Half & Half

So, it occurred to me, while I was reviewing my 2012 race options, that there are two races centered around Georgetown that I'd like to participate in.

The Slacker Half Marathon starts at the Loveland Ski Area and finishes in Georgetown. It is on June 23rd next year. The Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon, well, starts in Georgetown and ends in Idaho Springs. That one is August 11th next year. I think that's pretty cool. :-)

Thanksgiving

So, no running happened for me during the Thanksgiving week. Bummer. But, thanksgiving is a big deal for my family. I decided not to sweat it and just enjoy spending the time with my in-laws. I'm happy with that. Running will come. I had an awesome time with the family! :-)

Next up... long run on Sunday with the ARC. On schedule for 6 miles. I still need to figure out my weekly maintenance miles.

15 Weeks --> R&R NOLA

15 weeks to go! I had an awesome run this morning with the Arvada Running Club and my running buddy Sarah. We seem to run well together. She asked if I run faster or slower when I run alone. She says she runs slower. I tend to run too fast which results in walking part of the run. I'm trying to work on that because I'd really love to run the entire half marathon. I haven't done that yet. Maybe that should be my secondary goal.

Goal #1 - Finish under 2:30
Goal #2 - Run the whole race (not run/walk)

This past week I managed 2 of my 3 running training days, and only 1 of my 3 boot camp days. I missed one run and one boot camp day because of a workshop at work. No biggie. I missed the other boot camp day because I was tired. Lame.

My long run this morning was 6 miles. The long slow distance days are supposed to be very easy and gradually get longer. (The last two Sundays I did about 5 miles each day.) Sarah has a Garmin which helped to keep us on track and make sure we get all our miles done. I still use my iPhone app MapMyRun. (Maybe I'll pick up a Garmin of my own some day.) It was a good run for me. I felt strong and the work felt easy. At the end I felt like I could go a bit longer. I am thinking this is how I want my body to feel during the race. But faster.

Thanksgiving is next week. My plan is to do boot camp on Monday, try to get a run in on Tuesday and to run 6 miles again on Sunday with the ARC. I'll be happy with that.

16 weeks --> R&R NOLA

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!

I planned to run with the ARC this morning like I have for the past two Sundays but I really felt like going solo today. Not that I don't enjoy the club, because I do. But, having some time to myself was looking more and more enjoyable. So, I did my 5 mile route from home to Starbucks. And I met my lovely hubby there! I like when we do that. I got an earlier start than I would have with the club too. This gave me more time to shower, relax and prepare for my friends and family who were coming over to celebrate with me. Yay!

So, I'm still on track with my training. My plan is to start the actual training plan when we get back from Thanksgiving in New Mexico.

The week looked like this:
Monday - skipped on the boot camp but did a short arm workout
Tuesday - muddy trail run on the path at work (3.46 miles)
Wednesday - mini boot camp (30 min)
Thursday - brisk walk on a busy day (40 min)
Friday - Boot camp with the Angels (600 workout)
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 5.29 miles

Next week's plan:
Monday - yoga with the Angels
Tuesday - 3-5 miles
Wednesday - boot camp
Thursday - 3-5 miles
Friday - boot camp or rest
Saturday - rest
Sunday - ARC LSD

I'm still trying to figure out the rest days. If we can do one day a week of yoga that would help.

And the Saints won! What a great birthday

R&R NOLA Route Published!

http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/files/2011/03/MG_12_CourseMap_CR-small.pdf

I am so pumped!! Just after the 2 mile mark and the again just after the 6 mile mark, I'll be running right past my aunt's apartment on St. Charles Avenue. At about the 12.5 mile mark I'll run right past my high school!

I can't wait! I'm super super excited! :-)

I ran about 3.5 miles yesterday. Today I have plans for a run at 3pm. Sunday with the club for 5 miles. Sunday is my birthday. :-)

17 weeks --> R&R NOLA

I didn't get any runs in during the week. Not sure how that happened. Oh, wait, I remember. Snow storm Wednesday followed by life. Anyway...  I did manage to run with the ARC today. I did a slow and easy 4.67 miles. It was billed as 5 miles. Next Sunday I think I'll make sure to get 5 miles. Coach suggested to stay at 5 miles next week as well. The following weekend I'll bump up the mileage. I also chatted with her on the last mile of our run. She said that hill workouts could replace speed workouts. She suggested the Carr St. hill as a great workout and that I should build up to 8 repeats of that hill. 8?! Ok. Something to strive for to meet my goal.

I'm still not sure of my "official" training plan to meet my 2:30 goal. But, right now I'm focusing on making training a habit. It wasn't last week. This weekend the time changed. I'm hoping that helps. My plan for the week is 30 minutes on the treadmill on Tuesday. Maybe a Thursday trail run or a lunch run of about 3-4 miles. Sunday long run with the ARC. One week at a time. Taking care of my own business.

18 Weeks --> R&R NOLA

Saturday I ran a neighborhood 5K - Campbell Ghost Chase - that was so close I could have walked to the start. I didn't but, I could have. My friend and neighbor told me about it. It was a small event, less than 200, maybe even less than 100. It was a fund raiser for the elementary school to put technology in the classrooms. The course started out on the creek path and then meandered through the neighborhood, looping back to the creek path finishing where we started. It wasn't chip timed but my clock time was about 31:45. That would make it my fastest 5K, assuming the time and distance were correct. Woo hoo! I did start out way too fast for some reason. I think because I was so cold. It did warm up nicely though. After the run, we didn't hang out for very long. There was another hour to kill before the drawings which seemed too long. So, I got a lift home and called it good.

Sunday, I met up (finally) with the Arvada Running Club. Sunday was the official start of their winter season. No more speed nights, only Sunday long runs. Since I'm training for the R&R half in March, I'm hoping to stay on target by running with them each weekend. That's my plan. I'm sticking to it. I did 4 miles at about a 13 minute pace. Cool. I was happy with that. The ARC also has plans to run the winter distance series which was also on my calendar to help keep me on track. I'm really looking forward to running with them through the winter. This will be my first winter season of focused training.

I am a little worried about fitting in some recovery time. I was pretty tired. I did some sort of workout every day this week except Thursday and I was tired by the weekend. I did boot camp Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. I skipped a run on Thursday even though I'd planned to run. I'll have to figure that bit out. Maybe skipping a boot camp day. We'll see.