Where have all the good boy bands gone?

Jina's back, alright! Sorry, that's my lame attempt to get a boy band song into my blog. I heart boy bands. *NSYNC is my ultimate favorite, but the Backstreet Boys will do in a pinch.

Ahem, so I am back to my running group. My week of rest was nice and needed, but it was nice and needed to be back with the group, too.

We had some new runners. One is my speed (poor girl), so that's nice (for me anyway). We ran a total of 45 minutes with four, 4-minute hard intervals followed by a 3-minute jog to recover. It was cool, pleasant and awesome. I love runs like this.

I had the dreaded race recap with my coach. We talked about my horribly slow time (my words, not his) for my first half marathon. As much as I try to not be disappointed, I kind of am. He wasn't. I still kind of am. He said to just go for my goal on the next race. Smart guy. Probably why he's the coach.

My last training session was really about just learning how to run. I mean, I couldn't even run more than 3 miles when I joined the group. This time, I know I can run. Now, I just need to become a better runner. So, that's what I'll do.

Day 28 (Oct. 11)

Lately all I’ve wanted to do is sit around and eat Peeps. Yum.

Thankfully, I’ve kept my Peep intake to a minimum so far. Notice I wrote “so far.” I love them so. And, candy corn. Yum. I haven’t been around any candy corn yet this year, and I know it’s for the best. I have the desire to eat massive amounts of it.

After last Thursday’s tough run and the resulting tired legs, followed by Sunday’s frustrating run, I became a little unmotivated. I was really hoping for good things after my brilliant 7-mile run two Sundays ago, and I feel like just the opposite has happened. Hence the desire to sit around and eat Peeps and buckets of candy corn.

Fortunately, I didn’t sit around and eat loads of Halloween candy. Instead, I went to my training group on Tuesday, and I had a great run, which lessened this desire for sugared goodness.

We had a 50-minute run on Tuesday with four, five-minute speed intervals with four-minute jogs after the intervals. I forgot my Garmin watch (Well, I didn’t forget it, technically. I’ve temporarily misplaced it. Eek!), so I had no idea what pace I was running. I just had to do it by feel and by my position to other runners. I’m at the point where I know who should be in front of me and by how much, so that really helped in terms of pacing.

It was difficult (especially that last killer interval that felt like it lasted 15 minutes), but I felt really good about how I did. I felt great the entire time, and my legs finally feel back to normal. Yippee!

In my quest to include more photos, here is a picture of happy me post-run at home. I avoided the awkward, in the car pre-run photo this time.

I think this is the happiest part of my day. I have such a feeling of accomplishment and a stockpile of all those great running endorphins. And, I have the rest of the evening to myself. Well, mostly myself. My dog demands some attention, which I gladly give her.

Day 22 (Sept. 27)

Due to a pesky thing called work, I missed our group training run on Tuesday. Boo!

But, I was determined to stay on track. After getting home late, and after it raining buckets during the day, I decided to hit the craptastic gym for a treadmill run. I know, I know. I already said I highly disliked the treadmill and that sorry excuse for a gym. But, it was after 9 p.m. by the time I was ready to run. And, there are some deep puddles around the neighborhood from the buckets of rain we’ve been getting lately (How do I know this? I stepped in one while walking my dog. It was a foot deep, seriously.).

When I arrived at the gym that looks more like a kitchen, I noticed the fan was unplugged. Since I sweat an extreme amount last time, the first thing I did was plug it in and turn it on. Well, there was a reason it was unplugged, it didn’t work. Argh!

I had some issues getting the TV working, too, but thank goodness, it eventually came on. After finding the Rays-Yankees game (Go Rays!), I hit the treadmill. After my last incident with the safety key on one of the treadmills, I decided to give the other one a shot.

Tonight was a speed interval night: four, three-minute hard intervals followed by three-minute jogs, with a total run of 45 minutes. All was well for about four minutes. Then, I started sweating profusely. Darn! This so-called gym is blazing hot!



I ran a 10-minute warm up, and then I started in on the speed intervals. I ran two of the three-minute hard intervals with three-minute jogs in between each. After my third three-minute hard interval, I walked the three minutes (solely due to sweat recovery) instead of jogging. Sweat was beaded on my arms. Sheesh! I did the next hard interval with a three-minute recovery walk (again to try and control the sweat). I ran the remaining time slowly (and sweat profusely). Man! I’m OK with the limited equipment, kitchen-like appearance, and cheesy artwork, but get some decent ventilation in this place, people!

Knowing for certain that this ridiculous amount of sweat would come across in a photo, I snapped one after the run.

Um, hmm. Maybe not. Sweaty, yes. But, it really doesn’t convey the level of sweat that was occurring (although it does showcase one of the causes – the broken fan).

I’m glad I got the run accomplished, even if it was in a sauna setting. So many nights after working late, I crawl home, watch a little TV and hit the bed. Things are changing, though! This training group keeps me extremely accountable – I don’t want to fall behind. I’d highly recommend a group to anyone training for a race (or just wanting to run, period). It really is changing my life (ha! That sounds so dramatic and so not me, but I really feel like this).

Day 19 (Sept. 20)

Oh, the dreaded three-minute speed intervals!

We started out with a 10-minute warm up. Easy enough. That, I can handle. Then, the workout really begins. We had to do four, three-minute hard intervals with three-minute recovery jogs in between each.

I managed to do all four of the hard intervals (struggling mightily during that dreaded fourth one). After the fourth interval, I walked the three minutes instead of jogging. I needed more recovery than a jog allows. But, after walking those three minutes, I ran the remaining time for a total of 45 minutes.

Typical of most every Florida afternoon, there were thunderstorms in the area. It wasn't raining where we train, but there were dark clouds and rain in the distance ... and lightning! Lightning is a great fear of mine. Yikes! I scream like a girl and run if it gets too close. I was on the verge of screaming and sprinting inside, but after two strikes (that honestly probably weren't that close), it stopped. Whew. I'm glad I didn't have to blow people away with my speed. I'm at my fastest when lightning is near.