Halloween Run!

I wore a tutu today. Yup, who would have thought?

It was the Saturday group run and we were encouraged to wear Halloween costumes. N is good at figuring out that kind of stuff. So, when she came across orange tutus, cute shirts, halloween hair ties, and socks we could use as arm warmers, she thought why not. And that became our Halloween costumes for the run.

I started tapering off this week so I brought my mileage down to under 9 miles. I had aimed to do 8, but   ended up meeting up with the group coach and did a little extra (8.83). For the 8 miles I came in at just about a 9 min/mile- 1:13. With the 8.83 I clocked in at 1:20. The weather has been incredible so I think that factor alone improved my run time. I will tell you what didn't improve my run time- strong gusts of wind and flooding in the road. What sucks is we encountered the flooding in the first mile, and we had to tread through water that was up to almost my knees. Even though it sucked, I didn't get any blisters at least. Overall, another fantastic group run!!!!


Hurricane Sandy

A hurricane is a'coming!!! And this hurricane sure wanted to make its way towards Florida.

Today I got to go into work later since I was going to stay late. It was awesome because I got to run a bunch of errands :) One of my errands involved returning the Runners World Big Book of Marathon and Half Marathon Training. Runners World let you "preview" the book for 21 days and after looking over it, it told me everything I pretty much already knew. I wasn't about to pay $34 for information I already knew.

In my morning I got a mini-spin session in. I keep telling myself to taper off so I did a 30 minute "quality" session with a 5 minute warm up and cool down. The other 20 minutes involved 1 minute full gear fast pace sessions with a minute of rest in between. It was pretty hard.

This afternoon I was planning on running 5 miles with one of the running groups I belong to, but the weather was uncooperative! N and I had made our plans, but of course they were foiled. We discussed what we should do, and I figured I would run around my gym's indoor track. I headed out of work late and did my 5 planned miles. Now, I had macaroni grill this afternoon and I was still full. Surprisingly, I felt okay during my run. Right now I'm not sure how I feel lol. I might have some fruit and call it a day!!! Tomorrow is my "rest" day: so I swim.....

Fundraising Update: I'm kind of disappointed in the lack of response I have gotten from friends. I know a lot of people are going through tough times, but I never ask for much. So when I do I expect some sort of response. Don't get me wrong. I have friends who have donated and they're amazing. However, there are some people that are surprising me. I'm sure I'm readin way too into this, but that's just how I feel. Movin... on....

My First Flat Tire Experience

I actually had my first flat tire two days ago, but it was such a ridiculous situation that I decided it should be today's post title. However, first I will begin with my back-logged fitness events.

Saturday: I ran 10 miles YAY!!! I clocked my time at 1:38 which is pretty good!!! I tried to negative split (when you run the second half of your run faster than the first part) on this distance and it worked!! My first 5 miles was 53 minutes, and my last 5 miles was 45 minutes!!! That's a 9 minute mile for the last 5 miles!!! The weather was absolutely incredible (low/mid 70s) and I got to run with a group which always motivates me! I'm running again with this group the following week, but I'll be tapering off.

Later that day, N and I went fundraising for the American Cancer Society at the UM vs FSU game. Let me tell you something, IT WAS NOT FUN!!! We had some people who were rude, gave us dirty looks, and shot down our confidence when they said no :( Regardless of all that, we still managed to raise over $200!!! Definitely worth it!!! We might be doing something like this in the near future and helpfully we'll be able to make a little more.

Sunday: 3 hours of spin (2 on the indoor trainer and 1 in the gym) and then ran 2 miles. Let me tell you something, it was not that bad. I think it game the confidence I needed, I felt tired, but knew it had to be done. Later that day I ran with the Mitzy another mile :)

Monday: Bike and Swim day. Sigh... so let's get into this story... I decided to do both workouts in the afternoon which I'm pretty glad about it now. So after work I check out my bike and notice the back tire is kind of flat. I fill it up and figure screw it I'll bring my cell if I have to call my husband to pick me up if I'm stranded. I walk out the door and a half mile into my bike ride, the tire goes completely flat. So here I am on the side of the road, and I think to myself- I can totally change this flat. So I pull out my tools, take the tire off and get to work. Well, genius me who bought a new CO2 emergency kit, put the cartridge in before I needed to and it started going off. I tried to stop it but it was too late. So now I was seriously stranded. I call my husband who picks me up; he loves me lol. So we get back and I am determined to get the damn tire changed. Forty minutes later, the tire is changed after fighting the tube and having issues with the chain, but damn it I changed it!!!! I finally get on the bike and head out again, subconciously hoping the tire doesn't fall off. About three miles later, I feel a little more confident about the bike and pick up speed. After hitting every red light possible, I turn down one of the sidewalks where they have freshly cut the hedges. Those damn branches got caught in my bike in my shoes and pretty much all over me. After being thoroughly annoyed and shaking everything off I am on the lest leg of my ride. The ride from hell was from finally over and I hopped over to the gym for an uneventful swim.

Tuesday: I had no sleep the night before so working out in the morning was out of the question. I had decided on a three mile run and .5 mile swim in the afternoon. After work, I ran a nice easy three miles (no Garmin) and changed to a .5 mile swim. My rotator cuff has been bothering me so I didn't have a strong stroke. I just want to get by the swim at this point.

Wednesday: I had wanted to do a run/bike workout but I just settled on a run. I actually had some sleep so I woke up early to run. I was going to do about .25 mile repeats and ended up doing six of them. I didn't time them (again no Garmin) but I definitely challenged my heart rate. After the run I ran two more laps with the dogs and cooled down. The weather was windy, but definitely cool. It was great... I love this time of year when I can workout and not feel like I jumped in the pool. Tomorrow, I bike and run!!

Curses!!!

My title post is named curses because that was my first thought when I went to the pool on Wednesday. I'm still pretty bitter about it as you can see, and here I am still dwelling about it two days later. Before I go into that whole story, let me back up and tell you about my week's workouts.

Wednesday Morning: I biked for 45 minutes in my indoor trainer. I started with a 5 minute workout at about a level 3 and then proceeded to do intervals. The intervals consisted of 5 minute high gear "hills" at a level 6 followed by 2 minutes of rest. I did about six or seven "hills" followed by a cool down. After the cool down I went for a little over a mile run with the dogs. Not a bad workout before going into work, huh?

Wednesday Afternoon: I attempted to go for a swim but was foiled again. Once I had checked into the gym, I looked through the pool window and saw all of the lanes taken. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty frustrated. Most of the people at this gym are jokesters. They honestly have no business at the gym, and use this time as a social hour. I literally laugh to myself as I see males and females doing this. At the pool it is completely ridiculous. Since I've been going to the gym I see people tanning (with absolutely no direct sunlight) in lounge chairs by the whirlpool. Are you freaking kidding me??? So here I swim, by myself in the pool, trying to get a good amount of laps in with a decent time. Ok, end vent lol. From now on I'm swimming in the mornings on Wednesdays.

Thursday Morning: HA! I got to go in the pool AND the only other person there is a little old man who does weights in the pool. He's become a regular morning swimmer and keeps to himself, so he's okay in my books. I got in about .6 miles and figured that was good enough.

Thursday Afternoon: I got home late from work, but still needed to get a run in. I talked it over with my husband and he thought I should still run outside. I was kind of hesitant, but decided it was nice weather and go for it. Before Is et out for my run, my stupid Garmin wasn't working so I axed the GPS. About halfway through my run it got pretty dark, and so I booked it back home. Not going to lie, scary. However, I am putting in an order for Mace, and then we'll see who's scared lol.

Friday: Swim again!!! My rotator cuff was actual bothering me today so I figured I better take it easy. I did about .6 miles again and called it a day. Since today is my rest day and I'm kind of falling apart, I say a swim only workout is a-okay.

Tomorrow I run 10 miles... I think I've come to accept sleep depravation.

Doing a Triathlon Backwards...

Ha- no silly fools! I didn't actually do a mini triathlon backwards today, but did each sport in this order: ran, biked, and then swam. Honestly, my logic for this was just for convenience. But first, let me explain some back log.

Thursday I ended up running a good 10K. I told my husband I was going to take it easy and just enjoy the weather, I did have my Garmin on just to let me know my time and pace, but wouldn't do my constant glancing at it for time. So I set off and kept about a 10:30 pace. I had my headphones on and listened to all sorts of mellow music. My hands down favorite mellow music has to be Sara Barellis. When I got back, I had clocked in at 1:04... not too bad for taking it easy huh?

Friday I swam my usual 40 straights in the morning. We were leaving for Orlando this weekend so I knew I had to get everything done in the morning with no potential weekend workouts.

Now for my weekend. I had helped plan a baby shower this past weekend and it was so much fun :) However, I ate absolutely horrible. No, not an exaggeration, pure honesty. I probably consumed about 3,000-4,000 calories on Saturday. Needless to say I wasn't happy with myself at all. So what did I do? Well abs after dinner of course lol. About 300 of them. When I woke up I did about 200 more. I know you can't "spot" exercise, but dammit I will try lol We ended up getting home earlier than expected on Sunday so I decided to run another 10K. This one was done at a little faster pace and I came in at about an hour (my Garmin died on my last 10K and I haven't charged it yet).

So that was my weekend! Nothing too exciting. So let's talk about todays workout. I was initially going to wake up early to workout today but I didn't really get enough sleep so I ditched the workout and planned it for Tuesday. However, when I got home, I figured I should go for it. So I went on my run first because the dogs needed to be taken out. We didn't go far just a mile. After we got back, I jumped on my bike and did an easy 6 mile ride. Riding around here is tough and so I just do the best I can with traffic and construction. Once I got home, I changed into my bathing suit and went to the pool. Here is where I started to get tired. I was aiming to do 80 laps, but stopped short at 54. I was just tired. So I listened to my body and stopped. I figured I swimming two more times and could get some more time in one of those sessions. After calling it quits I came home to relax. Tomorrow I bike and run..again...

Early Morning Run/Swim and Fundraising

I joined the American Cancer Society- DetermiNATION and had a fundraiser clinic tonight. Since I had a fundraiser clinic, I had to do an early morning workout.

This morning, I ran sprints - which consisted of 4 x .40 mile sprints. I did .40 rest in between and a lap to warm up and a lap to cool down. For the sprints, I consistently ran under 3 minutes for each sprint... My best time I believe was a 2:40 minute... It was absolutely crazy and absolutely exhausting so my recovery was extremely slow lol. After doing all that, I swam 30 straights which equates to almost .50 miles.

Overall, I felt good. The sprints were hard, but I really recovered in between. I think that as a runner you have a hard time slowing down, but you really have to let yourself recover in between sprints. I'm glad I was consistent on each sprint, because I feel like it's hard to remain consistent. After the run, I had a rest as I drove to the gym. I must have looked like a mess walking in (lol), but I changed and finished my swim pretty quickly. I found a coin in the pool which was pretty cool. Other then that... that completes my workout.

Now for fundraising.... I have to fundraise about $1,200 for the American Cancer Society. I hate fundraising.... I'm very bad at it and feel like I have to hound my friends. I'm not off to a very good start but I'm really trying here. Anyone who has any ideas... I would really appreciate it....

So Tired....

I'm in bed at this very moment utterly exhausted..

Even though I've had breaks during my training, they haven't really been restful breaks. This continual "go...go...go" has been catching up to me. Today I woke up early after not sleeping very well and biked for 45 minutes. My legs have been cramping, so I needed to get the lactic acid out. After I worked out, I showered and went into work. At work I've been doing an endless amount of reading which makes me more tired.

After work, I swam 1.25 miles. I felt absolutely amazing. I pushed myself really hard and was happy on my accomplishment. The pool was empty too which was nice. After working out, I tried reading some more for work and just can;t seem to keep m eyes open. I'm hoping that going to sleep early will help me out tonight :)

10 Miler on the Treadmill

So the indoor running continues...

I decided to take a break from waking up early to workout, and actually sleep in. Big mistake. Although the weather was beautiful in the morning, it was nice to walk the dogs without rushing. As the day progressed, the clouds got darker and looked threatening. I succumbed to indoor training. My husband thought I should just run on the treadmill since we pretty much never use it, and I agreed. I knew the 10 miler was going to be brutal, so I popped in Love Happens (which I've never seen before) and ran..... and ran... and ran... The time does move slower on the treamill, but I DID IT! My pace was about a 5.7 andI fluctuated speeds throughout the workout from 5.5-6.5.

Overall it was a good workout day. I did ruin all my training with Digiornos and cookies, but hey this is why I workout right? lol


Pink Paddy's Day Ride!

First, let's start this post by saying: I RAN WITH A GROUP AND DIDN'T DIE :) 

Now, I'm not a big fan of riding with groups. I typically don't like the fact that you have to stick with a certain pace group (this thought is probably due to laziness lol) and some of the riders are snooty. However, the group ride today was a charity ride AND it was for a good cause so I figured why not? Plus, a 40-50 mile ride was on my calendar for today and the extra bonus was that it was completely escorted. 

This morning I went with my friend G to the ride. He's kind of my riding friend and I definitely did not feel confident enough to ride by myself. We got there and were kind of unsure about the whole situation. Then as the morning progressed we met some people, laughed a little, and figured we would be okay. As we were lining up to start, the event coordinator told us that it was a no person left behind group. Meaning, they would adjust the pace so everyone could ride together. We figured the pace would be about 16-18 mph which was definitely do-able. We started the ride a little past 9 (it was set for 8:30) and as we started off I felt okay. Scratch that, I felt like I could definitely pull off the ride and at a decent pace. Then as the miles stacked up I felt a little more confident. The group ended up doing about 18-20 mph until the turn around point. 


Some of the girls on our group ride :)

A little before 20 miles, we pulled off into the turn around point and took a break. I felt happy that I could keep up and it definitely boosted my confidence. One of my coworkers had come with her dog to meet us there, so it was really fun!! I took a couple of pictures at our turn around point.


Some friends I made along the way! I'm not sure if they were annoyed with me or amused by my commentary. 


G and Me


M and Me

On the way back, G and I decided to move up to the front pack. I felt like it would give me the push I needed. We kept about a 19-20 mph pace!! At one point the group started laughing at me saying I was trying to sneak up on them all along. I'm sure without the draft they would have schooled me. Once we finished, the event had started and we got to get some food and hydration (fruit punch lol). Overall, awesome ride. Met some cool people and got some of the confidence I needed for my upcoming race. Tomorrow, I run. 

Taking the Hint

I swear I was going to swim today. I mean I put off my Monday workout so that I can get a 1.25 mile swim today after work. However, today turned into a rest day instead.

Last night I got barely any sleep. Maybe 5 hours at the most. I was completely exhausted in the morning, and felt like I could fall asleep at any moment. At the end of the day I was debating whether or not I should even workout or take a nap before my workout. I finally got home and put on my bathing suit to head to the gym.

On the way to the gym a large (I mean army large) family of ducks crossed the road to block me from my final destination. Once I got to the gym I swiped my card and walked to the pool. The always empty pool was completely full of people. I was not in the mood to share a lane. So I took the hint that maybe I shouldn't swim today. So what did I do instead? Gorge on food at Buca of course :) Although it sounds like a stab to my diet, it helped me to carbo-load for the 40 miler bike ride tomorrow.

X-CELLENT

I am posting while I'm watching the X-Factor so I thought this would make for an appropriate title :) I actually got to run outside today. IT WAS AWESOME! Ok, so not super awesome, because I choked lol. Well not choked, but I have a habit of starting off too fast and fizzling out at the end... and that's exactly what I did today. 

So let me back up and tell you about my workout today. Since today was my run day I had originally planned to do an easy-ish 6 miles. I put my Garmin on, slid on my headphones (with my new Yurbuds) and set out for my 6 miles. As I set off, I felt kinda of zippy so I tried to keep a quick cadence (quick foot strikes) for the first couple of miles. My first mile was under 9 minutes and then the next couple of miles my time increased a little bit each time. I believe my next mile was about 9:15 and then I stayed at about a 9:30-9:45/mile pace.  As with any outside (non-trail) run, I had to be aware of traffic, the weather, and well the crazies. I had my moments of slowing down, speeding up, and stopping. At about mile four I started feeling tired, and so began my crash. By mile five I tried to "kick it out" and well.. I sure "kicked it out" for about .15 mile lol. So, my six miles turned into 5.15. Oh well.... There's always my long run this Sunday.

Since I failed to post about yesterday, I'll do it now. Yesterday I did an easy .6 mile swim. It took my about 30 minutes, which isn't horrible, but it's definitely not good. That afternoon I did a track workout of about 3 miles and at some point during my sprints my legs felt like Jello. 

I can;t believe that there is less than 2 months until my race. On another note, I joined the American Cancer Society group DetermiNATION. I have to fundraise which is a little out my comfort zone, but sitting in that meeting brought tears to my eyes as I watched the short video clips on individual's inspirations. I cried. It's just too fresh. I guess grandpa can come join me on that run too :) I mean I can't just take him to a triathlon.....

Cycling in the Rain

After a weekend off from my workouts, I knew I had to push myself on my workout today....

Like I had mentioned before, the weather has been pretty bad around our area. However, every once in a while I misread the weather and nothing really ever comes out of the clouds in the sky. Today, I set out to cycle outside. About a 1/4 of the way into my ride it started raining pretty steadily. Then it picked up. Then it flat out poured and here I was cycling my little heart out. On my way back home, I couldn't help but smile as I was cycling. Here I was outdoors in the rain without a care in the world. It was absolutely priceless. I mean, it was raining pretty hard and at one point and I thought I should call my husband to pick me up, but isn't that just a weenie move? When has rain hurt anyone? lol. So I stuck it out and had a pretty awesome 12 mile ride out of it.

I was completely soaked when I got home, and my husband laughed at me when I walked through the door. I still had to get a swim in, and so I changed and put on my bathing suit to head out to the gym. I have to wear my two piece triathlon swimsuit (which I HATE doing at the gym) because my one piece is falling out and jumped in the car. When I got to the gym it was packed with an older crowd (this piece of information is important for my story). I got in the pool and as I started swimming laps, my heart just wasn't in it. I swam 20 straights and had to stop, then swam another 20 straights. I figured that it might be better to switch my Friday workout with my Monday workout. I jumped out of the pool and showered off. As I walked back to grab my stuff, an older man came up to me and started smiling and told me I was in great shape. Um, gross. Can't people just keep comments to themselves? The good news is that it seems like this crowd usually hangs out at the gym in between 2-3. I just happened to have the day off and went to the gym at that time instead. Hopefully, I will never encounter that crowd again lol.

Once I got home I showered up and called it day. I'm going to sleep soon, early workout tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get my mini brick in. Let's hope my alarm works :)
 
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