A couple of weeks ago, I won a race entry from a local race company (Pacers Events) with this Instagram photo. The win netted me entry into either the St.Pat's races or the Four Courts Four Miler. Since Beer Geek and I were already running the Four Miler, I chose the St. Pat's 10K. (And then I convinced Beer Geek and a friend that they needed to run it too.) Since I've been training to run the GW Parkway Classic 10 miler at a sub 10 pace, I decided that would be my goal for the 10K. Sunday morning dawned cold and clear. 22* cold to be exact. After a winter without a winter, this was a bit of a shock to the system. I had planned to wear my Ragnar Ambassador 1/4 zip, but it was not very warm, so I had to get creative. … [Read more...]
Rating my January running
It's hard to believe we are already a month into the new year. It's seemed to fly by and yet drag, all at the same time. Since we are ending the month, the topic for Tuesdays on the Run is "rate your month of running." Did you get an A? A C for effort? Or did you fall off the wagon completely? Join Patty, Marcia, and me as we discuss our month. (Thanks to Janelle for the topic idea. Anyone else got an idea? We'd love to hear it.) Before I get to my running month, let me tell you a bit about my weekend. Saturday I got to spend the day with all other other Ragnar DC Ambassadors. It was a really fun time and I learned a lot about the company and the race. I also realized I'm completely sane when I'm compared to these other Ragnar … [Read more...]
GW Parkway 10 miler training begins
This weekend was, umm, interesting. Living near DC, we are always affected by the Inauguration. Add in the Women's March and the whole area was in a bit of an uproar. For the moment, I am continuing my personal choice of keeping politics off my blog and social media, but it was a pretty amazing weekend to live here. Let's focus instead on my lack of a training plan since the Marine Corps Marathon. Heck, let's be honest, I didn't even have a training plan FOR Marine Corps Marathon. But I really needed some time to just run for the love of it. So, despite running every day for the Runner's World #runstreak, my mileage has been pretty low. It's time to get back on the horse now. In what I am sure you find to be a shocking turn of … [Read more...]
Running like a mother
Have you ever crammed a run into a day with no run time? Have you ever split your run into pieces around a schedule that could change at any moment? Have you ever done sprints on a treadmill while cooking dinner? If you've answered yes to any of those, you are probably a mom. Yesterday, I got the pleasure of answering yes to all of them. Shoo woke me up at about 5am, complaining of a headache, sore throat, and tummy ache. I comforted him and he went back to sleep. I made a mental note that he was likely to not make it to school and began mentally shifting my day around. Then the puking began and my day got completely blown up. I had a conference call I needed to be on and a report I needed to finish for today. I had other … [Read more...]
Maybe, just maybe
I think I may have found my legs again. My tempo run on Friday was more of a progressive run for the first five miles and then two easy miles, but it felt pretty good. It was darned cold out though. It "felt like" 10 degrees. I wore running tights and running pants and still couldn't feel by butt at the end of the run. I also couldn't feel my nose, which was lovely, since it was running. It's a good thing I'm married 'cause I certainly was not at my most attractive out there. Saturday I did a major carbo load with beer, chili, and cornbread. There's a fine line between that and umm, overdoing it and I luckily managed to stay on the right side of the line. Thanks to the seriously cold temps and the snow, a treadmill run was required. That … [Read more...]
Round 1 done
Running and blogging have had to take a bit of a back seat this past week. I've been a little busy with other endeavors. Jones turned 8 today and I got to spend the better part of yesterday creating this masterpiece: In case you can't tell, those are lightsabers from Star Wars. I'm neither a good baker nor particularly artistic, but twice a year, I get to create a masterpiece. Thankfully, while their ideas are grandiose, the boys have fairly low standards for the actual execution LOL. Today may have been Jones' best birthday party ever, at least from my perspective. We held it at a local bowling alley and it included bowling, pizza, and all set up/clean up, so all I had to do was show up with a cake. Awesome! In running news, I … [Read more...]
Takin’ what you can get
Jones doesn't have camp this week. Shoo only has camp Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Beer Geek is working like a madman so that we can go out of town Friday morning. This leaves me trying to pack, straighten up the house, and try to run a few miles, while also entertaining the kids. Yesterday we went out to the Udvar-Hazy, a part of the Air and Space Museum. It's located out near Dulles Airport and houses all the big planes and space stuff that can't be displayed downtown. The boys LOVE this museum. I think we go there more often than we go to the zoo, even though the displays have never really changed. By the time we got done with that, it was time for Beer Geek to get home and for me to go to the dentist, so no running … [Read more...]
7:27 mile and an interesting discovery
I like to do speedwork on Saturday mornings. Instead of repeats or intervals, today I decided to see if I could run a mile at the pace Mcmillan calculated as my one mile speed based on my last 5K. According to the calculator, I should be able to do a 7:26 mile (interestingly, my suggested mile was only one second difference when based on my fastest half marathon). I don't have an easily accessible track, so I headed to the flattest part of my neighborhood (still not very flat). On the way, I did a mile at a warm-up pace of 9:45. I picked up the pace and managed to run the mile in 7:27, despite some fairly long gentle inclines! I think I could have pushed a little harder as I wasn't near puking, but my legs said absolutely not. (I don't … [Read more...]
I’m back!!
I ran an awesome 5 miles today. I planned to do 5 miles at a 9 minute pace, but with a catch. I wanted to fartlek. I set my garmin to the average pace setting and did a nice 9 minute mile warm up. For miles 2-4, my goal was to keep my average at 9, but run random distances faster. I ended up doing the three miles faster than planned (8:39, 8:33, and 8:46), but the concept at least was a success. Each mile, I'd run comfortable for a bit, then run faster. Then I'd slow down until my average pace was back closer to my goal speed and then run fast again. That, combined with the hills in my neighborhood, was quite a workout! I then did a mile cool down a little slower than 9 and ended up doing the five miles in 44:12. Beer Geek is … [Read more...]
Two races per month
This month will be the third month in a row that I've run two races. As much as I love racing, I don't usually race more than once a month because our weekends are usually packed with kid stuff. In April, I decided fairly last minute to run a 10 miler, in addition to my FL 5K. In May, I ended up running two half marathons two weekends in a row. This month, I'll be running the Lighthouse Run (10 miles) in Wisconsin and then the Time to Fly 10k in Minnesota. Not only will I run two races this month, but that'll be two more states AND I get to run them with my dad. Speaking of my dad and the 50 state challenge, he is currently one state up on me. He and my mom went to Nebraska for a wedding and discovered an 8K race in Missouri. So, … [Read more...]
Out of the mouths of babes
This morning at church, the pastor did a children's sermon on taking care of pets (a tie in with the Jesus as our shepherd sermon). Both of my boys went up for it. When he asked for different ways that we take care of our pets, Jones was happy to provide an answer. He told the pastor about Pete throwing up (he's done this his whole life and his nickname is Pukin' Petey). So, the pastor said "so, when he throws up, you help by cleaning up, right?" Jones' response: No, we couldn't find it. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of laughter. The pastor tried to move on and talked about bringing pets in from the cold and taking them out for walks. Not to be topped by Jones, Shoo had to make sure the pastor knew Pete was an indoor cat. … [Read more...]
7 + 3.5 = (not so) Fat Tuesday
Poor little Shoo was still feeling not so hot this morning. I managed to get some sugary liquids into him and he perked up some, but he decided he wanted a nap (he gave up naps almost a year ago). After he fell asleep, I decided to hit the treadmill. I wasn't expecting much in the way of a run, so I ran fairly fast for the first few miles. I ended up managing 7 miles before he woke up! And the best part was he woke up and asked for food. Woohoo! Unfortunately, since I hadn't planned to run for that long, I was wearing single layer cotton socks, so I rubbed a nice blister on my toe. When Beer Geek got home, I jumped on the 'mill again and did a 3.5 mile interval workout. I had only planned 3 miles, but since I was running fast, I managed … [Read more...]
