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-