Three Things Thursday

1. I cannot believe it's been A WHOLE YEAR since I ran a marathon. Eugene was so lovely, and I'm still working diligently to convince the family we need to move there.

Magic!

We are so funny.

See? It looks like it was the funnest EVER.


2. I've picked a fall marathon, and the goal is to start training (for real) in mid-July/August, but I'm waffling between using the Hanson's method (run all the miles, but not the super long ones), or the Run Less, Run Faster program (run a fraction of the miles, but also cross train). I don't even know why I'm debating this, because TO ME, RLRF sounds better - I like the cross training, so why not? But mostly, I'm just very curious about Hanson's.

I am so indecisive! Thankfully I've got some time to work out my brain thoughts.


3. #2 was on the Orange County Academic Pentathlon team for her school last month - she was really bummed about her essay - they had to read a book, and at competition, they gave them a writing prompt. However, she forgot a main character's name, and basically felt like she faaaaailed. So when the awards ceremony was announced (the day BEFORE, with no advance notice....), and it was going to be a haul of a drive, to get there at 6 in rush hour traffic.... we declined to go. They don't announce award winners in advance, and #2 said she only wanted to go to hang out with her friends, so I certainly wasn't interested in spending an hour sitting in traffic.

My bad, she won 3rd place for 7th grade.

Mom fail.

Dear Tempo Runs, I apologize for judging you.

Hey! I've got a 5K this weekend.

My previous 5K PR is 33:05, from the Corona del Mar Scenic 5K in June.

I've obviously been running a bit since then, but I haven't done any real speed work since before Long Beach. If we're counting, that was FIVE WEEKS AGO. And, certainly no tempo runs, because I just hate them so very much.

But this week, I was determined to suck as little as possible. So Tuesday, I did my speed work, like a good RLRF follower.

And last night, I did tempo. I almost didn't. I looked at my RLRF pace (9:56) and pretty much laughed at it.

This is the thing. I am NOT a fast runner, obviously. And I'm pretty content with that. Everyone runs for their own reasons, with their own goals. Mine is just to suck less, a little bit. I'm not SUPER concerned with my pace, so long as I'm challenging myself.

And I really don't want to puke. Ever.

I checked out my previous tempo run attempts, and they went from 10:54 (in June), 10:50, 10:44, 10:39, 10:24 (in August). Then I stopped tempo, totally.

Those were ALL done with a minute (or two....) break in between miles to catch my breath. All of them. I never ran a tempo run straight through.

So, yeah, 9:56. Seemed AWFULLY ambitious.

But I figured I'd give it a shot. How bad could it really be, right? I can just lower the speed or take a break if it REALLY sucks.

Mile 1: 9:46.

Huh. This isn't so bad. I don't even feel like I need to slow down....

Mile 2: 9:46

Huh. Two miles. Who knew.

Mile 3: 8:55.

what. the. eff. did. i. just. do.

I mean. Did you see that?

8:55.

3 miles, 28:24. Average pace 9:28.

That is the FASTEST I've ever run, ever. Ever. I didn't feel like I might die. I could have run FASTER, even - I started playing with the speed with about .75 left to go, and increased from 6.3 to 7.4.

And I could have kept going. I could have gone faster.

Imagine where I'd be if I hadn't chickened out of all those other tempo runs, eh?

My brain, in bullet points.....

• #2 was being Extra Special this morning. She wanted pizza for breakfast. Except she didn’t want the pizza SHE requested, she wanted her sister’s pizza. Which she took one bite of, and threw away, because it “tasted weird” TO HER.




• TO HER is a new, recurring theme – she seems to think it absolves her from any responsibility. This tastes weird, TO ME. This shirt that you just bought isn’t comfortable, TO ME. The waffle I just made and has turned the teeniest, lightest shade of tan is burnt…. TO ME.




• It’s exhausting TO ME.




• I picked up this enormous green heirloom tomato at the farmers market last weekend. It’s amazing. You should be jealous.










• I hear there’s a GIANT blogger meetup happening at RNR Seattle next June.
  I’m a sucker for peer pressure, and shared the pressure-love with Becka. I suppose we’ll be making an appearance :D.




• That means that I’ve got TWO FULL MARATHONS on the calendar for 2012. Within 5 weeks.




• Crazy is the only word that comes to mind.




• I’m toying with the idea of making Seattle a family trip. #1 has been wanting to go… Hm. BUT, she also wants to do San Fran, so… we’ll see.




• I’m also toying with the idea of hiring a coach, but am having a conflict in my mind about this… I’m not prepared, nor do I have enough running smarts, IMO, to create a FULL marathon training plan. But, nor am I super interested in running 5 or 6 times a week. I am just not willing to sacrifice that kind of time. I work FT, 3 kids, I’m just not doing it. A lot of coaches really push racking up the miles, and if that works for you, great. I just don’t want to. Will a coach work around that? Hm. Things to ponder.




• Last night after my run, I threw my hair up in a creepy, sweaty bun. Then I left it that way overnight. This morning? I have creepy, sweaty hair. Sexy.




• I only have one long run before Long Beach. YIKES.




• I found chocolate raspberry GU, and it is DELICIOUS. I took a GU on my 10K. Don’t judge. It was worth it.










• Gabby and I went to the local Light the Night walk this weekend… we ended up taking off before the walk, because she was tired, I wasn’t super comfortable with all the people, and… it was just tough, for me, to be there. I don’t know why. Some pictures…
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The white balloon indicates that she’s in treatment…
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Speed work last night was some craziness I made up… 10 min warm up, followed by 1600 @ 9:23, 2x800 @ 4:34, 4x400 @ 2:15, with 400 RI’s.
Actual: 10 min warm up jalk, 1600 @ 9:18 (!!!!!!), 800 @ 4:29, 4:31, 400 @ 2:11, 2:13, 2:07, 2:02, 7:30 cool down jog. FUN!

Three Things Thursday

1. My 2012 race calendar is filling up nicely. A full AND another shot at Coast to Coast? Yes, please....

2. Brightroom says photos are ready from Disneyland. Somehow.... Somehow... There are no photos of me with my GINORMOUS medals. Nor of Fruit Fly, Rose, or #1 at the 5K. WTF, Brightroom?

3. I had scheduled myself for a rest day on Tuesday, my normal speedwork day. But I felt GOOD, so decoded to try the same run Becka was doing (8x800's, 1:30 RI). So I hit up the treadmill, incline at 1, and tried it. Warm up 1 slooooow mile (legs felt tired, but HEALTHY - such a departure from my last two halfs!), then proceeded to do 4x800 before quitting. It was awful. And I was really pissy.

Then I realized..... I was running, 48 hours after half marathon #3. After the previous two, it took WEEKS for me to feel up to running again. And..... I did my 800's in 4:35, 4:31, 4:36, 4:32. Prior to this, my fastest 800 was 4:38. And that was with 2:30 RI.

I guess I'll call myself a runner now.

The Most Complicated Run Ever

I kind of switched things up this week and moved speedwork to Monday, instead of Tuesday.

I was apparently feeling like quite a rebel, because I made up the craziest looking run ever.

I don't know what part of me thought this would be a good idea. When I sent my goal paces to The H, he sent this text back...

Your times are very ambitious :).

Rude. Even with a smiley face.

10 min warm up
1200 in 7:21 (9:11 pace) - actual 6:59
1000 in 6:02 (9:23 pace) - actual 5:51
800 in 4:48 (9:36 pace) - actual 4:42
600 in 3:35 (8:49 pace) - actual 3:20
400 in 2:22 (8:22 pace) - actual 2:10
200 in 1:05 (7:58 pace) - actual 0:55
10 min cool down (200 RI)

4.96 miles. 46 minutes. 9:23 pace.

Yep. Killed it.

Plan

***I sent out an email regarding plans for the Disneyland meetup... if you asked to join, and I missed you (because I have the organizational skills of a chimp), please email me!!***


I seriously suck at the cross training portion of RLRF.

Last week's run down:
Monday - Nada (still recovering from my long run the day before, if that's a valid excuse?)
Tuesday - 800's. Goal pace 4:48. Actual 4:43, 4:42, 4:41, 4:38, total 4 miles. Not a fan.
Wednesday - TV watching
Thursday - Tempo. Goal pace 10:38. Actual actual: 10:38, 10:20, 9:51, total of 5 miles. This run was sweat-tastic.
Friday - um.
Saturday - 11 glorious miles on the treadmill. Goal pace 11:44, actual 11:33, with my last mile at 10:22. I clearly need to step up my game. Talk about underachieving... Also, I adore the treadmill. I'm a freak.

Says The H, "Wow. You're bright." Heh.

(have you entered Running Ricig's "Before and After" Click Giveaway?! Link HERE). Please don't because I love Click and want it for myself. Thanks.

Magic. I also love an ice bath. See: Freak.

For some reason... last week's 10 miler made me sore and achy and tired for days. Saturday's 11 miles? I'm not achy a teeny bit.

Maybe it was the Tommy Coppers?.....

AND, I wasn't famished, either. I mean, I destroyed lunch, but my appetite was totally normal after that, not bottomless-pit-like. Not at all. So strange. I saw this a few hours later, and managed to refrain. Not Normal, people. It's obviously a sign, yes?

Instead, I held out and grabbed some Veggie Grill (meh, what is all the hype?) and Yogurtland with the lovely Faster Bunny. That chick rocks my socks.

Plan for this week:
Monday - 5 miles speed work, TBD
Tuesday - I don't know. Yoga?
Wednesday - Nothing
Thursday - 5 miles, 4 @ tempo pace
Friday - Swim?
Saturday - Wet n' Wild 5K, plus an extra 5 miles sometime over the weekend... welcome back, taper!

And two more random pictures from the weekend...

"Daddy, hold my baby's hand, not mine!"

THIS GIRL had her SECOND TO LAST CHEMO before maintenance on Thursday.

SO so so close, you guys. SO close.

Photo Friday....

How to survive a tempo run....

Mile 1.... 10:38

Mile 2.... 10:20

Mile 3..... 9:51

Result:

Swoob.

800's can kiss my....

Running three quality runs a week works best for me. I have a wussy ass body, that likes to feel injured all the time. After my first half, I was sidelined for 2 weeks. After my second, I was out for a month.

So what's the logical thing to do? Register for another 6 half's and create my own training plan, of course. I based it on Run Less, Run Faster, ran it by a smart runner I know, and so far, so good. My paces are getting better, and my endurance has improved by leaps and bounds.

Like I've posted before, I'm doing a modified version of RLRF. The ONLY reason I've modified any part of it, is because numbers give me anxiety, and there are a LOT of numbers involved. I prefer to simplify things, and do like a straight set of 800's, vs what RLRF posits as Key Run #1.

Overall, I still do Key Run 1 (speed work, of various types - 400's, 800's, etc), Key Run 2 (tempo), and Key Run 3 (long and slow).

Cely @ Running off the Reese's posted a great blog about how to create your own training plan HERE. Good read.

Anyway. Last night I dubbed 4x800, at 4:48 goal pace.

Actual... 4:43, 4:42, 4:41, 4:38. 400 RI.

800's always make me feel like I might die. They last forfreakingEVER. ugh ugh ugh. Plus, I don't know what was happening, but it just seemed like the most annoying gym trip ever. It was a trillion degrees, my legs felt TIRED, there were punk boys there boxing (fine) to the loudest soundtrack ever played on their personal speakers (not fine). Then, #2 showed up in the middle of interval #3, and wanted to chat. Um, sorry kid, I'm barely keeping myself alive, I'm sure not gonna have a convo right now.

Blah. Oh well. I did them, and they're over.

Next up: Thursday tempo, 5 miles with 3 at 10:38. Sounds.... Doable.

Friday, Friday....

Welcome back, Running Mojo. Man, I missed you.

Last night I did 5 miles total, 2 (4x400), 2:10-2:16, with 100 RI, 800 between sets.

1 mile sloooow warm up
1 - 2:23
2 - 2:10
3 - 2:25
4 - 2:17

1 - 2:15
2 - 2:14
3 - 2:19
4 - 2:15

.75mi cool down

So, not quite where I wanted to be. But it felt GOOD to run again.

Welcome back, indeed.

Today was my last day at work, and man.... That felt good, too. Sometimes it's just time to move on.

Tomorrow, I'm volunteering at the Team Gabby water stop for TNT. I seriously love volunteering, it's such a rewarding feeling. If you've never done it, do it!

Aaaaad, to round out my Fresh Start, I'm heading to the farmers market tomorrow for the first time in ages. It was a lot of fun eating fried Mac and cheese for lunch today, but... Really, me? Knock it off.

It's a new day, my friends.

Random Wednesday Ramblings

• Last night, I scheduled myself for 4x800's at 4:34-4:47. Dude. 800's are TOUGH. They are, like, twice as hard as 400's, no joke. But, I did it. Actual: 4:43, 4:27, 4:31, 4:31.



• Tomorrow, I made plans for my cousin to come for dinner. I was stumped in figuring out logistics, because I was ALSO scheduled for 4 miles at 10K pace (hello, birthday 10K in 3 days!). And, also, I committed to meeting the Winter Group for Team in Training OC/IE Thursday night. All of the things, apparently, happen on Thursday. TNT won out, dinner and run rescheduled.



• But speaking of Birthday 10K, the weather looks shady. And by shady, I mean sunny. And by sunny, I mean blazing hot. Dislike. Race gods, why are you toying with me?



• Be quiet, I know it was my own fault for registering for a July race.



• I have a big thing tomorrow, and I'm really nervous.



• I'm wearing these shoes today, but they are giving me a blister.
  
  
  
  
  I've done a lot of unecessary walking today (not by choice, or by plan). Stupid choices. But they're so cute.




• I got one of these the other day - oh happy day!
  
  
  
  
  It's REALLY summer when the treat recipets come out to play!




• Then, when I went back for my $2 drink, I was FAMISHED, and grabbed this as well.
  
  
  
  
  It was good. But $5 good? Not so much.




• I think the people in my office are just messing with me. Who does this?!
  
  
  
  
  And then later, there's this!
  
  
  
  
  
  The world. It's conspiring against me.
  
  

Plan for the Week

So, on Saturday, I met up with three of my favorite bloggers - OUaL, The Faster Bunny, and Fat Girl/Skinny Body - at the Irvine Farmers Market. You'd think, you know, as a blogger, I'd... I don't know... take a freaking picture or something. Blogger fail.

Last week, I hit everything I had planned...

Monday - Suck Less, 167 push ups, 255 sit ups, 110 tricep dips

Tuesday - sucktastic morning "tempo" run. Goal was 4 miles at 10:40. Actual was 4 miles at 11:43. Fail.

Wednesday - Suck Less, 185 push ups, 289 sit ups, 130 dips, 3:30 plank

Thursday - Scheduled for 4 miles at 10k Pace. Goal: 10:28. Actual: 10:18. Splits: 10:48, 10:26, 10:23, 9:37. Stellar.

Friday - Suck Less, 200 push ups, 317 sit ups, 155 tricep dips. No plank

Sunday - Long slow run. Run Less, Run Faster pace 12:28. Actual - 12:18.

I don't know what happened after my 7 miles Sunday, but I felt "off" the entire rest of the day. Tired, blah, slightly pukey, and - this is really what concerned me - not famished. Hm.

Anyway.... on tap for this week...
Monday - Suck Less
Tuesday - 4x800, with 200 RI, 4 miles total (yikes... this one makes me nervous)
Wednesday - Suck Less
Thursday - 4 miles 10K pace <- this one is gonna be tricky. I have invited people over for dinner.... Why do I do that to myself?!
Friday - Suck Less
Saturday - 10K! Because what else do you do for your birthday? Race. Duh.

Anyone else in OC running City of Cypress 10K/5K this weekend? I know that Canadian is... and possibly Ms. Chacha? (and, PS, check out the "Come Run With Me!" tab up top to see my full race lineup!)

Have a great Monday!

So... last week pretty much rocked.

I hit everything I planned to last week -

Monday: Suck Less Program (170 push ups, 283 sit ups, 153 tricep dips, 3 min plank)

Tuesday: RLRF called for 400's... plan was for 400's at 2:24-2:32.... half mile warm up, then...
1 @ 2:26, 2 @ 2:21, 3 @ 2:21, 4 @ 2:22, 5 @ 2:19, with 400 RI in between.

Wednesday: Suck Less Program (185 push ups, 324 sit ups, 179 tricep dips, plank intervals (4 min total))

Thursday: Abs (from laughing at the Bloggy meetup)

Friday: Tempo! .5 warm up, 3 miles @ 10:40, .5 cool down. Actual was 1 - 10:38, 2 - 10:38, 3 - 10:26.

Saturday: Suck Less Program (200 push ups, 379 sit ups, 205 tricep dips, plank intervals (4 min total)), plus 7.75 miles cycling testing out the new shorts (15.5 mph, hilly).

Sunday: Long run - 6 miles @ 12:18 (RLRF called for 12:41)

Phew, right?!

I'm thinking it's about time to re-do my mile time trial and take another look at my training paces... I'm hitting everything with no problem, and feel like it might be too easy.

This week....
Monday: Suck Less Program
Tuesday: 4 hot, humid miles in FL
Wednesday: Suck Less Program
Thursday: 4 hot, humid miles in FL, again
Friday: Suck Less
Saturday: 6-7 miles, easy pace

I'm scrapping RLRF's dictated speed and tempo runs next week, in favor of survival.

Happy 4th, all. Be safe!

Word(y) Wednesday....

Last night's run: RLRF called for 400's. I'm not fancy enough to run on a track (it scares me, honestly), so I did mine on a treadmill set at 1 incline. I also am math dumb, and can't think and run at the same time - so instead of 100 RI, I did 400 cool down. Don't judge me.

Anyway. My 400 goal pace was 2:24-2:32. .5 mi warm up, then...
1 @ 2:26
2 @ 2:21
3 @ 2:21
4 @ 2:22
5 @ 2:19

and 400 cool down at the end. 3 miles, 33:23.

I am really enjoying this RLRF so far. The pace is always fast enough for me to think twice before starting - like, can I *really* do this?!, but not SO challenging that I can't actually do it.
*******

Are you a fan of delicious flavor? I'm meeting up with some other runner/bloggers at Yogurtland tomorrow evening! If you're in the area, I'd love to meet you - shoot me an email for the details!

*******

Guess what came in the mail yesterday?

Yep... Pearl Izumi cycling shorts, that I got a killer deal on.

Plus....

Coincidence? Probably not...

Plan for the Week, and weekend recap

Happy Monday (ish)!

Last week I hit ALL of my planned work outs. However, I'm timing-dumb, and ended up doing Suck Less on the same days as my runs. I dislike this. A LOT.

Monday - nada

Tuesday - Speedwork on the treadmill (12:10, 11:04, 10:30 splits), followed by Suck Less (195 sit ups, 170 push ups, 124 tricep dips. Skipped plank.)

Wednesday - left work early to make enchiladas with my little cousin (little, ha, she's 20).

Thursday - Tempo run, 3 miles with 2 at tempo pace (intended pace 10:37, actual 10:25), Suck Less Program (185 push ups, 392 sit ups, 143 tricep dips. Still a plank skipper.). Stretched and did some yoga in between sets, so I'm counting it, kind of.

Friday - I made ravioli, from scratch, on a whim, for my big cousin. It was magical. You can see it and drool HERE.

Saturday - Sweat Your Thorns Off Virtual 5K, plus 1.9 miles tacked on for my highest mileage since The Ankle. My RLRF long run pace was supposed to be 12:24... actual 12:20. 5 miles! But that's not all... Followed by bumming my 12 yr olds bike (she's taller than me, it works) to see how I really feel about cycling. Turns out, it's glorious. Aside from the ass pain. That's easily remedied. THEN! I still did Suck Less - 200 push ups, 256 sit ups, 168 tricep dips.

Phew.

This week....
Monday - Suck Less
Tuesday - 3 miles, intervals
Wednesday - Suck Less
Thursday - 4 miles, 3 miles at tempo pace
Friday - Suck Less
Saturday - 6 miles (eeek!)

After my very, very busy Saturday, I spent Sunday undoing ALL THE THINGS. Donuts for breakfast... I'm the mayor of Donut Star.

Don't be jealous.

Then, I took #1 and #2 to 85*C bakery in Irvine. #1 has been begging us to go, but there was a giant line last time. Turns out, there's ALWAYS a line. So we went. And waited. And it ended up being magical. And fairly cheap, which I appreciate.

THEN, we went to the Japanese market in Costa Mesa... where apparently I hadn't had enough pastry...

Yep.

Then, for dinner, this kid....

requested a flower shaped pizza.

Right. I mean, I tried.

Why Today is Awesome

1. Last night, I KILLED my tempo run. It was pretty rad. Based on my (estimated) time trial, I was shooting for 10:37. What actually happened - 1/2 mile warm up, 1 mile @ 10:39, 1 mile at 10:15, 1/2 mile cool down.

Now I think I've been underestimating myself. That 2nd mile seemed pretty easy....

But that's not all!

2. Then! I did Suck Less. Total of 185 push ups, 392 sit ups, 143 tricep dips. The H "accidentally" gave me column three of sit ups, instead of column two. Jerk.

But I did them, and it wasn't that awful. Again with the underestimating myself....

Anyway, I *kind of* have some muscle now. Sort of. A little.

3. Also, did you see the Tinker Bell Half Medal!? Hello, giant sparkly twirly thing...


(Yes, I've heard Tinker Bell TWIRLS. How rad is that?!)

4. I saw this on my way to work today....

Really? I think I would pass on hiring you, my friend.

5. Last night, I talked to someone with the local chapter of Team in Training, and Gabby has been selected to be the Honored Teammate for the Orange County/Inland Empire for the winter season! So excited to be working with TNT, and help the Team raise money for LLS.

6. Florida is coming up FAST - 10 days! While I'm not at all excited about the hot, and the humidity (oh dear lord the humidity), I AM excited to see some people I haven't seen in a while... and hopefully eat some real Cuban food. Not that fakey stuff I pretend to make.

7. You know you're a runner when this shows up in your taskbar.......

8. And FINALLY, it's the last day of the work week, and I don't have to be in my office for TWO WHOLE DAYS! Phew. It was getting close to stabbing-o-clock around here.

Wordless Wednesday...

But first... I did speed work last night, and it was magical. I mean, it sucked, at first, but then it was magic. 3 miles, splits: 12:10, 11:04, 10:30. It was sweat-tastic. Then, I did Suck Less Program. That no-lie sucked hard. 195 sit ups, 170 push ups, 124 tricep dips. Skipped plank. I'm a plank skipper. I'm at peace with that.

Phew.

Anyway...

Wordless Wednesday!