A few long runs under my belt and some push ups for a good cause.

Hey, everyone.  It's been 2-3 weeks since I've since last posted. Last week I hit the midpoint for two more courses towards my MBA.  It was a hectic week, and I'm glad it's over.  For the month of October, I will be spending a little more time at home.  I have some holiday and vacation time off.  So I'm going to doing a lot of my long runs during the week instead of on the weekends.

Training has been going okay.  I'm a little nervous because my mileage seems a little low.  The past four weeks have been at or around 37 miles.   Last year I had a few 50-mile weeks, with lower volume weeks sandwiched  in between.  This week I am supposed to hit 45 miles, so I think this is where my mileage is going to increase for a few weeks, and then its' taper time.

It has finally started to cool off.  For some of my long runs, I have been able to leave my water bottles behind.  I don't realize how much carrying a water bottle can impact my stride, and it very nice to not have to worry about the heat.

Training updates

Friday 9/16- 17.1 Miles- 2 hours and 40 minutes of relaxed running.  I did this run in and around Sunset Park. I spent a lot of time here last year, and I enjoy running through the park, and not having to worry about traffic.

The pace felt relaxed for the most part. The heat started to bug me about half way through. I ran through the splash pads at the park to cool off and it helped. I feel like I could have added an additional mile or two. I also stopped by my car a few times to swap out water bottles and grab fuel. I stopped my watch when I went through the splash pads and to use the bathroom.  Here's the data

Saturday 9/17- Rest

Sunday 9/18- 5-mile recovery run

Total Miles for the week 38.3

Monday 9/19- 7.2 Miles General Aerobic- This was a hot day, and I ran this at lunchtime.  I found another park with splash pads, and I soaked myself.  I also purchased some new shoes.

Saucony Guide 9 and I found them on sale!

Tuesday 9/20- 3 Miles General Aerobic, 3 Miles @ GP, and 1 Mile cool down.   It was a beautiful afternoon.  It was only in the low 80's and there was  cloud coverage for once!
This workout called for 3 miles at 9:20, and 3 Miles at 8:20 pace, During the Warmup 9:20 just felt too hard I guess. But, when it was tempo time, I tried not to look at my Garmin and I just ran by feel. After the first mile I tried to ease off a little bit. It was much cooler today, so I guess that made a difference *shrugs shoulders*  Here's the data.

Wednesday 9/21 3.6 Mile Recovery run. I felt really tired.... It was also my anniversary on this day.  My husband and I have been married for 20 years!!

Thursday 9/22-Rest

Friday- 9/23 15 Miles- 3 Miles warm up, 10 miles @ steady state, and 2 miles cool down.  I didn't feel like going back to Sunset Park, So I just a route that was sort of hilly...I got fairly lucky and I didn't get held up by too many red lights.  My only complaint was that this run was super windy during miles 9-12.   Here's the data

Saturday 9/24- Another rest day!!

Sunday 9/25- 45 Minute recovery run.

Total Miles for the week 37

Monday 9/26- 6.1 Miles hot and hilly general aerobic run, I headed outside and I almost didn't' bring any water with me. After three minutes I decided that was a terrible idea and I ran back inside to fetch a bottle.... Whew! It's not as crazy hot as it used to be but, I never, ever, want to underestimate heat exhaustion.

Tuesday 9/27- 8 miles 3 Miles Warm up, 4 Miles Tempo, and 1 mile cool down.  I got my ass handed to me by the sun today.  It was hot, and I took a small handheld bottle of water with me. I chose the Pittman Wash to avoid traffic, and because I knew there would be just a little bit of shade coverage. 88 degrees. This hurt. Here's the data:

Wendsday 9/28- 5 Miles recovery

Thursday 9/29-5.6 Miles, this was another botched tempo run.  Guess what? It was hot again today...  I should have gotten up earlier ,  I was up early, but I was working on a midterm paper.  So running in the morning took a back seat, and I paid dearly for it at lunchtime.  I was supposed to do 30 minutes at 9:20 pace 10 minutes at 8:30, and 15 minutes at 7:45 pace..... Yeah, that didn't happen.

Friday- Rest

Saturday- 1 hour General Aerobic Run

Sunday- 40 Minutes recovery pace.

There was no long run this week, because I'm going into a holiday period at my work, where I will have more time off during the week to run.  I pushed my long run out an extra day.

Total Miles for the week 35.2

Monday 10/3- 30k (18.6 Miles) Cut down run... I did not know where to do this run at.... I really love the Wetlands Recreation Area.  But, it is no man's land. 

I also love Red Rock Recreation but, its' super hilly.   I parked my car at Sunset Park, and I ran about a mile or two to let the morning commute traffic die down a little bit, and then I ran through one of my old neighborhoods.  I didn't realize that my route would end up being so hilly.  This run called for 10k at 9:45 pace, 10k @ 8:45 pace, and 10k @ 8:30 pace.  The middle section was awful, and I was wondering if I would be able to pick it up during the last 10k, but the last 10k was manageable.  For fuel, I ate one pack of Honey Stinger chews, and I ate one gel.  I didn't bring any water with me, and I didn't stop for water until mile 16ish...  My Garmin bounced around all over the place during this run.  Here's the data.

RNRLV is really flat. So I hope all of this
hill work pays off!

This run went well, but I still have my doubts,  when I was younger I was naturally faster, but I didn't know how to race or train smart.  Now that I know how to train smarter, I wonder if I still have what it takes to BQ....  I'm not sure if I'm even as fast as I was last year....I was also a few pounds lighter last year....I hate to sound whiny but, I want to be somewhat transparent with how I feel my training is going.

Push ups for a good cause

Currently, I'm participating in the 22 push ups a day challenge on Facebook.  Every day you do 22 push ups and you nominate someone else to keep the challenge going.  This challenge is to bring awareness to the 22 suicides of veteran's that take place every day.   At the end of this challenge, I plan on donating a little bit of money to a local veteran's association.  Here's one of the videos that I posted to Facebook.

Well, that's all I've got for now.  Thank you for reading.