Shoe Talk, Sick Kiddos, and My Latest Workouts

I am sure glad this work week is winding down.  Happy Friday if you are reading this today.

Shoe Talk

At the end of last year I began to rotate two pairs of shoes to help them last longer.  I also purchased some Brooks Pure Flows for racing and speed work on the track.  I don't even want to wear these shoes for my upcoming half because I feel that I need the extra support when I'm running 13 miles.  I'm not light enough or fast enough where 5 oz of shoe is going to make that much of a difference, when it could also put me at the risk of injury.


A few weeks ago I purchased a new pair of running shoes to replace my ASICS GT-1000's.

  

I ended up going with the ASICS GT-2000.  I bought these online at Kohls.com.  I bought a few pairs of shoes for  my kids and husband earlier in the month and I had some Kohls cash to spend.   With the Kohls cash and an additional 30% off I paid about $70.00 for these shoes.  I love it when I can save a few dollars.

I think I may have found my new go-to shoe....  Earlier this year I purchased the Saucuony Guide 7...

I will go find my strong elsewhere.

and to be honest these shoes weren't very good.  I paid almost $120 for these shoes, I expected a lot more from them.  I wanted these to fit and feel perfect.  But, I just think  this shoe is too soft and squishy to be supportive to my needs. I did like that there was only an 8mm heel to toe drop.  I had been having problems running in the Brooks Adrenaline (this was my shoe for years), because I was landing too far on my forefoot, and that shoe has a 13mm heel to toe drop.

In a few weeks, I will be purchasing another pair of shoes to replace the Saucony's in my rotation.  I might give the Brooks Ravena a go, we'll see.

Sick Kiddos and My Latest Workouts

Last Thursday 8/14- was a much needed rest day.  I went and had lunch with my husband at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Friday 8/15-Two a days, I ran 3 miles before work (2.89 miles at 8:29 pace), at lunch time I ran 5.6 miles on the treadmill. I ran this at a tempo pace, I ran the first mile easy, then picked up the pace for three miles, and then did a mile an a half cool down.  My tempo pace was 7:47 per mile. (7.7 on the treadmill).  I also kicked the incline up to 1% for the workout.

Saturday 8/16-Rest, I took my youngest to a pool party, she probably got sick before hand but I will never know.....

Sunday 8/17 10 miles with some Tempo pace thrown in.   I chose a new running route because I feel that I have been running the same loops around my neighborhood lately, and the last thing I want is for my routine to be routine.  I'm not completely paranoid, but it's never a good idea to be predictable with your running routes.

Anyhow I chose a very busy street but, since it was early there was hardly any traffic on the road and it was pancake flat!!  The neighborhood I live in gets pretty hilly if you keep running in a certain direction.  Here's the Garmin data.

Total time running 123:44, total elapsed time 124:39.  I think I stopped once or twice for red lights at the intersections.  The last two miles were a little hilly, I was doing loops in my neighborhood to round out the 10 miles.   

Later on that day my little girl started acting really fussy, and she just didn't seem like herself.  I ended up taking the next couple of days off from work.  She got a lovely childhood illness called foot and mouth. Please don't google it unless you want to be really grossed out.

Monday 8/18- 3 mile run plus strength training.  I'm lucky to have a treadmill at home.  My husband and I purchased a Life Fitness treadmill back in 2005.  This baby is professional quality and it cost close to $2,000 when we purchased it. It really comes in handy when I'm not able to leave the house for a run.

I took this picture when the display was flashing.
The display still works just fine...

At the time we purchased the treadmill my husband was an avid treadmill runner and probably clocking about 30 miles a week on that sucker.  Now I'm using it more often than he is, but I'm really glad that we didn't go cheap on this purchase when we bought it.  

Earlier this summer my husband also surprised me with a Chin up/Bar Dip/Push Up station.

 I love doing body weight exercises.  When I was younger and in really good shape, I could knock out about 4-5 reverse grip chin ups and about 2-3 regular chin ups.  I lost a lot of that upper body strength during my first pregnancy and I have been working my ass off to regain some of that upper body strength.  As of late I can now do three reverse grip chin ups.  Maybe next week I will have someone video tape the evidence...

Tuesday 8/19- Rest, I ended up going into work that afternoon while my husband came home to watch the kids.  No time for running today.

Wednesday 8/20- 4x 800 at 10k pace.  I did this workout on the treadmill.  I ran one mile to warm up, then I stopped to stretch and put on my racing flats.  I ran this workout at 0.5% incline. I also jogged 400 meters in between repeats for recovery.

For the first two 800's I ran the first quarter at 8.8 (6:49 pace) then for the second quarter I would kick the treadmill up to 9.0 (6:40 pace)

I ran the recovery jog at 5.6 (10:43 pace)

View from my treadmill, if you look closely there is a
garden  gnome.  He kept laughing at me during the workout.

For the second two 800's I ran the first quarter at 9.0 and then for the second quarter I would kick the treadmill up to 9.2 (6:31 pace)

After the 800's I did a few strides and then ran a cool down mile.  The workout ended up being just over 5 miles.

First time for everything... And the last time I will take a photo of my
legs.  Man I must have been feeling really good after the speed workout. 

Thursday 8/21- Two a days.  I ran 4 miles in the morning, and at lunchtime I ran a little over 6 miles.  I was hoping to turn this into a negative split run but, I really was asking too much from my legs after the speed work the day before.  When I took off it was sunny with clouds rolling in.  About half way through the run dark clouds and wind gusts started to pick up. I thought for sure the rain was going to dump down on me.  But, it was all show and no rain.  Here's the Garmin data.

Positive splits for the last two miles.  I was tired!

Friday 8/22-  I ran four miles at recovery pace and then I stretched and did a few upper body exercises at the gym.

I"m looking forward to another rest day tomorrow.  My little girl is doing much better and she seems like her old self. I'm hoping she doesn't pass her sickies on to her brother.