April will be "Incredible"-y Fun!

[roomthreeseventeen]

I may not be using the correct term, but the pacer runs the half marathon or marathon and will finish the run in a certain designated time. I guess they are appointed to that position by the race organizers. Like, last year at the DL Half....they had runners holding balloons on sticks or signs on sticks with a time written on it...like 2:00; 2:15, 2:30, etc...so I chose the 2:30 time holder and just kept her balloons in my sight the whole time. You just choose your time you'd like to finish in and find that person in the coral and run with that person. I didn't sign up ahead of time or anything. The Princess Half didn't have them. DL has had them each year that I've done it. The first year I didn't run with the pacer but I did the second year and it was great.

Hopefully this makes sense....

Awesome, thanks. I figured it was something like that, but wasn't sure. That would be GREAT if they had that for Wine & Dine, but since it'll be dark, who knows.

 

[VernRDH]

I would venture to guess that they will have pacers at Wine and Dine, most all bigger races do. I actually ended up behind the 3:00 pacer at WDW in January and guess where I finished? 2:59. (I wasn't trying to finish there, but it is where I ended up) Either Runners World or ClifBar will have a pacing team I bet.

Kathy-awesome job on the run today!!! Try doing some walking, I bet you will be surprised at your time.
Also, what 5k are you looking at? Its not the Freihofers Run for Women by chance is it?

 

[mikamah]

Kathy-awesome job on the run today!!! Try doing some walking, I bet you will be surprised at your time.
Also, what 5k are you looking at? Its not the Freihofers Run for Women by chance is it?

Thanks. It's the Louise Rossetti in Beverly, MA. She is 88 years old and still running and she started at age 50. It benefits her daughters scholarship fund,who was kidnapped and murdered in the 70s. A little over 300 ran it last year. I'm in the next town over, and it ends at a beach/park, so I'll have my sister or a friend bring my son down to see the finish.

 

[ADPiSpaz16]

Good morning, everyone! I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things here. So my knee is killing me today. I felt it during the last half mile of my 5.5 mile run yesterday. Maybe I overdid it. I went from never running more than 4.5 miles to running 5.5. I'm going to definitely take today off from the exercise, hopefully it's better tomorrow or Thursday. I hope... I don't want to take any time off!!

My DS (almost 3) had his first swim lessons last night. He was the class "bad kid." I was so embarrassed! To his defense, he's the oldest in a class full of 12 and 15 month olds. He's a great swimmer, Great!, and he just wanted to do things ahead of the others. The instructor had to sit down and chat with him. I felt like such a bad mom...

Anyway...

Vern - what pace do you typically run at? I'm just curious because I haven't had an official race yet and just trying to see where I might be at. Sorry to hear your MIL is being kinda rotten. She'll just have to build herself a bridge. There's nothing wrong with doing what's best for you.

Mickeys#1fan4ever - I think the whole Galloway concept is interesting. I'm wondering if I should try it. I'm very difficult though, an over achiever, and I feel like if I don't run 100% of it, then I'm not doing it right. How do I get over that mentality!?!

mikamah - I have that same fear, of being swept in the half, but the further I start to run in my training, the more confident I am that I'll be alright. I'm sure you'll become more comfortable as time goes on... WTG on the 2.5 miles!

donac - Hurray for your DS on his first half! I bet you were one proud momma! I hope he gets over that cold... that really stinks after such a huge accomplishment!

OK, I gotta get back to work here but really quick i was thinking... I really wanted to get the Nike + but heard mixed things about it. Now I was reading on here all the stuff about the Garmins and I just don't know... which one should I get? I would love a Garmin but $$$ is tight, especially with all these races I need to start registering for.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

I think the whole Galloway concept is interesting. I'm wondering if I should try it. I'm very difficult though, an over achiever, and I feel like if I don't run 100% of it, then I'm not doing it right. How do I get over that mentality!?!

I can so relate to this. When I first saw the Galloway plan, I thought, "I can't do that. I have to run the whole way!" And for my first 5K, I am glad that I did run the whole thing because that was my initial goal.

HOWEVER, this morning I took a few 1 min. walking breaks, and I ran 3.1 in 32 minutes, which is a minute and 30 seconds faster than my 5K race time on Saturday. Also, I stopped at the end of my run to stretch, and a friend came by. I ran another mile with her (she was doing 4R:1W intervals), and I felt great the whole way. I could even carry on a conversation with her.

So, I have decided that for the long haul, I am going to start doing some intervals (I still need to figure out what ratio is best for me). My long-term goal is to do the Princess Half, and I think a few walking intervals will make me feel stronger on long runs and make me enjoy it more. And if today is any indication, my time with some walking intervals may be faster as well.

I think the best thing about running is that it's so personal. I am going to devise a plan that works for me, and if that includes a few walk breaks, I'm okay with that, especially after today. I was really surprised how a few one minute breaks made such a difference in the overall quality of my run!

P.S. I also thought about this: If Jeff Galloway, an Olympic athlete, can take a few walk breaks, I can, too!

P.S.S. I wrote about my 5K experience on my blog if anyone wants to see pics. http://www.baseballsandbows.com/2010/04/5k.html

 

[VernRDH]

Anyway...

Vern - what pace do you typically run at? I'm just curious because I haven't had an official race yet and just trying to see where I might be at. Sorry to hear your MIL is being kinda rotten. She'll just have to build herself a bridge. There's nothing wrong with doing what's best for you.

OK, I gotta get back to work here but really quick i was thinking... I really wanted to get the Nike + but heard mixed things about it. Now I was reading on here all the stuff about the Garmins and I just don't know... which one should I get? I would love a Garmin but $$$ is tight, especially with all these races I need to start registering for.

Jess, I usually run in the 11:00-12:00 min/mile range. Shorter runs were usually always right around 11 and long ones 12. But as of late I have been running low 10's for short runs and high 10's/low 11's for the long runs. I firmly believe this is because I allow myself the walk break and have no stressful energy with me while I am running.

I don't know anything about the Nike+, but I do know about the Garmin. It is a chunk of change, but to me it is an essential tool in my training, just like good shoes.

Whoever said running was a cheap sport was sorely mistaken

 

[VernRDH]

Just a quick shout out to my peeps!!

Hope everyone is having a good day. No exercise for me today, I am running intervals again tomorrow morning. Going to watch last nights Biggest Loser tonight with DD, we missed it last night due to her concert at school.

Holding steady on my weight-any day I don't go up is a success!!!

 

[ScubaMickey]

Just a quick shout out to my peeps!!

Hope everyone is having a good day. No exercise for me today, I am running intervals again tomorrow morning. Going to watch last nights Biggest Loser tonight with DD, we missed it last night due to her concert at school.

Holding steady on my weight-any day I don't go up is a success!!!

Hi VernRDH,

Have a box of kleenex ready to when you watch the Biggest Loser....Having a great Florida Sunshine day. W6D2 tonight for me!!!!

ScubaMickey

 

[ADPiSpaz16]

Just saying hi really quick. Tough lesson learned today... do not take your baby to the Y so you can run 2 hours after she got her 6 month shots! I barely squeezed in two miles when the staff came to get me because she was screaming in the baby-sitting room. Poor thing has been crying, fussing or sleeping for the last six hours now. At least that brought my weekly total to 7.5 miles for the week. I'm spending the rest of my night with a baby on the **** (sorry if TMI) and Caillou on the TV for my DS and Marathoning for Mortals in hand!

 

[VernRDH]

Jess, sorry to hear about the baby, hope she is feeling better soon. I remember those days with my DD, everytime she got shots, she ended up with an ear infection. Finally the pediatrician just gave up and just gave me the rx for Amoxicillin on the way out.

I am going to walk on the treadmill with DD tonight. Then we are going to catch up on BL.

 

[mikamah]

Jess- hope your little one is feeling better soon and you all get a good nights sleep.

Lauren- I enjoyed reading your blog about your first race, and you looked great after!! Your daughter is a cutie.

Veronica- enjoy BL tonight. It was a good one.

I had been thinking of walk/running 2 days and running 1 day and when I went out this morning, my hip was a little sore when i started running, so I ran a couple minutes, and walked a minute or so, and just varied it up, and my hip really felt ok throughout it, and I did 2 miles in 29 minutes which is about what I did last time running, but I really felt better after. My muscles did not feel as achey and my hips which tend to get a little sore after running, felt pretty good. I do want to run a full 5k, but I think at my age and weight that the walk/run will be better overall. It's nice to hear everyone elses thoughts about it too. I'll check out Jeff Galloway's method too.

Hope you're all having a nice week. My son is on vacation from school, so I took a few vacation days and we've walked the mile to and from the park where I do my running, so we've gotten some good exercise. I work tomorrow and then have a 3 day weekend off.

 

[Mickeys#1Fan4ever]

Mickeys#1fan4ever - I think the whole Galloway concept is interesting. I'm wondering if I should try it. I'm very difficult though, an over achiever, and I feel like if I don't run 100% of it, then I'm not doing it right. How do I get over that mentality!?!

Jess.... I'm not sure I've completely gotten past that mental thought of "if I don't run/jog the entire time then I'm not really running a half marathon" I'm really hard on myself about it but I try to remind myself that I'll feel a whole lot better if I allow myself the walk breaks. Some times though the pain I get in the balls of my feet leave me no choice but to take a walk break!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Jess.... I'm not sure I've completely gotten past that mental thought of "if I don't run/jog the entire time then I'm not really running a half marathon" I'm really hard on myself about it but I try to remind myself that I'll feel a whole lot better if I allow myself the walk breaks. Some times though the pain I get in the balls of my feet leave me no choice but to take a walk break!

Wow, where can I borrow some of what you have?

I had an awful running day. It was super rainy, so I went to the gym instead of the park. I can usually do 70 minutes, this week at a 5:1 ratio, but today I only lasted 20 minutes on the treadmill before I thought I was going to die. Shoot!

 

[VernRDH]

Hi everyone!

Ran sprints this morning, tried 8mph, can't go that fast yet. Went back down to 7mph, did fine. Did 17 one minute sprints. Felt good.

My friend in CA is working on a new training plan for me for the DL half. This gives me the break from the inlaws because my long run day will be Sat instead of Sun. FIL told DH that I just need to be patient with her, I say no I don't, my patience has run out. (DH agrees).

 

[Mickeys#1Fan4ever]

Ran sprints this morning, tried 8mph, can't go that fast yet. Went back down to 7mph, did fine. Did 17 one minute sprints. Felt good.

Hi Veronica ~ How long do you walk in between the sprints? We did something like this at bootcamp class the other night...we jogged 3 minutes and sprinted 2 minutes for 20 minutes. I liked it though....it seemed to make the treadmill a little more bearable.

 

[VernRDH]

Hi Veronica ~ How long do you walk in between the sprints? We did something like this at bootcamp class the other night...we jogged 3 minutes and sprinted 2 minutes for 20 minutes. I liked it though....it seemed to make the treadmill a little more bearable.

I do one minute sprint then one minute walk. At some point I may try 90 sec sprint/30 second walk. It does make the treadmill more bearable.

 

[ADPiSpaz16]

Hey everyone! Just stopping in for a minute. I got four miles in today, just under 43 minutes. My time is slowly getting down there so I'm happy about that. On Wednesday, I tried to incorporate walking into my run and I didn't like it at all. I felt very slowed down by it and sluggish after I started running after the walk again. I mean, it was only for a 10th of a mile... is there something wrong with me that I feel more comfortable just keeping my pace??

 

[Mickeys#1Fan4ever]

Good Afternoon All!

Well....I'm bummed! For the 3rd year in a row I didn't get into the Nike Half Marathon in San Francisco but at least I still have the Disneyland and the Coast to Coast Medal to look forward to and I am really excited about that!

So moving on today....I did get in 4 miles on the treadmill this morning and I tried the sprint/walk sequence and really liked it. I get so bored just running on the treadmill that I like the breaking it up. I did 2 minute sprints and 2 minute jogs...the miles went by pretty quickly.

Jess...there were a few women in my Moms In Motion group that did not like the run/walk sequence. They felt the sameway you feel....like it slowed them down. They said they always had a hard time starting back running when they'd stop to take a walk break. I say do whatever works best for you....you know your body best.

Happy Friday Everyone!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Patsy, sorry about the SF run. Is it done by lottery?

Jess, I really like the walking intervals. I do 5:1, and really need that one minute to recharge. I'm usually ready to go back at like 50 seconds, but wait it out.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Patsy - So sorry you didn't get into the Nike Half! Since I am a new runner, I don't have much race experience, but that sounded like a fun one. I hope you will get to participate one year.

Jess - Although I feel the opposite with the walk breaks, I can see how some runners would feel the same as you do. Just go with what feels best for you. I think the individualized aspect of running is great, and there's no one right answer.

My 8yo son is participating in the Music City Kids' Marathon tonight. The kids run 25 miles before race night, and then they run the last mile together (it's the same last mile that the grown-up marathoners will run tomorrow). Three thousand kids participate, and it's so much fun for everyone. Jeff Fisher, the Titans' head coach, is always at the finish line giving high-fives, and my son loves that! They also get a really nice medal.

The weather tomorrow is not looking good for the regular Music City Marathon and Half-Marathon. I feel so badly for all the people who have trained so hard. They will probably be running in the rain. We are expected to have tornado warnings after noon, so I guess they have great motivation to finish quickly!