Gotta Run Now

I ran 5 miles early this morning.

If I want to get up early to run, I have to follow these two rules:
1.When the alarm goes off, sit up right away.
2.Stand up right away, too.

You might like to sleep in your running clothes, too, but I haven't tried that yet!

I'm looking for a new marathon training plan. I looked through Advanced Marathoning by Pfitzinger & Douglas at the book store today. The Boston Marathon website has a marathon training plan, too.

The surprise ingredient that I put in a few of the cookies I made yesterday was chopped Butterfinger candy bar pieces. Those were good, but I prefer the plain old chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. DH, who is not a big cookie fan, said the chocolate chip cookies were delicious!

~Gotta Run Now

This morning, I ran a long run of 8 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace alternating water and Gatorade every 2 miles.

I ran on the treadmill today, but not because I was afraid of dogs roaming the streets again. I just kept putting my run off until it was about 9 o'clock and I knew it would be really hot outside by the time I finished my run, so I ran inside where we had the air conditioner turned on. I'm in that "in between races" time and since I don't have a major race planned, it's a little harder to stay motivated.

After lunch, I went to the grocery store and when I got home I started baking. Our daughter will be home next week from college and I made mini loaves of banana bread with walnuts for her to take back to school with her for breakfast.

Not only did I make the banana bread, but I also made lots of cookies. First, I made chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. I used 1/4 cup of cookie batter for each cookie. I think they're the largest cookies I'…

At 6:11 I made it out the door for my 6 miler after eating a banana and taking care of the puppies. I tried to keep the pace fast(8:45) for miles 3, 4 and 5, but that 8:45 was hard to reach.
Here are my splits:
Mile 1 - 10:01 (warm-up)
Mile 2 - 9:27 (speed up in preparation for mile 3)
Mile 3 - 8:49
Mile 4 - 8:49
Mile 5 - 8:46
Mile 6 - 9:58 (cool-down)

I'm glad that I got up early to run. It wasn't too hot yet. I did the sweat test and I couldn't wring any sweat out of my clothes after my run. I hope that's not TMI!

I followed up my run with:
push-ups- 14 (a new high!)
v-frame- 3 min. (another new high!)
crunches - 4 sets of 25
plank pose - 3 min.

Today's bird sightings: cardinal (1), owl (2), and blue heron (5).

If you like Jamba Juice smoothies (I sure do!), here's a link to a great BOGO coupon that's good through the fourth of July: http://www.jambasummer.com/freesmoothie/thankyou1.htm Thanks, DD, for sending me this link!
~Gotta Run Now

After eating a bagel, I ran five miles. It was hot and humid and for the first half mile, I just put one foot in front of the other and thought about how glad I’d be in 50 minutes. I saw 8 blue herons, a dead snake and pink, purple and yellow wildflowers this morning.

My mile splits were: 9:54(warm-up), 9:34, 9:31, 9:41, 9:46.

After drinking a glass of chocolate milk, I worked on strength training: dumbbell squats, seated rowing, bench press, curls, and tricep kickbacks. Then I did the four exercises that I do every weekday: push-ups(13), v-frame(1 ½ minutes), crunches(100) and the plank pose(2 minutes).

Have you read any good running books lately? I went to the library today and as usual, I left with an armful of books. I picked up Running with Angels by Pamela H. Hansen. It’s about how Hansen achieved her goals of running a marathon and losing a hundred pounds. The book inspires me to achieve my goals, which brings me to tomorrow’s goal.

My goal for tomorrow is to run 3 of my 6 miles at…

Today is a rest day from running, but who knows - if it doesn't rain this afternoon, maybe we'll go for a swim.

DH is on the phone with my mother-in-law and he just told her that I was third place in my age group in last week's 5K. And the answer to the first question that popped into her mind was, "Yes, there were more than three in Tina's age group!"

That's the first question that my daughter asked me, too!

~Gotta Run Now

Yay! I ran a four mile "easy" run and just kept a comfortable pace the whole way without worrying about what it was and my average pace was a "fast for me" 9:23.

When I shared this with someone in my family, whose identity I will protect (!), he teased with, "That's more than a minute slower than your last 5K race pace!"

My mile splits were: 9:22, 9:23, 9:14, and 9:33.

About a mile into my run, my right foot had a slight pain that worked up into my leg so I stopped and did a few ankle twists and stretches. I took off running again with no problems.

After running two miles, a soft drizzle of rain began. It was great!

Yesterday, I read an inspiring story about a runner, Danelle Ballengee, who fell and was severely injured on a run in Utah in December of 2006. As Ballengee lay on the desert floor for over two days, she wished she could tell her loved ones how much she loved them once again and she had a deep desire to keep on living. And live she did!

Do…

I woke up around 5:30 and ate a chocolate-flavored Powerbar. I prefer the peanut butter bars, though - they don't seem quite so much like eating a candy bar for breakfast.
After taking care of the dogs, I put a large cup of Gatorade and another cup of ice water on the porch for my drink breaks during today's long run. I ran back home for a drink every 2 1/2 miles or so, drinking water first and then Gatorade and then back and forth like I might do at a race.

Dividing my ten mile run into 4 parts made the 10 mile run seem easier to accomplish. It was so hot and humid this morning that I had to wring out my shirt and shorts before I came inside the house because I didn't want to drip on the floor.

I had planned to run at a 10 to 11 minute mile pace. My average pace was 10:05. The average pace for each mile was:

Mile 1 - 10:05
Mile 2 - 10:01
Mile 3 - 10:04
Mile 4 - 9:59
Mile 5 - 10:05
Mile 6 - 10:17
Mile 7 - 10:06
Mile 8 - 10:09
Mile 9 - 9:55
Mile 10 - 10:08

During mile 6 or 7, DH called …

It was about a half an hour into my run before my legs stopped feeling tight this morning. After a warm-up run, I wanted to run at 5K pace (8:15) for 1/4 of a mile and to run a recovery jog for two minutes, eight times. My pace for those 1/4 miles was:
8:24, 8:22, 8:28, 8:12, 8:40, 8:32, 8:35, 8:19

I think I could have done better (I'm a fairly optimistic person :) ), but I started most of the splits too fast and when I saw that I could slow down, I slowed down too much.

I ran a total of 6 miles this morning.

Push-ups: 12; Crunches: 100 (4 sets of 25); V-frame: 1 1/2 minute; Plank Pose: 2 minutes

DD asked a very interesting question when she found out that I placed third in my age group in the race on Saturday. And the answer is, "Yes, DD, there were more than three ladies in my age group!"

~Gotta Run Now

My husband and I woke up at 6AM. After a Belgian waffle topped with strawberries, we were swimming in the Florida ocean by 8AM. After a little shopping, we'll drive home. It's been a great vacation weekend!

~Gotta Run Now

Blogged at 7:20AM -
I woke up at 4:45AM, but the race doesn't start until 6pm! I always wondered if I woke up early on race days because I was afraid the alarm wouldn't really go off and I didn't want to miss the race, but I guess that's not the case. Maybe I'm just excited to wake up in Florida at the beach.

Yesterday, my husband and I picked up my race packet in Pensacola at the running store. If there's such a contest, the nice ladies who gave me my packet would win the prize for "Friendliest Race Packet People".

Blogged at 3:40PM -
We went swimming this morning. The waves were gentle and the water was warm.

My running clothes are on and my race number is safety-pinned to my shirt. I've got the usual pre-race jitters. I hope that the heat doesn't slow me down too much - it is 88 degrees in Pensacola right now and the race starts in about 2 hours.

Blogged at 10:45PM-
I'm back from the 5K and a walk on the beach and not only did I beat my best …

I didn't do any running today, but this evening, DH and I went for a long walk along Destin beach in Florida. The sand looks like white sugar and the water is an emerald color. What a beautiful beach!

For dinner, we drove to Sandestin. We parked our car and rode on a boat to the restaurant which was in a little village called Baytowne Wharf. The village was lit with decorative lights and live bands were playing.

The smell of barbecued food pulled us into a restaurant and we sat down to eat at 9PM. As we were eating our beef brisket and baked potato, we noticed a bunch of people staring at the ceiling. Apparently, tree roaches like barbecue, too!

One customer chased the tree roach under the tables and across the floor, and it wasn't long before he yelled out, "He's dead." We applauded (DH started this!) and everyone cheered. The man bowed and bowed and bowed. He was having fun! Nothing brings a group of strangers together like a big bug!

The beach walk and the boat ri…

My average pace for my five mile run was 9:29 today.

We practically had a traffic jam of runners and walkers in our neighborhood this morning. There were three others out there with me and I hope the number grows. I like the friendly company.

My race day strategy for Saturday's 5K is to run at an 8:15 pace for the first 1 1/2-2 miles and then to pick up the pace if I can. My pace at my last 5K was 8:19. Hopefully, I'll finish strong, this time, by starting out at a slower pace. If I get a chance today, I'll look around online and in my running books for 5K race day advice.

Strength-building: dumbbell squats, seated rowing, bench press, curls, tricep kickbacks. (3 sets of each) I was able to increase the weight this morning. Weight training works!

Crunches: 100 (4 sets of 25)
V-frame: 1 minute
Plank Pose: 2 minutes
Push-ups: 12

We have our flag flying and I'm wearing my red flag t-shirt. It's a great day to say a prayer for those who serve our country. Happy Flag Day, Ameri…

I ran five miles this morning with an average pace of 9:34. The humidity didn't feel too bad this morning. A nice change!

Strength-building: dumbbell squats, seated rowing, bench press, curls, tricep kickbacks. (3 sets of each)

Crunches: 100 (4 sets of 25)
V-frame: 2 minutes 20 seconds
Plank Pose: 2 1/2 minutes
Push-ups: 12

Time for some chocolate milk! My favorite way to make it is to use fat-free milk with chocolate mocha syrup.

~Gotta Run Now

I was looking forward to my run today because it was time to work on my speed. Not only that, but it was my first run with my new pink mp3 player DH found me at woot.com. (It works great. Thanks, DH!)

It was a "two loose dogs day", but at least they didn't chase me down the street. Too hot for them, I guess! While I was running, the temperature went from a comfortable 73 to a warm 83 degrees.

I ran a total of 7 miles this morning. After a 1 1/2 mile warm-up, it was time to begin my fast 1/2 miles with a 2 minute recovery jog. I did that 6 times and then just ran until I hit 7 miles for a cool down, which was about 1 1/2 miles.

My goal was to keep the pace for the 1/2 miles at 8:19 (5K pace). I didn't know what my average pace was for these splits until I got home and I was surprised when I saw how I actually did. Here's how it went and what I was thinking:

8:15 (A half mile is a long way. Maybe I didn't set my watch to beep after a half mile. Maybe I didn't h…

I'm taking a day off from running today after running 6 days straight, but we did go swimming after lunch for a little exercise.

This morning, a running friend told me about a local running group. They finish their group runs by 8 a.m. on Saturdays. So, if I join, I might be home from my Saturday runs before my husband even wakes up. But I might be so tired from getting up at 5(I hope that's an exaggeration!) that I have to take a nap once I get back home! So there's good and there's bad.

I just finished my Orange Ka-Bam Smoothie King smoothie. I had a good coupon: buy one 20 oz. smoothie and receive a free 20 oz. smoothie, so we went there last night for a treat. My smoothie was good, but it had 72 grams of sugar! I saved half of my drink for today and it was nearly as good as it was yesterday.

I like to make my own smoothies at home. I just throw a few items in a blender: a 6-8 ounce container of fat-free yogurt with some kind of fruit in it, half of a frozen banana, s…

I finished my 9 mile run by 9 a.m. (8:58 a.m.) this morning! My goal was a pace of 10:08-11:08 (hopefully, towards the faster end), so I'm happy with my average pace of 10:09. Around mile 7, there was some cloud cover and a light breeze, which made the last two miles easier. I drank some Gatorade every 3 miles. It felt good to cool off in the pool after my run.

I ran 33 miles this week and next week, I look forward to running in a 5K.

~Gotta Run Now

I ran two miles to the park, did a few pull-ups, and ran two miles back home.

After throwing the ball for our crazy Weimaraner and stretching, it was time for weight work.

Strength-building: dumbbell squats, seated rowing, bench press, curls, tricep kickbacks. (3-5 sets of each.)

Crunches: 100
V-frame: 2 minutes
Plank Pose: 2 minutes

This afternoon, I stopped by Maggie Moo's ice cream and bought an ice cream cone. I just had to use a coupon I received in my runner's goodie bag at my last race - it was weighing my purse down! The Better Batter (cake batter) flavor with Oreo sprinkles in an Oreo sprinkled waffle cone is delicious. Don't tell DD! She might be jealous!

~Gotta Run Now

Yesterday, I ran in the Impact a Hero 5K in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston. I beat all of my previous 5K times!

I decided to start out fast rather than to start easy and speed up later. It was fun to run fast right from the beginning, but I felt pretty tired when I got to the first mile marker. It was hot and humid, but the route was mostly shaded.

I'll run another 5K in a couple of weeks. I hope to keep my pace at about 8:15 in that race. In this race, my average pace was 8:19/mile.

At the race, I was able to meet two runners my husband knows, Karen and Tim, and a runner whose blog I like to read - her nickname is Pony. Pony and I just happened to start talking about running after the race and her blog came up. I was so surprised when I realized that I was talking to someone whose blog I've visited. It's a small world! Karen and Pony both placed in their age groups!

After the race I celebrated my 5K PR with ice cream from Dairy Queen. What a great morning!

~Gotta…