Hill repeats! Oh joy!

Yeah that's what was on the schedule this morning. When that alarm went off at 4:45am, I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't think of any and every excuse to not go!
1. My stomach didn't feel good.
2. I have a headache.
3. I'm tired.
4. I....
You get the picture!

But I got up. Cristen was counting on me. Boss Lady was counting on me. Cult Lady Training Planner was counting on me. These ladies have been an integral part of this training. From writing the plans to showing me how to do speed work and tempo runs to just being there. And just as they inspire and motivate me, I do the same for them. It's a win-win relationship!

So to the rec center we meet. This time though I dropped a bag of water bottles of at our hill. I say "our hill" because some day I will conquer this hill and run up it like Amy and Shirley do! Right Cristen?!?!

Amy tried to trick me that we have already done 4 repeats and we are doing 5. Shirley tried the same thing. But Cristen and I DO COUNT THESE THINGS AND WE KNOW! 4 it is!

Run down Stone Quarry. That is my favorite part of hill repeats. It's such a nice mile run. Not to mention that then end part of it is a downward slope. YAY!

Then the 4 repeats. The first one always sucks! Second one isn't too bad. Third one, well at this point we realize we have to do this one. More. Time. Ick. Owell. Up we go. It's over. Here's my picture to prove I did it!

Back up Stone Quarry. Fun. Home. Stretch caused ass is killing me! No pain. No gain! Yay!

Wednesday is hopefully a long run of 8. But maybe not. My grandmother is in Hospice right now. I'm really not sure what the rest of this week will bring. Say a prayer.


Run. Strong.
XOXO
-t-

Personal Record

38:33 (unofficial) today! That is a PR (personal record) for me! And it was to be a TEMPO RUN to begin with (3 miles, 13/min mile).  DONE.

I am so glad I have done hill repeats. I am so glad I have done the 4x400's speedwork. Yes, you read that correctly. All that pain in training paid off today. A slight incline around mile 1.5. I trudged right up it  and I PASSED people. That was pretty cool. Especially if you have ever seen me do hill repeats (ahem Cristen, Shirley, Amy). It is not a pretty sight. And the speedwork. WOW! That paid off totally at the end when I sprinted to the finish line. I could see the time. 37 something...I HAD TO GET UNDER 40! Hell, I HAD TO GET UNDER 39 MINUTES! I could see Boss Lady and Cult Lady Training Planner (aka Amy and Shirley, respectively) in my sideline. I could see BFFAE and Deanna at the finish line. I HAD TO FINISH STRONG.  For them. But mostly FOR ME. 

This was the thought that was going thru my mind as I SPRINTED to the finish line...

At any rate, that sprint felt AWESOME! I am AWESOME!  And they are right...all those trainings will improve me. And the weather makes all the difference.

Week one of training is complete. It feels good to have it done. But it also means 9 more weeks till the Akron 1/2 Marathon.... I am already imagining how that race is gonna be. What the weather is going to be like (end of September). And if I will really be able to achieve the goal I have set out to complete, race completion time of...nope, not gonna tell ya. Not yet at least. I am just not ready to say it out loud. I have committed to the training and what it will take to get the result I want. So as the day gets closer and I am more confident in myself and my training, I will post my goal time for the Akron 1/2.

So the plan for week 2 is too start with another bike ride tomorrow. It was a nice recovery last week. Maybe not 13 miles, but definitely get some mileage in. May go check out a park or something. Although the pool and relaxing sounds like a good idea too. Then it's my favorite! HILL REPEATS on Monday. Boss Lady said we were doing 5 repeats. I told her 4. She can do 5. I am doing 4. Maybe next week I will increase it to 5. But not this week. Long run of 8 miles scheduled tentatively for Wednesday morning. BFFAE has a BIG 4-0 birthday on Thursday and I arranged for Jimmy Buffet to perform at Riverbend on her birthday (wink, wink). So we are off to the concert and a day of tailgating fun. Gotta get our long run in before that big event! 

Hope to get some more cross training in and/or my tempo this week as well.

So tonight I am resting my legs. Watching some Olympics. If these athletes don't inspire you...maybe this pic will...Boss Lady (Amy, middle) placed first in her age group and Cult Lady Training Planner (next to me) placed third in her age group! I love my group of friends. Each and every one of them in this picture have impacted me and my running. (Jen (BFFAE, in the green) is the one who got me started running in my fist 5k in 2010!)

L-R:  Me, Shirley, Amy, Deanna, Jen

Run. Strong.

-t-

And I'm up

My only rest day this week and my body says "nah you don't need sleep; let's wake up at 4am for nothing."

It's gonna be a long day. I do foresee a nap this afternoon. Race/Temp run tomorrow. I'm gonna need to be ready for this one!

Sleep. Run.
-t-

The long run...

is complete...at least for this week.

6 miles under the belt. Next up 8. 

Saw 2 raccoons. Those things are kinda scary looking. 

We got to the halfway point (McDonalds) and got some water. The cashier looked at us and said 'WOW. Hot out there". My first instinct was to say "No, it's raining." But she would have known that to be a lie as it hasn't really rained much. Regardless. Jen politely replies, "Yep, have to get it in now though. Gets hotter as the day goes on. And we have to work." SMH. 

Water was delicious. Ice. Cold. Water. Back out the door and finish up the last 3 miles.

Wasn't too bad. Except that National Road's sidewalk, where they haven't replaced it, is rather, oh, crappy?! I think Jen and I both about biffed it once or 5 times. 

Got back into the Rec Center and Cult Training Lady (aka Shirley) was there just finishing her run...a measly 3 miles (wink, wink). Glad she was there to see us come back so that I could say "LOOK, I DID IT!" Hehehehe! 

I felt good after the 6. Wasn't sure I was going to make it at 2 miles. And then again at 4 miles. But I did. And I am glad it's done. 

I am paying for it now though. 4am wakeup is not easy. Especially when I have to work. Hope Jen is making it thru her day okay.... We need to move these runs to the weekend!

No picture this morning. :( 

Back at it Saturday for the 5k/Tempo Run. Piece of cake. Yes, I think I will!

Run.

-t-

And I begin

I know, I know. I said I would keep up on my blog. I thought I had. Must have been all the posts I wrote in my head the last 4 weeks that somehow didn't appear here. O-well. What's done is done. BUT I will tell you what I've done, where I am now, and where I am heading.

So, after my last post, we left for vacation....ahhhhh, North Myrtle Beach, SC. Just a B-E-A-U-TIFUL place....

BFFAE (Jen) and I actually got up at 5, I think, on Saturday at the hotel in Greensboro, NC to utilize the "gym". The "gym" consisted of a treadmill that I swear was faster than the ones I have eva been on, an elliptical which I believe BFFAE said the same thing about, and a weight machine which was missing the pin to adjust the weights and I might add, the weights weighed more than the ones we use at our home gym. Just saying! But we got a little workout in and then headed outside for a brisk walk. 

Sunday, we rested. Personally, I just wanted to rest. I didn't want to jump up on my first morning at the condo and go run the oh so beautiful beach. 

 

Monday-Wednesday...entirely different story! It was ahhh-mazing! We ran north when the sun was coming up. We gauged our route for the 5k. We just had a wonderful, beautiful run. I loved running on the beach! Tuesday we ran south as the sun was coming up. Hey, we had to check out all 5 miles of the beach from our condo! It was pretty amazing. I liked running north better than south. The beach/sand was different at the south...more slanted, not as packed. I don't know. Call me crazy. 

The MB VACAY 5k Crew!

 Wednesday was the the 5k. BFFAE and I had though it would be pretty cool to plan a 5k and run with our friends and family that were all staying in our condo complex. Most run on a regular basis. Some just for fun. Others just walk. It didn't matter! It was about coming together and doing something healthy (especially since we were all guilty of indulging a bit thus far this week!). I made race bibs, had water available, had a person to start the race, a cheering crowd, bananas, a photographer, and at the end of the week, medals. Yeah, it was pretty cool! Random people on the beach saw us and asked if there was a 5k in the area that day! HA! We explained what we were doing and people seemed genuinely impressed. 

Our medals! Handcrafted by yours truly! (with a little help from Lydia!)

  

Me and my BFFAE, Jen!

Toni Yarosh & Jenny Bell, Best Friends and our Cleveland Friends!

 

I didn't run after Wednesday. My feet hurt. My chiro told me that running on the beach can hurt you. it did. Not my soul or my spirit. But my feet. So I laid low on the running until I got back from vacation.

I met up with Amy, aka, boss lady, and she took me on my first TEMPO RUN! WOOOHOOO! 3 miles at a 13 min pace according the "Cult-Lady Training Plan", aka Shirley. What is a tempo run? You run for a set distance, at a set pace, without stopping. It's usually faster than your normal pace. It's pretty intense if ya ask me.

Vandalia Freedom 5k Run

July 4th was the Vandalia Freedom Run/Walk 5k. This was my VERY FIRST 5k waaaayyyyy back in 2010!  My time that year was 48:33. In 2011 it was 46:09. Both years it was incredibly hot! This year was no different. If anything, I will say it was HOTTER than previous years. This year, my time was 45:27. I walked a lot of it. I will admit it. I was tired. My legs were sore. I should have rested the day before and not done a TEMPO run of all runs. Lesson learned. But, I still came under my previous times for that race, so I will keep trudging along.

The next day, or maybe it was 2 days later, Shirley and Amy took me out to show me hill repeats. Oh, those are FUN! NOT!  We met at the Rec Center. Ran down Stone Quarry, which is a nice mile I might add, to Dixie, to Farrell Road. The hill repeat road. It's about a 1/4 mile gradual incline hill. Doesn't look like much in a car, but try running, hell, try walking up the thing. It's a looooonnnnngggggg hill! So, we walk down. Run up. Die. Walk down. Run up. Die. Walk down. Run up. DONE!  Yeah, you read that right...run UP it 3x. Yay. Oh, and then you have to RUN back to the Rec Center. Another mile. And that isn't a nice mile as stated above. It's a bit brutal. But when you reach about 1/2, Helke Road, it becomes nice again.  Um, I was SORE!

Monday, the following week, it started all over again. I also threw in a class, Cardio Physique. That is a great class. Same drill as above. Mixed up a little. But it was good. And the week after the same. Oh, but Amy said it was time to throw in some bleachers when we do our speed work at the track. Those kick some butt!  And then a race at the end of the week. So, I did hard workouts for 3 straight days. Rested 2. Then Bec's Bunch Remembrance 5k. This was the second year for this one. I like how organized and friendly the people are. I don't care for the course. Well, the first part of the course. It's the same at the VFR (mentioned above) and goes thru the Rec Center. I hate the Rec Center track. More about that later.  But I did have a good time! Not a PR as I had at Tawawa Park in June, but I did come under the 40 minute mark...by 1 second! BUT I DID IT! My legs were still sore. When I say I had a HARD workout, I mean it was a hard workout...Hill repeats, Cardio Physique, 4x400's AND bleachers! 

So, Sunday I started my OFFICIAL training for the Akron 1/2 Marathon with a 13.1 mile bike ride with my dad on the Akron 1/2 Marathon route. That was fun! I love biking with my dad. Reminds of of my childhood...

Today, I dove right into speed-work of 4x400's and some ab work to cross-train (although I feel a lil wimpy on that so I'm gonna have to throw another CT in there later today). Amy suggested I start taking pictures during my training for this half to show everything I do! What a great idea! Love it! So I started a FB album. And will post them here too.  Tomorrow is the long run with BFFAE (6 miles!). Friday, rest. Saturday, another 5k,  Breast Cancer Awareness 5k in Greenville. This race will be my 3 mile tempo. Piece of cake.  

Sunday the fun starts all over again.

Overall, I feel great! And by looking this picture, I am LOOKING great too! GO ME!

Okay, this has turned into a long blog. I need to stay on top of this.

Run Strong.
-Tami-