last week in photos

highlights

• awesome 67 mile bike ride, had the company of a friend for half of it which always makes a ride better
• fast and easy 13 mile run 
• red mango frozen yogurt
• gorgeous weather
• spending time with dave, dash & family

5/5/2012-5/9/2012 in pictures

February in review

February Stats:

Running: 87.2 miles, 12:39 hours, average pace of 8:43 min/mile

Swimming: 26,000 yards, 9:20 hours, average pace of 2:07 min/yard (debatable, includes extra resting.  I don't wear a watch at Master's and always just use the whole time I'm in the pool to log, not just time moving. 100s are comfortable on the 1:40ish for me now.

Biking: no mileage since it's all indoor, 16 hours

All of these are sure to increase in March. I'm feeling pretty good this month though, didn't miss any workouts. Nailed my tempo run yesterday (6 miles with 4 at 7:43, 7:32, 7:30, 7:30). My legs surprised me when they showed up for that run since my 12 miler a few days before was a huge struggle (average 9:10, so not awful). I felt like crap and just got through it. Those are the runs that make us stronger though. And then my run just 13 hours before the tempo, on Tuesday evening was 9:48/mile which was the slowest I've been in awhile, so I thought I was sure to struggle with Wednesday morning's tempo run but I actually didn't at all and my legs felt great.

We also did one of my favorite swim workouts at the pool this morning, so that was good too!

Not too much else going on ... most of the wedding planning is done. I need my bridesmaids to pick their dresses, our Save the Dates to be finalized and sent out ... and a few other things but we have all of our vendors besides transportation so we're doing pretty decent.

Dash is awesome as always, she's getting so big and so smart. We've been doing puppy training and she's doing really well, graduation is on Saturday!

That's about it these days ....

2012 Schedule

Yep, I know it's the middle of February but I just finished figuring out this years race schedule

March 31 - Cooper River Bridge Run (10K)
May 20 - Columbia Triathlon
June 16 - Patriot Half
July 21 - GETTING MARRIED
August 18 - Age Group Nationals
September 9 - Pumpkinman Half

October - Honeymoon and buy a house

Looks like a low key, relaxed 2012 is ahead ... yeah right. 

As if we weren't crazy enough by getting a puppy, getting married and having me do 2 half distance triathlons and 2 Olympic distance triathlons, now we're looking into buying a house this year. 

We are insane. But might as well get it all done at once, right? 

All I know is 2013 better be relatively calm in comparison.

And now that I have my schedule decided, it's time to buckle down and lose some weight both for racing and the wedding. I need to be accountable, so here it is. I currently weight (as of 2/13/2012) 134.8 and my goal weight for 06/16/2012 is 120. ~15 pounds in 18 weeks ... may be a bit difficult with training but it should be do-able. Just need to cut out the unhealthy snacks and soda once and for all and focus on eating real food, which I/we do most of the time anyway. And Dave is on board which always helps.

2012 Houston Half Marathon

2 weeks ago, my coach emailed me a goal time for the Houston Half Marathon. The goal was 1:40:24. I admit, I freaked out a bit seeing this. My previous half marathon PR was 1:48:3x. But my training had gone well ... still 13.1 miles with average minute per mile under 8 min? I wasn't so sure. But I knew I wanted to give it my all. So going in, my A goal was 1:40:24 or faster, my A- goal was sub 1:43, my B goal sub 1:45 and my C goal was a new PR.

We got to Houston on Friday after leaving Boston at 6:30am. I went with Dave & my mom. Our first stop was the expo, which was big and well organized. I did a pull up hang for 60+ seconds at the Marine's station to get a coffee mug. That killed my arms. After the expo we headed to my uncle's house, where we were staying. We hit up Whole Foods for lunch and it was delish! After lunch, Dave & I went for an easy 4 mile run, it was warm out! My legs felt great during this run and I was feeling good. We had a delicious dinner that night and went to bed before 8.

Saturday morning we were up at 6:30am and heading into Houston at 7am. Thank God for Starbucks! Needed my coffee. We watched the Olympic Marathon Trials that morning and it was so inspiring. I was so happy for the top 3, and devastated for the 4th place finishers. It was amazing to be there watching these athletes accomplishing the goals they had been working so hard for. We saw the runners at mile 2, 10, 18 and 26. I loved watching Meb finish especially, he was so thrilled!

We spent the rest of Saturday relaxing and fueling. I watched the first half of the Patriots game on Saturday night, I was very thankful they had a sizable lead so I could go to bed early. Dave, of course, stayed up to watch.

I slept surprisingly well that night until waking up for good at 4am. I took my time eating and getting ready before we left at 5am. There was a bit of traffic getting there but not too bad. We porta potty hopped until finishing some with basically no lines, after taking care of business, it was off to the corrals. Since I was in Corral A, I had to be in by 6:40am. Then I just stood around for 20 minutes, boring ... took a gel and retied my right shoe at least 3 times. I think the retying thing comes from my figure skating days.

At 7am, we were off. It was a bit crowded for the first mile. And there was an bit of an uphill but I was fine, settling in well.

(Garmin splits, 1.01 time (pace))
Mile 1: 8:02 (7:57)
Mile 2: 7:38 (7:33), definitely spread out here ... didn't realize I ran the 2nd mile this fast, probably a bit of a mistake.
Mile 3: 7:42 (7:37), don't remember anything other than joining the marathoners here
Mile 4: 7:41 (7:36) ... find the 3:20 marathon pace group and try to run just behind them ... they're going a bit faster than I expected though
Mile 5: 7:33 (7:29) ... ooops
Mile 6: 7:34 (7:29) ... consistent at least ... ideally I should have been in the high 730s here I'm thinking. Took a gel with caffeine here ...
Mile 7: 7:39 (7:34) ... feeling good
Mile 8: 7:37 (7:32), I remember thinking just hold it in the 730s for 2 more miles, I can drop down to the 720s the last 5K and maybe run sub 140 ...
Mile 9: 7:40 (7:35), separate from the marathoners here
Mile 10: 7:43 (7:38) ... take another gel and try to drop the pace but can't ... just hang on to the 730s ...
Mile 11: 7:49 (7:44) and we're heading in the wrong direction ... keep repeating 1 line mantras to myself ... cannot stop, cannot walk, just go ... you can do anything for 20 minutes
Mile 12: 7:51 (7:46), just hanging on
Mile 13: 7:44 (7:39), ok maybe sub 141? Into the wind here, it sucked
Last .11: 7:12 pace
Total: 1:41:00 and I'm thrilled. Not sub 1:40, not 1:40:24 but a 7+ min PR and a great race for me!

Lessons learned:
- Still need to hold back for the first few miles
- I can run a whole half marathon without walking
- I am mentally strong
- Setting hard too reach goals is a good thing
- I need to believe in myself more, my coach knew I could do it, I was doubtful.
- Don't do a pull up hang the day before - my arms and shoulders were killing after the race
- Concrete sucks to run on

I'm still feeling great about this race, yeah I didn't reach my goal but I was close and I will get under 1:40 next time! I usually have major stomach issues during and after races and I didn't deal with this at all ... so awesome.

A quote that really describes how I've been feeling:

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark."
~ Michelangelo

Up next: Cooper River Bridge Run (10K) ... not sure if I'm racing it or running it yet.

2012

2012 is going to be a big year for me. I'm getting married. As if that's not enough, I'm also going to be training for my first (and second) half ironman. I think a lot of people think I'm crazy to do this but for me, I need more than one big thing to focus on. That doesn't mean I won't get stressed out or everything will go perfectly smoothly but I'm pretty sure I can do it. I have a lot of help, my fiance especially. He makes us dinner every night so that I can just come home and relax. He doesn't care that I go to bed before 9pm most nights of the week and he does a lot of the cleaning too. I'm very blessed to have him. I also only work 4 days a week, so I have a whole extra day to rest and work out. So while the next 7+ months will probably be crazy, they'll be manageable and fun too! Of course, we're adding a 4 month old puppy to the mix on Monday so we must love the crazy!

Isn't she adorable?

But before Dash comes home, we're off to Houston for a race. Dave & I are both racing the Houston Half Marathon on Sunday. I have a pretty big goal. When I got my schedule for this month from my coach, I freaked out a little when I saw the time goal. But she knows I can do it and so do I. I'm going to have to be mentally tough for sure. Being mentally tough is definitely harder for me than being physically tough. I mean I was a figure skater for years, and I fell so many times everyday. My body is used to pain, it's used to falling and hurting. But my head has always held me back and it's time for me to fight that. I posted this on facebook yesterday:

“The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit, cannot be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the dignity that simply refuses to give in: Courage. We all suffer. Keep going.” — Graeme Fife

I'm going to be courageous this weekend. Yeah, I'm going to suffer but that's a part of racing. I'm ready to push myself out of my comfort zone. This is my year.

Long weekend

On Friday, my mom and I flew out of Boston at 6:15am, we got into NC around 10:15am. Then we hung out at the mall there and ate lunch. My brother picked us up around 12:45pm. Then we circled around Jacksonville, NC for about an hour fighting over which GPS direction's to take. Finally we settled that and headed out, back to Boston. After a long drive full of unhealthy food, loud music (thanks Cody), some fighting, rain, slow speed limits with cops all around and in a packed to the brim car, we made it back to Boston around 3:15am. I crawled into bed and didn't wake up until Saturday afternoon.

I was not up for any physical activity on Saturday, I was bone tired. So we just did some grocery shopping, relaxing and movie watching before heading to bed early.

I slept in again this morning, missing my yoga class. But sometimes sleep needs to win especially on a weekend with a long car ride with barely any sleep. When I did wake up, I got all my stuff together and headed to the Y to swim. I swam 1600 yards in about 45 minutes and felt the strongest I have felt since I started swimming. The lessons are really paying off it seems. I'm thrilled. After my swim, I went for a 1:05 bike ride, covering 16.05 miles. I got a bit lost in some neighborhoods on this ride but it was enjoyable just riding around and enjoying the gorgeous day. When I got back from my ride, my mom wanted me to run with her, so we did an easy 3 miles at a nice pace.

It was a good day of training to end the weekend on. I spent the afternoon resting, and watching the Masters. Now it's time to get ready for the week ahead. I hope it's a good training week.

A bit of a breakthrough

On Tuesdays I like to go to my Vinyasa Yoga class from 6-715. Now this can sometimes be hard since I work just over an hour away and I can't leave work until 5 most days. So yesterday, I managed to leave a 4:55 but it was raining so I wasn't sure I'd make it. Luckily I did, due mostly to my lead foot ;). Anyway, yoga was decent. I couldn't relax completely so I didn't get the best practice. Oh well, some days you do and some days you don't.

After yoga, I was agonizing about going to swim. I was exhausted and hungry. I was ready to just dial it in and head home. I even called Dave to debate it with him, luckily he pushed me to go and I went. I swam for just under 30 minutes, doing 1000 yards of backstroke and freestyle. 

My breakthrough is really two things, I suppose. One - that I didn't just give in and go home, skipping swimming. I've been lenient on myself too much recently and let myself skip planned workouts. I can't do that if I want to improve. My second breakthrough was trying bilateral breathing on free and realizing that although I always breath to the left, I actually have better technique with breathing to the right, so I'm going to really focus on bilateral breathing and my swimming technique in general for the next few months and worry less about speed and endurance. I've come to realize that in swimming, technique must come first because with bad technique you're never going to really get faster and build endurance. So during tomorrow's lesson I'm going to slow it down and really focus on the details. I believe it will pay off. 

I'm hoping to get outside for a brick tonight - short bike and short run - my first run in weeks! I hope it goes well. I'm trying my Saucony Kinvaras rather than Brooks Ghost since the Ghosts seemed to be hitting on a certain spot in my foot and repeatedly aggravating it the few times I've attempted to run since February's half marathon.

Good weekend of training

Friday: Went to a Vinyasa Yoga class from 8-910, which was great. I really enjoy Vinyasa and I have an excellent instructor. After yoga, it was off to the pool. I did 800 yards. I was exhausted after having swim class the night before but I felt pretty good. I even managed to circle swim with 2 other swimmers at one point and I didn't mess up haha. Besides training, I spent the rest of the day getting drug tested for one of the sites I work at, having lunch with my mom and then getting a pedicure with her. Dave and I went out that afternoon to watch the Sox home opener and then hung out at home with a friend that night.

On Saturday, I went to yoga for a 1.5 hour class in the morning. It wasn't as challenging as Friday's class but it was good. I had accupuncture and a massage on Saturday, both were awesome and much needed. Then my mom and I took the dog for a hike. I went out again Saturday night even though I was exhausted. 

Sunday, slept in a little and then headed to the pool. I did 1000 yards in 31 minutes, I felt pretty good today although I really need to get past the hump of only being able to swim 100 yards at a time. My breathing and endurance suck. I must get better if I want to swim 1/3 of a mile in less than 15 minutes during my July triathlon. I need to find out how to best breathe and really focus on it. After my swim, I biked outside! for an hour. I did about 14.4 miles in an hour, which is pretty decent I think considering I was on a hybrid bike not a road bike. 

Which brings me too - I was thinking about upgrading to a road bike this month since I want one. But now I'm thinking I should stick with the hybrid for my July triathlon and make sure I really do love triathlon before I move up to a road bike no matter how much I really do want a road bike now. If I wait, I can save up and get a nicer one which is a plus too. I'm not sure what I'll do - still mulling it over. 

My plan for this week is:

Monday: 1 hour spin class, maybe strength train

Tuesday: 1 hour, 15 min yoga class, 30-45 min swim

Wednesday: 1 hour bike ride, 30 min run (if my foot cooperates)

Thursday: 1 hour spin class, 45 min swim class

Friday: rest day - off to NC for the day. 

Saturday: possibly 1.5 hour yoga class if I'm not too tired, 1 hour bike, 30 min run (dependent on foot)

Sunday: 45 min swim, 1 hour run (dependent on foot)

Have a fabulous week!

Swimming and Motivation

Sometimes, I'm such a slacker and it's something I really hope to improve on. I didn't used to be this way. I practiced figure skating 6 days a week and hardly ever missed practice. There were no excuses, if I didn't feel like it, oh well, I had to suck it up and go. I need to get that attitude back.

This week, I planned on swimming Monday after spin class but I talked myself out of it since I would have to wait around for the lap lanes to open for 45 minutes and I felt bad that Dave had to wait on me. Then, I decided I'd swim yesterday at 8pm, so I went home after work and relaxed. Then I had to drop off a form for Dave's parents, which is conveniently near the Y I go to. But then we got to talking and I stayed there longer than I planned and I knew I had told Dave I'd have dinner ready for him when he got home, so I skipped swimming. I suck.

I will be swimming tonight since it's my class night, I also will go to spin before. I plan on swimming either Friday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday too. No excuses.

On a better note, I've been attending yoga relatively consistently over the month of March and I think it is really helping me relax, focus and spend time healing my body along with my mind. I'm really enjoying it and hope to continue to go 2-3 times each week.

Off to find some motivational quotes!

It's been awhile

I'm a crappy blogger, oh well. But I'm doing something new to me this summer and I figured I'll maybe try to blog about it again. I know I won't be consistent and I may not stick with it but today I feel like trying. And this is my blog so I'm gonna write in it.

I'll be attempting my first triathlon this summer - a sprint triathlon on July 17th. It's a 1/3 of a mile swim, 9 mile bike and 5K run. I'm not too worried about the run or bike but I am concerned about the swim. I started swim lessons 3 weeks ago and seem to be progressing. I can swim about 100 yards consistently now and I'm hoping to start swimming 3-4x a week so that I can quickly increase that distance. Breathing seems to be my biggest issue when it comes to swimming, so that's my main focus these days.

I'm also in the process of researching a road bike that costs less than $1,000 to buy. I have a hybrid bike I have been using for awhile but I'd really like something a little faster for the triathlon. I'm also taking spin class 2-3x a week and using my trainer until the weather cooperates for outdoor riding.

My running is zilch right now. I ran a half marathon at the end of February and PRed but I also aggravated my left foot in the process, I think it's just a mild case of tendonitis but I'm giving it another week off since when I tried to run last week it didn't go great.

So that's where I am at now, we'll see how everything progresses over the next few months.

slogging through six

so i had a 6 mile threshold run planned for this morning. but my long run has been moved from sunday to saturday and while both types of runs are important, right now quantity is more important to me than quality. so i decided that i would just do a 6 mile easy run this morning and that during tomorrow's 12 mile progression run, i'll try and hit the last two miles @ hmp.

it was gross when i woke up this morning, misting, grey and humid. not ideal conditions for any type of run. so i waited until the boyfriend headed out for work, and then set out for my easy 6 miles. easy? yeah right. my legs rebelled against me from the start. they were just tired and heavy. still, i decided i would do a hilly route today instead of just a blah flat one. yeah, definitely should have stuck with the flat, usual route. my first hill comes right after i hit one mile. it goes up, up, up for just over half a mile. i could feel it in my legs already. get to the top, it's flat and then downhill to round out the mile. i finish up mile 2, turn around and go up the previous downhill. not feeling it at all. make it up the hill and it's downhill again, yessss! i get back down to the main road and decide to not do the next hill i had planned and just finish up the remaining 3 miles if i can. and i barely could. seriously, wtf was up with my legs this morning. i was so sluggish and just couldn't move. but i made it back home. stretched and took an ice bath. yes, an ice bath after 6 measly miles. oh well, my legs needed it.

here's hoping that tomorrow's 12 miles go much better than today's 6 did. my boyfriend is joining me on the bike again which is always great support! we're having a houseguest this weekend so the rest of the weekend will be spent going to red sox games, watching the patriots and probably eating more than i should. i swear i'll try to keep the eating in control it's just so hard at all these sporting events and going out to dinner with people etc ... but i'm really focused on the weight loss goal right now so it's important for me to keep it in check. anyway ... maybe i'll take some pics or something this weekend to liven up the boringness.

Staying on Track

So, I had a crappy summer. I've written about it. I've thought about it. I can basically sum it up as lack of running, extreme tiredness and no motivation. Well, that's not going to carry over into fall. I've got some goal races coming up and it's time to dig deep, focus and stay on track.

So what have I done? I've rewritten my training plan for my upcoming Half Marathon (October 17). I've made myself get over Sunday's horrific 10K performance and I've recommitted. I love running but it isn't always easy and getting better and getting faster takes work and commitment. I'm extremely lucky at this stage in my life that my life is very simple: I work part-time, I don't have a husband or children and I can commit myself to training. I do have a boyfriend but as a professional athlete (so weird for that to be true), he understands that I'm all about running, eating right, sleeping and recovering until January 30, 2011. I'm waiting to see how I do at my upcoming half marathons (October and November) but if they go well, I'd really like to try to qualify for Boston in January. It seems unlikely right now but with hard work and some luck, maybe I can do it. If I go 1:44 for either half marathon, then I'll go for the BQ. If not, just sub 4 or sub 3:50. We will see.

So this week the plan is:
Monday: 6 mile recovery run, strength training - lower body
Tuesday: off, it was Dave's mom's birthday so we went out with them and I worked all day so didn't fit the workout in.
Wednesday: 6 miles easy, abs, strength training -upper body
Thursday: yoga and walk or recovery run
Friday: 6 mile tempo, abs
Saturday: bike ride and yoga
Sunday: 12 mile progression run

September 6-12 Review including an awful 10K race

Quick Recap of Last Week:

September 6: Easy day, went to the track with the boyfriend since he had a sprint workout to do and I did just a short recovery run (1.5 miles). Before going to the track, I did a 20 minute ab workout. Since it was Labor Day, we had a fun rest of the day, played 9 holes of golf with one of my friends and then had a cookout at the boy's family's house with some friends. It was a good, relaxing day after my progression run the day before.

September 7: Did an easy 3 miles (9:30 pace) and arms and abs. Nothing special about the day.

September 8: Did a track workout, 4x800 @ sub 5K pace (7:22) was the goal:
1 mile w/u
1st 800: 3:34 (7:07 pace)
400 recovery
2nd 800: 3:39 (7:18 pace)
400 recovery
3rd 800: 3:41 (7:22 pace)
400 recovery
and then I somehow messed up my Garmin so I only have the last 400 of the last 800 which was 1:45 (7:00 pace).
1.25 mile c/d

So it turned out to be a good workout, on pace and I felt good. 

Did an ab workout before the track workout.

September 9: Just a leg workout and a short walk. Nice easy rest day, which was good because I had a long workday.

September 10: I worked in the morning and then had to help my mom change a flat tire, so that took some time. I had dinner plans at 6, which meant leaving my apartment by 4:50. So I ate lunch at 2:10 and then had to head out for my planned 5 miles right away. I only managed 3.75 miles since my stomach rebelled the whole time. Oh well!

September 11: Complete rest day.

Sunday: 3.1 mile w/u, 10K race, short c/d. So going into the race, I didn't really have a time goal since I don't think I'm in as good of shape as I was at the time of my 10K PR in Feb 2010 (47:35), so I was hoping for sub 49ish. I head out really fast (6:20 pace) but settle in quickly and the first mile is 7:30ish, as is the second mile. I felt good, legs felt fine and then I was crippled by a side stitch. It was like 10 knives were stabbing me in the side at once and I couldn't stand up straight. This continued for the next 3 miles which turned the race into a major fail (53:30). Ughhhhh. Oh well at least I get another chance at a race in 2 weeks (5K) which will hopefully give me a better idea of my fitness for October's half marathon. 

Progression Run

The boyfriend and I drove to our destination for this morning's run(me)/bike(him). First, we were going to go to Walden Pond but then about halfway there, I questioned whether bikes were allowed there. A quick look at the website (thanks blackberry) told us that no bikes were allowed. Ooops. So I went to the Mass DCR site and found a Rail Trail nearby that we headed too. 11 miles of paved trails. Glorious. And it was only 63 degrees at the start!!

I had an 8 mile progression run to do with the last 2 miles either moderate or hard, I'd decide when I got there.

Mile 1: 10:26, 147 avg. HR
Mile 2: 10:02, 151 avg. HR
Mile 3: 9:44, 156 avg. HR
Mile 4: 9:39, 159 avg. HR
Mile 5: 9:20, 1:64 avg. HR
Mile 6: 9:15, 163 avg. HR
I decided to run mile 7 moderate and mile 8 hard:
Mile 7: 8:40, 168 avg. HR
Mile 8: 7:43, 176 avg. HR

For the last mile, I gave the boyfriend my Garmin (he was riding alongside me) and told him that: 1. I'd like to run a sub 8 mile and that my heartrate should be between 176-180ish as that's my half marathon heartrate. So he stayed right beside me and paced me which worked out really well. I ran hard for that last mile and was very happy to see the 7:43 and the perfect average heart rate. Maybe all hope isn't gone for a half marathon PR in 5 weeks even though my running hasn't been consistent the past few weeks.

I hit 20.7 miles for the week, which is a good place to keep building from after coming back. I'll aim for 25 this coming week including either a 5K or 10K race on Sunday. I haven't decided which distance to race yet, probably doesn't matter since I doubt I'll PR at either distance.

Have a great holiday weekend to those of us in the US!

Trail Running

I did my first trail run this morning. It was a great new experience. OMG are there some hills in those trails and lots of roots! It was fun but hard especially as my first real run in a week. It ended up being a pretty short run since I just wanted to test my foot and see if the softer surface helped it. I'm happy to report that my foot was feeling fine and that I got a great workout in, with some nice views.

View overlooking the marsh.

Another body of water along the trail.

Next time I run this trail, I'll have to get some pictures of the hills! They really got my heartrate up today.

Run stats:
2.79 miles
30:00 min
10:46 min/mile
Average HR: 147bpm
Max HR: 176bpm

a short run and some cross training

since i took the week off from running, i've been doing a decent amount of walking. this helped me judge if my foot was feeling okay and also helped me get some exercise in since i'm not a fan of the gym, especially mine with it's crappy ellipticals and only a recumbent bike which bother my knee. anyway, after a 2 mile walk yesterday, i decided my foot was feeling pretty good and i could try some running today.

so, my parent's chocolate lab, remy, and i headed out to a path behind my parent's house this morning and did some running. there's a nice wide dirt road back there and rarely anyone out there so it was a nice soft surface for me to test my foot out on and it allows remy to run freely and not have to stay right with me on her leash. we did about a mile back there and then i figured we would walk a mile but remy wanted to run so we did some running on the streets and my foot felt fine! i'm so excited. i'm going to do 2-4 miles on a different trail tomorrow and see how it goes. i'm crossing my fingers.

then tonight, i went out to the club to hit golf balls with my dad which is actually a pretty good workout. probably more of a workout for my brain though, since my dad (who teaches golf) kept instructing me and i had to focus but it helped a lot and i'm getting to the point where i'm hitting the balls much better and much more consistently which is fun. i'd like to get to the point where i can play 18 holes with dave since i know he'd enjoy that.

in other news, i got a new (to me) car this weekend! a 2005 toyota corolla with only 47K miles on it. i'm so excited. i have air conditioning again, thankfully. i've been so miserable in my old car this summer.

it was a pretty good weekend and this should be a great week since dave comes home in 2 days!!!

summer's almost over!?!?!?!

i swear if i could think of things to blog about more and if i thought i was a good writer, i'd blog more. but my life is pretty boring and i'm not a very good or interesting writer. oh well.

anyway, i can't believe that labor day is less than 2 weeks away and that summer is about to come to a close. it's been a different type of summer for me. it's probably been my laziest summer ever to be honest. i quit my full time job on june 9th and have been working part time since then. very part time. which has been nice but it will be good when it picks up again soon. i'm enjoying my new job and it doesn't involve sitting in front of a computer all day as my old job did, which is so nice. i need to be more active in my workplace so that i don't get bored.

besides not having a full time job, it's also been a lackluster summer of training. first, it took me way longer than i expected to recover from my marathon. then i struggled to get used to running in the high temps and humidity, as this was my first real summer of training in that type of weather - last summer in new england was cold and dreary most of the time. and i just wasn't motivated for some reason. i didn't have a purpose and i was exhausted all of the time. i still need to get a medical work up too since i'm still having a lot of symptoms that can't be explained but my insurance/new pcp is taking forever to come together, so hopefully i'll get in this fall. and now that i am motivated again, i have a little injury. ughhhh i'm so injury prone. i managed to be a figure skater for 12+ years and only have 2 big injuries but in running i have little things pop up so often. this time it's from wearing my new saucony kinvara's too much too soon. i think (am crossing my fingers) that it's just a ligament strain, i had something similar last fall too. i don't think it's a stress fracture, as there's no bone that hurts to press on or tap. it's on the inside of my foot near the arch, same spot as last year. so i'm taking this week off and icing it a lot. i've also taken this week to refocus my diet and weight loss goals. i have 15 pounds to lose and i will do it by january 1st. i'm dedicating myself to it once and for all. i'm sick of people telling me i look fine and don't need to lose weight. numbers don't lie and i have weight to lose. plus it will make me faster, which is my real goal.

so after this mini training break, i'll be back at it. i have a half marathon october 17th and i'm just hoping to go sub 1:49:00 there now, whereas before i was looking for 1:45-1:47. oh well. then i will switch my focus to the houston marathon in january, where my mom will be running her first half marathon! goooo mom! she's come a long way quick with running.

the other biggest difference in my summer is that my boyfriend has been gone for most of it. he spent july playing in a baseball league in new york, he was able to come home a few weekends that month at least. but after that league ended he got picked up my an independent league on the west coast and has been out there playing since. it's been an adjustment, living alone and being in different time zones but my boyfriend can now say he is a professional baseball player, which is quite the accomplishment and i am so freaking proud of him. i can't wait until he is home next tuesday though!

anyway, that's my summer in a nutshell (there was a lot of fun in there too that i didn't touch on) and i'm hoping for onward and upward from here. i can't wait to have a great marathon training cycle and hopefully going sub 4 in houston!

Two Good Runs

Friday, I ran my first threshold run in forever. And it was hard. I did not hit the target's I set for the two ten minute intervals (HMP and 10K Pace). I ran 2 miles easy for warm up, then I was supposed to do 10 minutes at HMP. I set my Garmin for 8:00-8:20 pace for this part of the run and I ran it at 8:17, which was in the range but slower than I was hoping for. Then I ran 5 minutes easy before the next 10 minute interval of 10K pace (7:30-7:45 set on the Garmin), and I only managed 8:09. Then 2 mile cooldown for 7 miles total. I really need to work on my threshold runs. My plan for this week's threshold run is to run 2x10 minutes at HMP and to embrace the suffering during the run. My new mantra is "pain is good" and of course, "pain is weakness leaving the body". Of course, I mean good pain not injury pain.

So even though I didn't hit the paces, it was a good learning run and I still did push myself. I just need to get used to pushing it so that I can get faster this half marathon cycle.

I also played around with my Garmin before the run and I finally used Garmin Training Center to create a workout and transfer it to my Garmin. It was great to have the Garmin tell me when to run what segment of the run and it also beeped speed up when I was slow and beeped when I hit my target zone. I'll be using it a lot more!

Then I had my first double digit run since my marathon, meaning I hadn't run more than 9 miles in 2 months, eeek! I ran a 10.2 mile progression run with the last 15 minutes between moderate and hard. It felt good, I average 9:17 pace for the whole run which I'm happy with considering how slow I had been running due to the heat recently.

Total miles for the week: 34.3 miles
Total time spent running: 5:27:48
Average pace for the week: 9:33 min/mile
Number of runs: 5 - one easy with hill sprints, one recovery, one easy with fartlek intervals, one threshold and one medium long progression

Best week of training in a long time! Next week should be even better, I hope :)

Catching Up

A busy weekend made me fall behind in the blogging world! My cousins were in town for the weekend and we had a lot of fun, although my running suffered and I ate way too much but family time trumps that in my books. Then my brother left to head back to Japan, which was hard but he's only there for a little while longer.

Anyway, check out Jodi's blog: http://runjodirun.blogspot.com/2010/07/thumbs-up-thursdayashley-cavicchi.html. She does Thumbs Up Thursday and this week, she asked to spotlight me! Thanks, Jodi!

As far as training goes this week:

Monday - ran 6 miles in 57:17 and then did 5x8 second hill sprints. Did the flexibility program from Advanced Marathoning afterwards.
Tuesday - set out to do 7 recovery miles but my stomach was not having it and I just felt off. So I did 4 slow, recovery miles in 41:48. Wish I could have managed more but it's all I had in me that day.
Wednesday - 35 minutes of a power yoga podcast.
Today - 7 miles in 66:15 - fartlek run, 8x20 seconds @3-5K pace. I did the first 4 20 second intervals at 5K pace (7:18 - I was on the treadmill so it was easy to be consistent) and the second 4 intervals at 7:08 pace. Felt really good during this run.

Miles for the week so far: 17 miles

Still need to get more cross training in. I'm working on it!