OMG, I ran 10 miles!

So, I ran 10 miles on Sunday. I don't know what possessed me to do this. I think I just wanted to see if I could do it. I was only supposed to run 8. Another reason I did it is because I skipped my easy 2 miler on Saturday and felt guilty, so I figured I would add the 2 into my long run. I still cannot believe that I did it. I mean, that's double digits! When you say, "I ran 10 miles", you realize that 10 miles is pretty darn far! I never in a million years would ever have thought that I would be capable of doing something like that. I was always overweight in elementary school and junior high. Some of you know what it's like to be overweight growing up. I had a lot of friends, but there were always people that would make fun. I lost some weight in high school playing softball, but I have never been skinny. I've always stayed around 150-155 pounds since high school. It's just really satisfying to look back on that and see where I am today. I love running. It has given me so much confidence. I have never done anything that makes me feel the way running does.

I also approached this run differently in regards to how fast I ran it. I've been reading a lot about training programs and what the different types of runs you incorporate into your training plan do for your running, like the long run, easy run, tempo run, speed run, etc. There are target heart rate zones you should be running these in. For example, the long slow run should be run at a HR of about 65-75% of your max HR. For information on how to calculate your max HR with the new formula, see this article from Runner's World, or you can do it the old way by taking 220-age (Obviously this is only an estimate). The RW article talks about using a HR monitor and the benefits of knowing your HR. Another really great source of information about HR training is McMillian's Running. My max HR is 192, so on my long run I should be keeping my HR between 124-144. For me, this creates a problem because on all of my long runs my average HR is always around 165. There are two reasons for this: 1. I haven't been training long enough and am in not good enough cardiovascular condition to have a HR this low while running and 2. I'm running my long runs too fast. I'm always telling myself I'm too slow, so I try to run faster, but I may be doing myself harm, not good. I have read that training at a HR of 65-75% of your max HR will improve your running, and your HR will start to come down with continued training. I think that I have started off too fast for my own good. So, to make a long story short, I started this run will the intent to keep my HR around 135, but it resulted in a pace of around 13:30 min/mile. Now that is just ridiculous! I couldn't run that slow, it would kill me! So, I settled for keeping my HR around 153, which is about 80% of my max HR. That way, I kept a pace of 12:00 min/mile and didn't feel like I was as slow as a turtle. I think I'm going to start either taking a long walk once a week or use the elliptical, keeping my HR around 136 and see if that helps.

I know I would not have been able to run 10 miles Sunday had it not been for me slowing my pace down and watching my HR. Sometimes running isn't about running fast, but about running smart! I am going to start paying more attention to my HR during my runs and hopefully my running will improve as a result.

Monday was a rest day, so I did 40 minutes on the Wii Active and 35 minutes of my new Billy Blanks Ab Bootcamp DVD. Billy Blanks kicked my butt!!

Running stats courtesy of Garmin Connect:
Total miles: 10
Ave pace: 12:17 min/mile
Time: 2:02:52
Ave HR: 154
Calories burned: 1,083!! wow!!

Next run: Tuesday, easy 5 mile run
Total miles this week: 10

7 mile speed workout

Yesterday I did a 7 mile speed workout. I accidentally posted that I was doing a tempo run in a previous entry, then realized it was a speed workout. Yesterday's weather was not typical. It was about 70 degrees and felt really cool outside at about 10:00 and was very overcast. I piddled around the house, then finally got myself out the door. As I was driving down to the Kanawha Boulevard, I realized just how overcast it was and that I was probably going to get rained on. I considered turning back, but thought maybe the rain would hold off for another hour. I was wrong, lol. About 1/4 of the way through my run it started a steady sprinkle. Not too bad, I thought to myself. It started coming down harder at the halfway point. I have never been caught in the rain before. It was exhilirating! I actually kept to my speed pace much better and probably ran a little faster because I told myself I was trying to "beat" a downpour. There were people out walking and had umbrellas and here I am running. I really felt like a runner, as only "real" runners would run 7 miles in the rain, right? It felt good. I did a 1.5 mile warmup, then ran 3 repeats of 1 mile at 9:00 min/mile pace with 1/2 mile recoveries, then a 1 mile cooldown. The downside, was coming home later to news that my beloved Michael Jackson was dead. I was glued to the television the rest of the day. My husband and some friends were working on the rec room, so I ended up eating pizza for lunch and dinner, 4 slices total. Then, I was so depressed about MJ that I begged my husband to take me to Mayberry's for a chocolate hot fudge sundae. And yes, I ate it all by myself and it was delicious. Today, I'm jamming to MJ's tunes all day at work. I love you MJ!

Stats courtesy of Garmin Connect:
Miles: 7
Ave pace: 10:25 min/mile
Time: 1:12:54
Ave HR: 168

Next run: Saturday easy 2 miles (or more if I'm feeling skippy)
Total miles for the week: 17

RIP MIchael Jackson

I am in tears. I absolutely love Michael Jackson, even though it has not been acceptable to love him over the past 10 years. Nobody can deny that he is the true King of Pop and influenced the music industry in more ways than we can ever appreciate. I was really looking forward to his comeback tour in England. This is truly a devastating day.

I am in mourning. I will be eating icecream later. This is horrible.

Easy 2 miler

Ran an easy 2 miles this evening at a nice park hidden away near a friend's house. Felt great. I have no idea what my pace was or how long it took me because I forgot my watch and was having a good time with friends. They were walking while I ran. I seemed to recover well from the 8 miler on Monday. I did Zumba and a Turbo Jam Abs workout on Tuesday.

Next run: Thursday, 7 mile tempo run
Total miles this week: 10

Long Run #5 - 8 miles

Had a great long run today. I had planned on running it this evening, but as I looked at the weather.com I realized it would be better to do it before noon. Usually 11:00AM is still too hot, but it was about 72 degrees and not too humid, so I thought I would go ahead. Glad I did because the weather felt good. It was sunny, but there was a nice breeze. I ran 8 miles on the Kanawha Boulevard, nice and flat with great scenery. I ran from Drug Emporium near the Patrick Street Bridge to the State Capitol and back. I felt good througout the whole run and kept a pretty constant pace.

Stats on http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7429241
Total miles: 8
Average pace: 11:20 min/mile
Total time: 1:30:42
Calories burned: 966
Ave HR: 168

My heart rate seems to always be too high on my long easy runs. I just couldn't get myself to slow down. I still felt great at this pace. I'm hoping with continued training it will start to come down.

Next run: Wednesday - easy 2 miler/hills at the end
Total miles this week: 8

Run for Your Life 5 Miler

Yesterday I ran the Run for Your Life 5 Miler. I didn't really know where they got that name from, till I realized it was because the course involves a 2 mile stretch running up to Spring Hill Cemetary and running in the cemetary! The slogan for the race is "the toughest 5 mile race around". That is probably an understatement. Even though I live in WV (the mountain state), most of the 5k's and other local races are on flat land, with the exception of races at Coonskin Park, the Charleston Distance Run, and this 5 miler, of course. Needless to say, the treck up Farnsworth street leading up to the cemetary was pretty brutal. I would compare it to running 119 in the CDR, but with a couple steeper points.

I started off the race feeling great. I wanted to maintain a pace under 10:00 min/mile, which would be a challenge for me. I had just come off that aweful tempo run on Thursday morning where I couldn't even maintain a slow pace. I brushed that off and didn't even think about it. Every day is a new running day, and you never know what you're going to get! So, I started off and the first mile I ran at a 9:40 pace and felt pretty good. I noticed, however, that my Garmin hit the 1 mile mark before the actual 1 mile point, which was marked with a water station. I didn't think much of it. The start of mile 2 began the climb up Farnsworth. The beginning of it is more like an on-ramp and wasn't too bad. I slowed my pace down to an 11:00-11:30 min/mile to help conserve energy. This road was long, and I had to stop and walk at about mile 1.5. I did this running/walking thing the whole way to the top of the hill, till I got to the cemetary. The road got really steep, and there was no way I could run it the whole way. There was another water station at mile 2. I got a drink, then started running again. I had to run a mile in and around the cemetary before coming back down again. The cemetary itself was comprised of lots of rolling hills; nothing too steep, but still hilly. Somehow I fell into this groove. My breathing felt great, my form felt really natural, and I felt really strong all of a sudden. I was able to tackle the hills without slowing much. It was a difficult run in the cemetary, but I felt very strong and confident. At mile 3, I headed back down Farnsworth. I was in autopilot at this point, just cruising down that hill! It felt awesome. I had a pace of about 8:30-9:00 down the hill. Once I got to the bottom at mile 4, it was flat from there. Ahh, the home stretch. I still felt amazingly strong. I'm thinking to myself, "where is this coming from??". I usually am struggling pretty bad at this point in any race. At mile 4.5 I started to feel the energy let up a little, but I kept my pace. At this point, I realized that my Garmin was reading a lot farther than the course was. I KNEW I would finish this race in 50 minutes or less. Then, I saw the finish line and the time clock. It said 53:30!! WTF?? I looked at my watch and saw that it read 5.28 miles. I was irritated, but then also determined to cross the line before it hit 54 minutes. I don't know where it came from, but I started an all-out sprint to the finish. I mean, I don't think I have ever run that fast before in my life. And I felt so strong! People saw me sprinting and started cheering for me. I guess they saw the determination on my face. It was amazing. I crossed at 53:58, lol.

I caught my breath, then headed over to the table to turn in my popsickle stick. I was number 78 to finish. Not sure how many ran in it. I will have to see when they post the race results online. I asked a girl next to me, who was wearing a Garmin Forerunner 305, what her watch said the distance was. She told me it said 5.3. Mine did, too. She said she was going to email the race director to ask about the distance. I figure they will say this is the 4th year they have done this run, and it's been the same 5 miles each year, lol. But, I truly believe that it was 5.3 miles. The way I felt and how hard I pushed myself, there was no way I ran that race at a 10:47 min/mile pace. At no point during the race did my Garmin read slower than a 10:50 min/mile pace, except between miles 2-3, the hill part. I did forget to stop the timer at the finish, so it didn't stop at 53:58, it was stopped at 54:21.

Here are my splits from Garmin Connect:
Mile 1- 9:40
Mile 2- 11:56
Mile 3- 10:49
Mile 4: 9:19
Mile 5: 9:24
Mile 0.3: 3:10

Garmin Connect calculated my average pace to be 10:13. If I use this data and extrapolate it to 5.0 miles, instead of the 5.3 the watch said, it would make my average pace 10:47. I just don't believe that. Maybe I'm just being hard headed, or putting too much faith in the Garmin. It's not really that, it's the fact that I felt amazing during the race and ran my ass off. It absolutely did not feel like a 10:47 average pace, even with the hill portion. Oh well, 5.0 or 5.3, I felt great. It was probably the best race I've ever run and felt awesome in. I really had a good time and liked the hill challenge. At the end, I wanted some more, haha. I will definitely be doing this one again next year.

Next run: Sunday - long, slow run, 8 miles
Total miles for the week: 21 miles

My not so tempo run

I was scheduled for a 6 mile tempo run yesterday. Coming off my easy 2 miler from the evening before, I thought I could knock this run out. I felt so amazing on my 2 mile run, like I was superwoman, haha. I did the 2 miler at about 9:00PM the night before, then the Wii Active, finishing my working out at about 10 or 10:30 give or take. I woke up in the morning to run at 8:00. Starting off, my legs felt heavy. I noticed that my breathing didn't feel right and I was having a hard time. I just couldn't get into a groove. Then, there was road work on the Boulevard on a bridge, so I had to take a detour around. It was bad. I plain stunk. I think that I started off too fast, still on my high from the run the night before. I was supposed to warm up at about an 11:30 min/mile pace for 1 mile, run 4 miles at a 9:40 pace, then a mile cooldown at the 11:00 min/mile pace. My splits are as follows:

Mile 1: 11:02
Mile 2: 9:53
Mile 3: 10:06
Mile 4: 10:01
Mile 5: 11:13
Mile 6: 11:51

I was close to my pace the first 2 miles, but completely fell off after that, having to stop and walk several times throughout the whole run. It was really ridiculous. I mean, I couldn't even keep my normal pace! It was just a terrible run, but I'm not going to let it get me down. Runners just have bad days, and they are completely unexplainable. From now on, I'm not going to do a full workout the night before an early run. And, I HAVE to make sure I'm hydrated enough. I think that may have been an issue, too. I'm not going to let this get me down. I have a 5 mile race tomorrow morning, so I'm going to take today as an off-day, or I may get some core training in. I'm running the Run for Your Life 5 mile Race, part of the Smoke on the Water Chili Cookoff. It's supposed to be difficult, running up Spring Hill Cemetary. I'm going to take it easy and not kill myself. Hopefully, it will be a good day.

Run stats:
Total distance: 6 miles
Time: 1:04:09
Ave pace: 10:41
Calories burned: 707

Next run: 5 mile Run for Your Life race in the morning
Total miles for the week: 16