Treadmilling

This morning when my 4 year old daughter saw me sweaty and gross in gym clothes she asked if I had been "treadmilling?" Hilarious, right? Yup, I'm totally stealing that. Anyway, I had a good time treadmilling this morning at the Y. Pretty easy 5 miles.

Run: 5 miles

1 mile warm up @ 10:00

3 miles @ 9:13

1 mile cool down @ 10:00

Last ditch effort

This morning was my final long run before next weekend's Women's Half Marathon. I unexpectedly had to go out of town this week so my training was pretty much non-existent. I squeezed in a quick 3 miles after my flight arrived in PA on Tuesday but that was it and I was very nervous about today's run. Turns out, I was nervous for no reason! Christy, Dana and I met the Strider's for our usual Saturday run. The weather was perfect, the sun came up quickly and it was a solid run. I think we stopped for 5 water breaks and fueled at miles 4 and 7-ish. I felt great until the last mile and then the aches started to set in. I think I've found the right shoes to get so hopefully come race day my feet will hold up a little better.

I am most impressed with our pace - we shaved 5:47 off of last week's 12 miler and we weren't even trying to! I wanted to run at an easy 10:30 pace for two reasons:

1. I increased my mileage by more than the suggested 10% and I was concerned about injuries.

2. I wanted to keep it easy to ensure I could complete the mileage.

Now that I have some mileage under my belt, I can think about increasing the pace for Gasparilla.

Dear Shoe Companies,

Stop "updating" your shoes! You advertised them as great shoes last year so what was there to change?!

The Asics from my previous post were a bust. I anxiously awaited their arrival anticipating a cushioned, foot friendly run in my future but I was met with a huge disappointment. Although they are the same brand, same style and named Gel Kayano 15's instead of 14's, they were a completely different shoe. They looked and fit totally different. Boo. So my shoe quest continues...

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12... TWELVE! Muah-ah-ah

All about the numbers:

12 miles

2 hours

8 minutes

1511 calories

5 water stops

2 Gu's (which is 2 too many IMO)

1 great friend...

equals 1 triumphant run!

I'm thrilled to have 12 miles under my belt and happy to report that it was actually a pretty good run. The first six miles were easy, the next four miles were a little tough and the last two miles were miserable. I never felt like it was a cardio challenge and thankfully my legs felt relatively strong during the run, it was my shoes that did me in. I've been trying for a couple weeks to find a new pair but it's been very frustrating. I found out that my favorite Brooks Adrenaline's have too much support for my over pronation and the next shoe in line was the Brooks Infinity but the tow box was an odd fit and I was plagued with blisters. I ended up in a pair of Asic Gel Kayano 14's that I bought last year and never really wore that much. They weren't my favorite shoes then but they've served me well this season and pretty much wore them into the ground. After this 12 miler, I decided I HAD to get a fresh new pair but the best online store in the universe, Zappos, didn't have them in my size. I upgraded to the Gel Kayano 15's though, so hopefully my weary little feet will be pleased.

Hypothesis confirmed!

I have been adamant that my treadmill at home is much harder than any of the mills at the Y or running outside. I don't notice that much of a difference in speed but the elevation feels like a 2.5 or 3% incline. Which is a good thing in the grand scheme of things but not while I'm struggling through this half marathon program (more on this later). So this week, I put my theory to the test. Tuesday morning I attempted 12 x 400 with 90 second recovery at 9:22 on my mill. I only managed 6 intervals and had to walk most of the recoveries. It was brutal. My lungs were on fire, my legs were trembling and my brain was throbbing. Today I headed to the Y for a 5 x 800 @ 9:13 and viola - no issues. It felt exactly like what an interval run is supposed to feel like: challenging but possible. Interval 4 was tough and 5 was VERY tough but I completed it. So I was able to run longer, faster intervals on the Y mill without feeling like I was going to be sick and/or pass out.

Run - 5 miles

1 mile warmup

5 x 800 @ 9:13 with 400 recovery

10 minute cool down

It was nice to actually follow the schedule and complete the task at hand because those runs have been few and far between lately. Now I admit, starting the program in the middle and skipping every other week due to time constraints was probably not my smartest idea and I'm definitely paying for it. I now realize that I wasn't even close to being physically prepared to jump into the middle of the program. Additionally, trying and failing to do these advanced workouts has left me feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. So even though I'm just a few weeks from the half, I have decided to revaluate my training. I started over at week 1, day 1. I know that I can finish the half today if I had to and I don't have a PR to worry about so any benefit I get out of the remaining interval and tempo runs will be a bonus.

update

Thursday run - only 4 of 7 miles completed.

Saturday run - 6 very hard, slow miles.

10 miles!

Ten great miles on Sunday night! I was a little nervous about the run because my foot was really hurting from the 5k the night before. To my surprise, it ended up being a better run than I expected. Christy and Dana were fun running partners and very good company. We had two water breaks at miles 3.75 and 8. The last 2 miles were a bit of a mental battle so they were a little slower but our average pace for the 10 miles was much faster than I anticipated especially considering the traffic we had to dodge.

10 miles - 10:19 pace

1 - 10:06

2 - 9:52

3 - 10:06

4 - 10:22

5 - 10:08

6 - 10:24

7 - 10:39

8 - 10:31

9 - 10:46

10 - 10:33

Disney's Tower of Terror 5k

Team AthLeeT

Signing the guest registry

Since this was the last year Disney will be hosting the Tower of Terror race, I'm happy we did it but I understand why it's being replaced next year. It was organized and fun but I didn't feel like Disney really drove home the theme. I was expecting a spooky run through the park but the only special thing about the run was that it started at 10:30 p.m. - which wasn't a perk for me. The after party and zero waiting time for the rides was the real highlight.

The real mystery of the night was my run. How is it possible that my runs are faster and easier after I swim and bike? If I ran an 8:48 pace at the Longleaf Tri, wouldn't it be safe to assume that I would be a little bit faster when I just had to run? Not so much. This was a tough run for me and I ended up with another 8:48 average pace. I'm pleased with my time considering it was waaaaay past my bedtime and my first run since the tri but I guess I was expecting it to be easier. Overall it was a good night though.

Longleaf Triathlon

One word sums up this race... REDEMPTION! I went into this race with zero expectations. I had come to the realization that I was not ready and no matter what, I was going to be disappointed. I decided there was no point in killing myself - I would just race easy, be there to support Christy in her first tri and enjoy a great course with lots of local athletes to cheer on. Anything short of another meltdown like at Sand Key would be a success.

SWIM:

The weather was a freezing 51 degrees as anticipated but I was much more prepared than last year. I wore warm clothes, socks and shoes to the lake to keep me warm while we waited. Christy and I "trotted" around to keep the blood pumping which really seemed to help. We only had about 15 - 20 minutes of standing around barefoot in our tri suits before we hit the water. I was thrilled to get in the water because it was so warm! I had a little trouble sighting because I was looking into the sun but that was my only issue. I felt great out of the water and transition was smooth. My feet were freezing though and I struggled a bit getting my feet into my shoes once I was on the bike.

BIKE:

The out had a headwind and my bike computer isn't working so I had no idea what my speed was. I'm guessing I was somewhere in the 16 mph range. The back was fast and easy with a push from the wind which was a welcome break with the impending run. By the end of the bike, my feet were frozen to the point of pain. It was excruciating to run to my rack and even more painful to try and put my running shoes on. My T2 time suffered quite a bit. I felt like I was in transition forever trying to put those damn shoes on.

RUN:

The run was a total enigma. My fancy new watch is a little too sophisticated for me and I managed to screw up the multi sport function early into the race. I have no idea what my time was but I know I had negative splits. Every time I looked at my watch, I was shocked by my pace - 8:17 and 8:09 at times. I kept waiting for the proverbial wall but it never came. I felt stronger and stronger with each step. It was almost as if my body was functioning separately from my brain. I kept trying to slow down thinking that at some point I was going to run out of energy before the finish but would speed up again. I just ran and it felt so amazing to finally have THAT run. I'm sure the cooler weather helped but there was much more to it - the Run Less, Run Faster program! I haven't had an effortless run in a very long time and I enjoyed every step.

Christy killed her first tri (which I absolutely expected) with an amazing 1:09:56 earning her 2nd place in her age group.

My splits:

Swim - 6:33 (clearly, the course was a little short)

5th place which I was a little disappointed with actually.

T1 - 2:45 (my money maker, this is where I make up for being a slow runner LOL)

Bike w/ T2 - 32:31

shockingly, 1st place

Run - 27:22

8:48 pace (!)

5th place

1:09:10 (10 seconds faster than last year thanks to the short swim)

2nd place age group.

81 of 305 overall

I love everything about this event and it was a perfect ending to a very frustrating tri season.

Christy and I finished this fabulous day by taking the kids to Sweetfields Farm for some fall fun!

Hot and dark

The Saturday long run got bumped to Sunday morning for Julia's Run for a Reason and bumped again to Sunday night because of scheduling conflicts. Christy and I decided to head to Starkey Park around 6:30 but opted to run the path in Longleaf instead since we were losing daylight so quickly. Which by the way, is a true indication of fall but Mother Nature has clearly missed the memo because it was hot and muggy even in the dark. I had hoped for 10 miles but we hit 4 miles right as we reached the park entrance - it was pitch black (no street lights at all), there was lightning in the distance and my foot was making its' discomfort known - so 8 miles it was. I was still very pleased with this run. It was my best long run so far. I walked briefly for water and fuel and one more time just before mile 7 to stretch out my foot a bit. I wouldn't say it was a fun run just because of the darkness, the lightning and all the creepy woodland sounds but I had good company and I feel like the run gave me the boost I've been looking for.

With Longleaf this weekend, I will not be following my HM schedule. I will be using the concept of the scheduled runs, however, with a short 4 mile speedwork tomorrow and a slower 5/6 miles on Thursday.

Mentally, I'm still a mess from the Sand Key debocle so I'm very nervous about Longleaf.