Recaps.........

Saturday- Elliptical for about 15 minutes and then off to Power Spin. I pretty much kept it low key in Spin. I am liking using it for a long non-Power Spin day. I still get the exercise that I NEED and can do it at a lower intensity if I choose. I think I averaged a 150 heart rate.
Saturday was also Amara's Kid's Marathon! She ran the whole thing which was her goal! YAY! She was so proud of herself...I was proud of her too. She appeared to have a lot of fun and even said, " That was a lot easier than I thought!" She had a nervous tummy before the race and even hit the bathroom (#1) at least 3 times in 3o minutes before the race! She is an athlete folks! Ha ha! After the race we stayed at the YMCA for the Harvest Fest they were putting on. While there she ( done by yours truly) got her nails painted, face painted and played a few games. It was a nice afternoon.

Sunday~ Sunday was the Grand Rapids Marathon! Lots of people from my running group were there and did a great job. My husband's fishing buddies sister ( does that make sense???) won the over all female marathon (2:45 and some change) She is set to go to the Olympic Trials now. It was so awesome to see her running to the finish-I can't fathom running that fast--ever!
The weather was perfect and I had fun taking pics and watching friends qualify for The Boston Marathon. A friend of mine squeaked by with 40 seconds to spare! Talk about a nail biter!
With that being said, today is the first day of signs ups for the race....I have gotten multiple emails/texts/ and Face Book messages asking/telling/ exclaiming about this. Ugh! I am happy for my friends ( really, I am.) This is harder than I thought though!! I think it's because it's such a fun group going that has me down. Not so much the race itself ( who am I kidding??), but the company and the fact that they think this will be there last marathon ever too ( we all say that though....).
My brother knows of my wallowing in self pity today and brought over a wine cooler! Ha ha. My cycling buddy gave me homemade baked goods--pumpkin cookies and some pumpkin bread!! The baked goods are easing the sadness a bit I must admit! It's too early for the wine cooler! I still have to pick Amara up from school!

Weekend Update + Monday.

Saturday~ perfect weather for running. I was able to wear carpi's and a long sleeve shirt. Already! I love that actually.
12 miles. Or 12 miles of torture. The first half mile was straight up- hill (true story). What a way to warm up! I was running with my middle of the pack friends that were going a bit faster than normal ( or was I slower??). It was kind of hard. One of my slower runner friends showed up and we ended up running together. Now that the run is over I wonder how I could have done/felt if I would have stayed with the fast chicks. Makes me upset at the moment, but those hills kind of took my confidence away- real fast. Too late to find out now. It won't help to dwell on that. Did I mention all the hills????
Sunday~ Road biking with my friend. She just got a sweeeeeet road bike for her birthday. I helped her husband conspire to make it a surprise. We went for a nice 12 + mile ride. She is a natural. I was pretty much eating her dust for most of the ride as I was "teaching" her how to shift and attack the hills. She was like a little kid. I think my legs were toast from the day before--although she was super fast regardless of my excuses!
Monday~ Met my friend again and 2 more for 16 miles on the bikes. Where did we ride you ask...well the same dumb hills that I ran on Saturday, of course! The hills were just as bad too. (probably worse! haha) Ugh. Those downhills scare me.....we were all squealing and breaking as we coasted down them too. It was fun to ride with a group. Sadly, the days of having a bike are getting less and less. The owner will probably want his bike back soon. Boooo! It was good while it lasted! I just need to come up with a plan so I can borrow someone elses bike next spring!

10 mile and a spin class. I have had better ideas before.

Still sore. Even more so now.
I was up all ready to run today!! I set out at 5:45 AM with big goals. I met the biggest one. I got in 10 miles! Not at the paces that I wanted, but hey. Whatev.
My warm up was about 9:30 ish pace. Which I am OK with even though when I run the warm up with my friends at running group it's about an 8:30 pace. I have issues with pushing myself apparently. That's dumb.
So anyways. I was going to maybe do a 6 mile tempo. Although I am not certain what my actual tempo for a 1/2 marathon really is. I thought maybe I would do an 8:00 -8:15 pace. Not so much. I think I made it to 8:45 ish for the first 3 miles and then I stopped to drink. I ran close to home so I could stop by and drink up. My next 3 miles started out pretty good. 8:30 ish for a bit and then it went downhill. I was pooped. I finished my "tempo", and then started the cool down- yeah I made more of a walk/run! It was mostly a run, but whateva. I got my 10 in!

So then since I am super smart I decided to go to my friends spin class. Not because I thought I needed to go. My main reason was because I told her I would go and I want to support her-she's a newer instructor. Ugh. I basically used it as a recovery ride...I had to work way too hard to keep my heart rate up and I was not up for that..so I kept it low. What a waste! I could have been in yoga or home not sleeping on the couch! Oh well. Lesson learned??
That was my Thursday!

Long run, spin and weights in this here 3 day recap.

Saturday- I ran! Bout time. I was up bright and early for my usually pre-long run meal. Oatmeal with fruit and PB and a protein shake.
The weather out was horrible. It was pouring rain, but no lightening (whew). I was ready to run 12 miles, but ran a bit more. 12.56 to b exact. My splits per mile were nothing to be proud of. Really. My "fastest" mile was 9:16 ( the first mile mind you!) and my slowest was 10:14. I averaged 9:45 per mile.
I am not feeling like a runner these days. I thought I might try to push myself a bit more during this run, but it just was not happening. I could blame on the rain ( Milli Vanilli anyone??), or that my allergies were through the roof, or, or, or, or! I keep saying that 2010 is just not my year. I can live with that as long as I come back stronger in 2011! I am still ecstatic over the fact that I Get to run though. Really, I am!
So that was it for Saturday. My running goal--almost made it! Less than half mile. Close enough?!?!

Sunday- Cardio and weird weights. I warmed up on the Cross Trainer machine for about 15 minutes and then I did some weights. I was not really in the mood for weights, but I was there and I needed to do them so....

I did some kind of upper body pyramid.
shoulder press:
10 reps/8 reps/8reps
15#/12#/10#
This was a killer! I did this 3 times through! It hurt so good.
I did the same with Biceps and Rows.

I threw in some lower body ( not pyramid style) between upper body exercises:
3 sets of 10 reps...varying weights per set.
Step ups
1 leg lunges off bench.
I can't quite call it full body, because, well; it wasn't! It is what it is though.
After that I got on the elliptical for about 25 minutes. It was a pretty good workout for not really wanting to be there in the first place! Sometimes ( rare) those are some of my best sessions!

Monday- Spin strength intervals! I was about 10 minutes into my class when I looked up and I saw my boss in the back row! Eeek! She is a really cool person, but my heart rate went up a bit after seeing here there. Can't help that! It was a good class ( she tole me!) and it was fun to see her there.
I missed my morning run. Booo! I might attempt it later, maybe not.
I am signed up for a 5k Mud Run this Saturday!

Friday and getting back into running....for now.

Friday~ Early Spin class! It was a fun interval style today. A few big hills that got progressively steeper as the climb progressed. After that I lifted weights! Yay! Full body lifting.

3x10
Chest Press (apparently my shoulder still hurts)
Squats ( in the rack!)
Dead lifts ( Free motion-first time using this)
Bicep 21's (body bar 15#)

Short and sweet. I met my goal of lifting for this week! I hope to keep it up!

Saturday~ 11.5 mile run. Was supposed to do 12, but the route was off for some reason. It was a tough run and I did not feel the need to run the last half mile. It's been a while since I actually did a long run ( 10 mile race, spin class, duathlon, spin class....), so yeah, it was tough today.
It was humid and I got a mean tan (even though I used sunscreen!) but the good news is I looked fashionable in my running skirt and green Adidas top. I got many compliments on my *outfit*. It had me laughing! Another tie in to my Examiner Article on being Fit and Fashionable! I guess I thought I had to try and look cute since I knew I was going to struggle during today's run! Although, by 3 miles in most of us in the group looked as if we had run a 10 mile race--the humidity was awful and we were drenched. I actually wrung my skirt out during the 9th mile it was so heavy with sweat-gross.

Weekly wrap up:
Miles: 18
Spin classes: 3
Weights: 3
Yoga: 0
Road bike miles:0
Other: 1 (TurboKick class)
Gym cardio: 20 minutes on elliptical

After looking at my wrap up, I hope to run more miles, bike more miles, do yoga and maintain the rest. We shall see! With that being said, I am pretty sure I am teaching Power Spin next weekend and then going out of town the next! I need to figure out when to fit in my long runs.

Saturday- cardio overlaod training!

Saturday~ I actually woke up to run! I was lucky that my CamelBack was not all moldy from the last time I used it ( months and months ago). I filled it up with Gatorade and was hitting the pavement before 6 am. I think it was already in the mid 60's with high humidity. Awesome. I actually used to love running in the heat. I still might like it; I will have to let you know.

It was a great day for running too! Besides the fact that I was all alone and then my awesome iPod earphones decided to cut out on me. I somehow survived the rest of the 7.5 miles without tunes.

My goal was after the first mile (9:09) not to fall under a 9 minute mile. I did it! I averaged 8:47/mile with my fastest mile at 8:39. Fine by me! My goal was to run 6 miles and I had enough time to do 2 more--so I did.

After that it was on to Power Spin class. This class is 60 minutes, but she ALWAYS starts it 15 minutes early--sweet. I was able to eat a Luna Protein Bar in cookie dough flavor about 10 minutes before class. It was ok--you could tell it was a protein bar in my opinion! I needed the energy for the class for sure, and this bar served it's purpose!

I was able to hang tough for the first hour and then kind of puttered out. I was exhausted-in a good way of course! It was a great training day. I took a good 20 minutes after class and stretched. Apparently-not enough. My hip flexors and IT bands are TIGHT !

I am training for a duathlon so I need to practice my run-bike-run thang! Ugh. This particular class is a preparation for a 4 hour Half Iron-Man ( Spin style!) in the fall. If I am able to do it (family, races etc.) I will for sure be there! 4 hours! Dang.

Sunday~ I took the day off...not intentional. I was all set to go to a 1 hour HOT YOGA (ahhhh) class, but their new summer hours started today-no more classes on Sunday until Sept. Phooey! I was so ready! I then thought about either going to the gym or take the bike out (it's been too long) and get some "real" road miles in. Well--none of those things took place. I have had a raging headache mostly all day. I am sure it has something to do with me not getting my normal Sunday grocery shop specialty coffee this morning. It's nope that I am dehydrated from losing 10 lbs of sweat yesterday-nope. It's caffeine withdrawal. Yep.

A breathing lesson, Speedy Bike Ride and A Case of the Monday's....

Thursday~ I had my speech pathologist appointment on this day. It went as expected. My speed lady was really nice and funny and helpful. She did make a point to tell me that it is rare to see someone my age in her pediatrics office! That made laugh. Oh well. We went over breathing techniques for me to use and practice a few times a day. The "panic breathing" is very easy to do.
Pay attention: If you ever hyperventilate-- DO NOT take a deep breath in and out. Totally wrong-who knew?!?! Not me. One short breath IN and a relaxed 4-5 count breath OUT. Good to know. This will come in handy later in the week.......
I also taught 3-2-1.

Friday~ Early spin and core. I left out the ploys today...just was not feelin' it. Oh, and lots of yoga type stretching! I'm trying.

Saturday~ 8 mile run. It was majorly humid and warm. It's about time! I actually did not mind the heat. I attempted to push the pace a little bit. It worked. I had an "episode" I was running just under an 8 MM pace when it happened. I slowed down just a bit and practiced my newly learned techniques. I think it worked. I hope it worked. PLEASE work!!
So frustrating, but it is what it is-right?? I think my ending pace was 8:31 for 8 miles. It felt good.

Sunday~ 22 mile bike ride. I had a buddy take me out on the road to show me his ways! He is a mountain biker, but took me on the roads to teach me how to tackle hills, shift and go 30 MPH...what a rush! I learned a lot and hope it know it will help me in the future.

Monday~ Spin race day! The day started out horribly. I stayed up late Sunday night making a spin profile and getting new race day worthy music downloaded and onto a CD. Guess who forgot the CD and profile at home. Yup--this chick!! I was beyond ticked!! After I collected myself I looked further in my bad and found that I did pack another CD. Whew. I had to scribble out a new profile in about 4 minutes flat. I did. Class rocked-if I do say so myself.....I was lucky!! Ha! (note to self: do not under any circumstances plan a 22 mile hilly ride the day before a Race Day. Duh.)
Totally Toned was at 12 noon.
That is all!
Oh--my 10k is Saturday!! WoooHooo!!

Off day and The Day of The Taper!

Friday- OFF! Sick boy! :-(
I won't go into too much detail..but it was my poor kid throwing up snot. Once in Target. I don't think anyone even noticed.....

Saturday- 8 miles!! I love to taper. Today was half the miles I ran last Saturday!! The race is one week from today. Eeeek! This is the first time in a looong time that I am not totally excited to to it. It's the largest 25k in the country for Pete's Sake! I will get excited sooner or later..... I guess I am going to bite the bullet and just run it and play it by ear. I will try my best. Today's run was in a down pour for most of it. It was a nice warm morning though so the rain felt pretty good. My pace was a steady 8:44/mile. It felt good; no vocal cord issues (knocking on wood).
I was relaxed and talked the whole run. It was weird to run 4 miles and then get to turn around to head back because we were done! Felt so good. And today was the opening day of our local farmer's market. Today was a pretty darned great day. Miles is better too. We had a good time today.
I am really trying to stretch more. So far so good. Two days in a row of stretching on my own, plus today I did a yoga/core/abs session for 15 minutes. I am so bad at it!

I hope to pick up the road bike on Monday and get it fitted and any necessary maintenance done so I am good to go by next week. SWEET!! Very excited to be able to do some duathlons this summer.
I plan on going to the gym for weights and also cardio on Sunday. We will see how that plays out though.

I almost forgot: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31860529

GPSless no more--and other things....

Sorry I did not post up yesterday. I must have been too busy...using my new Garmin!! Woohoo!!

I got it yesterday! Charged her ( she's grey/pink accents) up and went for a 2 mile run before teaching my class! Oh and it was a 8:09 minute pace too. I know this, because I have a GPS!! Yahoo!

So anyway....I taught my class after the short run!

In other news...I finally tracked down the doctor about my vocal Cord hoopla. My appointment is on May 20th...... great. That's only 12 days after the Big Show. What the heck?!! Now I am torn. Do I run this race for the fun of it or try to make a goal? I have never run a race strictly for fun-EVER! haha...but really- I don't think I can. I might try it this time though. I forgot to mention that during my run I had NO issues at all. They say this disorder can be brought on by stress--maybe I was stressed that I was GPSless for so long?!??!?!

Friday~ I lifted weights today. It was kind of a blah session for me. I am not sure why.

Shoulders and hamstrings:

3x12

Shoulder press

Dead lifts

Ball Ham curls
Front raises

This is all!

But I think I worked these muscle groups plenty in my class last night--lots o' lunges and upright rows etc.

Spin class...what a different experience with my heart rate monitor! I know I work hard, but I work harder with instant feedback. Whew! I have missed you Heart rate monitor- so glad you are back!

On the plan for Saturday...12 mile run in the hilliest place we run. I am to run the first 6 miles easy and the last 6 at race pace..what is my race pace anyway?!?! Oh boy.

Friday and Saturday recap

Friday~ Early morning spin was a good class. I did not have any breathing issues-BONUS!
After spin I was able to lift legs-Quads to be specific. They were actually still a bit sore from the week too. I did 4x10:
Leg Press
Split Squats
Leg Ext
That is all. I planned on squatting in the rack, but gossiping time took me away from that. Maybe next time. I also want to add that my triceps are still on fire from whenever the heck I did chest and triceps...Thursday maybe?? It's Sunday. I get it. Stop being sore. You know I love it. Whateva.

Saturday~ 16 miler in the books. It was a GORGEOUS morning for a run. I was really happy with how my run went. It was around a 9 minute mile pace. I felt that I most certainly could have stepped it up a bit and gone faster, but my running buddy was a having some issues. I am sure it was a blessing in disguise though. I did not want to get all cocky and then have problems breathing. We talked practically the whole 16 miles. It was a friend of a friend that I did not really know that well.... so now we know each other better. I love making new friends!
This will be the last 16 miler before the Big Show (25k). I am still not sure if I am going to do the Big Show yet. I want to see my speech pathologist first and get an idea of how realistic that would be for me and my goals. I hope they call me soon!!!

The VIRUS is gone and other STUFF!

My computer had a virus! Now it's gone. Whew! Life is hard without a computer. I am so happy I GET to use a computer!!!
I don't even know where to begin. I will make the recaps short.

Saturday~ 14 miler. I made a wrong turn-I was supposed to run 12! It was a hilly run. I walked up some of them with a fellow runner-she was getting over a cold. I was having trouble breathing too. All is good though. I was able to run!

Sunday~ OFF.
Monday~ Spin and Totally Toned. I also lifted weights -hamstrings and shoulders. 4x10. 3 super sets = pain. Love it.

Tuesday~ I took the day off. I had my allergy appointment. To make a long story short: I do not have severe asthma. I like to be unique....so I have a weird vocal cord(s) that does not want to relax and cause me trouble. Awesome. On to the speech pathologist I go. Awesome.

Wednesday~ Spin at 10am. Totally Toned at 12 noon. Spin at 4:30pm. It was just one of those days. In my head I was not "making up" for not working out on Tuesday. Really. I just needed to workout for my mind. It was a good class too!

I think I am all caught up now.

4 Days of recaps.

Thursday~ I actually forgot to update my Thursday when I was updating the previous days ( on Thursday) D'OH!
Thursday I went to the gym ( without puffing on my inhaler- it was a brain-fart) and did the elliptical for 30 minutes and that was it. My breathing was OK. It was a bit labored, but nothing to be afraid of. I then taught 3*2*1 a few hours later. I could totally feel my lungs during class. My lungs were not happy with me, but at least the cardio segments were only 3 minutes long at a time. Ugh.
Friday.~ I taught spinning in the early morning and could feel my lungs sucking in air HARD. Ugh. After class I did some core and plyometrics. I felt fine during this.
Saturday~ OFF! We were out of town and I had every intention of taking a walk before breakfast--nope. Oh well. A day off was needed.
Sunday~ 16 miles!! I did the first 6 with 2 friends from my running group. Thank goodness....16 miles would be pretty tough to do by myself. We hoofed those miles in about an 8:40 minute mile average. They both were coming off of running 10 miles the previous day at about an 8 minute mile pace so they were kind of tired! The next 10 I did by myself at about the same pace or a bit slower. I had a few bouts of tightness in my lungs but nothing major. I also had my rescue inhaler on me just in case. I was super excited that my old Polar GPS did not cut off and my iPod stayed on! Woohoo!
The weather was beautiful which is why my asthma was probably acting up! Lots of new growth and wonderful allergy/asthma inducing stuff! Love it though.
I pretty much feel like garbage now. It might be all the goodies I inhaled ate on Saturday at a family Easter gathering. So much yumminess! Time to get it back together.....(tomorrow)

Thursday, Friday, Saturday- 2 squirts a day!

Thursday- 3*2*1 class. I was so sore and still am after teaching this one! My inner thighs?!?! No clue what the heck I did!
Friday- Spin at 5:30 AM. Interval with some heavy hills. Totally Toned. I only demonstrated today. I was pooped! Stretched for 15-20 minutes after class. I so needed it.
Saturday-10 mile progressive run. That means the 2nd half should be at race pace or something like that!
Sooo...The first 5 was around 9 minute pace I think. I can't remember! The second half was right around 8 minute pace. Not too far off from my 7:45 goal pace of the race. I had no idea what my pace was until I completed the run. It's one of the biggest annoyances I face. Ha. But today was different. I was so glad to not have a frickin' asthma attack while running this HILLY course that I did not give a rats behind about my pace. Well, not that much! Who am I trying to kid?? (I really like to know my pace-get off my back) I felt as if I had some left too, so that is an awesome feeling. I had basically figured I would be running the 5k with Matt and my daughter this year( which would not be a bad thing-don't get me wrong!). I think I just might be ok with this asthma stuff as long as I keep doing as I am told! One puff in the morning, one at night and one Singular a day = Marcia can run!

Sunday.....long run ( made into a short run)

I ran in the rain today. It was just a light drizzle and I only made it 6 miles out of my planned 10. I am not sure how fast my miles were, but a guess would be around 8:30 ish or so. I was kind of bummed that I did not get in my 10, but it is what it is!My breathing was fair. It was not perfect and that concerns me slightly. I guess I will see how Tuesday's speed session goes before I make a doctors appointment. I like to live in denial.
Not only did I not get take a much needed day off from workouts I picked up a spin class for this week. So I will be teaching spin twice on Wednesday. It's nothing i have not done before, but that was a long time ago! I used to teach 2 back to back spins twice a week. I do not miss that. I at least get a slight break in between classes ( 10am and 4:30 pm to be exact). This should be an interesting week, with no days off. I have a possible race this weekend- The Irish Jig 5k, if I can get my dad to watch the kids! I should probably ask him already.........

14 Mile Day.

The weather was almost perfect ( for March that is) . I was actually a bit warm towards the end. I like that better than being too cold though. Even my hands were only mildly frostbitten today.
I really don't know my splits for today. It's very annoying too. I just like to know these things. I do know that the first 7 miles were slower than the last 7. I ran the first 7 with 2 nice ladies from my running club. One is training for Boston and had to run 16 so I turned around after that, turned on my iPod and was gone.
The route we ran today was most of the 25k race that I am training for. Flash backs baby! It was this race that I tried to run a sub 2 hours in. I did it in 2:00:39. Yep. So close yet so far away! My goal of course this year is to get under 2 hours, but I am feeling as if I am not in as good of shape as last year at this point in the game. Either I need to get my act together and step up my game or I will not get my goal. I don't like meeting goals if I know that I could have done better! OK. It's decided. My goal will be attained come May 8th!

Thursday-Long Run(treadmill style)

I hate the treadmill. Yet, I am thankful I can use it to get what I need done-done. I made it to the gym a little later than planned. I think I started watching The Olympics or something and lost track of time. Ooops!
I actually felt really strong and good during most of the run. I added some inclines and varying speed along the way. At about mile 4 or so the treadmill I was on started misbehaving. It was unbalanced all of a sudden! Total bummer. There are a lot of treadmills at my gym, ,but I did not want to waste time looking for "the perfect" one -Again! I liked the one I was on..it did not make too much noise and the TV was already on Closed Captioned! I like that so I can "read" the news and listen to my iPod at the same time. Multi-tasker is my middle name (actually It's Dawn!)
So that leads me to my new treadmill. The closed caption was not on (boo!) besides that all went well....well besides my iPod ear phones acting up. They stopped working in the unit, but worked in the TV. Ugh. So annoying! I got through it. What was I talking about? Oh right..running! I tried to stop and drink every 30 minutes or so, just as I would have done if I was running outdoors. It's always harder to start up when you are by yourself I think. I kept about a 9 minute pace since I threw in a few 7:45 pace (not for a whole mile though). I was a sweaty mess. My hips have been kind of tight lately as well, not liking that feeling. I almost stopped my run with less then 3 miles left. I was kind of late starting and I did not want to be late getting home so Matt could leave for work. I texted him to let him know I had 1 mile left and did not hear back from him...so I just took that as he was OK with it. I guess it could have meant he never got the message since he was busy with the kids too. Oooops. He seemed fine when i got home so I will still assume he got my message.
I did go back to the gym fr core work. I am not sure if that is dedication or stupidity. I got the kids dressed. Changed my clothes and ate quickly and was back at the gym. I was there less than 1 hour before! I am glad I went back. I did not stretch enough after the run so I used the next hour to stretch and do core. I would write what I did, but I don't know the proper names of a few of the exercises! So here is some of what I did!
Hip circles
planks (variations)
Roll ups
weighted obliques
cat and cow
2 more!
Repeat everything!
Lots of stretching before, between and after all sets were done.
It was a great day!

Thursday!

I did my long run today! I wont be able to do it Saturday. I ran 10 miles with my marathon buddy. It was not too cold out until the last 2-3 miles. The sidewalks were so icy and snow covered I felt like a little old lady shuffling along! My whole body hurts from being so tense.
BUT, I am so glad I did it with a friend and not on the treadmill Friday night!
After that I was in no mood to do my full body circuit...but I did it anyway. Mainly because I was meeting my friend. I did a totally different slacker workout though. I also stretch a lot in between, during and after! I need a massage or a vacation or a massage while on vacation.

Saturday Long Run-Rocked It!

I am back! I think. It was frigid today. Freezing cold, windy, windchill of 6 or something stupid like that. This early in the season I might have skipped out or at least been really pissed off about it. Not this morning with my new improved attitude!! I was ready to go. Partly because I have decided to just suck it up and work and partly because I was excited to test out my new GPS Garmin!!

Another long story short. I am taking it back to the store. So sad about this. It has soooo many positives. But the biggest negative trumps all the positives. So sad. I NEED the real GPS capabilities. I calibrated it again for almost 3 miles. After running less than a half mile it was already "off" by over .1 of a mile. Ugh. That is a lot for a non-recreational runner I think ( that would be me).

I did not let that ruin my run though. I was still able to see my pace and faux mileage. There was even a pacer dude on my watch. I was over 5 minutes ahead of him too. It was motivating to see that even though it was not a real person! Call me crazy.

Here are my splits for 10 miles: http://connect.garmin.com/splits/24056231

My avg. was 8:47 a mile I think. That is NOT normal for this girl on her "easy" long run days. It won't happen a lot ( I save it for actual racing! haha), but it sure felt great today.

I even stretched because my carpool buddy is training for a spring marathon and ran 14 miles today, so I had the time. It was MUCH needed. I think I am going to go and stretch some more!

Friday--Long Run.

I did my longish run this evening on the crappy trusty treadmill. We are beginning to be friends (more like enemies) these days. I don't even know my pace for the 10 miles I put in today. Don't care either! I am just happy to be DONE!!
I did not find my running "groove" until about 6 miles in..so those first 6 were not so much fun for me. My plan was to do 11 miles. At mile 6 I had to talk myself into going for 8, so 10 seemed like a accomplishment to me! WHEW!
I stretched afterwards and came home to a nice dinner of a chicken breast, squash and sweet potato. Yum Yum!

SO glad that's over! ( the run, not my dinner!)

Saturday Long Run

I went it with the thought of running 10-11 miles and ended running 12. It felt good though. It felt waaay better than last weekends long run-that's for sure!

I was way too hot today. And then freezing cold, ,and then way too hot again. I love Michigan! My hands were ever too warm (for about 5 minutes).

It was not snowing, just a bit breezy from time to time. I ended up running the final 6 miles by myself. This will be new for me this season, but so far so good. My normal running buddies are training for a spring marathon and I am not. I don't need to be running 14-15 miles yet...so I'm not! So thankful for my iPod though!!

Tonight is the party. I can't wait!