Sometimes you just need a break – and a heater.

So I had hit the point where I just didn’t want to run anymore so I didn’t.  I took the 4 or 5 days before RNR – STL off and the entire week after.  I truly do enjoy running and when it becomes a chore I know I have hit my wall.  I had also gotten a stupid head cold from St. Louis so that didn’t help anything.  I have gotten in great shape the past 2 months and I wanted to give myself plenty of time for Goofy, but sometimes you just need a break.  It was too much.  Plus the cold weather that has moved through isn’t helping my motivation any.  You know you have been working when you take almost 2 weeks off running and still will break 100 miles for the month.

What did help my motivation were the two new pairs of running shoes that arrived on Friday.  I gotta start breaking them in for Goofy.  Saturday I did an easy 3 miles and didn’t lose a step.  Same type of time I had been running before.  And Sunday I did 5 miles trying for a 9 minute pace and it felt super easy.  Got a great 5 mile loop that I really like.  Going to run try and do that loop again tonight.

Thankfully it is supposed to be back in the 80s by the end of this week and sand volleyball is coming to an end.  I really enjoyed volleyball the last few months and I’m sad to see it end, but I will be happy to get back a few nights a week to run.  I need to make a better effort to see volleyball peeps over the winter.

The next 3 weekends my goal is to build up to a 20 mile run.  Going for 17 this weekend.

Oh Happy Running Day –

So last week I wasn’t really feeling running.  I had so much going on and so much to do, that generally I put other things on the back burner and prioritize my running.  Every once in awhile I do put running on the back burner.  That being said I don’t think I ran Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  Yikes!  Oh well, because it paid off on Sunday.  Having down weeks every once in awhile won’t kills your running!

This weekend was Rock N Roll – St Louis and one of my favorite running weekends.  My first half marathon was in St. Louis in April 2010.  And it is great to get my dad’s side of the family together around a run.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been Amy, Kyla and Brent.  Amy and Kyla have been at every St. Louis race and you could tell there was something missing this time.  The flight was uneventful.  I did meet a girl in the DFW terminal who asked if I was going to run.  She worked for MicUltra and was heading down there to work.  Only reason I mentioned it was she found me after the race and we talked for a bit.  After my dad and uncle picked me up from the airport we went to the expo.  Only problem was we went to the WRONG expo location.  We went to the Go St Louis packet pickup.  Opps – that was pretty funny.  Got that all straightened out and got to the right expo with perfect time to meet up with Nicole and Uncle Bob.    That afternoon the whole family went out to a winery for some wine/beer and live music.

Sunday morning was the race – and it was cold.  Yes, I am a whiny wimp.  And yes, I started off in a fleece jacket over my long sleeve shirt. 

Nicole had said she would run the whole race with me and I told her if she ever wanted to go, just go.  My goal was below 1:56; which would be a St Louis PR and I would be ecstatic if I could break 1:50 on this tough course.  Nicole said we could and for some reason she always has more faith in my running than I do.  We were both feeling pretty strong in the start of the race and she kept reminding us to slow it down.  Our first mile was slow because of the congestion and our second mile was fast because we finally got free from everyone.  We were just cruising up and down all the hills and loving all the fall colors.  Somewhere around mile 6 she asked if I was feeling strong and I was.  She told me I could leave her at anytime because she was already fighting and she was feeling the marathon.  No way was I leaving her.  We pushed on, and by 9 or 10 she made the comment again and stated that if I stayed with her we might now break 1:50.  Told her I was over it and that there were still 6 additional minutes to spare for me to hit my goal.  I was able to power up all the hills and felt really strong.  Where we caught our second wind: there was a sign that said PBR 1 mile.  Of course we had to make sure we grabbed a beer.  And for some reason that is where we started picking up the pace.  We were close to the end, had some beer and just took off.  At 12.6 miles Nicole made the comment that if we could do the last half mile in 4 minutes (8 minute pace) we would be under 1:50.  I said don’t even worry about the time, let’s just run.  For some reason we got faster and faster.  We ran the last mile in 7:48 with the last 0.1 in a 7:12 pace.

Final time: 1:49:45 (plenty of time to spare J).

Look at how together we were!

Then we were trapped in the parking lot so we went to the Hard Rock Café and had some food and drinks.  Back to Aunt Cheryl’s for a nap and some football and baseball.  Another fantastic weekend in St. Louis. 

 Today I signed up for the Thanksgiving half marathon, RNR – Chicago, and bought 2 new pairs of running shoes!  Love fall running season.

Yogurt –

So I normally buy the plain Greek Yogurt and add frozen blue berries to it to take away a bit of the bitterness.  The other day I accidently grabbed the wrong container of yogurt and didn’t notice.  When taking the first bite of my mid-afternoon snack I almost spit it out because of how sweet it was.  Yup – accidently grabbed the vanilla flavored greek yogurt.  HOLY SWEETNESS!  Went back and looked at the amount of sugar in it – 27g.  Geez-o-petes; might as well have a can of pop.

NEVER BUY FLAVORED YOGURT.  Buy plain yogurt and add your own berries.

I was trying to hold off grocery shopping until after St. Louis, but I am desperately running out of food to eat, so I might have to make an emergency trip.  Either that or eat out the rest of the week.

What is important when training?

Is it the total number of weekly miles?  The long run?  The quality of the run?  I think I have been too focused on the total number of miles.  I have been running more days a week to get my weekly mileage up, but I think that has been costing me on the long run.  I need to go back to running 4-5 days a week and being focused on the longer runs.  The quality long run needs to trump running the extra day.  The 15K/half marathon weekends have given me a lot more confidence for Goofy.  Now I just need to get the longer runs going.  I have capped out at 15 miles.  Need to get that to 18-20 miler.  Good thing I still have plenty of time.

RNR – STL is this weekend and I am really looking forward to it.  Running in St. Louis is always fun because the family is there and the change of scenery.  Other than the very first half there, I have never put any pressure on myself at this race.  I am always too distracted hanging out with the family to worry too much about the race.

The crock pot Chicken Chili turned out pretty good.  Was able to freeze about half of it and will eat the other half this week.  That being said, absolutely none of the Chicken Noodle soup made it to the freezer.  I ate it all.  Opps!

Three Things Thursday –

1.      Crock Pot Cooking –With fall fast approaching I am ready to have some soup!  They are simple, fast, and much appreciated when you finish running in the cold.  I made some Chicken Noodle Soup last night.  This weekend I am going to make another batch of chicken noodle and then a thing of chicken chili.

http://www.littlebshealthyhabits.com/2012/09/clean-eating-crock-pot-chicken-chili.html

2.      I have kind of been slacking on my weekly runs this week.  I’m just not feeling it – granted the 2 that I have done so far have been great runs, but I am just not motivated right now.  I think I need a complete overhaul on my thought process for training.  I am not going to be as strict with the number of miles during the week – at least until volleyball ends, and I gain back a few evenings a week.  Still going to focus my weekend energy on the long runs.  Too much I want to do and not enough days in the week.

3.      800+ miles for the year.  Earlier in the year I had said I wanted to run over 1,000 miles.  At this point that will be no problem.  About mid-year I had thought running 1,200 (in 2012) would be cool.  I know the 1,000 is no problem, not sure if I can get to 1,200 (without risking injury).

Maybe I am a cold weather runner.

Being a Texan means not handling cold weather well, and by cold weather, I mean below 60 degrees.  I have turned into a cold weather wimp.  That being said, I ran extremely well in cold weather this weekend.  All the summer training really pays off in the fall.

Saturday was the The Loop 15K out at White Rock Lake – chilly and windy.  I was trying to hold back and I didn’t want any miles under 8:45.  Of the first 5 miles, only one was below 8:45 – the last 4 all were.  I just wanted to be done so I picked it up a bit.  Waiting for official results to be posted.  This 15K was over a full minute faster than the Autumn Equinox.

Sunday was the Tyler Rose half marathon.  It was my third race in the 4 Seasons Challenge.  One more and I get some extra bling.  There were definitely pros and cons to this race. 

Pros: small race size, parking was free and right on sight, good freebies afterwards, ran with Megan, and a PR

Cons: Mile markers were terrible.  They had a full, half, and 5K.  The starts were in different spots.  The course markers were all over the place and you didn’t know what marker was for what race.  We get to ‘Mile 1’ and I look down at my watch and it is 0.50 miles into the run.  That mile 1 was for the marathon, but there was no differentiation in the signs.  Also, I didn’t see any mile markers for the half after mile 10  It was a hilly course and a long drive.

I started the race with Megan, figured I would hang with her as long as I could and then drop back.  We were definitely cruising the first 4 miles and I felt good.  By the time we got to the half way point Megan said that we would break 1:50 if we kept this pace up and even if we slowed down a bit.  I was struggling at this point and thought NO WAY IN HECK could I keep this going.  I had looked at the elevation chart and knew there were hills, but I did not expect this.  Someway, somehow I managed to push through everything and even was the one pushing Megan for several miles.  I definitely worked this entire race.  I kept checking my watch and knew I could break 1:50.  Crossed the line and looked down and was shocked to see 1:48.  I didn’t even realize that it was a PR at first.  It clicked a bit later.  GO ME!!!



In the Rose Garden afterwards



October Plans –

·        Run 150 miles – I did 133 in September so it’s really not that big of a jump.

·        Races:

o   The Loop 15K – finish

o   Tyler Rose half marathon – finish

o   Rock N Roll – St. Louis – run strong.  This will be my first half in a while that I will not be running the day before.  Want to run good on some well rested legs.  No PR or anything like that.  Just want to feel strong!!

·        Bike 100 miles – gotta get ready for the Turkey Roll!

Dad hung up my shadow box in my room and my medal hangers in the living room.  It is nice to display my medals.  The hardest part was deciding which ones to hang where.  Now time to continue to add to my collection!!

Also gotta up the decorations for both the inside and outside of my house.  The neighbor said to expect between 200 and 300 trick-or-treaters!  Woot.

So much has been going on…where to start

Running –

I have gotten in a lot of good miles the past few days.  Saturday I woke up bright and early and ran in the rain.  Megan and I did 15 miles – well she had done 4 earlier so 19 for her.  It was a nice slow pace and it was the most consecutive miles I have ran this year.  We averaged a 9:41 pace and that was not stopping my watch at water breaks and stop lights.  Sunday I only managed 5.  I wanted to do 8, but it was rainy and I wasn’t feeling it.  So then on Monday – I killed it.  My dad had gotten into town Sunday night, but I still ran first thing in the morning Monday before we started doing stuff.  A 6 mile run that was fast, faster, and fastest.  Splits were: 8:57, 8:48, 8:39, 8:21, 8:08, and 7:39.  I have no idea where those miles came from.  It was cooler temps and I think I was just excited my dad was in town.  Followed that run up with 4 quick ones on Tuesday.  Again – great negative splits: 8:38, 8:27, 8:15 and 7:57.  Hoping for 35-40 miles this week. 

I have another 15K/half marathon weekend set up.  I also have my phone set to track several people who are doing the Chicago Marathon.  I think I am going to run with my phone on Sunday just so I can check on them.  I am not going for any times this weekend, just finishing so no pressure.

Monday Night Football –

Was AWESOME!  Dad couldn’t believe all the Bears fans and I think he was impressed with Jerry World aka the stadium.  We saw so many Bears fans it was ridiculous.  My favorite line was one guy shouting ‘Welcome to Soldier Field’ because we just dominated the place.  The game was great.  My throat hurt from all the cheering I was doing and there was lots of jumping.  We had great seats and I even ran into a friend I haven’t seen in a long time.  A very cool experience!

 No Zoom - these were our seats!

Volleyball –

So I either jammed or broke my poor little pinkie finger.  It is just going to fall off one of these days.  Currently have it taped to my ring finger and that is helping a lot, but typing is hard.  I am going to try and play Thursday since I don’t hit – I just pass.  Serving might be a problem, but I do have a sub lined up if I can’t go.

Just have to make it through today and tomorrow at work, then another long weekend.