My Journey....Revisited (comments welcome)

[dragitoff]

This morning's 7 miler was fast. I didn't think it would be after struggling with the first 3 or 4 miles. Seems like those are always the toughest miles of any run anymore. I settled in and ran the 7 miler at a 9mm avg. It was a good run and I fnished the final 3 miles under 9mm pace to bring that average down.

 

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It was really tough getting up to run this morning. As much as I love to run in the cold weather, it's tough to leave a toasty, warm bed to go outside and run in 32 degree weather.....but I pushed through this morning! I'm such a dedicated trooper. lol.

This morning's run was pretty fast. I didn't go crazy on the pace, but Thursdays are the day I do tend to push myself a little more and do alot of fartleks on the last half of my run.

My 4 miler this morning was the best one I've had in over a month. This weekend will be a nice break as I only have to run a half-marathon distance. Next week will be my toughest week and most mileage to date. I guess I better enjoy the rest of this "easy" week.

 

[Desiree]

Hey Drag! I haven't been on WISH in quite a while but thought I'd peek in and see how you were doing! I'm going to be starting C25K over again (probably in about 2 weeks will be my projected start over date).

Hope you and your family is doing well!

 

[dragitoff]

Hey Drag! I haven't been on WISH in quite a while but thought I'd peek in and see how you were doing! I'm going to be starting C25K over again (probably in about 2 weeks will be my projected start over date).

Hope you and your family is doing well!

Really is good to hear from you! Everyone's great on my end. How about with you?

Best of luck to you on your C25K reboot!

 

[Desiree]

We are doing well! All of us are hanging in there! Dev graduated from High School and had a few bumps in the road but she is back on track now (hopefully)!

My hubby has actually taken up biking to and from work and he is loving it! I'm not sure I could ever do that, so I'm going to get back to running. I had really gotten to a point where I really loved it. I'm so disappointed in myself for falling so far off the wagon. Ah well, guess I just need to pick myself back up and try again!

 

[dragitoff]

Just remember with running, you've got to put one foot in front of the other! Can't wait to hear how your progress is once you get started back.

 

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Saturday's half-marathon run was a PR for me! I finished my scheduled 13.1 mile run in 1:57.51 which was 4 minutes better than my previous best! It wasn't an actual race. It's just what I had on my marathon training schedule to run. I decided I wanted to push it a little and ran it faster than my marathon pace just to see what I could do. I was glad I did. I didn't go all out crazy or anything, but did have to push pretty hard to finish as I did, but I think I could honestly finish in 1:55 or so if it was an actual race. That would be 15 minutes off my race PR (although the one half-marathon race I ran, I had severe cramping which caused my time to be off so much).

 

[dragitoff]

I missed yesterday morning's 4 miler. I've been working long days lately at work (worked until 9 the past 2 nights) and I slept in a few extra minutes before heading into the office at 6am. I knew I couldn't miss this morning's 8 mile run. I jumped out of the bed and got dressed quickly. My pre-run morning routine always includes a visit to the potty. Sorry if TMI, but it is necessary for this story. Since I needed to get in 8 miles and get to work as quickly as possible, I made that visit rather short.

About 4 miles into my run (and as far away from my house as I could be), I felt it hit me! I had to go to the bathroom so bad. I was able to run back home and finish my run, but it was rather uncomfortable. I was really on pace to have a great run, and it wasn't bad, but it's hard to give your best effort when you're running with clenched butt cheeks!

All in all, I had a good run though and it was really nice getting back out there this morning after not running since my half marathon PR Saturday.

 

[Desiree]

Hate it when that happens! Glad you got your run in though!

 

[dragitoff]

Today's run was less eventful than yesterday's. I enjoyed my 4 miler and it was a fast one. One of my fastest 4 milers in a while. I can tell that Saturday's 1/2 marathon PR pace helped me this week on my runs to keep my pace from being too terribly slow the first few miles. I've had to pull the reigns back to keep from going out too fast, but I'm comfortable with the pace I've been at. Looking forward to attempting a new distance record w/o walking this Saturday. My training calls for 17 miles. We're going camping with some friends from church so I'll head out early Saturday to get the run in before I have to leave. DW and DD's are heading to the camp site Friday night and I'll be meeting them there Saturday afternoon.

 

[dragitoff]

I set a new personal best this morning! 17 miles without walking!!!!!

I finished at marathon goal pace of 9:30 per mi; however I was getting very slow towards the end of the run. My last 3 miles were not lightning quick at all! It was a tough run and I really wanted to walk after 12 miles, but I was able to push through. Thank you Lord!

In my defense though, DW and DD's are camping (I'm about to meet them there) and I didn't sleep well at all last night. I didn't get off work until 10pm (16 hour day yesterday) and I've been working crazy long hours this week in general so I wasn't rested up at all and DW accidentally ate my last pre-run breakfast so I can blame that too on the tough run! lol.

 

[dragitoff]

Today's 5 miler was slow, but I felt really good. My Garmin has been acting up alot lately sometimes having the distance off by as much as 0.10 miles and then other mornings it has a completely blank screen. This morning it was hte blank screen that attacked so I had to rely on one of DW's old stopwatches. While I have a few markers on my home route, I had to do a 5 miler this morning and that's not a distance I've done often there so I didn't have a few key markers and not having that pace on my watch caused me to run a little slower than I normally would have on that type of distance. All in all, I was happy with the run though. I felt good and even pushed it on the last little stretch really hard and felt good doing it.

I'm not in my 11th week of my 18 week training program. I haven't walked in a month and a half!

 

[dragitoff]

After yesterday's slower paced 5 miler, I was glad to have a fast 8 mile run this morning. I was running a little faster than my marathon pace of 9:30mm. I ran 2 miles @ 9:45, 2 miles @ 9:30, 2 miles @ 9:15 and the final 2 miles @ 9:00. I actually finished about 0:30 under that target pace. It's really tough to do 8 miles before work this time of year for me, but I'm really glad I pushed it and finished it fast.

 

[Desiree]

Great job! Hope you guys have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[dragitoff]

You too!!!!!!!!!!

 

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It was rather nice waking up at 7:30am, eating a little breakfast, watching a little TV, and not having to run until 10am! DW and I also ran the first 2 miles of my 5 miler together at a 9:48 pace. The 3rd mile was 9:28. The last 2 miles were fast! I honestly thought something was wrong with my watch. I ran miles 4 and 5 under 8:30. I've run much faster miles than that, but other than the last 1/2 mile or so, it didn't feel like I was running nearly that fast.

I'm excited and nervous about tomorrow's 18 miler. It will be a new record distance if I can complete it without walking. After that run, I've got to come in and work for about 6-7 hours. Then DW and I are planning on doing a little Christmas shopping. DD's are spending the night with their "pappy" so even if I'm too tired to fight the crowds (yeah, I love to shop actually), we'll go out to dinner and enjoy some time together.

 

[dragitoff]

Another personal best this morning! 18 miles without walking! My pace was alot slower than it had been. I finished my 18 miler just under a 10mm pace. After PR'ing in a half marathon distance run a few weeks ago, I've been running a little faster than my pace. I guess it was the enthusiasm of the PR, but it nearly killed me last week during my 17 miler.

I have to work today and DW and I wanted to do some Christmas shopping later if I get off work in time and feel up to it, so I made myself slow down a lot! It didn't hurt that my Garmin lost satellite reception for the 1st 2 miles for some unknown reason. Fortunately the place I run on the weekends has markers every 1/2 mile.

While I didn't go blazing fast, it was still a solid run and one I'm very proud of! I am; however thanking the good Lord for a shorter run of 13 miles next weekend!

 

[Desiree]

WOW wow wow! That's fantastic, Drag! Way to go!

I just finished up week 2 of C25K yesterday and I'm gonna be starting week 3 tomorrow. Excited and nervous about it, but I know I did it before. (I had gotten all the way to Week 7 last year).

Oh I did start a blog too. Plus entering in my info each day in My Fitness Pal has been keeping me honest. I dunno, I feel like something has "clicked". We shall see.

 

[dragitoff]

WOW wow wow! That's fantastic, Drag! Way to go!

I just finished up week 2 of C25K yesterday and I'm gonna be starting week 3 tomorrow. Excited and nervous about it, but I know I did it before. (I had gotten all the way to Week 7 last year).

Oh I did start a blog too. Plus entering in my info each day in My Fitness Pal has been keeping me honest. I dunno, I feel like something has "clicked". We shall see.

Keep it going girl! You can do it!

 

[dragitoff]

I had to be in early yesterday so I couldn't get my run in. Since I didn't get home until almost 9 last night, I also didn't get it in after work. After missing my 5 miler yesterday I was antsy to get out there this morning for my 8 mile run. This is always my toughest run of the week just because of time constraints but I felt really good this morning and finished it in 1:14. The last 3 miles were all under 9 minutes each and the 4th mile was at 9:10 so I was definitely pushing it much harder the 2nd half!

I've been working alot for the past month on negative splits and doing more fartleks in my shorter weekday runs and even some on my Saturday long runs. It certainly makes me feel good to finish the 2nd half considerably faster than the 1st half of any run.