5k PR!!

On Saturday I ran the Horsham Relay for Life 5k. This was my second 5k in 6 days and as of Friday evening I was a little worried about how it would go. I ran 15 miles on Thursday and while I felt great running, I'm not sure my legs are used to the longer distances yet. All day Thursday and even Friday my legs were so tired. Since I knew I wanted to race on Saturday, I took Friday off and rode the bike for an hour instead. Even that proved to be a little challenging and I just didn't have much in me. We had plans to head to the shore immediately after the race and I even toyed with the idea of bagging the race and getting an earlier start to the beach. It seemed like a good enough excuse since we were only going for an overnight but I knew I would be so pissed at myself if I didn't give it a shot.

So I woke up early on Saturday to pack us up so we'd be ready to go as soon as I got home and headed over to pick up my packet. After a little mile warm up my stomach started feeling funny. I wasn't nervous or anything but my stomach was really off. The race starts at a local high school track so there were actual bathrooms to use and it was nice to not have to squat in a scary port o' pot. My stomach was definitely not happy and I just hoped it could make it through 3 miles without any problems. Pooping myself at a 5k would be devastating.

When we lined up at the start, I was ready to get this over with. I found myself lining up right at the front and thought about how a few years ago I would have buried myself in the back of the pack. Times sure have changed. When the race started, I took off. I looked at my watch less than quarter mile in and I was running a 5:55. A what?? I didn't even know my legs could move that fast! I scared myself straight and quickly found where I wanted to be, finishing mile 1 at 6:59. I had 2 females in front of me and 2 on either side of me. Determined to actually earn my 3rd place finish this week, I managed to pull ahead of the 2 girls on a long, gradual incline. They didn't stand a chance against these thighs! ;-) I ran the 2nd mile at 7:09 and could see the second place female right in front of me. On our last two turns she looked back to see where I was and as hard as I tried, I just couldn't get to her. She bested me by 8 seconds but I gave that last mile my all and ran it at a 6:45.

As I headed to the finish with about a quarter mile to go, I knew if I hung on I would get that PR. I gave it everything I had and finished with a 21:30...20 seconds faster than my previous 5k PR!! I was hoping for a second or two so seeing 20 seconds off my time made my day! My lungs hurt like hell when I was done from the remnants of this cold I have and I couldn't stop coughing. I was also dizzy and had a really intense headache. 5ks are brutal! I stumbled over to the timing board and confirmed that I did come in 3rd overall female this time and won first in my age group! Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay for the awards since we had to get to the shore but they are mailing me my medal. It's probably better I didn't stay to pick it up, I was so happy I probably would have worn it all weekend while we were away.

21:30

1st in AG 30-39

3rd overall female

19th overall finisher

Mistake

Not much to chat about but I had to come clean. It turns out I wasn't 3rd overall female at Sunday's 5k. With all the rain, the writing on the bibs ran off during the morning and the timing company had a terrible time trying to piece everything together as the runners came in. Note to race organizers of small races: use a Sharpie. The official results are posted and according to them, I finished 22:22 and 4th overall female. Technically I should have taken home 1st in my age group and my little trophy should have gone to a 17 year old who beat me by roughly 30 seconds. I'm going to email the race organizer to let them know and see how they want to handle it. If I get to keep the trophy, I'll be sure to cross out the 3 and make it a 4! I don't want anything I didn't earn...guess I'll have to fight harder for it this Saturday at the Relay for Life 5k! This course holds my 5k PR from last year, 21:50. If this cold I have ever leaves my body, I'm hoping I can beat that!

What would you do if you found out that they messed up the awards??

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - Off
Tues - 6 mi
Wed - 4 mi, lift
Thurs - 15 mi
Fri - cross train
Sat - 5k
Sun - 6 mi (maybe more since I'll be at the beach!!)

Shirley's 5k - 3rd Overall Female!!

I had been feeling a little under the weather for the past two weeks but it never really turned into anything. Work was so insane and I was working so many hours that I think my body knew it couldn't afford to get sick. So go figure that when things finally calmed down, I got a cold. I managed to get my 12 miler in on Friday before it got too bad and had a really good run. My knees aren't used to the distance like they were, though. I was a stiff going up and down the stairs the rest of the day and my legs were really tired. Saturday I managed to get out of bed to meet up with the club for an easy 5 miler. But unfortunately, that about did me in. I spent the rest of the day sleeping/laying on the couch, feeling really run down. My body was really sore and I had zero energy. I felt so beat up that I didn't think I'd make it to my 5k this morning. But I decided to set the alarm and see how I felt this morning since last year I set my 5k PR when I ran with a cold.

I woke up this morning feeling a little better and decided I'd give it a shot. If nothing else, I wanted to see how the Achilles felt really pushing it since I haven't done anything remotely close to speed work in months. Not only because of the injury, but because of slow poke Ultra training as well. When I got to the race the skies opened up and it started pouring. Not only was it raining but it was humid. Humidity, rain and a cold...perfect conditions!! At one point I hit the port o' pot and decided to hang out in there a little bit just to seek some coverage from the downpours!! Thankfully they were nice and fresh. But by the time I warmed up and headed to the start, I was drenched.

It was a tough out and back course with a lot of turns and hills. Right from the start my legs were heavy and about a half mile in I was sucking wind. My lungs were dying! It felt like forever to get to the first mile marker and I kept wondering if I was going to be able to do this. When I hit mile 1 I was averaging a 7 minute pace and didn't think I'd be able to hang onto that. Knowing I only had a half mile to go before we turned around quieted the thoughts of quitting...for a little bit. I felt like I had bricks on my chest and I've never heard myself breathing so loud. Anyway, I made it to the turn around, counted down to mile marker 2, then kept reminding myself I only had around 7 minutes of hell left to endure. I finished strong, but it wasn't a PR. Unofficial time is around 22:20 according to my garmin. But...I did manage to score 3rd overall female and got this little trophy!!

While I wanted a PR, I wanted a pain free race even more. I was a nervous wreck going into this race that pushing it would cause something to go horribly wrong. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. I pushed it pretty good and am happy to say, Achilles help up like a champ! So while I didn't get a PR, I'm still really happy with my performance considering the conditions, the course and me being sick. There's another 5k on Saturday that I'm thinking of running so maybe I can get my PR there...

# 5 on the Schedule

Feeling confident these days, I decided to pull the plug. I'm already registered for Philly marathon on Nov 21st but have been holding off on registering for other races. I didn't feel like shelling out the money and not being able to run...I'm still sulking about the money I lost by not running the Ultra. But since I've been feeling good, I decided to go for it and registered for Asbury Park marathon on Oct 17th. I've heard mixed things about this race, some not so good. It's 8 loops of a "U shaped" course so it could get pretty boring after a while. But since I tend to do pretty well with repetition, I'll give it a shot. And with a medal like this, how could I not?

Asbury park will be marathon #5, with Philly as #6 a little over a month later. And since I'll be doing 2 so close together, why not add another one in there so I can get that marathon maniac status that I missed out on this Spring due to the Achilles? So next on the "to do" list: register for Rehoboth Beach on Dec. 11th. My plan is to fun run Asbury park and Rehoboth with no time goal in mind. I'm still hoping to race Philly but only time will tell if that will happen and honestly, I'm ok if I can't race this year. I'm just so freaking happy to be running again that I can take a few more months without racing. Notice I said "a few more months"...I will race again!

I just realized that I've been smiling the whole time I've been writing this. I was in such a funk for months and things have been going really well lately. I'm just...happy. Happy about everything and very hopeful. It's a really nice feeling after some pretty dark months and it better stick around.

This might be late in the week, but I love, love, loooove that I'm able to do this again. Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - lift/cardio
Tues - 5 mi
Wed - 4 mi
Thurs - lift
Fri - 12 mi
Sat - 5 mi
Sun - Shirley's 5k

Double Digits!

I was suppose to run 8 miles this weekend, my longest run since I've been out of the boot. But after running 3 days in a row last week and feeling good, I wanted to go a little further. There was something about getting to double digits that I just had to do to boost my confidence and feel like my old self again. And I've been telling myself that if I got through a double digit run without pain, that I could go ahead and register for some races I've been holding off on. Even more incentive.

I headed to my favorite place to run on Sunday morning and just pulling up to the trail made me smile. There's something about running at this park which makes me so happy. The runs always fly by and I love the sights, smells and sounds. I always feel like I could run forever when I'm there, and yesterday was no different. I had no set pace in mind, just to get through the run feeling good. I decided not to look at my garmin and just take it nice and easy. It's more important for me right now to get my mileage up and once I'm there I can start to push the paces a bit. Anyway, I felt great from the get-go. The distance, which up to this moment seemed like it would be impossible after a month off, wasn't daunting at all. In fact, from the very second I started, it didn't seem like it would be enough for the day and I kept having to talk myself out of going further. I finished up with 10 miles and a huge smile.

This might be a little random, but I kept thinking of my first 11 mile run yesterday. I'm not sure why but this run really sticks out in my mind and I think about it often. I ran it on the treadmill at the gym while getting ready for my first half in 2007. After the run I thought I was the sh*t. I remember exactly how I felt all day and remember calling my Dad to tell him the very important news. I remember saying over and over to Andy, "can you believe I ran 11 miles today?" And I'm sure I called my sisters to tell them about it, too. It was such a huge deal to me. And it should have been. 11 miles is a big deal. It got me thinking that even though the long run mileage has slowly crept up to 22 miles over the years, and I've even run 51 miles, the shorter runs can be even more important and special.

I needed that run yesterday. It was 10 miles of peacefulness, happiness, strength and me feeling like my old self. It will definitely be another one I remember.

Three Things Thursday

Craziness all around but real quick...three things Thursday!!!

• I have actually run 3 days in a row without pain! I know I might have done a little too much but I need to prove to myself that I'm ok. It's hard to explain but part of me just wants to know if there are still issues with the Achilles. If there are still problems, fine, I'll do what I need to do. But if not, I want to go on like normal. I want to start registering for the fall races, start doing speed work, running every day, etc. And based on how I'm feeling...I think I might just be able to do that!
• These 13 hour work days are catching up to me. I'm on the go, stressed all day and then when I finally get home, I can't sleep because I'm so wired and worried about what the next day will be like. I feel like I'm getting sick with a sore throat, chills, etc. But I'm pushing through because tomorrow is...
• Friday the Firkinteenth!!! This is an event held in at a bar in Philly and it takes place at the mercy of the calendar. Every Friday the 13th the bar opens at 9am and taps firkins throughout the day. Since tomorrow is the only Friday the 13th in 2010, it's going to be a big day! We'll be lined up at the door by 7am and ready to tackle a day of debauchery! Here's a link to the site if anyone in the area is interested in checking it out. It's definitely worth the 4:45am wake up call...yes, running isn't the only reason I wake up before 5am. I do it for beer, too.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. After my fun tomorrow, I'll be spending my weekend working, wanting to poke my eyes out.

Schedule!

I seriously think coming back from an injury is harder than training for a marathon! Holding myself back is damn near impossible and it's driving me crazy. I have antsy legs and my mind is racing with all I want to do this fall. I'm trying to be as smart as possible and wait out registrations as long as I can to make sure I'm fully recovered, but there is so much I had planned to do. It's hard to remember that there will always be races to run and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Work has been INSANE lately. Working for the pharmaceutical industry, we get surprise visitors who like to come in and make sure what we're making is safe for all of you out there. While what they do is extremely important, it wreaks havoc and results in very long, stressful days. After putting in 13 hours yesterday and not getting home until 8:30pm, I decided to ditch my run. All I wanted to do after a day like that was run out my frustrations but I could barely keep my eyes open when I got home. When I woke up this morning I had so much pent up energy and couldn't wait to make up for it. I was planning on running 5 easy miles but ended up doing 6 miles with some quarter mile intervals at a quicker pace. I really wanted to keep going but I forced myself to stop while I was still feeling good...And smiled to myself that I could still run 6 miles without it fazing me. I've been convinced that I turned into a slug during my time in a boot so every mile is a big confidence booster for me these days.

I've made some headway on the schedule and even went as far as to print it out. I think that makes it sort of official. I just signed up for two 5ks in August to see where I'm at with speed. As per Doctors orders I can't go all out on the 5k but I can put in a hard effort. Maybe a hard effort will still equal a PR, who knows. So, here's the tentative schedule that I have planned and if pain free running continues, it looks like it will be a good Fall season!! Whether or not I race Philly is still up in the air and depends on how I feel over the next few weeks. If I have to save racing for the Spring, then so be it, I'll live. There's sort of a big race in April that I want to make sure I'm healthy for.

There's speed work built into the schedule, just not shown.

No Turning Back

I mentioned a while back, maybe even years ago, that I was going to study for my personal training certification. Well, I have been studying but not consistently. Over the past year and a half life just kept getting in the way and it was too easy to find excuses not to study. At the beginning of the year I was notified that 2010 will be the last year to take the exam based off the study material I've been using. A new edition of material was published and starting in 2011, exams will be based off of this. Not that much will change between the editions, but I didn't want to take any chances...or keep putting this off. So I set a goal back at the start of the year to take the exam by my 34th birthday in October. It just seemed like a good date in the far off future and it would buy me a few months to retake the exam in 2010 if I failed. You never know...you can't use a calculator on these exams and that might prove to be deadly for me!

Knowing I was running out of time, I made it official today and registered for the exam on October 8th. That once far off date months in the future is now only 2 little months away. So it's time to buckle down and get serious cause there's no turning back now. Thankfully I have gone through all the material so the next few months should just be about preparing and making sure I know it all inside and out.

I can't even tell you how nervous I am about taking the exam. This has been a dream of mine for 10 years!! I didn't even talk about it until a few years ago because I didn't think I'd ever have the balls to go through with it. And honestly, it was easier to have a dream and never try then to have a dream and fail. But I'm not an idiot; I graduated with honors with a degree in Chemistry. And if the meat head at the Y who told a guy with a serious rotator cuff injury to "just go put icy hot on it" can do it, so can I!

The Dreaded Schedule

I am really missing having a Coach right about now. I am so overwhelmed by making a schedule and I've been putting it off for months now. One I didn't know if I'd even be able to train for a fall marathon and two, I'd rather poke my eyes out then make a schedule. But now that I've run a few times without pain, and I finished off July with a whopping 5 miles, it's time to make a plan for the next 15 weeks leading up to Philly marathon. I did a little research but the bulk of my plan is coming from what I did last year with a few minor tweaks. Hey, if it's not broken, don't fix it!!

I will say, in looking at my schedule from last year, I'm surprised at the effort I put in. I was running 6 days a week and putting in some good miles. At the time it didn't feel too intense but looking at it now I'm not sure how I did that!! I think I wanted Boston so badly that I would have done anything!! Since I'm not going for my first BQ attempt this time around and I just had a minor set back, I'm trying to figure out what's best for me this time around. Going into this training cycle, my original thought was to keep my running to 5 days a week so I could continue with the cross training and lifting. But now I'm not so sure what to do. One thing I struggle with is that if I only run 5 days a week I'll need to up the mileage on a few runs a week to get to my weekly mileage goal. Now I love a long run, don't get me wrong. But juggling a longer run with an already longer than normal work day due to my work arrangement really stresses me out. I don't really like to do more than 8 miles during the week. Anything beyond that messes up my routine of work, studying, spending time with Andy and most importantly...sleeping!! So I'm wondering if I should try the 5 days a week or stick with what worked last time. I could always do 6 days a week for this cycle then cut back again when Philly is over. I'm just not sure that's the smartest option though with the recent Achilles set back.

What do you do? 5 or 6 days a week? And since I suck at this, is there a site where you can input your maximum mileage and how many days a week you want to run?

So I'm making progress and have at least started an Excel spreadsheet. The week of Aug 30th is exactly 12 weeks till race day so I need to have something set in stone by then. Hold me to that!