Three Years!
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What
a whirlwind of a year it has been - and suddenly, without warning, August marks
my third Runiversary! I can’t believe I fell so in love with an endurance
sport, and now running for three years, I can’t imagine my life without it. Yes, I have truly found my sole mate! To
celebrate I kicked it off with CIM training!
Last week was a bit of a bust, but determined to get back on track, I had a pretty good run week if I do say so myself.
On Tuesday I did a double day. Tuesday morning I ran with the Running Addicts on the Stevens Creek bike trail in Mountain View. It was an adventure run, as I gave my keys to my friend and waited for her at the turn-around point. When I failed to see her, I got a bit concerned. Back at the parking lot I realized she had left, forgetting that she had my keys. she had a jam packed schedule and left quickly after her run forgetting that she had my keys. Thank goodness for my friend, Linh, who assisted me in getting my keys. It was a two hour ordeal, but I was thankful to get them back. The moral of the story - Hold onto your own damn keys! It's good to be kept on my toes as long as it doesn’t interfere with my running form.
That evening I ran at the RRS Run Like A Girl event. It was nice to see so many familiar faces out on the Los Gatos Creek Bike Trail. I ran with Shannon for a couple of miles. 7 miles in the morning, and 4 miles in the evening marks a successful 11 mile day.
Wednesday I hit the trails with Paulette and introduced her to Quicksilver Trails. We were both pretty tired, but had fun all the same on our 4.5 mile wog.
On Friday I ran track instead of on Thursday. Some circumstances prevented me from running, so I made sure to get up bright and early on Friday to get my track workout in. I did a mini track workout of four miles which included a warm-up/cool-down with 800 intervals mixed in. I am much faster in the afternoon and evening, than in the morning. Regardless, overall I am happy with the effort I put into this workout.
4 miles at a 7:35 avg. pace.
Saturday I did my long run at Nisene State park in Aptos Ca. As I have mentioned before, Nisene is one of my absolute favorite places to do trail running. Since I had to be in Santa Cruz mid-morning, I thought running the fire roads of dirt and gravel would be ideal. I do not like running long runs by myself. I was so grateful that Meg was able to join me for five of the 15 miles that I needed to complete. We did an out and back on the fire roads chatting away. After she departed, instead of going back to the fire roads, I headed to one of the single track trails. This of course slowed me down immensely, but it kept me motivated as the surroundings were so beautiful. I stayed on the single track for a few miles and then jumped back on the fire road to complete my run. I am not certain if my Garmin wigged out or I miscalculated the turnaround point, but I ended my run at 14.7 miles with a 10:20 avg. pace. My body was beat, but I was happy to get it done. First official training long run in the book with just 13 more to go. Yay (Insert sarcasm here)!!!!
Sunday I ended the week with just two easy recovery miles marking 36 miles for the week! I am happy and I feel great. I have also added Pilates core into my workouts in addition to yoga and swimming. Loving all these activities, I am hoping it will keep me motivated as the weeks unfold.
Last week was a bit of a bust, but determined to get back on track, I had a pretty good run week if I do say so myself.
On Tuesday I did a double day. Tuesday morning I ran with the Running Addicts on the Stevens Creek bike trail in Mountain View. It was an adventure run, as I gave my keys to my friend and waited for her at the turn-around point. When I failed to see her, I got a bit concerned. Back at the parking lot I realized she had left, forgetting that she had my keys. she had a jam packed schedule and left quickly after her run forgetting that she had my keys. Thank goodness for my friend, Linh, who assisted me in getting my keys. It was a two hour ordeal, but I was thankful to get them back. The moral of the story - Hold onto your own damn keys! It's good to be kept on my toes as long as it doesn’t interfere with my running form.
That evening I ran at the RRS Run Like A Girl event. It was nice to see so many familiar faces out on the Los Gatos Creek Bike Trail. I ran with Shannon for a couple of miles. 7 miles in the morning, and 4 miles in the evening marks a successful 11 mile day.
Wednesday I hit the trails with Paulette and introduced her to Quicksilver Trails. We were both pretty tired, but had fun all the same on our 4.5 mile wog.
On Friday I ran track instead of on Thursday. Some circumstances prevented me from running, so I made sure to get up bright and early on Friday to get my track workout in. I did a mini track workout of four miles which included a warm-up/cool-down with 800 intervals mixed in. I am much faster in the afternoon and evening, than in the morning. Regardless, overall I am happy with the effort I put into this workout.
4 miles at a 7:35 avg. pace.
Saturday I did my long run at Nisene State park in Aptos Ca. As I have mentioned before, Nisene is one of my absolute favorite places to do trail running. Since I had to be in Santa Cruz mid-morning, I thought running the fire roads of dirt and gravel would be ideal. I do not like running long runs by myself. I was so grateful that Meg was able to join me for five of the 15 miles that I needed to complete. We did an out and back on the fire roads chatting away. After she departed, instead of going back to the fire roads, I headed to one of the single track trails. This of course slowed me down immensely, but it kept me motivated as the surroundings were so beautiful. I stayed on the single track for a few miles and then jumped back on the fire road to complete my run. I am not certain if my Garmin wigged out or I miscalculated the turnaround point, but I ended my run at 14.7 miles with a 10:20 avg. pace. My body was beat, but I was happy to get it done. First official training long run in the book with just 13 more to go. Yay (Insert sarcasm here)!!!!
Sunday I ended the week with just two easy recovery miles marking 36 miles for the week! I am happy and I feel great. I have also added Pilates core into my workouts in addition to yoga and swimming. Loving all these activities, I am hoping it will keep me motivated as the weeks unfold.
So
what better way to celebrate my Runiversary then by getting out there and running!
And well, maybe with a post run beer to boot. Cheers!
Are you training
for anything in particular? How did your week go?
Congratulations on 3 years; that's fantastic! Great miles and pace on DailyMile too.
ReplyDeleteThis week was my 2nd full week training, back from injury rehab. So I'm slow and sluggish but slowly building volume.
Training for the ING Miami Half Marathon in Jan 2013.
Thank you so much!! Good luck with training, I am certain you will get back to speed in no time! What a beautiful race you are going to run!
DeleteCongrats on the 3 years! That's actually really inspiring--what you can accomplish and how far you can progress in a few years. I'm training for my first half-marathon trail run. Speaking of, how do you handle running alone on trails? Do you get freaked out at all? Even though I know wild animal attacks are rare, I freak out over funny noises, closed-in paths, and the thought of injuring myself. Any advice?
ReplyDeleteKate, thank you so much for your kind words! Here is a link to a past post I wrote about trail running that you might find helpful. http://www.runinsyn.com/search?q=trail+tips
DeleteI believe in the buddy system when running the trails. If you are running alone however, make certain you bring a trail map with you and/or set your Garmin to help find your way back. Don't forget your phone. I drink a lot of water and found the Nathan Hydration pack to be very helpful on long runs. You have to go with the mindset that eventually you are going to fall on the trails. Try not to panic and learn how to fall safely. I think the most important thing of all is to enjoy yourself and all the surroundings the trails have to offer. I could go on and on really. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me at run in syn at gmail dot com. I am so excited for you and can't wait to hear how it goes!!!!