is 1:55 (8:45 pace) in 2008.  So even if I have a bad day tomorrow, I should still easily PR.  ...Knock on Wood!!!  

These next few months, my plan is to concentrate on half marathons... I intend to run the Benbrook Half on January 29, the Cowtown Half on February 26, and the Dallas Rock 'n Roll Half on March 27.   If I can run a sub-1:37 (less than 7:30 pace) at one of these, then I qualify for the NYC Marathon. 

As for tomorrow's goal of running sub-1:40, I'm a little nervous.... This week I've run less and gotten less sleep than I would have liked.  Nights have been difficult because my 9 month old has had a cold and is waking up frequently.  Also, my days and evenings have been busy with Christmas shopping.  Shopping is 100 times more time consuming and stressful when you have to take babies and toddlers with you.  Oh well.  Life happens.  I'll do my best tomorrow.

30 degrees.  No wind.

Mile 1	7:13
Mile 2	9:13
Mile 3	7:50
Mile 4	7:43
Mile 5	7:46
Mile 6	7:39
Mile 7	7:48
Mile 8	7:24
Mile 9	7:25
Mile 10	7:38
Mile 11	7:38
Mile 12	7:29
Mile 13	7:24
Mile 13.2	7:02

My garmin actually had 13.2 miles, so I used that for calculating averages.

Overall average pace (ap) = 7:42 

First half (6.6 miles ) total time= 52:05, ap=7:53

Second half (6.6 miles) total time =49:30,  ap=7:30

-Miles 1-2 ap =8:13

-Miles 3-7 ap =7:45

-Miles 8-13 ap =7:29

In one word: Bittersweet.  I'm disappointed with how I executed the race, but I'm proud that I recovered so well especially after mile 8... heck, I'm proud I just finished considering at one point I thought about quitting!  

This week I started thinking I wanted to do a sub 1:40 which would have been 7:30 pace.  I still think that would have been realistic had I done a better job with strategy in the beginning.  Basically, I started out WAY TOO FAST the first 2 miles and ruined my first half.  I met up with Emily and decided to run with her.  Stupid.  We ran together last week's 12 miler at 7:35 pace... which was like a race for me and easy for her.  She ran a half marathon 2 weeks ago at 1:34:17 (7:10 pace). Today her time was 1:33:50.  She's just out of my league at this point in time.  Maybe one day I'll get up there with her....

Anyways, I ran the first 1.75 miles ranging between 6:45 and 7:20 pace.  What was I thinking?  It wasn't my goal to run 1:30 to 1:35 and I knew I wasn't capable of that!  Why did I do this?!   Regardless, even at that pace, all these women were passing me... It was freaking me out.  Maybe some were the 10k people, but there were really alot faster women in this race than in many of my previous races.  I kept watching my watch and seeing fast times and it wasn't good enough to keep up with Emily or these other girls. 

Then all of a sudden, I became aware that my heart was beating too fast... scary fast.  My legs felt like they were made of lead too.  It was hard to move.  Maybe in actuality, the issue with my legs was the cold weather, but at the time my mental state had me convinced that my body was shutting down.  I was spooked.  I tried to slow down but even at an 8:30 pace, my heart still was going crazy.  I can't remember ever feeling this way before...  it was scary.  I should have done a warm-up!  Idiot!  Why didn't I just stick to the 7:30 plan?   I really thought I was going to throw up. 

So I decided to stop and "stretch" at mile 1.75.  Embarrassing.  Not even mile 2.  Not even to the first water stop!  Amateur.  I stopped for maybe 2 minutes... maybe longer... and caught my breath.  I considered quitting.  My car was only 1.75 miles away....  Then I thought about how much I'd beat myself up if I did that.  How would I explain to my friends about why I quit?  A fake injury?  How stupid.  So I decided that even if I have to run a 9 min pace the rest of the way, I'm finishing this thing.  I just had to calm down and relax.  I never looked at my watch again for the rest of the race.

When I rejoined the race, I figured I was now running with the people who were going about an 8 minute pace.  It was much less stressful back there.  No one else passed me the rest of the race.  Actually, I was passing tons of people.  No matter what the pace, passing people is much more enjoyable than being passed...  BUT I still felt ruined and uncomfortable aerobically until around mile 8. 

Mile 8 - I would say I kinda felt like I "woke up".  All of a sudden, I felt like myself again.  I started noticing the scenery and I started thinking about speeding up.  My times after mile 8 got much better.  Around mile 12, I started really hurting.  I pushed on.  I struggled with my ipod until I found Lady Gaga.  I've got 3 of her songs in a row and in the past they've been motivating in crutch time.  Today, I decided the songs are losing their effect... I need to change my ipod. 

Literally, the only thing that motivated me during the last 1.1 miles was that I told myself that as soon as I finished I could throw up.  The thought of that was really exciting.  I kept saying to myself... just 1/2 mile until you can puke... just the distance of one lap around a track until you can puke...  it was my mantra.  But I finished strong in the end.  The final sprint into the chute was 6:12 pace.   I didn't end up throwing up after all.  However, here I am 4 hours after finishing and I feel awful.  

So overall, a painful race.  Technically, the time wasn't too bad.  I just got way too ambitious and ruined it.  I think if I had started at 7:40 pace, I would have improved my overall time by at least 2 minutes... probably would have gotten sub 1:40 like I wanted.  Live and learn I guess. 

I ended up as the 6th place overall female.  The first place girl was 1:31: something.  Emily was second with 1:33:50.  I was 3rd in my 30-34 age group...  1st in my age group had a time of 1:39:something. 

Honestly, I'm confused about why the pace those first two miles did that to me.  I didn't feel like I was going to throw up during my 5k on Thanksgiving where I running 7:00 pace.  Maybe the cold today just got to me.  Maybe I haven't been training enough lately.  I've got think about it some more. 

5.5 miles at 2pm.  HOT!!   Sunny and 79 degrees.  Windy 20 mph.  Running against the wind second half.   Average pace= 8:18 

Splits

8:15

8:17

8:30

8:00

8:21

8:32 pace for final .5 mile

Husband is off work for 2 weeks!  I decided to run in the middle of the day because I'm tired of the cold weather in the morning....   However, once I started running in this 79 degree sunny day... I was SO HOT!!   Should have worn a tank top!  Texas weather is SO weird!   It's just funny to me that I can run one day in 30 degree temp and then the next day in 80 degrees. 

Easy 4 miles at 9:30 am.  Average pace 8:58.  65 degrees.  Sunny.  Windy.  

Splits (8:41, 8:52, 9:24, 8:53)

Felt difficult today, not sure why...  I think I'll try to run again later today.

Tough week for running.  I didn't run for three days in a row.  Busy with Christmas and family.  Santa came to our house on the 24th because three year olds don't know the difference and it was easier since we had all day family functions on the 25th. 

I finally got to run this morning at 9:00 am.  It was 36 degrees and 21 mph wind, but after three days of not running I'll take what I can get.  Splits - 9:24, 9:05, 9:16, 9:02, 8:17

I went slow and I wore layers.  As I was running past all the houses in my neighborhood I imagined all the families inside houses opening gifts.  Probably the happiest single morning of the year.  All the stress of the season, the shopping and the cooking frenzy, is all worth it on this one morning when you see children open their presents and become manically happy.   

I felt much better after I ran... like the stress just melted away.  I love running... even if I have to do it in this stinking weather.

I figure this week I have definitely lost fitness only running 14 miles for the week.  This winter I just haven't been getting the miles in that I want.  I'll have to build it back up.  Oh well.  I still am focused on breaking a 1:40 half. 

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!!

8 easy miles at 2:30 pm.  50 degrees, sunny, wind 18 mph.  8:28 average pace.

Splits

Mile 1- 8:32

Mile 2- 8:17

Mile 3- 8:36

Mile 4- 8:27

Mile 5- 8:34

Mile 6- 8:22

Mile 7- 8:39

Mile 8- 8:25

Got dressed to go run the first chance I got today but it started raining.  I couldn't muster up the will power to go running in 40 degree rain.   I need a treadmill!!!   I got some Christmas money which I'd love to use to buy one, but it looks like we need a new washing machine instead.  Ugh! 

8 miles at 1:00 pm.  Average pace 8:28.  70 degrees, sunny, wind 16 mph gusting to 23 mph.  The 5th mile was pretty challenging because it was uphill directly against the wind. 

Splits

Mile 1- 8:42

Mile 2- 8:23

Mile 3- 8:19

Mile 4- 8:18

Mile 5- 8:46

Mile 6- 8:30

Mile 7- 8:35

Mile 8- 8:07

The holidays are finally over.  My in-laws left yesterday.  It was a great Christmas this year!  Ryan's first and Jake really understood this year which made it really fun!  They had several days in a row of opening gifts because we had many different family functions.  They were so tired when Mimi and Pawpaw left yesterday, they both fell asleep at 4:45 pm and didn't wake up until 7 am!!  

Now that everything is done, I hope to be able to get back into a regular running routine. 

8 miles at 9:30 am.   55 degrees, sunny, wind 15 mph.  Beautiful day.  I am so grateful that I am healthy and able to be outside running on a day like today!  

I decided to just go really easy today, which is to say that I didn't charge any hills.  I'm saving myself for tomorrow. The plan is to run 15 miles.  I'm going to have to do it all by myself since my running group isn't doing one.  I guess most people will be celebrating tonight.  Not me.  No babysitters.  Tomorrow morning I think I'm going to go to the river and run 3.75 miles in one direction and 3.75 back to my car for water and gu, then run 3.75 miles in the other direction and 3.75 back to my car again. 

Splits

Mile 1- 8:56

Mile 2- 8:44

Mile 3- 8:45

Mile 4- 8:40

Mile 5- 8:48

Mile 6- 8:43

Mile 7- 8:51

Mile 8- 7:59