First in My First 10k!!

We had beautiful cool weather Saturday morning for the Mistletoe Trot 10k on Saturday in Leesburg. It was great fun and I'm so glad I tried it. Two gals and I went together to cheer each other on and we all placed in our own age groups. Congrats Kerri and Connie! Jacqueline, wish you were there!! You would've placed also!! There were over 200 people there to run the 5k or the 10k. The course was totally flat and went around a huge lake. Rain threatened just a bit and it was a little foggy but the temperature was perfect for a run.
Well, I was pleased with the outcome! JB, you put it in my head that I could pull it off in 50 minutes so I listened and made it in 50:46! That was 1st in my age group and 5th overall female out of 47, I'll take it.
I do believe I like this distance! Citrus county doesn't have any 10k races, we'll have to fix that.
Actually got a key chain medal this time. It's cute and useful!

Jingle Bell 5k

Well...not my best time, but 23:21 is about all I could handle last Saturday at the Jingle Bell 5k. Last year there was a bit of a chill in the air and long sleeves were the fashion, but this year it must have been 85. The sun was in full force and it made for a very tough run. The slight hills grew to Everest proportions and it was such sweet relief to cross the line and just plop. I wasn't thrilled with my time but it was good enough to take 1st in my age group. I was more pleased with my place overall: 5th female to come in. Two of the gals in front of me are moving targets that I fear I may never catch.
Dan and I ran this year while the boys enjoyed the parade afterward with some friends. We caught up with them during the parade and enjoyed the same ol' show that we've had since I've been here(16 years now)
This Saturday I plan to run my first 10k in Leesburg. Not too sure what's going to happen there!

Hi!

Wow, haven't had a minute!

The runs are still going pretty good. I did not run the Key Biscayne Lighthouse run as was planned, but I am looking forward to my first 10k in December in Leesburg. Still running the long runs of 6-7 miles on the weekends and all is well.

The most exciting thing lately is that my sweet, dear husband bought me some new socks! 8 bucks for a pair of socks! They sure are comfy. The new shoes are not so new any more and well broken in and doing fine. Already 205 miles on those babies! And filthy from running the trail in the rain!

Coming up is the Jingle Bell 5k in Inverness! Kate is coming up to run...yippee! All those parade goers gawking at you as you go by...not my idea of fun, but I do love the jingle Bell. It's a Christmas tradition at this point!

Ok, that's all I've got! We're taking a break from school this week and I don't know what to do with myself!!

A sad day at the Olympic Trials...

Ryan Shay Collapses and Dies

How are those knees?

Make sure you actually REST on your rest days and do some cross training once a week--your knees will thank you!

Great Article!

Do you ever feel like this?

May I suggest a day off?!

Beat the Sheriff 5k

Today was a great day for a run through the streets of historic Olde Towne Inverness! More specifically, a great day to run the 11th Annual Beat the Sheriff 5k race where nearly 200 people were registered to take on Jeff Dawsy!

The proceeds will go to Jessie's Place , a children's advocacy center that will be built in memory of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford.

Well, the family stayed home for this one as I headed out the door at around 6:45 this morning to hit the starting line at 7:30. Lots of familiar faces and good friends showed up to run and to support the runners!

My goal today was to run this 5k in under 23 minutes. I just wanted to see 22: and I didn't care if it was 22:59! I felt pretty confident as I started my first mile and then I thought that maybe I was a little over-confident and started out too fast. As I ran by the 1st mile guy he shouted out 7:04. That was pretty cool, never heard that before at the 1st mile! But then I settled into a nice pace and calmed down a bit for the 2nd mile.

Good News--I set a new personal record for myself with a time of 22:55! Yippee!
Disappointing News--I was 2 seconds behind the one who placed 1st in my age group! (who does she think she is coming down here from Gainesville and messing up my Gold!?)
Overall, I was the 8th female out of 80. Not too bad for an old fart!

Check out the results here!!
PS - I beat the Sheriff, too!
Beat the Sheriff 5k Results!!

Training for my first 10K!

Well,
I think I'm gonna try it. On November 10th I can choose between the Key Biscayne Lighthouse 5K or 10K(both run at the same time). Last year I ran the 5k and came in first in my age group. I'm still convinced that's because all the great runners were running the 10K!! I think I decided then that I wanted to run the 10k this year.(I was NOT ready for a 10K last year) Well I've been running my 6 miles once a week so I think I can take it on now. So I went hunting for a good 10k schedule and found Hal Higdon. One doesn't have to read very far to realize this is THE guy...

You can check out everything about Hal at www.halhigdon.com/ and here is the 10K schedule that I plan to use for the next 8 weeks.

The strength training is going to be a challenge--it takes TIME!!

Flat Florida

I'm on a misison to find hills!! It's pretty flat where I live so I have to resort to the treadmill for a good hill workout. There are a few small hills within a few miles of my house that I'm trying out. I recently read something in RW mag that I'm working into my routine. This is from the mag:
10-Second Hill Sprints
At the end of a 20- to 40-minute easy run, find a steep hill (six to eight percent grade). Run two 10-second repeats. Add one repeat per week until you reach eight. Do the first repeat at a fast but controlled pace; the rest at top speed. Recover after each repeat for at least two minutes by walking downhill backward. Stay at eight repeats for two to four weeks, then take two weeks off from hill running before starting the cycle again.

So that sounds easy enough, right?! And by the way, LOVE the new shoes!!

Click Here for lots of Hill Training Info!!

Breaking in New Shoes

Well, my Brooks have about 550 miles on them. My laces are shredded and there are smooth spots on the soles. My coolrunning.com stats are shown in bright red now, which is a message to me that I should retire my shoes. These are all subtle warnings that injury is just around the corner if I don't get some new shoes!

Just got some new shoes : asics gel kayano 13 Bought them on sale at Finish Line! Yes!

So, breaking them in. This really doesn't require any fancy maneuvering or long term planning, but it is quite uncomfortable for me. I have run twice in them now. The first time my knees and my calves grew tired very quickly. Today my feet and my arches just felt achey. I don't think I need the extra insole(squishy comfy arch support stuff) I'm going to run with the regular insole tomorrow to see if that's any better.

My Brooks served me very well, but breaking them in at first was a pain, also. I think I even felt nauseous on my first few runs with them! Well, I'll give these Asics a couple of weeks. They sure are cute, though!

Loving the long run!

For the past two Saturdays I have been running my long run(5 or 6 miles) with a friend at Whipsering Pines Park in Inverness. It's such a nice break from the pounding on the pavement! Early in the morning it's cool, shady and oh so nice.
Boy, it took me a while to work up to 6 miles, I wasn't sure if my knee would allow it(injured it some years back pretending I knew how to ski) Well, so far so good and I am really enjoying the 10 minute per mile pace(run about an hour)
***Keeping my eye on the very LONG term goal of a marathon before I die!

Ovarian Cancer 5k

Today Dan and I ran the Ovarian Cancer 5k in Black Diamond, Lecanto.

http://www.ovariancancerflorida.org/

The sun hadn't even come up yet! We woke up at 5:30am, dragged the kids out of bed and headed out the door at 6:15 to travel 30 minutes to grab our stuff, warm up and start the race at about 7:45!
This is the quarry at Black Diamond which has been turned in to a golf course. The view throughout the run was breathtaking! The course is rated one of the greatest courses in the country! (not that I know anything about golf)

I completely enjoyed this course. The hills were unbelievable but occasionally it flattened out for a little break. The course started on a downhill slope which was a real treat but pretty soon it was up and down, up and down. I tried to pace myself better than I did at the Showdown(ugh!). It was a much better finish this time and my time was pretty much the same but I didn't crawl through the shoot this time. 3rd place in the old lady group(40-44)

Checking the results at www.citrusroadrunners.org/ I see that there were 212 runners! This was a huge event. There was another very large crowd that were registered walkers. Some walked the 5k and still others walked the 1-mile. My boys hung out with a friend during the race and strolled the 1-mile. Jaret insisted that he run the 5k but I knew the hills would probably do him in so I promised him that he can run the upcoming 5k in Brooksville in 2 weeks; a nice flat course that goes around a lake.This amazing little chick is Chloe. She was the first female to cross the finish with an insane time of 20:19! Not just first in her age group but first overall female!! She's awesome. Pictured with Chloe is Kerri Kitchen, the cross country coach from Seven Rivers Christian school(Chloe's coach) She's also one fast chick and I'm trying hard to catch up to her! This pic was taken at the Showdown in July.

Crystal River Mayor 5k

I don't have too many pictures from past races, but I'm posting a few from the Crystal River Mayor 5k from April. We had a great time that day. Four Gandees ran: Me, Dan, Daniel and Jaret. My mom was up for a visit at the time and she enjoyed seeing what all this running stuff was about. Ethan kept Grandma company during the race!
Dan's a sweetheart. He stayed back to run Jaret's first race with him. We weren't sure of the course and we didn't want to lose him! Here they are coming in strong to the finish!

Daniel's first race. He's proud of his 2nd place medal in his age group!

Jaret was glowing when he got 3rd in his age group!

Dan and I also placed. I was 2nd in my age group and Dan was third(only because he's a sweetheart and stayed back with Jaret!)

Me and Fartleks...a love/hate relationship

This morning I went out for a 3 mile fartlek run . Total time was 24:54. If you've been logging 9-12 miles a week for a while and you want to get faster, fartleks are a must! Love the fartleks: they do the job! Hate the fartleks: it's hard!

No idea who Dr. Mirkin is but he says, "If you don't run very fast in practice, you won't be able to run very fast in races." How to Run Faster

You can also go here to Read more about fartleks!

But it's important to not over-do it! Limit the speedwork to once or twice a week. Take nice, easy runs, too. Throw a long run in there once a week(whatever you consider long; listen to your body!)

'Twas a slow start...

I just want to encourage anyone who has ever started a beginner's running program and had a difficult time sticking with it. Any exercise program or workout routine is going to be a new challenge for your body! It takes some time, sometimes a long time to reach your goals! But the important thing is to set those goals and be realistic. I know that I got burned out pretty quick trying to keep up with Dan a few years back. It wasn't until I started paying close attention to what my body was telling me that I started to make progress.

A minute ago I was checking out my times back in June '05. I had been walking/running for a while by then and I was finally able to run a full 3 miles! It took me 30 minutes to run 3 miles, but I could do it! I enjoyed how running made me feel and I really enjoyed the results I got from running. It was the best workout I'd found after all my years of trying to stay fit.

Well, I soon decided that I wanted to run a 5k. Here I was, a grown woman with 5 kids, entertaining fantasies of winning races! My husband and my daughter had run a few races by then so I figured, why not? I went straight to Coolrunning.com for my 5k schedule. I set out to to stick to the 12 week schedule as much as possible(trying to keep up with life spinning around me) and I ended up 4th in my age group with a time of 25:06 for the 5k/3.1 miles. So, I was pleased that I didn't come in dead last and I was only one person away from the 3rd place medal! My most recent 5k time at this point is 22:14(7:24 pace) and over these 2 years I've enjoyed the thrill of gold, silver and bronze medals in my age group(yippee!!).

I say all that to say this! I started out in June '05 at a 10 minutes per mile pace and 3 months later I ran a 5k at an 8:04 pace! But that would have been impossible if I didn't make a plan and stick to it. I know for sure I will NOT be running a marathon this year. Or a half marathon for that matter! My goal right now is to finish well in a 10k(6.2 miles). This is a reasonable goal and one that I think I can reach--IF I take it slow and stick to it. It's just ridiculous to get upset with myself or discouraged because I can't do it tomorow(which I can't). I know that someday soon I will run that 10k and, God willing, I will run that marathon!

So, go for a run, enjoy God's creation along the way, give a thumbs up to all the runners, bikers and dog walkers that you see. You can't ask for a better way to start the day!

To Whom it May Concern:

Well, I don't know if there's anyone out there interested in how I spend my free time!, but I'm going to post my tempo runs, hill workouts, fartleks, intervals, long runs and races...the good, bad and the ugly! And there's alot of ugly, especially in this 97 degree Forida heat and humidity!
I love to run. Can't get enough of it, it seems. I think it's my daughter's fault. She ran track in school and I secretly wished I could be out there on the track ,too, or at least be shot back to '82(via Uncle Rico's time machine) so I could do things a bit differently. I was always racing my friends and my brother as a kid and I usually kicked serious behind, but as I got older, my shyness and insecurities kept me from participating in sports for the most part. (regrets...I've had a few) But!! It's never too late to start, I always say! Actually, I never say that, but I think it applies here.
So, I decided a few years ago that I was going to start running and I thought I'd try to keep up with my husband on his runs. Big mistake. Dan had been running for years and I discovered quickly that running wasn't as easy as it looks! But, for those of you who know Dan, he makes everything look easy, doesn't he? (stinker)
Well, I've come a long way. After reading everything I could get my hands on about the subject, buying a good pair of running shoes(do NOT run in the $8.99 Walmart specials) and setting realistic goals over long periods of time, I think I can now, with confidence, call myself a runner. I'm convinced, however, that I still only know 10% of what is to be known about training, pacing, form, race preparation and eating healthy, but I have the rest of my life to figure it all out or at least until my legs give out!
So, join me in my quest to find the greatest 3 mile route, the best running shoe, the strength to get up at 6:30am every day, the perfect 5k race, a scrunchy that stands the test of time and the common sense to listen to my body when it's screaming "Take a day off!"