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!!