Track workout or maybe not

Yesterday, I met a friend at the U of M track. The plan was to do 12 x 400m with 400m jog between. We met at 6:30am started the warm up. We did one 400m then on the 400m jog we noticed a group of about 20 wrestler heading toward the track and then another group and another and another...get the picture, they just kept coming. We decided to start the next 400m and see how it went. Well, they were all over the track and we were dodging high school wrestlers so we opted to leave after 2 x 400m. Okay, lets go to river road and do 10 x 400m hill repeat...oops river road is closed. Okay next plan, lets take this gravel road. After 5 cars pass us, lets stop breathing this dust and go run the normal loop we do from campus. Great idea...so much for trying new runs today. Perhaps on Thursday the wrestling camp won't be on the track and we can do the full workout then.

Tonight, I am heading to the MDRA fun run at Minnehaha Park at 6:15!

Photos from the Red, White and Boom! Half

Before the rain...

No, I don't run for Run n Fun. My awesome training partner gave me the jersey before she moved to Houston, TX. She ran on the race team. I wish I was on their race team but I am not fast enough. You have to be a very speedy runner to make the team.

During the rain...

Check out the steam coming off the road.

Almost to the finish line!!!

Crossing the finish line!

Okay Julie, you can stop running now. You've crossed the finish line.

But I just love running so much that I want to keep going.

MDRA Fun Runs

Every Wednesday in July, the Minnesota Distance Runners Association host a fun run at Minnehaha Park. The distance is 2k, 4k or 8k. You pick your distance. It starts at 6:15 and only costs $1! Yeah!

They have done these fun runs for many summer but yesterday was the first time I did it. The weather left something to be desired. I was planning to bike to the park but it was raining when I was heading out the door so I opted to drive instead. It stopped raining before the run but it was very hot and humid. The air was so dense, it felt like I was running through pea soup. Side note: I haven't actually run through pea soup, it is just what I would image it would be like.

Since I ran a half marathon a few days ago, I decided to use it as a tempo run. They said the numbers were less than usual because of the weather. There were only 3 women and 8 men. The majority of the runners were from the Minnehaha Academy cross country team.

There wasn't anyone running my pace so I ran the 8k by myself. I was a little disappointed in this because I was hoping to find some people to train with, maybe next week. I finished in 35:10. I am happy with that time. I got a ribbon for participating.

After the race, they have drawing for prizes. My name was the first one drawn. Yippee! I could pick from a bunch of race t-shirts or a mug. I picked the mug. I have so many race t-shirts that I don't know what to do with them all. Plus, I think would feel a little weird wearing a shirt from a race that I didn't run. The mug is from the City of Lakes 25k in 2006. Do I feel weird about drinking from a mug from a race that I didn't run. Wait, let me check...nope, the water tasted refreshing. Here is a picture of the mug and ribbon!

Happy Running!
Julie

Red, White and Boom! Half Marathon

I finished my second half marathon. I realized today that I have a half marathon the first weekend of June, July and August. That is a lot of half marathons in the summer in Minnesota for someone that hadn’t done any half marathons before June. Clearly, I wasn’t thinking straight when I signed up for them all. Speaking of thinking…The day before this half I was thinking why did I sign-up to run 13.1 miles. I don’t want to get up at 5am tomorrow to go running. I was also wishing I had a friend to meet at the race. Running a half marathon all by myself sounded kind of miserable. I really enjoyed the half that I did at the beginning of June with a friend.

I set my alarm for 5:25. The race started at 6:30. I figured that I would have plenty of time to eat and get to the race by 6:00. I was a little worried about parking but that wasn’t a problem at all. I got to the race a little before 6am and got in line to use the porta potty. The line was so long that it took 20 min for me to get to the front of it. I was hoping to run into Julie before the race. She is another blogger from the cities with an awesome name!

No time for a warm-up but it was 85 degrees and humid so just walking to the starting line made me break into a sweat. With the heat and humidity, I was trying to decide if I should try to go sub 1:40. I have really only been running 3 days a week with no races in mind, just running. So I decided to line up with the 1:40 pacer.

The race starts after a quarter mile with the pacer, I decide I want to run a little faster but I am not quite up to running with the 1:35 pacer so I am on my own. I have my Garmin set to give me half mile splits which might be overkill for a half but perfect for a 5k. I want to see 3:40-3:45. I actually did a good job of keeping it between 3:35-3:45. I had one 4:17 on the crazy long hill and a couple 3:23…oops too fast.

Mile 2 or so – a girl passed me. After following her for a mile, I run up next to her and ask if I can run with her and say we should catch the girls in front of us. We chat for a bit and then run together for a mile. Then I fall behind on a long gradual down hill. She yelled back that she loves down hills. At this point, there is a crazy downpour that cools me off nicely and fills up my shoes so they become kind of heavy. I pass the girl after a couple more miles.

I am surprised how quickly the half miles are ticking away. I try to smile at the people cheering. Sometimes they tell me that I look strong. It actually helps me when they say that because I think to myself, “yeah, I feel strong”. Around mile 12, after I just passed two guys, a woman yells to them, “You’ll never catch her. She is still smiling.” They just laughed but never caught me.

Mile 9 – I see a police officer that I know from some fitness training that I have done with the MPD so I yell hi to her and we exchange a few quick words but I have to keep racing. A guy passes me and says you seem like you are having a really good time. Yeah, I am having a good time and to think I didn’t want to run the race yesterday.

Mile 11 – I see Steve from Steve in a Speedo. I wish I had yelled, “Steve in a Speedo, I want to be a foxy Moxie.” I thought of that just after I had passed him. He was having a giveaway on his blog for a Sugoi running skirt.

Mile 12.5 – a girl passes me. She is flying…I wonder how she can be so strong this far into the race. I let her go. A minute later…what you just let her go, you have less than a half mile and you can’t push yourself for only half a mile. Okay, I pick up the pace. (these are the conversations that I have in my head while racing) I don’t catch her but I tried.

Final results:

Time: 1:36:52 (Yeah, I made my goal of sub 1:40!)

Pace: 7:24 per mile

Overall place: 99/2375

Sex place: 17/1321

Age group place 4/250 (I would have loved to make top 3 but that can be a goal for next time)

End thoughts – I really enjoyed the race and am looking forward to my next half marathon. This always seems to be the case even though I usually don’t want to race the day before. After the race, I am usually quite happy that I did it.

My legs have been tired today. My ankles and feet seem to be a little swollen so I am thinking about trying compression socks for recovery. Has anyone used them? Do they help you with post-race recovery?

Strides

I haven't done a track workout in almost 2 months so I decided to do one today, 2 days before a half marathon. Maybe not the best training plan but since I am not currently following my training plan.

I didn't do anything crazy on the track. Here is the workout:

200m - :45
800m - 3:02
400m - 1:31
400m - 1:31
200m - :45
200m - :45
200m - :45

Yep, I have one pace. Run everything at basically the same pace. I can't seem to run 200m faster than 800m.

The best part of thee workout was at the end I decided to do barefoot strides on the infield of the track. I did 6 x 100m. It felt so free to run barefoot in the cool morning grass. It was a great way to end a workout. I am going to try to do 1 track workout a week and end each workout with barefoot strides.

On anther note, I have been using the TRX for 2 weeks now and love it. I will post about it later with some pictures. It is a great strength training workout.

A race in 3 days...

I just signed up for a half marathon...in three days. What was I thinking...13.1 miles is a long way. I haven't been training much since my last half marathon at the beginning of June. So I have a secret goal for this race. It is to run fast for this half than the last half. That might not be the best idea I have had but that's my goal. I would love to run sub 1:40 but I think that might be pushing it too much. My plan is to start with the 1:45 pacer and see how I feel. If I am feeling good, I can always speed up or I could slow down but I am not going to think of that as an option yet.

I got a package in the mail this week.

It was from Erica over at I Run Because...I Can. She had a GU giveaway and I won! I am super excited to try out all the different flavors. Thanks Erica! This is going to come in handy for my upcoming race.

Races I am Thinking about Running

I haven't raced since the first weekend in June. I feel like I am getting a little antsy to race. How did 3 weekends go by without me racing? In May, I did 4 races. This got me thinking that I don't have any races planned until the end of August. I really need to race at least a couple times before then.

Here is a list of races I am thinking about:
Red, White and Boom! Half Marathon
Boston Scientific 10K
Urban Wildland Half Marathon or Shakopee Derby Days 5k -Same day so I can only do one

Recommendations of races to do? Perhaps your favorite race?

I am also looking at purchasing a pair of racing flats. I really like my Brooks running shoes so I am thinking about the Brooks T6 racer. I am a little worried they will be to wide for my feet since they are unisex and I have really narrow feet. Which is actually another reason I like the Brooks brand, the shoes tend to be narrow compared to a lot of other shoes. So I am wondering if anyone has tried the Brooks T6 racer? What do you think? Would you recommend them?

Good runs with old friends!

At the Minneapolis half marathon, I ran into a friend from high school! It was so awesome to run into her! It always amazes me how small the world is. It is rare that I run into friends from high school at races since I am from a small town about an hour from here. I did run into my high school social studies teacher at the Derby days race. I was dressed like this for the race...

So he didn't actually recognize me until I said hi and introduced myself. There was a costume contest so I dress up like a derby girl. I took 2nd in the costume contest and won my age group for the race...not bad for running in a dress and crazy large hat. Enough about that.

My friend and I met up on Tuesday morning and went for a run around lake Calhoun. It was a great day for a run and so much fun to catch up with an old friend.

Hopefully, we will meet again soon for another run. I love running with other people. I have really been missing my totally awesome training buddy since she moved to Houston, TX. She was the best training partner that I've had! She got me started running in the mornings and she was crazy fast. I use to only run in the afternoon/evening but now I run at 6:30 am...surprising, I know!

Minneapolis Half Marathon Race Report

I ran my first half marathon a couple weeks ago. I am so slow at posting. It was an awesome experience! I can't wait to do another one. I ran this race with a great friend!

My friend picked me up at 6am. Side note: I had my alarm set for 6am. I figured that would give me plenty of time to get dress and eat breakfast before my friend picked me up. Well, I didn't have to worry about not having enough time since I woke up at 4:30. That is just too early. I still didn't eat breakfast until about 6am. The race start was at 7am so that may have been cutting it close but it worked out okay for me.

We got to the race at about 6:20, easily found parking and headed to the starting line to join the thousands of other runners getting ready for the race. I ran into another friend at the starting line so we started the race with her.

We decided we wanted to start out running 8 min per mile. We did a great job of holding that pace for the first few miles then I started to get excited and push the pace a little. We ran the next few miles at 7:30-7:45 pace. We hit a nice long hill and slowed down a bit. I was feeling pretty good but decided before the race that I wanted to run the whole race with my friend so I stay with her and continued to chat. We talked the entire run. Perhaps we would have run faster if we hadn't talked so much.

Here we are at mile 7.5.

Final time: 1:48:07
Pace: 8:16 per mile

Post race with our awesome new medals!

I am thinking about running the Urban Wildland Half Marathon on August 7th but a half marathon in August in Minnesota sounds kind of brutal.

It's about time!

Well, it is about time I started using this blog that started back in December. I had high hopes for using this a blog to motive other to run or keep running and to have a place for you to log your training but lets be honest that is never going to happen. I barely have time to write in the blog. So instead, I think I will start with race reports so I have a record of my races and then we will see where it goes from there.

I have done 3 Team Ortho races in the Monster Dash Series. Here are the 3 finishers medals.



Aren't they awesome! Stained glass medals love it! Team Ortho races are great! I will post race reports soon for each of the races I've done this year. All 8 of them...wow, I've gone a little race crazy this year.