I am behind on my blogging, yet again, but I promise...I have been running!
Let me start with an update on my November Challenge. It took me right up until November 30th to complete the challenge, due to illness, but I did complete it. I finished the month of November with a total of 90 miles, and my challenge was to run 85 miles. Although, since I started the challenge on DailyMile after I had already ran 4 miles on November 2nd, those miles did not count on the DailyMile challenge website. :( Even without those 4 miles I was still able to get in 86 miles for the month of November. :) I was happy I was able to hit my goal, even though during a 8 day span I only ran 3 of those days, which was really hard for me, but I knew I needed to rest my body in order to get feeling better. It worked, and since then I have been racking up the miles. I finished the last 3 days of November with 18 miles!
Here is an update on my running since my last post:
November 20, 2010---Rest Day
November 21, 2010---Rest Day
November 22, 2010---Rest Day---sick
November 23, 2010---3 Miles---Today's run felt pretty good considering I am still not feeling 100%. Not my best time, but definitely not my worst 3 mile time either. My splits were probably the closest they have ever been too. Here are my splits for today's run:
Mile 1: 9:48:41
Mile 2: 9:45:33
Mile 3: 9:15:49
Not sure how I managed this pace not feeling well, but I did and I am sure it will hit me later. :) I felt slower than this as well, so hopefully when I am back to 100% my pace will be closer to 9 or sub-9!
Glad I got out there and at least got 3 miles in. Finished with a nice 21 minute cool down, which is a lot longer than I usual for only 3 miles, but felt I needed the extra walking time with not feeling well.
Finished today's run with a 9:36 pace and a time of 28:48.
Nice day for a run though!
November 24, 2010---3 Miles---Today's run went really well, considering I am still not feeling 100% and cleaned all day. It was nice to get outside, even though it was a little chilly, and get a run in with the DH. It has been hard to run with the DH lately because of his work schedule and it getting dark so much earlier, but got to love half days and long holiday weekends. I love being able to run together. I REALLY tried to take today's run slower and easier than yesterday, but still managed to have negative splits. Here are the splits for today's run:
Mile 1: 10:07:66 (This was tough to get...wanted to go faster...average HR 134)
Mile 2: 9:46:83 (Average HR 139)
Mile 3: 9:34:42 (Average HR 147)
Even though we got faster, my heart rate was still pretty low and this run did not seem to take a whole lot of effort. I am pretty sure I could have ran it faster, but I was really trying to take it easy. Not sure if a 9:49 pace is taking it easy, but ever since the marathon it sure feels it. The marathon definitely helped my running, which I am grateful for!
Walked a nice 20:31 minute cool down again today, which felt really good as well.
Great run and didn't feel too bad. Can't wait until I am feeling 100% again!
November 25, 2010---Happy Thanksgiving!---3.1 Miles---The DH and I got up this morning and ran a mock 5K around the neighborhood for Thanksgiving. It is amazing to think that one year ago the idea of running on Thanksgiving never even crossed our minds, and this year there was no way I was not running on Thanksgiving!
We got up and out there around 8:50 am and, of course, it was raining (and pretty good too) when we started, but after about a half mile in it stopped. I am pretty happy with this first 5K time, even if it unofficial and not actually at a race, but I wanted to see where I was at. No negative splits today, and definitely started out too fast, due to the rain, and ended up slowing down the next 2 miles. :( But, we finished it out and did not have optimal running weather, gear, or health (both of us feeling a little under the weather). I would really like to have been closer to 26 or 27 minutes, but considering everything and being a little cautious with it being wet out. I think we did pretty good. Here are our splits for today's run:
Mile 1: 9:16:36
Mile 2: 9:24:39
Mile 3.1: 9:49:70 (most of the hills were on this mile)
Time: 28:30 (9:11 pace!)
Even though they are not negative splits, they all are sub-10 minute miles, which I would have never thought possible 5 months ago!
Good trial 5K run, even if the weather didn't want to cooperate! :)
November 26, 2010---Rest Day
November 27, 2010---Rest Day
November 28, 2010---6 Miles---Today's run was an easy 6 miles and managed to keep the pace slow (10:49 pace), which has been very difficult for me to do lately. The DH and I ran together today and he was having some shin pain off and on, so we kept the pace slow and easy. We still finished with a decent pace. Can't wait to get back out there tomorrow! Two days without running drives me crazy now! I probably could have ran all day at this pace, which is funny to think now because I would have been really happy to run the marathon at this pace just over a month ago. Great, relaxing run and got to wear our new cold weather gear too! :)
November 29, 2010---8 Miles---I felt awesome today, even after 6 miles yesterday, and even got an errand done while on my run! I needed to go to the Post Office today, so I decided to map out a route that would take me to the Post Office and back around throughout the neighborhood. I am so happy I was able to get 8 miles in today. What a great way to start the week off, especially after a long holiday weekend! I am feeling 100 percent again and I am so happy about that. I felt really good at this pace and even felt pretty slow at times, and maybe I was, but I don't know for sure because I didn't record every split today. I didn't know exactly where all the mile markers were until miles 6-8, so I did hit it for those. Here are those splits:
Miles 1-6: 55:30:91 (average pace 9:15) :) I guess I was pretty consistent today!
Mile 7: 9:28:81
Mile 8: 9:07:96 (negative split the last mile and I could have gone a little faster, but was trying not to push it too much.)
Total: 1:14:07 (9:15 pace)
I am pretty sure this is a new 8 mile PR too and I wasn't even trying for that today. Just wanted to enjoy a nice longer run. I really miss the longer runs, 10 plus miles, and I never thought I would say that! :)
Cool Down: 13:54:85
Total Time: 1:28:00
Great run today and very happy with how everything felt! Even if my pace was a little faster than I was trying for! :)
November 30, 2010---4 Miles---Today's run went pretty well. I am really surprised by the time because I thought I was behind my "average" pace, but I guess not and I didn't know exactly where all the mile markers were, just the last one! :) Run felt good, although the hills, mainly the one, seemed to get to me a little bit today. But, I guess it didn't hurt my time too much. I will take it considering today's run makes 18 miles in 3 days for me. I finished today's 4 mile run in 36:43:68, (9:10 pace), and this is a new 4 mile PR, but I did run 4.21 a few weeks ago at a faster pace than this, but for only 4 miles it is a new PR! :)
Finished the run with an 18:16:85 cool down for a total of 55:00 minutes!
Another great run! And I hit my goal of running 85 miles in November...actually got 86 miles in this month! Now, I am ready to tackle December! :)
December 1, 2010---3.1 Miles---Made my way to the gym for today's workout because the weather was pretty crappy. I decided to run a 5K on the treadmill, and even though it was a little quicker than what I ran last week, it felt like it took forever! Ha, ha. I was pretty pleased with this run today, as this is only the second time I have done a run on the treadmill...aka the dreadmill! I felt pretty good throughout the run and even pushed it as the end because I wanted to see if I could do it, and I did!
I started with a 10 minute mile pace for the first 3/10th of a mile and then set the pace at a 9:13 minute pace until I hit the 2.1 mile mark. I ran the last mile at an 8:49 pace and wouldn't you know it, that is where all the "hills" were! My fastest 1 mile yet! My highest incline level was 5% throughout the last mile. I covered an elevation level of 320 feet throughout my 3.1 mile run today. Average heart rate throughout the run was 157.
I finished the 5K in 28:20:93 (9:08 pace)...just a little quicker than the other day.
I ended the workout with a 1 mile cool down walk in 17:39:72. Great run!
December 1, 2010---11 Miles---Since I was at the gym and only ran 3.1 miles today, I decided to get on the stationary bike for a little while to do something a little different besides running. I ended up doing 11 miles on the bike at the 6-8 resistance levels. It felt good to do something a little different and I am sure my legs and knees will thank me as well. Finished today's ride at a 14 mph pace in 47 minutes. Great ride!
December 2, 2010---Rest Day
December 3, 2010---Rest Day
December 4, 2010---6 Miles---Did an easy 6 mile run with the DH today. We waited until early afternoon to go out and run, so it wouldn't be quite as chilly out. For the most part waiting worked, as it was still a little windy out, but once we got going we warmed up. Goal for today's run was to be around a 10 minute a mile pace or so...goal achieved...finished in 1 hour and 48 seconds, which is a 10:07 pace! This pace felt really good and I was just happy to get outside and run again. Two rest days, Thursday and Friday, and I was not a happy person to be around. I am so much happier once I get out and run, even if it is only 3 miles. Running just makes me a happier person! :) Great run and a nice easy pace. Definitely could have run further at that pace! I didn't keep track of splits today because I just wanted to enjoy my run, and that I did! Finished with a nice 1 mile cool down walk home.
December 5, 2010---7.57 Miles---Great run today, despite the cold and wind. I had a hard time getting out of the house to do this run because it was so cold and windy out, and I kept watching the trees outside to gage how windy it was. By the time I left, the wind wasn't too bad, and I didn't really have to deal with too much wind during my run, but as soon as I stopped and started walking home the wind really picked up. After the first couple of miles I warmed up and felt really good. I didn't know how far I was going to run today, as I just wanted to get some miles in, so I decided after the first couple of miles that I would run for an hour and ten minutes. Since I wasn't at a good stopping point at that time I ran to the next good stopping point, and walked the rest of the way home. When I stopped, my watch said 1:11:37, but I wasn't exactly sure how far I had gone. The walk home was so cold that I only ended up doing a 10 minute cool down because I was freezing after about 6 or 7 minutes. I am very happy with this pace and am happy to see it under 9:30 (9:27 pace) for 7 plus miles! :) I am not exactly sure on the heart rate and calories burned, since my heart rate monitor decided not to measure that stuff today because I didn't push the heart rate button...ugh...I hate when that happens, but I am probably pretty close with what I put in, as I went off of a similar 7 mile run work out. Overall, great run, but I was hoping to see some flakes of snow while I was out. :( I know I will get my run in the snow soon enough, as I am going home to NY for Christmas, and there is always snow in NY in December! :)
Thanks for reading...if you made it this far! ;)
