Venture outside your comfort zone: the rewards are worth it! KSellers88’s Journal (Comments Welcome)

[KSellers88]

FUN!

He is a cutie!

I can't get enough of little Barkley! His name. His cuteness. I'm in (digital?) love.

Awwww! He loves you too!

He is adorable!

Thank you!

Barkley is ADORABLE!!! Golden retriever?

Yes! Thank you so much!

Congrats on the pup! Super cute!!!

Thank you! He is a super cute, but a troublemaker!

 

[KSellers88]

Life sure is hectic...let's get a puppy!

As y'all probably already read, I finally talked my husband into getting a puppy! That little guy is super cute but he sure is a lot of work. LOL. Luckily he is doing great at sleeping through the night, and I am super excited to run with him one day. I did sacrifice one long run for him, but I got all my other runs done for the week! Here's a picture of all three of my fur children at 8 weeks for size comparison!




So what happened?
Thursday, 3/8 - 2 mile warm up @ 9:37 (way too fast), 4 miles tempo @ 7:51 (still too fast), 2 mile cool down @ 10:29 (much better, LOL). My mile splits were 7:51, 7:47, 7:51 and 7:55 and the goal was 8:04. This run felt REALLY good!

Friday, 3/9 - 5 miles @ 10:05 pace.

Saturday, 3/10 - 9 miles @ 9:23 pace. A little faster than the planned 9:34 pace, but I knew I was missing Sunday's run so I sped up a little.

Sunday, 3/11 - Missed 12 miler due to puppy pickup. He was 3 hours away and it was raining so the run just did not happen.

Monday, 3/12 - 5 miles @ 9:53 pace.

Tuesday, 3/13 - 2 mile warm up @ 10:15, 4 x 3:00 with 2:00 recovery, 4 x 2:00 with 2:00 recovery and 2 mile cool down @ 10:35. Goal for the I paces was 7:15. I was successful on 4 out of 4 intervals for the 3:00 portion, but only close for one of the 2:00 intervals.

The 3:00 intervals were: 7:13, 7:07, 7:08 and 7:11 average.
The 2:00 intervals were: 7:37, 7:33, 7:18, and 7:27 average.

I am so glad I looked at my plan before I headed out on this run or I would have completely messed it up. I thought it was only 4x3:00 @ RI, but it was also 4x2:00 @ RI. Whoops! The main reason I don't think I hit the 2:00 intervals was because I ran this workout on the road this week instead of the track and the miles back to my house have a lot more hills than the ones I was running for the 3:00 intervals. Still happy with the result and got a picture with my cutie after finishing the run.

Upcoming Schedule:
Th- 2 mile WU + 5 miles @ Tempo (8:04) + 2 mile CD
F – 6 miles @ EA (10:12)
Sa – 9 miles @ EB (9:31)
Su – Publix Georgia Half @ LR (9:10)
M – 5 miles @ EA (10:12)
Tu – 2 mile WU + 7x3 min. @ I (7:15) + 2 mile CD

 

[DopeyBadger]

Looks good to me! Try to avoid any and all hills on I paced workouts though. Makes them much tougher than intended (and they're already very difficult!).

 

[KSellers88]

Looks good to me! Try to avoid any and all hills on I paced workouts though. Makes them much tougher than intended (and they're already very difficult!).

Oops! Are there any others I need to avoid hills on? Tempo? Progressive?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Anything faster than tempo should be done on a flat road.

 

[ZellyB]

Great training week! Your fur babies are ALL adorable. I have a soft spot for Goldens. Our sweet golden, Sandy, is now around 14 years old (don't know her age definitively since she was a rescue), but she is just the sweetest dog ever.

 

[KSellers88]

Great training week! Your fur babies are ALL adorable. I have a soft spot for Goldens. Our sweet golden, Sandy, is now around 14 years old (don't know her age definitively since she was a rescue), but she is just the sweetest dog ever.

Thank you! I love goldens too. This is our second one and we mainly got him since the first was so sweet. He is currently not the sweetest since he is in the puppy stage, but I am hoping that comes with time. I love her name! So perfect!

 

[KSellers88]

Race Recap: Publix Georgia Half

One of my goals for 2018 is to run 12 half marathons. I originally set out to run one half per month, but living in the South is providing challenges to find halves during the summer months. I ran the Publix Georgia Half on Sunday as my March half marathon. I was originally scheduled to run the All American Half in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but didn't want to leave our new puppy for an entire weekend yet.

My mom and I headed to Atlanta Saturday after lunch and went straight to our hotel to check in. Bib pickup was two blocks over at the Hyatt, so once we dropped everything in our room we walked over to grab everything including dinner and headed back to the hotel to hang out for the night. Lots of people were in Downtown Atlanta celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but I was more interested in resting.

Sunday morning I woke up at 5:55, ate breakfast, got dressed and started my walk to Pemberton Place around 6:15. Luckily our hotel was only half a mile from the start and a lot of other runners were walking so I never felt unsafe. I used the restroom one more time and headed for the start corrals which were about as long of a walk away as the corrals at Disney.

I was in corral B and we started around 7:04 AM. This half was meant as a training run, so I was supposed to run at a 9:10 pace. It was also good practice for hills, with over 700 ft of elevation gain.

My splits were pretty consistent, I did have one potty break during mile 5...I definitely need to work on that. I don't want a porta potty stop to keep me from getting my PR next month. LOL.

Mile splits were: 9:15, 9:09, 9:11, 9:16, 10:09 (potty), 8:58, 9:03, 9:01, 8:56, 8:58, 8:44, 8:53, 8:38 and 7:47 for the final .1. My tangents weren't too bad either because I only ran 13.19 miles, even though the course was pretty crowded.

Finish time was 1:59:41 for a 9:09 average pace. I sped up a little too much at the end, but even with all the hills I was very happy with my results and how I felt afterward. Very little soreness today either!

Afterward I got my medal and snacks, snapped a few quick pictures and headed back to the hotel for the drive home. I really like the medal, the flower on it spins and I am all about spinning bling!


Three down, nine to go!

 

[cavepig]

I don't want a porta potty stop to keep me from getting my PR next month. LOL.

Ha, I totally get this!
Awesome splits with all the hills, I saw many posts on FB about all the hills. The sun flare on the medal pic is a winner too, love it!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Another great race in the books! Congrats!!

 

[TeeterTots]

Wow! Awesome job! Great race with all those hills! You’re going to crush your A race!!! Love the bling!

 

[jennamfeo]

Ahhh hills, aren't they the best?! Haha. You did an awesome job and I really love that medal!

 

[LilyJC]

Aww, your fur babies are adorable! I worked as a dog trainer before having kids, and the Goldens were always so sweet!

Ahhh hills, aren't they the best?! Haha. You did an awesome job and I really love that medal!

Congrats on your half and yes, I was also going to say that’s a super cute medal!

 

[KSellers88]

Ha, I totally get this!
Awesome splits with all the hills, I saw many posts on FB about all the hills. The sun flare on the medal pic is a winner too, love it!

Thanks! I thought the South was supposed to be flat.

Another great race in the books! Congrats!!

Thank you so much!

Wow! Awesome job! Great race with all those hills! You’re going to crush your A race!!! Love the bling!

I sure hope so! I'll be majorly disappointed if not.

Ahhh hills, aren't they the best?! Haha. You did an awesome job and I really love that medal!

I am just glad mine was a hill and not a mountain!

Aww, your fur babies are adorable! I worked as a dog trainer before having kids, and the Goldens were always so sweet!



Congrats on your half and yes, I was also going to say that’s a super cute medal!

Thank you! I am going to have to take him to training classes for sure. I know right now it is mainly puppy behavior, but goodness he is a handful!

 

[PrincessMickey]

Great race and love puppy pictures. I grew up with a golden retriever so they definitely have my heart!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Congrats on an awesome race!
That elevation profile, tho ....

 

[KSellers88]

Great race and love puppy pictures. I grew up with a golden retriever so they definitely have my heart!!!

They are so sweet! Well, not so much right now but he will get sweeter. LOL. Thanks!

Congrats on an awesome race!
That elevation profile, tho ....

Thank you! My legs are definitely not happy with me.

 

[KSellers88]

Remember when I said I wasn't sore...

Soooo that soreness I was not feeling from my Sunday half definitely hit after my run on Monday. My shins and calves hurt like they have not hurt in a LONG time. Thanks, Atlanta hills! Training continued to go pretty well this week, with the exception of Tuesday's run...

So what happened??
Thursday, 3/15 - 2 mile WU @ 10:16 pace, 5 miles @ 7:54 (8:04 tempo goal), and 2 mile CD @ 10:20 pace. My mile splits on the tempo run were 7:54, 7:53, 7:52, 7:52, and 7:58. I struggled that last mile to keep somewhat consistent with the others, so my neighbors probably thought I was dying if they drove past me. Very happy with this run!

Friday, 3/16 - 6 miles @ 10:04 with my work running crew!

Saturday, 3/17 - 9 miles @ 9:24 pace. This run was soooo humid. It was supposed to rain Saturday, but never did and it just made the entire run a muggy mess.

Sunday, 3/18 - Publix GA Half!

Monday, 3/19 - 5 miles @ 10:03 pace. This was supposed to be a recovery run, but my legs ended up feeling horrible afterward. I guess I jinxed myself with all that "I'm not sore" talk.

Tuesday, 3/20 - This was supposed to be a speed workout. That did not happen. Between my legs feeling like needles were poking them and a coworker's Mexican birthday lunch I felt pretty sure it would not be successful before I ever got to the track.

I ran my 2 mile warm up at a 10:15 pace (after which my watch of course died) and knew I didn't have I paces in me. So I ran another sloooooow 4 miles and my legs felt a little better afterward.

Thank goodness today is rest day! Hoping everything is back to normal tomorrow for tempo miles!

Training Schedule:
Th - 2 mile WU + 5 miles @ Tempo (8:04) + 2 mile CD
F- 6 miles @ EA (10:12)
Sa - 9 miles @ EB (9:31)
Su - 10 miles @ LR (9:10)
M - 5 miles @ EA
Tu - 2 mile WU + 10x2 min @ I (7:15) w/2:00 recovery + 2 mile CD

 

[DopeyBadger]

Smart choice on pulling back. From the sounds of it, I think you should go easy tomorrow as well instead of the Tempo. Sounds like that HM was a little tougher than we anticipated. The extra rest tomorrow with another easy will pay off later in the plan.

 

[KSellers88]

Smart choice on pulling back. From the sounds of it, I think you should go easy tomorrow as well instead of the Tempo. Sounds like that HM was a little tougher than we anticipated. The extra rest tomorrow with another easy will pay off later in the plan.