Week 7, Day 3

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).


Tonight we took it easy and decided to walk our 25 minutes instead of run. I was still feeling pretty 'blah' about running for some reason and didn't object to walking tonight at all. Plus, my knees are starting to get a little bit of a 'twinge' in them again. I'm probably going to have to start wearing the brace on them again to see if it helps, but I'm pretty sure alot of it has to do with the fact that we are running on the pavement again.

Maybe I can convince everyone to head back to the track for a few days to see if that helps.

Only 3 more weeks of training before 'the big race.' I've been really obsessed with watching the weather lately...dreading those hots days making a comeback. Today the temp is supposed to be around 95 degrees...with is normal July weather here, but it will actually be the first time this month it has gotten that warm and it's expected to cool down again tomorrow already.

We have been so spoiled! I'm not sure if this is going to me a very mild August as well, or if Mother Nature is going to make up for all the cool July days with super hot August ones. :( I just hope she waits until after the 15th to do that! The hot weather and humidity will make me think twice about running...I hate being hot! :(

This weekend Linda is in town so I told her she and I needed a morning to run together...but I don't think I'm going to talk her into running my Week 8 schedule! She should be starting Week 4, so I can handle that!

An easier run might get me motivated again!

Week 7, Day 2

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
Last night was 'BLAH'. I just wasn't 'feeling it', ya know?

I pushed to try and do that first mile in 10 minutes, and was close, but no cigar. At the 10:00 minute mark I was at 0.92 miles. And I would have gladly called it a night right then and there, but I had to somehow get back to the parking lot.

It was the farthest I have gotten so far on our original path around the lake. I have no idea where exactly I was, but there was a road you had to cross to get to the other side of the lake and it was the first time I had seen that, so that was a bonus.

The run back took me a bit longer. I walked 3 minutes before I picked back up and ran, but only for another 1 1/2 before I had to walk again. Like I said, I just wasn't feeling it.

I walked for maybe another minute and then slowly picked backup the running again..but didn't push it. After another 4 mintues I walked again for a few, then ran off and on until I got back to the beginning...

It was a cool night, so I didn't feel hot, but just more exhausted. I know I wasn't well hydrated for the run and my legs (not knees) and side seemed to cramp up alot last night. I think I may have started out running too fast again because the side cramps came on pretty fast. And I think I probably only have a few more days until the legs/knees start giving me trouble again. So far I've been lucky, but I have a feeling my luck is running out. Last night as I laid in bed I kept thinking about recovery socks and where I could get a pair pronto.

Week 7, Day 1

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).

Last Nights run was Spooktacular...

As you know we are back to running around the lake and Mandy had the idea to 'shake things up' and run the opposite direction around the lake then we were used to going. Which was fine by all of us. We needed a change of scenery.

Little did I know that that route was much more 'wooded' and hilly, and when you're running at your own pace, you tend to pull away from 'the pack' so to speak and the next thing you know you're all alone...on a path...that is dark, and wooded, and you hear all kinds of noises (or you would if you didn't have your iPod blaring in your ear so that you COULDN'T hear all kinds of noises.) and wildlife could jump out and attack you at any minute. But they didn't..so that's a bonus.

So needless to say that fact that I felt completly isolated in the dark woods kept me running my little butt off.

Okay, so there was an occasional couple walking or kids riding their bikes, but still....it was spooky.

And definetly not the same as running on the wide open path across the lake where you could see eachother and keep track of where everyone is at all times...and can see the deer as they come bolting down the hill at you...and not have to worry about them jumping out of the trees and scare you have to death and peeing your pants. Which did not happen. But it could have been a real possibility because of all that water I chugged before running....

Anywhoo...The 'hills' were a killer for me. I was definetly feeling the pain, especially on the run back.

I had decided again to try and shoot for a 10 mintute run, then a small break, then another 10 minute run back. The first run went as planned. This time I didn't start my timer until after our 5 minute warm-up walk so that I'd have a better idea of how far I actually ran. At the 10 minute mark I ran .93 miles. Not good. I would love to get to around a 8 min mile...but not sure if that's going to happen. At this point I'd be happy with anything under 10 mintues.

At the 10 minutes mark I turned around and started on my way back. Walked for about 3 mintues and then picked up the running again, but it was much harder to keep the running up...those darn hills!!

It felt like I was running forever on the way back, but it had ended up being only about 4 1/2 mintues and I have to give myself another small break.

To be honest, at this point I didn't pay much attention to how much I ran/walked. I just wanted to get out of those woods and find everyone else. I started to have a small panic attack that I was lost, but then came across a walker that I had run past in the beginning, so I figured I was heading in the right direction and picked up the running again. By the time I got back up towards the parking lot, I spotted Mandy, who I hadn't seen since the first 7 1/2 minutes of running and felt much better, but was tired for sure.

I think I probably ended up running close to 8 or 9 minutes on the second run, but they were broken up by a few brisk walks, especially up hill.

I can't remember now what the Garmin said when I stopped running..either 24 or 26 minutes...so shorter then the previous run back at the lake, but since we were on a different 'path' I didn't have a good sence of the distance we had gone or anything to compare it to time wise.

Distance wise, I was sitting at 2.04 miles.

I guess thats decent...but still aways to go to that 3.1 mile goal.

We've also talked about heading over to 'the other lake' where our race is actually going to take place to see if we can figure out the path of that race and try and run it to see what we are up against. We have a feeling it's also going to be a pretty hilly path/race and would like to try and practice running it before the big day.

I'm hoping it's not too bad...and I'm still praying hard for nice weather for August 15th!! We've been pretty spoiled here! This Friday the high temp is forcasted to be 90 degrees and if it hits that, it will officially be the HOTTEST day we've seen in July yet. That is just crazy!!! Usually by this time, 90 would be considered a cool day!

This is one thing I am very thankful for right now. I know the cool weather has really helped keep me motivated and in 'shape' to run. And by that I mean, NO KNEE PAIN! Even with being back on the pavement. That has been great!!

So as a recap:

• Still working up to 3.1 miles
• This week the workout goal is 2.5 miles or 25 straight minutes of running each day this week
• We are back at 'the lake' with a goal to move to 'the other lake' maybe by the end of this week
• Tues. if we are back on the 'original' path we were doing at the lake, I'm going to try and push myself to get to 1 1/2 miles of running before stopping..not matter the time it takes.