02.28.10 My Gasparilla

15K Gasparilla race was yesterday. Unfortunately my daughter was ill and I had to miss it. I always look forward to the expo which brings alot of great dri-fit shirts for this race. The race course is beautiful, running along the water.

Today was My Gasparilla. I took off when the sun was beginning to set. This is my favorite time to run. I really miss my evening runs. I enjoy not getting up early and the cool evening breeze, watching the sunset. I planned on doing 10 miles but soon thought it would be a better idea to run the 15K that I missed yesterday. I fueled with 4 chomps and carried my water bottle with me. I left my middle class neighborhood and ran towards the upper crust homes close by. Thank goodness for the music. I don't feel as alone out there with all the songs that Madison has down loaded on my ipod. With each run I feel like I get to know her better listening through each song choice. It's a mix between East coast and Twilight if that makes any sense. At least that's how they feel to me.

I ran 4 1/2 miles before stopping for water and fuel. Around 5 1/2 miles it felt like my legs left my body, comparible to a runner's high I suppose. That didn't last long unfortunately. Around mile 7 I was ready for it to be over. I think the lack of sleep, staying up with Gracie the past 2 nights took it's toll on me. Once I got back to my neighborhood I still needed a mile so I ran our loop one time around. It's such a let down to get close to home and need extra mileage. That's where good planning comes into play.

Mile 1: 9:26
Mile 2: 9:16
Mile 3: 9:26
Mile 4: 9:37
Mile 5: 9:40
Mile 6: 9:36
Mile 7: 9:34
Mile 8: 9:13
Mile 9: 9:00

Total time: 1:24:55.....A little disappointed with my pace per mile. I can usually put away those miles closer to 9, if not 8:50. There's always next week. Looking forward to the Princess 1/2 Marathon at Disney with my girls.

02.25.10 Cardio Sculpt

Sinus pressure was way too great to get in the pool tonight. Kelly offered a great work out with plenty of challenge. I was pleasantly suprised that I felt so strong throughout class. Kelly's classes use to be a greater challenge. I think the cross training between the run and swim has improved my cardio and the Body Flex classes have helped me build a little muscle.

02.24.10 yogalates

Great new class taught by Jeanine at the Y. Traditional Yoga mixed with core work. The music was also a treat; John Mayer, The Fray and some Thai thrown in there. Very relaxing and I felt loose when I left. I'm giving this class 2 thumbs up and I will return next week. These running legs need every chance they get for stretching.

02.24.10 finally, a short run outside

Total time 44:26. Total miles 5. It was drizzling rain which made the run more comfortable than usual. My only concern was should the rain get heavier my Garmen would not survive. Luckily it stayed light and enjoyable.


Mile 1: 9:11
Mile 2: 9:05
Mile 3: 8:54
Mile 4: 8:50
Mile 5: 8:25

Need to do some more speed work. Last year around this time I was making alot more progress. You only get out of it what you put into it and lately my training has been laxed.

02.22.10 Body Flex

Body Flex with Kelly. It was the usual weight lifting with a little element of cardio from set to set. The greatest pain is the shoulder and ab work out. She's always changing up the work outs to keep it fresh. Love your classes Kelly.

02.18.10 Swim

Shared a lane with T and as usual it's so awesome to see how fast she gets each week. Since it was very cold outside we kept moving and put in alot of laps. I don't think I will ever be able to keep track of them. I get too caught up in all the different drills she runs us through. I really enjoy the end of class when she has everyone pick a favorite stroke and we swim 50 meters of everyones favorite. Of coarse by the end of class I like to pick the finger drag since it's easy and relaxing. The breast stroke and the lifeguard I find the most challenging. My neck always feels sore after the lifeguard. I was very fatigued after this swim. I think running earlier in the day added an element of challenge to this swim.

02.18.10 Tempo

Another treadmill run..

2 miles easy
2 miles @ 8:13
2 miles easy

02.16.10 speed work

Dreaded treadmill but not much choice with the rain...

1 mile warm up at 9:30
4 x 800 at 8:13 pace (2 min RI)
10 min cool down

Challenging is all I remember.

02.13.10 long run w/ Striders

Waited too long to blog this run to note anything besides stats.....

mile 1: 9.44
mile 2: 9:44
mile 3: 9:25
mile 4: 9:24
mile 5: 9:37
mile 6: 9:39
mile 7: 9:34
mile 8: 9:33
mile 9: 9:29
mile 10: 9:38
mile 11: 9:40
mile 12: 9:46

Total time 1:54:50...ave pace 9:34

02.11.10 swim (two a day)

First two-a-day work out of the Tri season. I made myself finish my 6 mile tempo run even though my hamstrings were tight and tired. 3 hours later I'm proud to say I actually got in the pool. It was 40 some degrees and steam was rising off the water. I hurried into the water which was alot warmer than the air. After a 200 meter warm up we spent the rest of the 1 hour and 15 minute class swimming drills. I believe I swallowed less water this swim. Not sure of the distance because I was more focused on my technique. At the end of our swim Emmy had us swim 50 meters of each swimmer's favorite stroke. Of coarse T and Chris picked the most strenuous ones (arm pulls and one arms). Emmy had us do dolphins to the deepend, breast stroke to the end of the pool and lifeguards on the way back. I was officially done after that. I got out of the pool feeling a great sense of accomplishment. It was worth the goggle eyes.

02/11/10 tempo run

work out #2 of marathon training. Back on the treadmill. The temp is 50 degrees outside and the gym seemed like the better of the two options. Although, I'm planning to swim in this weather this evening......

6 mile run:

2 miles easy @ 10:20 pace
2 miles @ short tempo (8:16)
2 miles easy again

Another tough work out. The book is calling for 13 miles this weekend. We will see.

02.08.10 speedwork

Haven't picked up my "Run Less, Run Faster" book in months. I found myself not getting excited to do the workouts. So I openned it to the "Training for a Marathon" section and decided I would attempt it. Got on the treadmill and performed my first workout...

10 min work up at 10 something pace
3 x 1600 (1 min RI) @ 8:13 pace
10 min cool down at 10 soemthing

Tough work out but I expected nothing less. Will attempt to stick with it.

Long run w/ Striders 02.06.10

12 miles, 1:55:46...Wow, first blog since Christmas. What a vacation that has been. I skipped 3 whole weeks due to illness, weakness and holiday.

Met Dana, Teresa and Andrew at the trail. Temp was in the 50's and it felt great.

Mile 1: 10:00 pace
Mile 2: 9:52
Mile 3: 9:50
Mile 4: 9:45
Mile 5: 9:41
Mile 6: 9:44
Mile 7: 9:42
Mile 8: 9:33
Mile 9: 9:34
Mile 10: 9:32
Mile 11: 9:23
Mile 12: 9:05