Guess who is doing her thang on the road to the Zooma Half Marathon in Annapolis? ME BABY!!! I am happy to report that on this day, the first day of the fifth week of my training I have hit a milestone. I ran seven miles. Never been done before. I also hit another milestone. I ran these seven miles at a 13 min/mile pace. Again, never been done before.
I PR’d TODAY LIKE A BOSS!!!!
For all of you who follow this blog and don’t know what a PR is, it’s a Personal Record. It’s a time when you have gone further than you have before. I cannot say that I have had many PRs in my running career but I think I have figured out how to get more of them.
I have finally realized how important speed work is to my training. In previous years I would skip the speed work then get to the race and wonder why I can’t get faster than a 15 minutes mile. Even on my best day I would only get to a 14 min./mile. Well now I see. During the week I have one day of training with intervals. I decided to train at the speed I want to run in the race. I have an old but faithful treadmill in my basement. I can measure my speed better on that than I can outdoors. Intervals work!!!! Hallelujah!
Now for other issues.
YES my butt still hurts. It has lessened some since my last post but it’s still a nuisance. I found a video on Runner’s World that explains this lovely pain in my glutes. Of course I know they are getting stronger but that doesn’t offer me much physical comfort. I gotta stop playing around and get a professional massage. I need to be kneaded by someone who knows what they are doing and not settle for my husband’s half ass, I don’t feel like doing this anyway, rubdown.
I lead a running group with a bunch of other women. We meet on Sunday mornings. Normally, I enjoy the camaraderie of running with people because it makes me feel more comfortable and they motivate me. However, I am so NOT feeling running with people right now. I am training. Practicing. Rehearsing the way I want this race to go and I simply cannot talk and run at the same time. I actually canceled the run last week to dodge this one lady and run in peace. I did six miles. Today I told her “I’m only running 2 miles.” When she continued on her path, I snuck to the main road to finish my seven miles. That’s bad. I know. Bad girl UB. But what can I say. I ran with her a couple of weeks ago and she talked me to death. I was screaming on the inside “Shut the f-ck up and run!!! This ain’t a tea party!” If you invite me to run with you, then we can talk, walk, stop and jump double dutch. I don’t care. But when you join me on my route it’s eyes front and let’s go.
I have increased my training from maybe three days a week back in the fall to five days a week now. That’s the way the Cherry Blossom intermediate training program is designed. I have added push-ups, sit ups, and chair dips to the mix for extra conditioning. I hate strength training but I’m dealing with it as part of the process. But after all that is said and done, guess what? I’M HUNGRY Y’ALL!!! All the damn time. It’s scary. A couple of weeks ago, I ate my own homemade beef stew at home (I rarely eat beef but it was so tender and delish I took a chance). I went to a meeting later where lasagna was being served and cleaned two plates of it with garlic bread to boot. Never felt full at either sitting. Woe is me. However normal this may be I don’t like it. Remember one of my goals is to lose weight. It ain’t gonna happen like this. (And NO I am not pregnant. Don’t even say ‘pre’ to me.)
Well that’s all for now folks. Thanks for reading!
