Wednesday, August 29, 2007

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!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

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!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

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.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

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!)








Tuesday, August 14, 2007

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!)

Saturday, August 11, 2007

'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!

Friday, August 10, 2007

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!"