First Trail Run of 2010

First trail run of 2010 and second trail run ever. The last time I ran here was back in October and I ran 4 miles in 54 mins. This time it took me 46 mins so a pretty significant improvement. I felt really great the first mile and it felt easy but half way into mile 2, I realized I was working leg muscles I don't normally use when street running. The various terrain...hard packed dirt, soft sand, mud and exposed roots made it an interesting but fun run. Plus it was a beautiful day with temps in the mid to upper 50s and sunny.

Today's Workout: 4 mile trail run at Cottonwood Trail in Spartanburg, SC
Today's Weather 54°F - 58°F Sunny, Winds 5-10 mph

Awesome 4 Mile Run

I decided to do something different besides running a different route, I ran .9 miles comfortably hard then briskly walked the last tenth of the mile for 4 miles (last tenth of the last mile I picked it up even more). It went great and negative splits! The 2nd and 3rd mile were the hardest with the hills but the last mile although it was downhill, with a 9 mph headwind, it felt more like it was uphill and really took a lot out of me.

I've been wanting to work on my speed for longer durations and haven't felt like I've really been pushing myself as hard as I should or could be but this run, I definitely went beyond my comfort level. It's the fastest 4 miles I have ever ran and the 6th fastest 3+ mile run ever.

Today's Weather: 66°F Overcast, Winds 9 mph N
Today's Workout: 4 Miles (.9 mi hard, .1 mi walk)

Dang Flat Tire, Went on a Run Instead

The weather was absolutely beautiful today, everyone was outside. It was a teacher work day and I guess a lot of Moms and Dads decided to take the day off too because it seemed like everyone was out going for bike rides or walking.

I had plans on going cycling since I just ran yesterday and didn't want to risk injury again. I got my cycling gear on (which is really running gear), went out to the garage and there it was...a flat rear tire! Thinking it just went flat because I haven't ridden in a while, I pumped it up and I could hear the air escaping. It wasn't holding air at all. I was so pissed off that I just went inside and put on my running shoes and headed out for a 3 mile run.

I kept the pace slow and easy and decided to run the opposite direction that I normally do. Running it counter-clockwise is much harder because of the long and steep hill near the park. I normally run down it but going the other way, it's a hard climb to the top.

Overall it was still a decent run with a time of 34:27 (11:27 pace). Not bad for an easy (60-70% effort) 3 mile run.

Weather: 73°F Sunny, light breeze
Workout: cycling 6 miles 3 mile easy run

5K Personal Best!

This is the days that I absolutely love running! The days when everything just falls into place and you run the best you ever have ran.

I felt pretty much crappy the entire day and running seemed like the last thing I felt like doing. But I made myself go since my last run was on Monday and didn't have much expectations for this run except to finish 3 miles no matter how long it took me.

The weather was perfect, low 60s and mostly cloudy so warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt. The first 1/2 mile, I struggled a little bit but then everything started to feel really good. I started to feel like I had energy and was able to keep a consistent pace the first mile. The second mile was even better and faster than the first! The third mile had that steep hill which I did NOT have to walk up this time. Instead I was able to push through it and continued on running.

This is probably only the third time I have actually been able to run 3.1 miles continuously without taking a single walk break and a personal best. It did come in a training run and not an actual race but that's okay. 3.1 miles is still 3.1 miles no matter if it's in training or a race.

Weather: 64°F Mostly Cloudy, Light winds
Workout: 3 mile run - 31:41 (10:12 pace)

Race Report: Jog for a Cause 5K

This was my first GA road race and I opted to go with the 5K since I just did the Reedy River Run 10K the previous Saturday.

I also chose this race because it's close to where my parent's live. We arrived at the race location around 7:20am and it was much chiller than I had prepared for. I did my warmup jogs and stretches and at 7:55am, we all lined up at the start. They had 5Kers and 10Kers start together which I found odd because this race was not chipped time so middle of the pack runners such as myself had no idea where the starting line actually was.

This course was advertised as flat and fast so I expected it to be just that, flat. Because it was an out-of-state race, I didn't get to drive the course ahead a time. So expecting it to be fairly flat, I went out a little faster than I normally do on hilly courses. I was doing great until we hit that hill around 2 miles and factor in a strong headwind and it took a lot out of me. So much that I had to take frequent walk breaks. It's a bummer too because I was right on pace with a 5K PR until I hit that darn hill and headwind.

I finished (officially) in 34:06. But my Garmin measured it as a 3.24 course and my GPS 5K time was 33:33 so it wasn't a bad run at all. It's my 3rd fastest 5K time so I can't really complain. I will complain about the lack of explanation about what to do with the card they gave you at the finish line. It took me about 10 mins to realize I was suppose to fill it out and put it in the appropriate gender and age basket at the score table. Like I said, the race should be chipped time. Relying on runners to remember and fairly write their own time on a card seems crazy. Especially since the 10K was a peachtree qualifier.

Post-race, they had a nice selection of food but no water (at least I didn't see any), just powerade which was okay with me. But with the wind picking up and the sun hiding behind clouds, it felt like the temperature was dropping.

Weather: Mid 40s, mostly cloudy and windy.
Course Conditions: Wet

Injured...ITBS. No, wait, 100% fine. What?

If the title of this blog post confuses you, that's how the last 24 hours have felt like for me! I felt great after completing my first 10K. Tired but not that sore but did get a pretty bad blister on the ball of my right foot.

Then there was Sunday morning. Talk about being in pain. My left knee hurt so bad I thought I would be out of training for weeks if not months. I couldn't lift it, bend it or put pressure on it at all. It hurt like hell. A 10 out of 10 on the pain scale. I immediately took 2 Tylenol, iced it for 20 mins then took an espom salt bath. That was like instant relief and the pain went from a 10 to about a 6 in a matter of 2 hours. I then spent the entire day doing IT band stretches every 1-2 hours staying idle as little as possible because that just made it worse.

By Sunday evening, it was feeling pretty good and about a 2 out of 10 on the pain scale. I was walking but still with a limp and running would of been out of the question. I wrapped it up before I went to bed and this morning, woke up 100% pain free. That is the confusing part to me. Just 24 hours ago, I was in excruciating pain and now absolutely zero pain. What?

Yea, I took my dogs for a 3/4 mile walk today and felt so great, I went for 1 mile run that felt even better. No pain whatsoever and my stride and form felt fantastic plus it was 70° and sunny...how can I not go run in weather like that.

This is great news because I'm planning to run another 5K race this Saturday which I'm super excited about since 5Ks seem so easy now compared to 6 months ago.

Race Report: Reedy River Run 10K

Today was my first 10K race and only the third time I have ran over 6 miles and the ninth time I have ran over 5 miles so I definitely had butterflies in my stomach with this race.

Thursday and Friday, I made sure I was drinking at least 36oz of water each day and eliminated soft drinks and junk food from my diet and focused on eating healthier. I went to bed Friday night feeling pretty confident that I could finish the 10K in under 75 mins and that was my goal.

Pre-race, I met up with other iRUNners. Meeting a group prior to race, really helps me eliminate those pre-race butterflies and helps me relax.

The race...the first 4 miles went great, actually better than expected. I did start out at a much faster pace than I wanted but it was downhill. I listened to my body and not my watch and kept a comfortable pace which was my plan from the start. My first 4 mile splits were 10:15, 10:19, 11:10 and 11:40. At the 5K mark, I was at 33 mins, my third fastest 5K time ever which was somewhat surprising given this was a 10K race and had another 5K left to go. 

About 4.5 miles, I started to feel a blister forming on the ball of my right foot and by mile 5, it started hurting so bad that every step was becoming increasing painful. I kept thinking, how in hell am I going to be able to do 13.1 miles in 7 weeks when I can barely get through 5 now. Frustrated and in pain, I just kept going, trying whatever possible to take my mind off the pain but every step was a constant reminder. When we turned onto E. Broad Street, I only had one goal in mind...just get up that darn hill! Going uphill hurt even worse since I tend to run on the balls of my feet and shorten my stride. That meant more steps on the part of my foot that hurts the worse. I finally made it to the top and tried to open it up the final 200 yards which was downhill but my legs were not having any of it. I just couldn't go any faster than a 9:00 pace at that point. I finally crossed the finish line in 1:11:48 (11:36 pace) and I don't think I have ever been so glad to see the finish line in a race before!

Afterwards, I met up with a few DailyMilers which is always great to meet fellow runners. Being an introvert, it's sometimes hard for me to meet new people but running has opened a brand new door for me.

At this point, I'm still questioning on whether to continue half marathon training or move onto an advanced 10k program instead and focus on just 5Ks, 8Ks and 10Ks for now. I just feel a half marathon is too much too soon and I guess when in doubt, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Weather: 39°F - 46°F, Sunny, Winds N 6mph

Half Marathon Training - Week 5, Day 2

On Monday, I did go for a 5 mile bike ride which felt really great. I haven't been on my bike much plus it's a commuter bike but I did pretty good. The first uphill was really hard but it seemed like the hills did get a little easier each time. Averaged 10.7 mph so I'm pretty happy about that. I hope to incorporate a lot more cycling once warmer weather finally gets here and to start swimming more this summer.

I started out with a 10 min warmup at a very easy pace which went really well. In fact, I had trouble keeping my speed down. Then I did 3 x 6 min tempo intervals at 5k race pace (10:59 - 10:00) while focusing on my breathing. The recovery jog were between 12:30 - 11:30. I felt really good for the first 2 intervals but the last interval got really tough since the wind decided then it was going to pick up. It was nearly calm or at my back the entire run until the last 10 mins. But by doing the fast/slow intervals, I am able to average my 10k goal pace.

My plan for the 10k is to run a consistent 11:30 - 11:00 pace throughout the entire race with maybe 3 or 4 short 1 minute walking breaks. I'm excited but somewhat nervous being this is my first 10K and the largest event I have done with over 1,000 runners.

Today's Workout - 10 min warmup, 3x6 min tempo, 4 min recovery
Weather: 45°F, Cloudy, Winds NNW 12 mph