Sturgis Falls 5k

Apparently, I like my races in Iowa. This is the third one I've ran in now!

I ran a 27:12 this weekend as well. Which was tough considering that I didn't sleep well the night before, got up freakin early as the race was at 7a. Also, around the 1 mile mark I got terrible stomach cramps. Like I had to go to the bathroom or something. They kept up until just after the water station and the 2 mile mark. I ended up not having any water either as I reached for the glass and she let go of it too soon. I managed to catch back up to Brent at that time and ran with him the remainder. It was our first time finishing the race together! And we ran an 8:45 min/mi pace! He thinks that if I hadn't gotten that stomach cramp for a little over a mile, I would have beat him. but it was fun to finish together and totally kicked butt in the end too! We turned the corner and Brent asks "Are you ready?" I said "Yep!" and we turned on the afterburners!

It was a fun time!

Categories: Brent, Iowa, races, Sturgis Falls 5k

Tempo Run

So I think I did my first tempo run free running, as in without having to get on a treadmill!

Last night Brent & I went running. He only wanted to do 2 miles. I said that I'll do it with him. So because it was only 2 miles, I wanted to try something different. I changed up my running style.

I shuffled. Well, not old man shuffle but I kept my upper body as still as possible and really focused on moving my ankles around each other. I ended up running faster! Brent was feeling a little under the weather so I ended up leaving him behind before the first mile mark.

Then I hit the turn around a little after 1 mile. Kept up the same pace and style. It was pretty fun. When I could tell my legs were failing, I would just say go faster and my legs went faster!

I got to the end around 2.1 mark and decided to end it and walk back to Brent. I couldn't find him though. Got a little worried, walk and run back to the bike path. Still no sign of him. I was thinking of the worst possibilities. Decided to run back to my house again as I had walked for a mile and cool down. I started a new run on Nike+ and picked up the pace again. Things were good. Then I spotted him near the end. And that's when I really picked up the pace. I was going a 7 min mile at one point! Insane!

All in all, I think it's cause I ran the 5 miles the day before I knew that I could run 2 miles easy and fast. Get it done and over with was my thinking.

Categories: Brent, tempo run

Awesome

I just came back from a 5 mile run today (yes another one!) and weighed myself. I am currently 132lbs! Yay baby! I haven't been that weight since I ran the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon last December! It could be because I just lost a freaking ton in sweat.

Today's run was rather harsh. I left a little after 5p. Later than I would have liked but I should be thankful. It was warm and humid today. Also, thankful that I was smart and decided that since I wanted to run 5 miles, I should bring with me something to drink. I put on my water belt with 2 bottles for it. I drank a little of the water, pouring most of it on myself; on the back, over the head, on my neck and chest and then after the run I poured what was left on my face.

Also, before I left work today, I mapped out a new run of 5 miles. I take my usual route of Greenwood Acres to the bike path, take that towards 1st Street but then when I cross the other road, I take that road back north and go around the bend and take that back toward the bike path again only to continue on the bike path to 1st Street, turning around and taking it Rt. 23, turning around again, then back to Greenwood Acres and back to the start. Well, I didn't pay attention to the map of what road I was supposed to follow around the bend, so I turned too early once I got on the Country Club Rd. Still managed to finish it with only slight backtracking at the end.

When I got back around 6p, it was 81 degrees. Yea, warm. I was spent by the time I was done. I think I'm going to start running later at night now. Maybe not leaving until 6p. I also checked into the Kishwaukee College's Wellness Centre. They have 2 treadmills. I think I'm going to sign up for the year and then use them at lunch time or after work since I get out at 4p.

I printed off some rice recipes on allrecipes.com. I'm looking forward to trying some of them out. Some has chicken in it but luckily, I can substitute that for my soy stuff. I have decided that rice is my secret to racing well the night of eating it. Specifically rice and beans!

I wish I could say that this was from running, but alas it was from biking. I have seen plenty of runners with that same tan line too. But luckily, the majority of my shorts come down to that tan line so you can't even tell too often. It makes it look like I have on thigh highs! Since I was peeling last week, most of it has faded away now.

Categories: 5 miles, pictures, tan

Dedication to be a morning runner

So I didn't end up running on Saturday morning. Bleh. I need to have more dedication and be more stubborn about getting up and out of bed.

But I did go running last night. 5 miles. Pretty cool! I was running the last bit around a 10min/mi gaunt. Pretty slow. But I was also a little lost. I was way off the path I should have taken. I was running in the city streets too so I would go north a block, east a block, north a block, east a block until I finally hit the street I needed to be on.

My hair is finally long enough that I can pull it back into a ponytail. Only a few pieces fall out of it but that's when my hat comes in handy to keep it out of my face. It's short and bouncy but it's off my neck.

I'm going to do 4 or 5 miles again this Wednesday and Thursday and then off on Friday and Saturday for my 5k race on Sunday. It's at 7am. I've never had a race that early before. ICK!

Categories: hair

Middle of June

I haven't done a run on Saturday (besides races) in forever and a day. This Saturday will be my first. I need to get back up to 6 miles before the end of July. I ran 4 miles last week and this week did 3.5 and 4.25 miles. At least I'm averaging over a 5k but my times for the 5k races are getting slower it seems.

My run on Monday was fast. I was listening to a soundtrack that my ex-boyfriend gave me. I'm not sure if that helped or not. Anger makes me run faster maybe?

Nike+ has this new thing calling Training. They are allowing you to either pick a prearragned training plan for specific distances or putting in your own custom plan. I chose the Marathon training and it's a 28 WEEK PLAN!! Holy cow. I don't think ANYONE needs that long to train. So apparently my marathon will be around christmas time because it does not let you go BACK in time to adjust the end date. The Custom program you can pick the end and start date but you have to put in your own mileage for each day. The cool thing about both of these is that if you run that mileage on that day, it will count towards the goal and you can see the progress. However, again, a bug in that if you decide to skip your run on Tuesday and run on Wednesday instead it doesn't count towards the final goal. So there are still quite a number of bugs. You cannot have more than one program either. I might just go with the Hal Higdon Training plan and input that into Nike+ to see what that will get me.

Categories: music, nike+

SkirtChaser 5k

Well, I've pretty much given up on the Food blog. It kinda wasn't doing anything. I did lose a few pounds, but was that from running & biking or my eating? Who knows.

I did a 67 mile bike ride on June 7th from Preston, IA to Dubuque, IA going through Savannah and Galena and even into Wisconsin. Was supposed to follow that up with a 44 ride on June 8 but it was raining so we hitched a ride back to Preston and drove up to Dubuque to pick up our bikes. :-) It was hilly so I was fine with just doing the one day.

I did the SkirtChaser 5k on Saturday. Women wear skirts with a 3 minute head start ahead of the men. It was fun until .66 miles into it. Then the skirtchasers started catching up. I felt like I was running backwards. On the back of one guys shirt says "I make myself hurt to see you in a skirt" in reference to him running fast.

I only caught one guy who passed me. Near the end he was walking. I felt a little justified after that. Brent never caught up with me though. But he was only a minute behind me though considering that I had a 3 minute head start he caught up quite a bit. My average was 9:20min/mi, his was 8:45min/mi. Way faster than mine. I suck.

It was hot and only one water station half way. Luckily some guy had a sprinkler hose and I ran under it. As I was running, I kept seeing the asses of several girls. I was so worried that people could see mine! I made sure mine was sitting low on my hips though. The pocket of the skirts didn't work well with the ipod. Came out and I almost kicked it! It's best for gels I guess. I also had a wedgie the entire time. I didn't exactly want to pick it out in the middle of the run!

They also had a fashion show at the end. I like the cycling shorts and the shorties and panties. I might have to pick up one of each. I don't like wearing my cotton undies on my runs when I wear my tights (and I haven't worked up to going commando yet).

I don't have a race for the rest of the summer until end of August. I might have one on the 28th but only if we can make it back to Iowa. There's one on July 12 but it's hot and we might be going to St. Louis that weekend as well. I'll be fine with that though, save my money so I can buy more running outfits! ;-)

Categories: biking, Brent, SkirtChaser 5k, TOMRV

Food blog 6/2

Breakfast:
Light Black Cherry = 90cal

Snack:
2 cereal bars = 260cal

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine Santa fe-style rice & beans = 290cal

Dinner:
4 slices pizza (Corn Fest mtg) 210 ea = 840cal ...too many...
Small Cotton Candy Blizzard = 540cal

Activity:
Running 4 miles = 402cal
Biking to Dairy Queen = 200

2,020 - 602 = 1418 cal (ew)

Categories: calories